An End-to-End Simulation of Ocean Salinity Using L/S/C TRI-Frequency Radiometer for Water Cycle Observation Mission (WCOM)

Water Cycle Observation Mission (WCOM) is an earth science mission focused on the research of water cycle under global change with three dedicated designed payloads. The main payload in WCOM named Interferometric Microwave Imager (IMI) is an L/S/C tri-frequency one-dimensional aperture synthesis radiometer aiming at measuring the key parameters of soil moisture and ocean salinity. In this paper, first the instrument concept and system design of WCOM/IMI is briefly introduced. Then an end-to-end simulation of ocean salinity using the L/S/C tri-frequency radiometer IMI is presented including the simulation procedure and algorithms. The simulation consists of three primary modules: forward TB generator, radiometer system and salinity retrieval. At last, the preliminary results of the simulation are illustrated.