Microwave Imaging Radiometer with Aperture Synthesis

Microwave Imaging Radiometer with Aperture Synthesis (MIRAS) is the major instrument on the Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity satellite (SMOS). MIRAS is a planar antenna composed of a central body (the so-called hub) and three telescoping, deployable arms, in total 69 receivers on the Unit. Each receiver is composed of one LICEF module, which detects radiation in the microwave L-band, both in horizontal and vertical polarizations.^[1] The aperture on the LICEF detectors, planar in arrangement on MIRAS, point directly toward the Earth's surface as the satellite orbits. The arrangement and orientation of MIRAS makes the instrument a 2-D interferometric radiometer. The MIRAS instrument's prime contractor was EADS CASA Espacio, manufacturing the payload of SMOS under ESA's contract.

LICEF

The LICEF detector is composed of a round patch antenna element, with 2 pairs of probes for orthogonal linear polarisations, feeding two receiver channels in a compact lightweight package behind the antenna.^[2] It picks up thermal radiation emitted by the Earth near 1.4 GHz in the microwave L-band, amplifies it 100 dB, and digitises it with 1-bit quantisation. MIER is the subcontractor.^[3]

References

1. ^ SMOS mission Payload. Living Planet Programme. ESA
2. ^ Operating Principles SMOS Mission, ICM-CSIC (Spanish Institute of Marine Sciences – Spanish National Research Council), updated July 2008
3. ^ Last batch of LICEF receivers delivered for SMOS. Living Planet Programme. ESA