High Spectral Resolution Airborne Microwave Sounder (HiSRAMS)

A high spectral resolution airborne microwave sounder has been developed by Omnisys Instruments in collaboration with the National Research Council Canada (NRC) and McGill University from a European Space Agency (ESA) funding. Two single sideband radiometers have been designed with different operating frequency range, 50 – 58 GHz and 176.3 – 184.3 GHz, observing the H and V polarizations. Each unit is composed of two heterodyne receivers combined with 2 polyphase digital Fast Fourier Transform spectrometers with 5 GHz bandwidth, with up to 16384 channels. The microwave sounder presents system noise temperatures below 250K and 850 K for the 54 GHz band and 183 GHz band, respectively. The two units have been installed onboard the NRC Convair-580 research aircraft for high spectral resolution remote sensing of the atmosphere