Axel Murk

ELBARA II, an L-band radiometer system for soil moisture research.

L-band (1–2 GHz) microwave radiometry is a remote sensing technique that can be used to monitor soil moisture, and is deployed in the Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) Mission of the European Space Agency (ESA). Performing ground-based radiometer campaigns before launch, during the commissioning phase and during the operative SMOS mission is important for validating the satellite data and for the further improvement of the radiative transfer models used in the soil-moisture retrieval algorithms. To address these needs, three identical L-band radiometer systems were ordered by ESA. They rely on the proven architecture of the ETH L-Band radiometer for soil moisture research (ELBARA) with major improvements in the microwave electronics, the internal calibration sources, the data acquisition, the user interface, and the mechanics. The purpose of this paper is to describe the design of the instruments and the main characteristics that are relevant for the user.

A new configuration of polarization-rotating dual-beam interferometer for space use

This paper presents a new configuration of quasi-optical polarization-rotating dual-beam interferometer, which uses a pair of frequency-selective polarizers (FSPs) consisting of a wire-grid placed in front of a flat mirror, and has a function similar to the conventional Martin-Puplett interferometer (MPI). Advantages of this new configuration over the conventional MPI are lower residual reflection at the input and output ports and suitability to fixed-tuned applications. An experiment has shown it to have an MPI-like frequency characteristic as calculated. Careful machining was successful in achieving accuracy needed for a specified filter characteristic. This FSP-based quasi-optical device is to be used as a sideband separator in a space-borne submillimeter receiver for atmospheric research.

Electromagnetic-Bandgap Waveguide for the Millimeter Range

This paper presents the design, manufacturing, and characterization of a waveguide based on electromagnetic-bandgap (EBG) technology working in W-band. A modified silicon EBG woodpile structure was used in order to improve the matching performance of the EBG waveguide to a standard rectangular waveguide. The transition between the silicon EBG woodpile waveguide and the conventional WR10 waveguide was optimized and a 13.5% bandwidth around 90 GHz was achieved. The measured insertion losses remained better than 3 dB in the overall working bandwidth.

CHARACTERIZATION OF MAGNETICALLY LOADED MICROWAVE ABSORBERS

This work presents new method, retrieved results and validation for complex and frequency dependent permittivity and permeability parameter extraction of two composite, homogeneous and isotropic magnetically loaded microwave absorbers. Permittivities and permeabilities are extracted from free space transmission measurements for frequencies from 22 up to 140GHz. For validation of the results re∞ection measurements (samples with and without metal backing) are performed and are compared with simulations that use extracted models. The proposed new method solves some shortcomings of the popular methods: extracts both permittivity and permeability only from transmission parameter measurements, gives good results even with noisy data, does not need initial guesses of unknown model parameters.

The Fully Polarimetric Imaging Radiometer SPIRA at 91 GHz

The Scanning Polarimetric Imaging Radiometer (SPIRA) is a versatile fully polarimetric imager operating at 91 GHz. It is designed for measurements of polarimetric signatures of the Earths surface and man-made objects. SPIRA combines a method for the measurement of the complete polarization state with a relatively fast high-resolution imager, which is suitable for a range of applications. The instrument measures all four Stokes parameters simultaneously and delivers images by mechanically scanning the scene with an elevation over azimuth scanner and an offset parabolic antenna. A two-channel heterodyne receiver is used for the reception of polarized radiation. The Stokes parameters are obtained by correlating two linear orthogonal-polarization components in a broadband analog adding correlator. In this paper, we present the design of the instrument and analyze its radiometric and polarimetric characteristics. The polarimetric calibration and a method for the characterization of the polarimetric calibration device are described. First polarimetric measurements are presented and discussed.

Sub-Millimeter-Wave Imaging Array at 500 GHz Based on 3-D Electromagnetic-Bandgap Material

The design, fabrication, and characterization of a 500-GHz electromagnetic bandgap (EBG) based heterodyne receiver array is presented. The array contained seven planar dipole antennas that were photolithographically defined on a common 20-mum-thick quartz substrate. Each antenna incorporated a Schottky diode and was connected to coplanar transmission lines that conveyed the down-converted 500-GHz signals to detectors. The quartz substrate was backed by a silicon EBG woodpile structure, which reduced antenna crosstalk and increased directivity. An off-axis parabolic mirror completed the beam-forming network.

