Low Frequency Microwave Radiometer For N-ROSS

The all-weather, global determination of sea surface temperature (SST) has been identified as a requirement needed to support naval operations. The target SST accuracy is \pm1.0 K with a surface resolution of 10 km. Investigations of the phenomenology and technology of remote passive microwave sensing of the ocean environment over the past decade have demonstrated that this objective is presently attainable. Preliminary specification and trade-off studies have been conducted to define the frequency, polarization, scan geometry, antenna size, and other essential parameters of the Low Frequency Microwave Radiometer (LFMR). It will be a dual-polarized, dual-frequency system at 5.2 and 10.4 GHz using a 5.9 meter deployable mesh surface antenna. It is to be flown on the Navy-Remote Ocean Sensing System (N-ROSS) satellite scheduled to be launched in late 1988.