Calibration and error analysis of a Ka-band fully polarimetric radiometer built with wideband microstrip correlator

In this paper we present calibration and error analysis of our Ka-band fully polarimetric radiometer, the radiometer used a wideband microstrip correlator. The calibration method is based on the tri-polarimetric calibration technique of Gasiewski and Kunkee, but is extended to provide the calibration of the fourth Stokes parameter using a retarder plate. A method to determine the phase shift of the retarder plate is introduced, a calibration matrix inversion technique is described as well. The calibration uncertainties and calibration error analysis are discussed at last.