Optical Display of Millimeter-Wavelength Radiometric Maps with Good Spatial, Temporal, and Temperature Resolutions

The ideal instrument for radio mapping would make high resolution maps in a short time with good temperature discrimination. Good temperature resolution, except at those wavelengths where the atmosphere is highly absorptive and/ or the state -of-the-art instrumentation has not developed sensitive radiometers, is usually not a limitation. In radio mapping, good spatial and temporal resolutions are conflicting and, generally, radio systems that have good spatial resolution have poor time resolution, and vice versa. This generalization is not true for some of the electronically scanning antenna systems operating at the longer wavelengths.