10 GHz remote sensing radiometer

The two temperature continuously calibrated (TTCC) radiometer technique was developed to fill the need for a low cost airborne radiometer, providing high resolution (0.1 K) and moderate absolute accuracy (2 K). The technique is essentially a conventional superheterodyne receiver with the addition of the directional coupler, noise generator block, and a switch to control the local oscillator. No microwave switches are present in the radiometer: this not only eliminates a high cost component, but also eliminates a source of added noise to the receiver.