On the use of compact L-band Dicke radiometer (ARIEL) and UAV for soil moisture and salinity map retrieval: 2008/2009 field experiments

A light-weight L-band radiometer has been designed and implemented at the RS Lab of the Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya (UPC) to gather radiometric airborne data sets. The design of the compact L-band Dicke radiometer (ARIEL) and a general overview of the self-designed aircraft were described in. Preliminary results of the avionics and the radiometer have proven the system performance and capabilities for soil moisture and sea surface salinity retrieval applications. Among other activities, ARIEL will be involved in the SMOS CAL/VAL activities that will take place in the REMEDHUS site (Salamanca, Spain) during the second half of 2009.