A new 22-GHz radiometer for middle atmospheric water vapor profile measurements

Abstract

We report on the Middle Atmospheric Water Vapor Radiometer (MIAWARA) instrument, a new ground-based 22-GHz-radiometer that provides water vapor profiles with an altitude coverage of 22-80 km. This paper focuses on the instrumentation and calibration of the new instrument. It is a noncooled instrument with a very low receiver noise temperature, even lower than receiver noise temperatures of existing cooled instruments. The calibration of MIAWARA is achieved with so-called tipping-curve and balanced calibration schemes. The combination of these two calibration techniques allows us to set up a different calibration scheme than most of the other, rarely existing, water vapor profile radiometers at 22 GHz without the commonly used liquid nitrogen calibration. With the use of tipping-curve calibrations, the instrument operates as a standalone instrument. This independence of liquid-nitrogen-cooled calibration targets and of other instruments makes MIAWARA a suitable instrument for campaign use. In addition to the instrumental and calibrational description, a validation technique for the tipping-curve calibration is presented. Finally, first results obtained by measurements carried out in the Swiss plateau are reported.