Radiometer Systems

microware remote sensing

S. Cruz Pol
 Microwave Sensors

Tx Rx Rx

Radar
Radiometer
(active sensor) (passive sensor)
2 UPR, Mayagüez Campus
 Radiometers

 Radiometers are very sensitive receivers that

measure thermal electromagnetic emission
(noise) from material media.
 The design of the radiometer allows
measurement of signals smaller than the
noise introduced by the radiometer (system’s
noise).

3 UPR, Mayagüez Campus

 Topics of Discussion
 Equivalent Noise Temperature
 Noise Figure & Noise Temperature
• Cascaded System
• Noise for Attenuator
• Super-heterodyne Receiver
 System Noise Power at Antenna
 Radiometer Operation
 Measurement Accuracy and Precision
 Effects of Rx Gain Variations

4 UPR, Mayagüez Campus

 Topics of Discussion (cont.)
 Dicke Radiometer
 Balancing Techniques
• Reference -Channel Control
• Antenna-Channel Noise-Injection
• Pulse Noise-Injection
• Gain-Modulation
 Automatic-Gain Control (AGC)
 Noise-Adding radiometer
 Practical Considerations &Calibration
Techniques
5 UPR, Mayagüez Campus
 Radiometer’s Task:
Measure antenna temperature, TA’ which is
proportional to TB, with sufficient
radiometric resolution and accuracy
 TA’ varies with time.
 An estimate of TA’ is
TA’ found from
TA
Vout and
TB
 the radiometer
resolution DT.

Vout
6 UPR, Mayagüez Campus
 Noise voltage
 The noise voltage is
4hfBR
Vn  hf / kT 
1
Rayleigh
e Jeans

 the average=0 and the rms is

V2
rms  V n
2


7 UPR, Mayagüez Campus

Noisy resistor connected to a matched load
is equivalent to… [ZL=(R+jX)*=R-jX]

Pn  Vn I 
8 UPR, Mayagüez Campus
  Ideal radiometer

B, G
TA radiometer
Pn=k B G TA

 “Real” radiometer
TA =200K B, G
radiometer
Pn=k B G (TA + TN)
TN =800K
TA  TN Usually we want DT=1K,
DT 
9 B t so we need B=100MHz
UPR, Mayagüez Campus and t =10msec
 Equivalent Output Noise
Temperature for any noise source
Receiver
antenna

TE is defined for any noise source when connected to a

matched load. The total noise at the output is

Pno  kTE B
10 UPR, Mayagüez Campus
 Measurement Accuracy and
Precision

 Accuracy – how well are the values of

calibration noise temperature known
in the calibration curve of output
corresponding to TA‘ .
 Precision – smallest change in TA‘ that
can be detected by the radiometer
output.

11 UPR, Mayagüez Campus

 Noise Figure, F
Measures degradation of noise through the device

input signal Total

input thermal output
signal
noise
Total
Si / N i Psi / Pni output
F  noise
S o / N o Pso / Pno

Noise
introduced
by device TE  ( F  1)To

 is defined
12 for To=290K (62.3oF!)
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 Noise Figure, F

 Noise figure is usually expressed in dB

Pso  GPsi
Pno  FdB  10 log F

Psi / Pni
F 
Pso / Pno

 Solving for output noise power

Pno  DPno 
13 UPR, Mayagüez Campus
Equivalent input noise TE
 Noise due to device is referred to the input of the
device by definition:

DPno  ( F  1)GkTo B  GkTE B

 So the effective input noise temp of the device is

TE  ( F 1)To or F  1  TE / To
 Where, to avoid confusion, the definition of noise
has been standardized by choosing To=290K (room
temperature)

14 UPR, Mayagüez Campus

 Cascade System
Pno  G1G2 Pni  G1G2 PE1  G2 PE 2
 TE 2 
 G1G2 k  T1  TE1   B
 G1 
 G1G2 Pin  PE 
 G1G2 k T1  TE B

TE 2
TE  TE1 
G1
TE F2  1
F  1  F1 
To G1
15 UPR, Mayagüez Campus
 Noise for an Attenuator

Pi
L  1/ G 
Po
Pno  kTp B
1
Pno  kTp B  DPno
L
PE  LDPno  ( L  1)kTp B  kTE B
where
TE  ( L  1)T p
F  1  ( L 16
1)T p / To  L UPR, Mayagüez Campus
 Superheterodyne receiver
G=23dB
F=7.5dB
Pni RF amp IF amp Pno
Mixer
Grf ,Frf ,Trf LM,FM,TM Gif ,Fif ,Tif

