Microwave Radiometers
Areas of Application
RPG offers microwave and sub-mm radiometers for a wide range of applications. We deliver turn-key systems with fully functional software control and data acquisition with state-of-the-art technology.
Our microwave radiometers are used for measurements of
- Vertical profiles of atmospheric temperature (up to 10 km)
- High-precision vertical profiles of boundary-layer temperature (0.2 K RMS at 100 m, 0.5 K RMS at 1000m)
- Vertical profiles of atmospheric humidity (up to 10 km, absolute and relative humidity)
- Column-integrated total amount of water vapour (IWV, integrated water vapour, kg/m²)
- Column-integrated total amount of liquid water (LWP, liquid water path, kg/m²)
- Vertical profiles of cloud liquid water (limited resolution)
- Atmospheric stability (now-casting of convection, thunderstorms)
- Measurement of fog
- Zenith and slant path wet delay, dry delay, total delay
- Attenuation of radio-propagation
- Soil moisture, snow- and vegetation cover
Support and Service Contact
For all our radiometer systems, we manage support, service, and requests for (customized) quotes through radiometer-support@radiometer-physics.de.
| Product Line | Model | Frequencies | Applications | Description & Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RPG-xxxPRO
(Microwave Profiling Radiometers for atmospheric vertical profiles) |
HATPRPO | 22.24 – 31.4 GHz, 51.0 – 58.0 GHz |
Humidity + temperature profiles (high precision in boundary layer), clouds, IWV, LWP, stability | The RPG-xxxPRO radiometer series is mainly used to derive
vertical profiles of atmospheric
temperature and humidity
(including boundary layer profiling, and low-humidity applications).
Liquid cloud properties are also derived, with IR-radiometer extension also ice clouds.
Applications: Meteorological Observations, Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP), forecasting, now-casting, climate monitoring, aviation meteorology, astronomy, geodesy. Documentation for download: Technical Note (brochure) on Profiling Radiometers RPG Standard MWR Installation and Maintenance Manual RPG Standard MWR Software and Operations Manual RPG Standard MWR Technical Specifications and References RPG Standard MWR Guide to Measurements and Deployment |
| LHARPRO | 51.0 – 58.0 GHz, 183.31 GHz (6 DSB-channels to ±7.5 GHz) |
Like HATPRO, but for Low-humidity (high altitudes, cold environments, PWV < 3 mm) | ||
| TEMPRO | 51.0 – 58.0 GHz | Temperature profiles, Boundary layer temperature profiling | ||
| HUMPRO | 22.24 – 31.4 GHz | Humidity profiles, clouds, IWV, LWP | ||
| LHUMPRO | 183.31 GHz (6 DSB-channels up to ±7.5 GHz) | Low-Humidity high-precision profiles (clouds: limited accuracy) | ||
|
RPG-LWP-XXX Liquid Water Path |
LWP | 23.8 & 31.4 GHz (23.8/36.5 GHz optional) |
Standard two-channel radiometer for estimation of IWV and LWP |
The RPG-LWP-XXX series of liquid water path radiometers is meant for
measurements of total water vapour (IWV, integrated water vapour),
and total cloud water (LWP, liquid water path).
Higher sensitivity to low-density (thin) clouds can be achieved by upgrading the standard LWP radiometer with higher frequencies. Atmospheric attenuation measurements (e.g., for beacon experiments) can be performed. Documentation for download: Technical Note (brochure) on Liquid Water Path (LWP) Radiometers RPG Standard MWR Installation and Maintenance Manual RPG Standard MWR Software and Operations Manual RPG Standard MWR Technical Specifications and References RPG Standard MWR Guide to Measurements and Deployment |
| LWP-U90 | 23.8, 31.4, 90 GHz | Improved sensitivity to thin clouds | ||
| LWP-U150 | 23.8, 31.4, 150 GHz | Improved sensitivity to thin clouds | ||
| LWP-U72-82 | 23.8, 31.4, 72.5, 82.5 GHz | Improved sensitivity to thin clouds, attenuation measurements for data links |
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| LWP-90-150 | 90 & 150 GHz | Observation of thin-clouds only. Ideal extension of all above radiometers in master-slave mode. |
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|
RPG-Tau-XXX Tipping Radiometers for Opacity |
Tau-225 | 225 GHz | Atmospheric opacity, radio astronomy. |
The RPG-Tau-XXX series of tipping radiometers is meant for
measurements of atmospheric opacity (Tau) in variable observation directions.
The main application is opacity estimation for the precise observing frequencies in radio astronomy experiments. Documentation for download: Technical Note (brochure) on Liquid Water Path (LWP) Radiometers RPG Standard MWR Installation and Maintenance Manual RPG Standard MWR Software and Operations Manual RPG Standard MWR Technical Specifications and References RPG Standard MWR Guide to Measurements and Deployment |
| Tau-225-350 | 225 & 350 GHz | Atmospheric opacity, radio astronomy. | ||
| RPG-DP-XXX
Dual-Polarization Radiometers |
DP-10-21-36 | 10.7, 21.0, 36.5 GHz | The ADMIRARI type of radiometer. Optimized for rain/cloud observation. | Dual polarized multi-channel radiometers (RPG-DPOL-Series) (6.9, 10.7, 18.7, 19.0, 21.0, 36.6, 80, 90, 150 GHz)
for the observation of thick clouds (high LWP) and rain.
Documentation for download: Technical Note (brochure) on Dual-Polarization Radiometers RPG Dual-Pol. MWR complete refernce manual |
| DP-6-10-19-36 | 6.9, 10.7, 19.0 (or 18.7), 36.5 GHz | Surface observations, soil moisture, snow layers, vegetation cover, etc. | ||
| DP-90-150 | 90 & 150 GHz | Observation of thin cloud and snow/ice properties. | ||
| ADMIRARI-Plus | 10.7, 21.0, 36.5, 150 GHz | Improved ADMIRARI type for atmospheric rain and ice/snow observation | ||
| DP-XXX | any 4 frequencies (above 6 GHz) |
Customer-selectable combination | ||
| Deployment examples |
Our microwave radiometers have been deployed all around the world, in all climates, all
weather conditions, all possible altitudes.
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| Measurement examples |
Gallery of measurements and validation results,
demonstrating the capabilities of our instruments.
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| Publications and science material |
Comprehensive selection of relevant publications for
microwave remote sensing with groundbased radiometers.
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| Software Support, Manuals, Downloads |
RPG is updating the radiometer operating software on a regular basis. There are two versions of the software (and also the manuals), one for the single-polarization radiometers (RPG-xxxPRO, RPG-LWP-XXX, RPG-Tau-XXX), and another set for the Dual-Polarization radiometer series (RPG-DP-XXX).
You need to download two executable files for both, the radiometer internal PC as well as the external host PC (which is establishing the connection to the instrument). The software can be found on our FTP server at ftp.radiometer-physics.de/pub/Radiometer/HATPRO/ |
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