Initial Results of Microwave Radiometric Imaging With Mirrored Aperture Synthesis

Abstract

The concept, principle, and method of microwave radiometric imaging with mirrored aperture synthesis (MAS) were proposed by the Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST), Wuhan, China. MAS can achieve higher spatial resolution without extending the size of the antenna array. However, the MAS principle has not been sufficiently validated by practical experiments. To solve this problem, an innovative experiment system of MAS at the V-band (MAS-V) has been developed by HUST. Experiments on the interference fringe pattern, spatial resolution, as well as the imaging of an electric warmer and the absorbing material in the styrofoam box filled with liquid nitrogen are performed. The initial experimental results demonstrate that MAS can achieve higher spatial resolution with the same antenna array compared with the conventional AS. For MAS, the experimental results are consistent with theory and simulation results.