G=30dB G=30dB
F=3.2dB F=2.3dB
LO
Trf=290(10.32-1)=638K
TM TIF
TREC  TRF    ... Tm=1,340K
GRF GRF GM Tif=203K

1340 203 UPR, Mayagüez Campus

TREC  638 17
   ...  639.34 K
10 3
10  200
3
Total Power Radiometer

Super-heterodyne
receiver: uses a
mixer, L.O. and IF
to down-convert
RF signal.

18 UPR, Mayagüez Campus

Detection

19 UPR, Mayagüez Campus

Noise voltage IF
after IF amplifier
It can be shown that the mean value for the noise voltage is
Ve2  2 2
Assuming R  1
PIF  Ve2  2 2
where  is the standard deviation
The output of the square - law detector, Vd is
Vd  CdVe2
where Cd is the detector constant, e.g. Cd  7 μV/μW

The average value of detector v oltage is

Vd  Cd Ve2  2Cd  2  UPR, PIF  Campus
Cd Mayagüez Cd GkBTSYS
20
 Noise voltage after detector

Since IF
p (Vd )dVd  p (Ve )dVe x2

1 
Vd square-law
Then p (Vd )  e Vd
detector
Vd
Vd
the variance of Vd is  d
r
 d2  Vd2  Vd2  Vd2 e
p
So,  d2 / Vd2  1 or
r
σd e
1
Vd s
21 e
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 Noise voltage after Integrator

 Integrator (low pass Low-pass

filter) averages the x2 t, gLF
signal over an interval of
integrator
time t.
 Integration of a signal
with bandwidth B during
that time, reduces the The voltage at the output of the low - pass filter
variance by a factor σ out
2
σ d2 1
 
N=Bt, where B is the IF Vout2 Vd2 Bt
bandwidth. or
σ out 1
UPR, Mayagüez Campus 
22
Vout Bt
 Radiometric Resolution, DT

 The output voltage Low-pass

x2 t, gLF
of the integrator is
related to the integrator
average input
power, Psys

Vout  g LF Vd  g LF Cd GkBTSYS
 GS TSYS
σ out DTsys 1 TA'  TREC
Tsys '
  DTsys  
Vout23 Tsys Bt UPR, Mayagüez CampusBt Bt
Receiver Gain variations

 Noise-caused uncertainty TSYS

DTN 
Bt
 Gain-fluctuations uncertaintyExample p.368
T’Rec=600K
DGS
DTG  TSYS T’A=300K
GS B=100MHz
t=0.01sec
 Total rms uncertainty DG S
 .01
GS
DT  DTN 2  DTG 2 Find the radiometric
resolution, DT
24 UPR, Mayagüez Campus
Dicke Radiometer

Noise-Free
Pre-detection Section
Gain = G
Bandwidth = B

•Dicke Switch
•Synchronous
Demodulator
25 UPR, Mayagüez Campus
 Dicke Radiometer
The output voltage of the low pass filter in a Dicke
radiometer looks at reference and antenna at equal periods of
time with the minus sign for half the period it looks at the
reference load (synchronous detector), so
Vout  GS TA 'TREC '  TREF  TREC '
1
2

The receiver noise temperature cancels out and the total

uncertainty in T due to gain variations is

DGS
DTG  TA 'TREF 
GS

26 UPR, Mayagüez Campus

 Dicke radiometer
 The uncertainty in T due to noise when looking at
the antenna or reference (half the integration time)

T 'T ' 2 TA 'TREC '

DTN ref 

2 Tref  TREC ' 
DTN ant  A REC 
 Unbalanced
Bt / 2 Dicke Bradiometer
t resolution Bt

DT  DT   DT   DT  

G
2
N ant
2
N ref
2

 2TA 'TREC '2  2Tref  TREC '2  DG  2 

    S
 TA 'Tref  
2

 Bt  GS  
27 UPR, Mayagüez Campus
 Balanced Dicke

A balanced Dicke radiometer is designed so that

TA’= Tref at all times. In this case,

DT  DT   DT   DT  

G
2
N ant
2
N ref
2

 2TA 'TREC '2  2Tref  TREC '2  DGS  

    TA 'Tref  
2

 Bt  GS  
2TSYS 2TA 'TREC '
DT    2DTideal
Bt Bt
28 UPR, Mayagüez Campus
Balancing Techniques

