Statistics of Ku-band microwave response of the United States with a satellite borne radiometer/scatterometer

Abstract

The author has identified the following significant results. The Skylab S-193 radiometer/scatterometer collected thousands of measurements of scattering coefficient and brightness temperature over various parts of the United States during the summer of 1973 at angles of incidence between vertical and about 45 deg. These measurements have been combined to produce histograms of the response at each of several angles within this range, and to establish average scattering coefficient vs angle curves with 10% and 90% exceedance levels as well. The variation of the radiometric measurements is primarily in the region from 255 K to 285 K, with very few measurements giving higher values, but a significant, though small, number giving values down to and even below 200 K. The scattering coefficient varies, for the mean, from about 0 db at 1 deg off vertical to a low in the neighborhood of -10 db at 45 deg. The variability of the scattering coefficient measurements with this coarse resolution sensor is surprisingly small. The number of distinguishable levels is slightly more for the scatterometer than for the radiometer, but the amount of variation in brightness temperature caused by the physical temperature of the ground is enough so that the scatterometer can be used to distinguish significantly more meaningful levels than the radiometer