A new microwave aperture synthesis radiometer for spectral imaging

Our spectral microwave aperture synthesis radiometer system combines the capabilities of high spatial resolution for passive microwave imaging with spectral sensing within a wide frequency range of 1.4 GHz to 6.5 GHz. The application of the aperture synthesis principal allows high resolution imaging with a highly thinned not mechanically moving antenna/receiver array. The spectral observation allows the extraction of more surface information about objects or materials, and also some depth information on layered structures can be obtained. Another advantage of that combination, i.e. a higher spatial resolution with increasing frequency and a higher penetration at lower frequencies, can enhance the overall imaging capability using combined processing for the image reconstruction. In this paper the basic system concept is outlined and first measurement results are shown.