 Reference Channel Control

 Antenna Noise Injection

 Pulse Noise Injection

 Gain Modulation

 Automatic Gain Control

29 UPR, Mayagüez Campus

 Reference Channel Control
Force T’A= T ref Switch driver and
Square-wave generator, fS

TA’ Pre-detection Integrator

Vout
Synchronous
G, B, TREC’ Demodulator t

Tref Feedback
Vc and
Variable
Attenuator
L Control circuit
at ambient
temperature
To TA'  Tref
TN  1 
TN
Tref   1  To if L 1 Tref  TN
Noise
Source L  L if L Tref  To
30 UPR, Mayagüez Campus
 Reference Channel Control
 TN and To have to cover the range of values that are expected to be
measured, TA’
 If 50k<TA’< 300K

TN  TA'  To
 Use To= 300K and need cryogenic cooling to achieve TN =50K.
 But L cannot be really unity, so need TN < 50K. To have this cold
reference load, one can use
 cryogenic cooled loads (liquid nitrogen submerged passive matched
load)
 active “cold” sources (COLDFET).

31 UPR, Mayagüez Campus

 Cryogenic-cooled Noise Source

 When a passive (doesn’t require output power to

work) noise source such as a matched load, is kept
at a physical temperature Tp , it delivers an average
noise power equal to kTpB
 Liquid N2 boiling point = 77.36°K

 Used on ground based radiometers, but not

convenient for satellites and airborne systems.
32 UPR, Mayagüez Campus
Active “cold or hot” sources

 http://www.maurymw.com/

 http://sbir.gsfc.nasa.gov/S
BIR/successes/ss/5-
049text.html

33 UPR, Mayagüez Campus

Active noise source-FET

 The power delivered by a noise source is

characterized using the ENR=excess noise ratio

Pn  Po kB(TN  To ) TN
ENR    1
Po kBTo To
ENR( dB)  10 log ENR
where TN is the noise temperature of the source and
To is its physical temperature.
 Example for 9,460K , ENR= 15 dB

34 UPR, Mayagüez Campus

 Antenna
Force T’ = T = T
Noise Injection
A ref o Switch driver and
Square-wave generator, fS

TA”
TA’ Vout
Coupler Pre-detection Synchronous
Integrator

G, B, Trec’
Demodulator t

T’N Tref
L Vc Feedback
and
Control circuit
Variable
Attenuator
TN
TA"  Tref  To  1 T
Noise TN'  To 1    N
Source
 1  T '  L L
TA"  TA' 1    N
35  Fc UPR, Mayagüez
Fc CampusFc = Coupling factor of the
directional coupler
 Antenna Noise Injection

 Combining the equations and solving for L

TN  To
L

FC  1 To  TA' 
from this equation, we see that To should be >TA’
 If the control voltage is scaled so that Vc=1/L, then Vc
will be proportional to the measured temperature,

FC  1
TA'
VC 
TN  To 
To  TA' 
36 UPR, Mayagüez Campus
Antenna Noise Injection

 For expected measured values between

50K and 300K, Tref is chosen to be
To=310K, so L
 Since the noise temperature seen by the
input switch is always To , the resolution
is
2To  TREC '
DT 
Bt
37 UPR, Mayagüez Campus
Example

50 K  TA'  300 K
20dB directiona l Coupler ( Fc  100)
TN  50,000 K (22dB ENR)
TN  To
L has to vary between 1.93 - 50 from L 

FC  1 To  TA' 
2To  TREC '
DT   2.02 K
Bt

38 UPR, Mayagüez Campus

 Pulse Noise Injection
Switch driver and
Square-wave generator, fS

TA”
TA’ Vout
Coupler Pre-detection Synchronous
Integrator

G, B, Trec’
Demodulator t

TN’
Tref
fr Feedback
Diode switch
Attenuation

and
Pulse-

Control circuit

Noise T  FC  1To  TA' 


fR
T  To t p
N
Source '
ON

39 UPR, Mayagüez Campus

 Pulse Noise Injection
tp Pulse repetition frequency = fR = 1/tR
tR
Pulse width = tp
Square-wave modulator frequency fS< fR/2

