Global Precipitation Measurement Microwave Imager Prelaunch Hot Load Calibration

For typical scanning microwave radiometers, a significant source of calibration error arises from thermal gradients on the hot load. Even when direct or reflected solar illumination is blocked, hot load gradients arise from thermal coupling between the target and the surface facing the target which is heated and cooled as the instrument orbits the earth. For the GlobalL Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Microwave Imager (GMI), a rotating metal annular ring called the “hot load tray” serves to guard the hot load against solar intrusion, and is the surface immediately facing the hot load during the majority of the scan. The planned GMI calibration algorithm corrects for the target gradients induced by thermal coupling between the hot load tray and hot load. The correction uses an empirically derived relationship between the target gradient and the temperature differential between the target and the tray. The correction is derived using target-level and GMI system-level calibration testing. The dual calibration of GMI, in connection with thermal vacuum calibration measurements, is a key aid to determining and correcting the hot load gradients.