WindSat radio-frequency interference signature and its identification over land and ocean

Radio-frequency interference (RFI) in the spaceborne multichannel radiometer data of WindSat and the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer-EOS is currently being detected using a spectral difference technique. Such a technique does not explicitly utilize multichannel correlations of radiometer data, which are key information in separating RFI from natural radiations. Furthermore, it is not optimal for radiometer data observed over ocean regions due to the inherent large natural variability of spectral difference over ocean. In this paper, we first analyzed multivariate WindSat and Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer (SMMR) data in terms of channel correlation, information content, and principal components of WindSat and SMMR data. Then two methods based on channel correlation were developed for RFI detection over land and ocean. Over land, we extended the spectral difference technique using principal component analysis (PCA) of RFI indices, which integrates statistics of target emission/scattering characteristics (through RFI indices) and multivariate correlation of radiometer data into a single statistical framework of PCA. Over ocean, channel regression of X-band can account for nearly all of the natural variations in the WindSat data. Therefore, we use a channel regression-based model difference technique to directly predict RFI-free brightness temperature, and therefore RFI intensity. Although model difference technique is most desirable, it is more difficult to apply over land due to heterogeneity of land surfaces. Both methods improve our knowledge of RFI signatures in terms of channel correlations and explore potential RFI mitigation, and thus provide risk reductions for future satellite passive microwave missions such as the NPOESS Conical Scanning Microwave Imager/Sounder. The new RFI algorithms are effective in detecting RFI in the C- and X-band Windsat radiometer channels over land and ocean.     

微波辐射计探测大气剖面的相关向量机算法

提出了利用地基双通道水汽微波辐射计探测大气水汽、温度和折射率剖面的相关向量机反演算法,基于青岛地区的历史探空数据和仿真得到的双通道水汽微波辐射计亮温训练了相关向量机网络.青岛地区的实验和仿真比较表明:相关向量机反演得到的剖面与实际大气剖面有较好的一致性.     

Temperature compensation of total power radiometers

This paper describes a new technique to compensate output variations of total power radiometers due to physical temperature changes of the instrument. This technique performs the correction without the addition of expensive microwave hardware required in Dicke switching or many other widely used methods. A characterization period, over which the input antenna temperature is known, indicates the appropriate output adjustment needed for a change in physical temperature of the radiometer. The method effectively corrects the output in an example radiometer system built with inexpensive commercially available parts. For a 30-K variation in physical temperature, the measured data shows an improvement from 60-K peak-to-peak error to 6.9 K with an average absolute error of 1.1 K.     

Analysis and improvement of tipping calibration for ground-basedmicrowave radiometers

The tipping-curve calibration method has been an important calibration technique for ground-based microwave radiometers that measure atmospheric emission at low optical depth. The method calibrates a radiometer system using data taken by the radiometer at two or more viewing angles in the atmosphere. In this method, the relationship between atmospheric opacity and viewing angle is used as a constraint for deriving the system calibration response. Because this method couples the system with radiative transfer theory and atmospheric conditions, evaluations of its performance have been difficult. In this paper, first a data-simulation approach is taken to isolate and analyze those influential factors in the calibration process and effective techniques are developed to reduce calibration uncertainties. Then, these techniques are applied to experimental data. The influential factors include radiometer antenna beam width, radiometer pointing error, mean radiating temperature error, and horizontal inhomogeneity in the atmosphere, as well as some other factors of minor importance. It is demonstrated that calibration uncertainties from these error sources can be large and unacceptable. Fortunately, it was found that by using the techniques reported, the calibration uncertainties can be largely reduced or avoided. With the suggested corrections, the tipping calibration method can provide absolute accuracy of about or better than 0.5 K     

Polarimetric microwave wind radiometer model function and retrieval testing for WindSat

A geophysical model function (GMF), relating the directional response of polarimetric brightness temperatures to ocean surface winds, is developed for the WindSat multifrequency polarimetric microwave radiometer. This GMF is derived from the WindSat data and tuned with the aircraft radiometer measurements for very high winds from the Hurricane Ocean Wind Experiment in 1997. The directional signals in the aircraft polarimetric radiometer data are corroborated by coincident Ku-band scatterometer measurements for wind speeds in the range of 20-35 m/s. We applied an iterative retrieval algorithm using the polarimetric brightness temperatures from 18-, 23-, and 37-GHz channels. We find that the root-mean-square direction difference between the Global Data Assimilation System winds and the closest WindSat wind ambiguity is less than 20/spl deg/ for above 7-m/s wind speed. The retrieval analysis supports the consistency of the Windrad05 GMF with the WindSat data.     

