Design of Space-Based Ka-Band Radiometer Systems

Area 09 – Ingegneria industriale e dell'informazione

Millimeter-wave (mm-wave) radiometers are commonly employed in space-based scientific missions ranging from the observation of the Earth's atmosphere and oceanographic studies, to radio-astronomic experiments such as the measurement of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB). Space agencies are showing a great interest in the development of miniaturized instruments in such a way as to meet the mission constraints imposed by their adoption on micro- and nano-satellites. Generally speaking, each radiometers’ designer has to face common problems, either his instrument has to “look” at the sky or at the ground, either it is made for radio astronomy of meteorology or earth surface sensing. This book is the result of the work carried out during author’s PhD studies at the University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy. The book is mainly focused on the design aspects of the two main building-blocks of the radiometers: the low-noise amplifier (LNA) and the detector. A completely new concept for radiometric applications is also introduced in the final chapters.

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