Radiometer Measurement Geometry of the Aquarius Sensor

Description: Aquarius was an active/passive microwave remote sensor that measured brightness temperature and radar backscatter at L-band. The antenna system's reflector produced three beams (pointed at incidence angles 25.8°, 33.8°, and 40.3° for the inner, middle, and outer beams, respectively) to obtain measurements in a push-broom fashion from feed horns pointed perpendicular to the flight direction. The beams created three fields of view at the Earth's surface resulting in a data swath of approximately 390km. Credit: NASA.