The Aquarius/SAC-D is an Earth Science remote sensing satellite mission to measure global Sea Surface Salinity (SSS) that is sponsored by the NASA and the Argentine Space Agency (CONAE). The prime remote sensor is the Aquarius (AQ) L-band radiometer/scatterometer, which measures the L-band emitted blackbody radiation (brightness temperature) from the ocean. The brightness temperature at L-band is proportional to the ocean salinity as well as a number of physical parameters including ocean surface wind speed. The salinity retrieval algorithm make corrections for all other parameters before retrieving salinity, and the greatest of these is the increased brightness temperature due to roughness caused by surface wind speed. This thesis presents an independent approach for the AQ roughness correction, which is derived using simultaneous measurements from the CONAE Microwave Radiometer (MWR). When the wind blows over the ocean’s surface, the brightness temperature is increased because of the ocean wave surface roughness. The MWR provides a semi-empirical approach by measuring the excess ocean emissivity at 36.5 GHz and then applying radiative transfer theory (improved ocean surface emissivity model) to translate this to the AQ 1.4 GHz frequency (L-band). The theoretical basis of the MWR algorithm is described and empirical results are presented that demonstrate the effectiveness in reducing the salinity measurement error due to surface roughness.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ucf.edu/oai:stars.library.ucf.edu:etd-3132 |
| Date | 01 January 2012 |
| Creators | Hejazin, Yazan Henry |
| Publisher | STARS |
| Source Sets | University of Central Florida |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | Electronic Theses and Dissertations |
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