基于PSO-AMLS的数据拟合方法在红外辐射计校准中的应用

针对红外辐射计标定中的数据拟合问题,提出了一种基于PSO-AMLS算法的数据拟合方法。该方法结合了粒子群算法(PSO)和自适应移动最小二乘法(AMLS)。采用的PSO算法可以实现自适应移动最小二乘法中参数的最优化,提高了红外辐射计的校准精度。区别于传统的应用于红外辐射计校准中的数据拟合方法,文中提出的基于局部近似的PSO-AMLS数据拟合方法,不仅可以得到红外辐射计输出电压与准直辐射源辐射之间的对应关系,而且在数据处理中通过灵活的数据处理机制,可以降低因拟合数据不均匀分布对拟合结果产生的不利影响。实验结果表明,文中提出的PSO-AMLS数据拟合方法,优于红外辐射计校准中所用的传统数据拟合方法,可以提高数据拟合精度。     

Detection of calibration drifts in spaceborne microwave radiometersusing a vicarious cold reference

The coldest possible brightness temperatures observed by a downward-looking microwave radiometer from space are often produced by calm oceans under cloud-free skies and very low humidity. This set of conditions tends to occur with sufficient regularity that an orbiting radiometer will accumulate a useful number of observations within a period of a few days to weeks. Histograms of the radiometer's coldest measurements provide an anchor point against which very small drifts in absolute calibration can be detected. This technique is applied to the TOPEX microwave radiometer (TMR), and a statistically significant drift of several tenths of a Kelvin per year is clearly detected in one of the channels. TMR housekeeping calibration data indicates a likely cause for the drift, as small changes in the isolation of latching ferrite circulators that are used in the onboard calibration-switch assembly. This method can easily be adapted to other microwave radiometers, especially imagers operating at frequencies in the atmospheric windows. In addition to detecting long-term instrument drifts with high precision, the method also provides a means for cross-calibrating different instruments. The cold reference provides a common tie point, even between sensors operating at different polarizations and/or incidence angles     

A Gain-Stabilized Maser Radiometer for 13 cm (Correspondence)

A radiometer using noise from a neon discharge tube to effect gain stabilization of a 13-cm maser radiometer is described. A balancing technique is used to make the output insensitive to gain and bandwidth fluctuations. The output does, however, depend on the total system noise temperature, and the technique is best suited to a receiver using a low-noise traveling wave maser, whose effective noise temperature is inherently stable.     

Correlations between slant wet delays measured by microwave radiometry

We present an analysis of the correlation between the atmospheric slant wet delays in different directions using data from a microwave radiometer. The correlations between wet delays observed in different directions using different temporal constraints are compared to a model derived from theories of turbulence. The agreement between the model and the radiometer data was good, and the average squared difference between zenith mapped slant wet delays could be predicted with an accuracy of 0.01-0.04 cm/sup 2/. Our analysis shows a large short-term variability which variance has a seasonal dependence of about /spl plusmn/26%, largely depending on the refractivity structure constant C/sub n/. We also demonstrate how the model can be used to characterize the stability of a microwave radiometer.     

微波辐射计接收机两点定标法误差分析及准确性验证

介绍了微波辐射计接收机两点定标法,并进行了误差分析.对自行研制的23.8GHz数字增益自动补偿微波辐射计进行了定标,计算定标误差范围.对接收机两点定标法得到的定标方程进行了验证实验,结果表明采用两点定标法对辐射计接收机进行定标有良好的准确性.     

微机在微波辐射计中的应用

本文讨论了微机在微波辐射计中应用的发展情况,并以周期定标全功率辐射计为例,叙述了其技术优势,工作原理,分析方法以及实验结果。     

A simple instrument and technique for measuring columnar watervapor via near-IR differential solar transmission measurements

A simple two-channel solar radiometer and data retrieval technique is described for sensing the columnar content of atmospheric water vapor via differential solar transmission measurements in and adjacent to the 940-nm water vapor absorption band. The instrument features two parallel channels for simultaneous measurements in and out of the absorption band to eliminate temporal variability effects in the differential comparison of the data from the two channels. The water vapor transmittance is determined by a modified Langley plot analysis of the ratio of the two channel signals. A statistical band model which closely follows the square-root law is then used to extract the columnar water vapor amount from the water vapor band transmittance. Error analyses and experimental results indicate that the instrument/technique can be reasonably employed to retrieve water vapor amounts with an error of 10% or less     

A Receiver in a Millimeter Wave Radiometer for Atmosphere Remote Sensing

A millimeter wave radiometer system with high resolution is described in this paper, which was used for remote sensing of integrated water vapor and integrated liquid water in the troposphere. A novel receiver technique was adopted in the radiometer system to deracinate an impact of the receiver gain shift on its precision and improve its performance. Measured results show that this radiometer system has enough stability in long time measurement and capability to measure atmospheric brightness temperature.     

FY-4辐射计红外图像的仿真技术方法研究

研究了FY-4辐射计红外图像的仿真技术方法.考虑地表经纬度、海拔高度、地表区域类型、大气辐射传输等因素的影响,建立了地表区域温度模型和红外辐射亮度模型,计算得到FY-4辐射计接收的地球表面红外辐射亮度分布;研究辐射计成像中几何畸变的空间响应特性,建立空间转换模型,模拟生成了符合FY-4辐射计空间分辨率指标的红外视场图像.结果表明,仿真生成的红外图像效果逼真,可用于FY-4辐射计技术指标的验证和成像效果的评价.     

