Performance optimization of the multifrequency imaging microwave radiometer (MIMR)

For a spaceborne scanning radiometer the main requirements are given in terms of radiometric resolution, spectral resolution and spatial resolution. The radiometer uncertainty principle affirms that the above resolutions are interrelated, and it is not possible to optimize one of them without degrading one or both of the other two ones (for a given scanning and orbital configuration). The purpose of this paper is therefore to identify an optimization strategy which accounts for the global performance of the channels system and to describe the relevant implementation applied on MIMR, which is a 20 channel, 6 frequency passive radiometric system receiving both vertically and horizontally linearly polarized radiation at 6.8, 10.65, 18.7, 23.8, 36.5, and 89 GHz