Geolocation and pointing accuracy analyses of the WindSat flight data are presented. The two topics were intertwined in the flight data analysis and will be addressed together. WindSat has no unusual geolocation requirements relative to other sensors, but its beam pointing knowledge accuracy is especially critical to support accurate polarimetric radiometry. Pointing accuracy was improved and verified using geolocation analysis in conjunction with scan bias analysis. Two methods were needed ...
Postlaunch calibration of the WindSat polarimetric microwave radiometer indicates the presence of thermal gradients across the calibration warm load during some portions of the year. These gradients are caused by reflected solar illumination or eclipse and increase total calibration errors. This paper describes the WindSat warm load and presents the measured on-orbit data which clearly illustrate the anomalous responses seen in the warm load calibration data. Detailed thermal modeling predictions ...
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