Calibration of the TUD Ku-band Synthetic Aperture Radiometer

The TUD Synthetic Aperture Radiometer is a 2-channel demonstration model that can simulate a thinned aperture radiometer having an unfilled aperture consisting of several small antenna elements. Aperture synthesis obtained by interferometric measurements using the antenna elements in pairs, followed by an image reconstruction based on an inverse Fourier transform, results in an imaging instrument without the need of mechanical scan. The thinned aperture and the non-scanning feature make the technique attractive for low frequency spaceborne radiometer systems, e.g. at L-band. Initial measurements are presented, and images suitable for demonstration of calibration, like distributed targets, has been measured