A microwave Dicke-type radiometer front-end for polarization studies of natural objects

The topic of this paper concerns the design and performance description of a microwave Dicke-type radiometer front-end polarization unit implemented with a conventional Y-circulator and two PIN diaphragms. A numerical evaluation of the contribution of the real components on the transmission coefficient in comparison with the ideal case of a front-end of matched components without losses is presented. Results of laboratory and field testing of the front-end unit are given. (Author)