Aquarius/SAC-D Microwave Radiometer (MWR): Instrument description & brightness temperature calibration

Abstract

The K/Ka-Band Microwave Radiometer (MWR) on-board Aquarius/SAC-D mission is described here with details on its radiometric calibration. The calibration is separated in two major instrument parts viz. receiver and antenna switch-matrix. An on-orbit calibration using Naval Research Laboratory's WindSat radiometer is used to determine antenna pattern correction coefficients and residual biases.