PORTABLE LOW-MASS AND LOW-POWER MICROWAVE RADIOMETER WITH RADIOMETER ANTENNA AND RADIOMETER ELECTRONICS

The disclosed invention shows a portable stable low-mass microwave radiometer (0) for measuring microwaves in the spectral range between 1 and 300 GHz, comprising at least one patch array antenna (1) and a connected suitable electronics (2) with radio-frequency components and signal processing components, allowing more stable and more accurate measurements of brightness temperature while in particular mounted on an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). This is reached with a patch array antenna (1) comprising at least one patch array (10, 10') with a patch substrate layer (100, 100') of a dielectric material with a pattern of an even number of printed patches (101, 101') on a front side is printed, while printed patches (101, 101') are connected via inset-feds to striplines, wherein connector lines are connected to the striplines to be led from a backside of the patch substrate layer (100, 100') to and through a ground conductor layer (108, 108'), which is fixed to the backside of the patch substrate layer (100, 100') in a defined distance (d, d') forming an air gap (106, 106') between both layer (100, 100', 108, 108') by a multiplicity of spacers (107, 107').