Disclaimer: This material is being kept online for historical purposes. Though accurate at the time of publication, it is no longer being updated. The page may contain broken links or outdated information, and parts may not function in current web browsers. Visit the NASA Salinity website for more information.

Science Meetings

Aquarius Third Stokes Parameter Measurements: Initial Results
Utku, C., Le Vine, D.M., Abraham, S., and Piepmeier, J. (28-Sep-15)

The Aquarius/SAC-D observatory was launched on June 10, 2011 and the Aquarius instrument has been collecting data continuously since late August. One of the unique features of the L-band radiometers comprising Aquarius is the presence of a polarimetric channel to measure the third Stokes parameter. The purpose is to provide a measure of Faraday rotation, which can be important for remote sensing at L-band, especially in the case of remote sensing of salinity which requires high precision. Initial results are presented here showing a reasonable agreement between retrieved and modeled Faraday rotation and also the “noisy” behavior at land-water boundaries and other mixed scenes predicted by theory.