Ultra-Stable Radiometer for Sea Surface Salinity Sensing  

ProSensing, Inc.

Amherst, MA

Compact, L-band (1.4 GHz) Ultra-Stable Radiometer (USR) module incorporating cold-FET load for improved measurement accuracy and precision

• Developed USR for use in multi-channel radiometers for salinity and soil moisture mapping
  
• Surface mount design with integrated 125 K cold-FET load for improved measurement accuracy and precision over cool scenes, such as the ocean surface
  
• Reconfigurable for direct detection or IF offset output for digital correlator
  
• High stability design yields 0.05K Allan Deviation
  
• Integrated high precision ADC with serial interface for control and data download
  
• 1.5 W total power consumption
  
• Low cost

• 6 units incorporated in the Polarimetric L-band Microwave Radiometer (PLMR) delivered by ProSensing to University of Melbourne (Australia) in February, 2005
  
• 35 units delivered to NASA GSFC in July 2005 for use in the 2D-STAR synthetic aperture radiometer and the DWU (Direct detection radiometer for the Wing of a UAV)
  
• USR incorporated in the design of buoy-mounted above water and under-water salinity probes (NOAA Phase I SBIR, 2005)

• Airborne and satellite based synthetic aperture radiometers for soil moisture and salinity mapping
  
• Salinity and soil moisture mapping using very small UAVs
  
• Biofouling-resistant salinity probes on buoys
  

Return to NASA SBIR Success Listings 

Earth/Environmental Sciences; Sensors

Curator: SBIR Support              11/27/06