Microwave radiometric technique to retrieve vapor, liquid and ice.II. Joint studies of radiometer and radar in winter clouds

For pt.I see ibid., vol.35, no.2, p.224-36 (1997). A neural network-based retrieval technique is developed to infer vapor, liquid, and ice columns using two- and three-channel microwave radiometers. Neural network-based inverse scattering methods are capable of merging various data streams in order to retrieve microphysical properties of clouds and precipitation. The method is calibrated using National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) results in a cloud-free condition. The performance of two- and three-channel neural network-based techniques is verified by independent NOAA estimates. The estimates of vapor and liquid agree with NOAA values. In the presence of ice, the liquid estimates deviated from NOAA's estimates. One of the major contributions of the three-channel radiometer is the estimation of ice in a winter cloud. The three-channel radiometer not only improves estimates of vapor and liquid, but also retrieves the ice column. Passive remote sensing can be ameliorated with the help of active remote sensing methods. The three-channel radiometer is used for estimating columnar contents of vapor, liquid, and ice in a cloud. It is shown that vertical profiles of median size diameter, number concentration, liquid water content, and ice water content can be inferred by combining radar reflectivity and radiometer observations. The combined remote sensor method is applied to Winter Icing and Storms Project (WISP) data to obtain detailed microphysical properties of clouds and precipitation. The authors also derived Z- Ice Water Content (IWC) and Z- Liquid Water Content (LWC) relationships and they are consistent with the earlier results     

Spatial resolution enhancement of terrestrial features usingdeconvolved SSM/I microwave brightness temperatures

A method for enhancing the 19-, 22-, and 37-GHz measurements of the SSM/I (Special Sensor Microwave/Imager) to the spatial resolution and sampling density of the high-resolution 85-GHz channel is presented. An objective technique for specifying the tuning parameter, which balances the tradeoff between resolution and noise, is developed in terms of maximizing cross-channel correlations. Various validation procedures are performed to demonstrate the effectiveness of the method, which, it is hoped, will provide researchers with a valuable tool in multispectral applications of satellite radiometer data     

全极化辐射计的2GHz带宽数字相关系统设计

全极化微波辐射计是进行海面风场测量的新型被动式遥感器。数字极化辐射计通过数字相关器对两个极化通道做相关处理,完成四个Stokes矢量参数的测量,反演海面风场。文中提出辐射计核心器件宽带数字相关器的设计方法。双极化通道通过IQ变换转化为两对正交信号,四片国内自主研制的A/D转换器以2.2Ghz采样率采样四路信号,采样结果通过多路复用DEMUX芯片复用后,传输到新一代现场可编程门阵列(FPGA)-Virtex5芯片中作进一步多路复用和相关运算。文中详细介绍了系统结构,数据处理流程和测试结果。     

3毫米波十六通道焦平面辐射计数据采集与测试系统设计

为了研究无源毫米波成像特性,在毫米波辐射计成像系统理论和焦平面线阵扫描体制基础上,开发了3毫米波十六通道的辐射计数据采集与测试系统,给出了详细的硬件设计方案,实现了十六通道数据采集、传输、预处理和成像测试。最后通过成像试验,实现了7秒/帧的成像速率。得出的结论对研究无源毫米波实时成像具有指导意义。     

溯源于低温辐射计的高精度遥感器辐射定标技术

低温辐射计作为拥有10-4不确定度的辐射初级标准已经开始运用于遥感器辐射定标领域。总结了低温辐射计的高精度初级标准传递至星载遥感器的定标过程,详细介绍了标准传递链中各级标准的不确定度。通过VXR、TXR在NASA的EOS计划中的应用及国内辐亮度探测器对FY-2号的实际定标,展现溯源于低温辐射计的定标技术广阔的应用前景。     

Synthetic aperture radiometry evaluated by a two-channeldemonstration model

The Technical University of Denmark (TUD) Synthetic Aperture Radiometer (SARad) is a two-channel demonstration model that can simulate a two-dimensional (2D) thinned array radiometer having an unfilled aperture populated with several small antenna elements. Aperture synthesis obtained by interferometric measurements using the antenna elements in pairs, followed by an image reconstruction based on an inverse Fourier transform, results in an imaging instrument without the need of mechanical scan. The thinned aperture and the nonscanning feature make the technique attractive for spaceborne radiometer systems, especially at low frequencies. The TUD SARad demonstration model consists of a two-channel K_u-band correlation radiometer with two horn antennas and an antenna mounting structure enabling the horns to be mounted in relevant positions within a certain aperture. A total aperture synthesis is obtained by sequentially placing the two antenna elements in all required pairs of positions and measuring the corresponding samples of the visibility function. The system has been used to demonstrate 2D synthetic aperture imaging of complex targets in outdoor ground experiments, a special feature of the system is that it uses a focused antenna system, thus enabling a short distance to the target. Set still utilizing image reconstruction algorithms identical to those used in a normal far-field situation. The aperture synthesis theory is discussed, with special emphasis on focused systems; the radiometer system is described; and images suitable for demonstration of resolution and other imaging properties are presented and discussed