Development of a 22 GHz ground-based 1 spectrometer for middle atmospheric water vapour monitoring

• Published in: European Journal of Remote Sensing
• Main Authors: Bertagnolio, P. P., Muscari, G., Baskaradas, J. A.
• Other Authors: Bertagnolio, P. P.; Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Sezione Roma2, Roma, Italia, Muscari, G.; Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Sezione Roma2, Roma, Italia, Baskaradas, J. A.; Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Sezione Roma2, Roma, Italia, Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Sezione Roma2, Roma, Italia
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Associazione Italiana Telerilevamento 2012
• Subjects: microwave remote sensing; water vapour; stratosphere; Antarctica; antenna measurements; 01. Atmosphere::01.01. Atmosphere::01.01.99. General or miscellaneous; 01. Atmosphere::01.01. Atmosphere::01.01.08. Instruments and techniques; Alta; Antarc*
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2122/7360; http://server-geolab.agr.unifi.it/public/completed/2012_EuJRS_45_051_061_Bertagnolio.pdf; https://doi.org/10.5721/EuJRS20124506

The water Vapour Emission SPectrometer for Antarctica at 22 GHz (VESPA-22) has been 15 designed for long-term middle atmospheric climate change monitoring and satellite data 16 validation. It observes the water vapour spectral line at 22.235 GHz using the balanced beam17 switching technique. The receiver antenna has been characterized, showing an HPBW of 3.5°and a sidelobe level 40 dB below the main lobe. The receiver front-end has a total gain of 105 dB and a LNA noise temperature of 125 K. A FFT spectrometer (bandwidth 1 GHz, resolution 63 20 kHz) will be used as back-end, allowing the retrieval of H2O concentration profiles in the 20 to 80 km altitude range. The control I/O interface is based on reconfigurable hardware (USB22 CPLD). Published 51-61 1.7. Osservazioni di alta e media atmosfera 1.10. TTC - Telerilevamento N/A or not JCR open