Estimation of Marine Environmental Parameters Using Microwave Radiometric Remote Sensing Systems.

Abstract

This is an interim report on an ongoing program to develop a passive microwave system for the remote all-weather measurement of sea surface temperature from a satellite platform. It presents a general method for obtaining optimal linear algorithms for the reduction of multifrequency radiometer data to determine marine environmental variables. The mean square errors in determining the environmental variables are also determined thereby enabling the evaluation of different passive microwave radiometric systems. This method, called the 'Environmental Transfer Function', includes in its analysis the error contributions from three sources: errors in measuring microwave brightness temperature, the statistical variances of the environmental parameters, and uncertainties in the equations used to relate the brightness temperatures to the environmental parameters. The mathematical formulation is first developed and then an example application is given to evaluate the remote sensing capability of selected radiometric systems. (Author)