The Aquarius Scatterometer: An Active System for Measuring Surface Roughness for Sea-Surface Brightness Temperature Correction

The Aquarius scatterometer is a total-power L-band radar system for estimating ocean surface roughness. Its measurements will enable the removal of wind effects from the Aquarius radiometer ocean-surface brightness temperature measurements being used to retrieve ocean salinity. The Aquarius scatterometer is a relatively simple, low-spatial resolution power-detecting radar, without ranging capability. But to meet its science requirement, it must be very stable, with repeatability on the order of 0.1 dB over several days, and calibrated accuracy to this level over several months. Data from this instrument over land as well as ocean areas will be available for a variety of geophysical applications.