ESTAR: The Electronically Scanned Thinned Array Radiometer for Remote SensingMeasurement of Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity

摘要

The product of a working group assembled to help define the science objectivesand measurement requirements of a spaceborne L-band microwave radiometer devoted to remote sensing of surface soil moisture and sea surface salinity is presented. Remote sensing in this long-wavelength portion of the microwave spectrum requires large antennas in low-Earth orbit to achieve acceptable spatial resolution. The proposed radiometer, ESTAR, is unique in that it employs aperture synthesis to reduce the antenna area requirements for a space system.