Initial Results of Microwave Radiometric Imaging With Mirrored Aperture Synthesis

• Published in: IEEE transactions on geoscience and remote sensing Vol. 57; no. 10; pp. 8105 - 8117
• Main Authors: Dou, Haofeng, Lang, Liang, Guo, Wei, Gui, Liangqi, Li, Qingxia, Chen, Liangbing, Bi, Xiaojun, Wu, Yuanchao, Lei, Zhenyu, Li, Yufang, Chen, Ke
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York IEEE 01.10.2019; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Antenna arrays; Antennas; Apertures; Brightness temperature; Imaging; Imaging techniques; Interference; Liquid nitrogen; Microwave radiometry; Mirrored aperture synthesis (MAS); passive microwave remote sensing; Resolution; Spatial discrimination; Spatial resolution; Styrofoam; Synthesis
• ISSN: 0196-2892; 1558-0644
• DOI: 10.1109/TGRS.2019.2918308

The concept, principle, and method of microwave radiometric imaging with mirrored aperture synthesis (MAS) were proposed by the Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST), Wuhan, China. MAS can achieve higher spatial resolution without extending the size of the antenna array. However, the MAS principle has not been sufficiently validated by practical experiments. To solve this problem, an innovative experiment system of MAS at the V-band (MAS-V) has been developed by HUST. Experiments on the interference fringe pattern, spatial resolution, as well as the imaging of an electric warmer and the absorbing material in the styrofoam box filled with liquid nitrogen are performed. The initial experimental results demonstrate that MAS can achieve higher spatial resolution with the same antenna array compared with the conventional AS. For MAS, the experimental results are consistent with theory and simulation results.