Transmission and reflection characteristics of slightly irregular wire-grids with finite conductivity for arbitrary angles of incidence and grid rotation

In the first half of this paper, an efficient method to calculate transmission and reflection characteristics of wire-grids consisting of periodic arrays of cylindrical conductors for arbitrary directions of incidence is presented by extending exact theory of wire-grids proposed by Yasumoto et al. In the latter half of this paper, an approximate calculation method for wire-grids with slight random irregularity in their spacings between wires is proposed by treating the irregularity as a small perturbation to the theory for regular grids. A comparison with preliminary measurements for actual wire-grids in millimeter- and submillimeter-wave regions demonstrated that this method is effectively applicable to wire-grids whose irregularity is not too much.

Design and Characterization of a Peltier-Cold Calibration Target for a 110-GHz Radiometer

Blackbody targets are needed for the calibration of radiometers for remote sensing applications. The use of hot and cold references is essential for an accurate calibration. Commonly, the cold loads are made with liquid nitrogen, but for a campaign instrument, this is not a sustainable option. In this paper, we present the design, construction, and characterization of a new cold calibration target for a microwave radiometer operated at 110 GHz for the detection of pressure-broadened spectra from atmospheric ozone. The target is cooled with Peltier elements. Heat transfer simulations were made to optimize the design and minimize temperature gradients. Several tests were performed with a vector network analyzer, a radiometer, and a network of thermometers in order to characterize the blackbody built. Results show a homogeneous temperature along the absorber surface, notably low reflections, and a very high emissivity.

Free-space transmission method for the characterization of dielectric and magnetic materials at microwave frequencies

In this work we will present new method, retrieved results and validation for complex and frequency dependent permittivity and permeability parameter extraction of two composite, homogeneous and isotropic magnetically loaded microwave absorbers (CR Eccosorb). Permittivity and permeability are extracted from free space transmission measurements for frequencies up to 140GHz. For the results validation, reflection measurements (samples with and without metal backing) are performed and are compared with simulations that use extracted models. The same method is applied in complex and frequency dependent permittivitymodel extractionof commercially available epoxies StycastW19andStycast 2850FT.

Effects of Resonances in Corrugated Horn Antennas for a 22-GHz Balancing Radiometer

The Stratospheric WAter vapor RAdiometer (SWARA) is a microwave radiometer designed for ground-based measurements of water vapor (H2O) in the middle atmosphere (20 to 80 km), including the stratosphere and mesosphere. The instrument is operating in a noncryogenic balancing calibration mode. Since its deployment, features have been observed in the spectrum which can be attributed to resonant variations of the antenna pattern of the corrugated horn. This paper presents copolar and crosspolar antenna pattern measurements of two sister antennas of the SWARA horn, as well as water vapor measurements from both antennas on the ground-based microwave radiometer MI ddle Atmospheric WAter vapor RA diometer. We show that small irregularities in the frequency spectrum at the -20-dB level are visible in the copolar pattern, which, due to the balancing operation scheme used for the radiometer, lead to features in the spectrum that have the same or even higher brightness temperature as the line of interest.Hard and soft classification techniques are the conventional ways of image classification on satellite data. These classifiers have number of drawbacks. Firstly, these approaches are inappropriate for mixed pixels. Secondly, these approaches do not consider spatial variability. Kriging based soft classifier (KBSC) is a non-parametric geostatistical method. It exploits the spatial variability of the classes within the image. This letter compares the performance of KBSC with other conventional hard/soft classification techniques. The satellite data used in this study is the Wide Field Sensor (WiFS) from the Indian Remote Sensing Satellite -1D (IRS-1D). The ground hyperspectral signatures acquired from the agricultural fields by a hand held spectroradiometer are used to detect subpixel targets from the satellite images. Two measures of closeness have been used for accuracy assessment of the KBSC to that of the conventional classifications. The results prove that the KBSC is statistically more accurate than the other conventional techniques.