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Effects of the Ionosphere on Passive Microwave Remote Sensing of Ocean Salinity from SpaceAmong the remote sensing applications currently being considered from space is the measurement of sea surface salinity. The salinity of the open ocean is important for understanding ocean circulation and for modeling energy exchange with the atmosphere. Passive microwave remote sensors operating near 1.4 GHz (L-band) could provide data needed to fill the gap in current coverage and to complement in situ arrays being planned to provide subsurface profiles in the future. However, the dynamic range of the salinity signal in the open ocean is relatively small and propagation effects along the path from surface to sensor must be taken into account. In particular, Faraday rotation and even attenuation/emission in the ionosphere can be important sources of error. The purpose or this work is to estimate the magnitude of these effects in the context of a future remote sensing system in space to measure salinity in L-band. Data will be presented as a function of time location and solar activity using IRI-95 to model the ionosphere. The ionosphere presents two potential sources of error for the measurement of salinity: Rotation of the polarization vector (Faraday rotation) and attenuation/emission. Estimates of the effect of these two phenomena on passive remote sensing over the oceans at L-band (1.4 GHz) are presented.
Document ID
20020022888
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
LeVine, D. M.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD United States)
Abaham, Saji
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD United States)
Hildebrand, Peter H.
Date Acquired
August 20, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 2001
Subject Category
Earth Resources And Remote Sensing
Meeting Information
Meeting: Specialist Meeting on Microwave Remote Sensing
Location: Boulder, CO
Country: United States
Start Date: November 5, 2001
End Date: November 9, 2001
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.

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