The slant path atmospheric refraction calibrator: an instrument to measure the microwave propagation delays induced by atmospheric water vapor

The Slant Path Atmospheric Refraction Calibrator (SPARC) has been developed to measure the water-vapor-induced propagation delay experienced by a radio signal traversing the atmosphere. SPARC measures the difference in the travel times between an optical and a microwave signal propagating along the...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:IEEE transactions on geoscience and remote sensing 1992-05, Vol.30 (3), p.462-471
Main Authors: Walter, S.J., Bender, P.L.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Atmosphere
Atmospheric measurements
Earth, ocean, space
Exact sciences and technology
External geophysics
Instrumentation And Photography
Instruments
Interaction of atmosphere with electromagnetic waves
propagation
Meteorology
Microwave measurements
Microwave propagation
Optical propagation
Optical refraction
Optical sensors
Propagation delay
Refractive index
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Summary:The Slant Path Atmospheric Refraction Calibrator (SPARC) has been developed to measure the water-vapor-induced propagation delay experienced by a radio signal traversing the atmosphere. SPARC measures the difference in the travel times between an optical and a microwave signal propagating along the same atmospheric path. Since the refractivity of dry air is similar for both the microwave and optical signals, the difference in arrival times is a sensitive measure of the water-vapor-induced microwave delay. The instrument is capable of measuring the difference in the optical and microwave travel times with an accuracy of 15 ps or better. SPARC was developed to provide an accurate, independent method for evaluating other techniques used to determine the atmospheric water-vapor-induced delay.< >
ISSN:0196-2892
1558-0644
DOI:10.1109/36.142924