 TON
'
for 0  t  t p Switch ON – minimum attenuation

TN  
'

T ' for t  t  t Switch Off – Maximum attenuation

 OFF p R

TN’  1  TN Example:
T'
 To 1  
Diode OFF  L  L For L = 2, L = 100 , T = 300K
switch  off  off on off o
and T’N = 1000K
TN 40 We obtain
UPR, Mayagüez Campus T = 650K, T = 297K
on off
 Pulse Noise Injection
 1 TN'
T  To  1  T 
"
A
'
A
 Fc  Fc
 Reference T is controlled by the
frequency of a pulse

T  T t f  (1  t p f R )T
'
N
'
ON p R
'
OFF

 The repetition frequency is given by


FT  T '
   F  1T '

( F  1)(T  T '
A)
TON  TOFF t p TON'  To t p
C o OFF C A c o
fR ' '

41 For Toff = To, is proportional to T’A

UPR, Mayagüez Campus
Automatic-Gain-Control AGC

 Feedback is used to stabilize Receiver Gain

 Use sample-AGC not continuous-AGC since this
would eliminate all variations including those from
signal, TA’.
 Sample-AGC: Vout is monitored only during half-cycles
of the Dicke switch period when it looks at the
reference load.
 Hach in 1968 extended this to a two-reference-
temperature AGC radiometer, which provides
continuous calibration. This was used in RadScat on
board of Skylab satellite in 1973.

42 UPR, Mayagüez Campus

 Dicke Switch

 Two types
 Semiconductor diode switch, PIN
 Ferrite circulator
 Switching rate, fS ,
 High enough so that GS remains constant over one
cycle.
 To satisfy sampling theorem, fS >2BLF (Same as saying
that Integration time is t =1/2BLF)
http://envisat.esa.int/instruments/mwr/descr/charact.html
43 UPR, Mayagüez Campus
 Dicke Input Switch

Two important properties to

consider
 Insertion loss

 Isolation

 Switching time

 Temperature stability

http://www.erac.wegalink.com/members/DaleHug
hes/MyEracSite.htm
44 UPR, Mayagüez Campus
 Radiometer Receiver Calibration

 Most are linear systems vout  a(TA'  b)

 The radiometer is connected to two known loads,

one cold (usually liquid N2), one hot.
hot
vout  a(Tcalhot  b)
cold
vout  a(Tcalcold  b)

 Solve for a and b.

 Cold load :satellites
 use outer space ~2.7K
45 UPR, Mayagüez Campus
 Imaging Considerations

 Scanning configurations
 Electronic (beam steering)
• Phase-array (uses PIN diode or ferrite phase-
shifters, are expensive, lossy)
• Frequency controlled
 Mechanical (antenna rotation or feed rotation)
• Cross-track scanning
• Conical scanning (push-broom) has less variation in
the angle of incidence than cross-track

46 UPR, Mayagüez Campus

 Uncertainty Principle for
radiometers
M
DT 
Bt
 For a given integration time, t, there is a trade-
off between
 spectral resolution, B and
 radiometric resolution, DT
 For a stationary radiometer, make t larger.
 For a moving radiometer, t is limited since it will
also affect the spatial resolution. (next)

47 UPR, Mayagüez Campus

Airborne scanning radiometer

48 UPR, Mayagüez Campus

 Airborne scanning
Consider a platform at height h, moving at speed u,
antenna scanning from angles qs and –qs , with
beamwidth b, along-track resolution, Dx
 The time it takes to travel one beamwidth in
Dx
forward direction is t1 
u
2q s
 The angular scanning rate is 
t1

 The time it takes to scan through one beamwidth

b t1b
in
t
the transverse direction is the dwell time  
 2q
d
2

49 UPR, Mayagüez Campus

 Dwell time
 Is defined as the time that a point on the ground
is observed by the antenna beamwidth. Using
Dx  b h
b t1b Dx 2
 t d  resolution,
For better spatial   small t
 2q 2 2uq s h

 For better radiometric resolution, large t

Dx  2uhq st

 As a compromise, choose M
DT 
Bt

50
t td
UPR, Mayagüez Campus
 Radiometer Uncertainty Eq.

DT Dx B  M 2uhq s
Radiometric
resolution

Spatial Spectral
resolution resolution

51 UPR, Mayagüez Campus

WindSat first images @ Ka

52 UPR, Mayagüez Campus