Research on Using Ground-Based K-Band Radiometers for Remote Sensing to Track Atmospheric Ducts over the Sea

In this paper, a new method for the remote sensing and monitoring of atmospheric ducts using K-band ground-based microwave radiometers is presented. It explains the principle of using K-band ground-based microwave radiometers to monitor atmospheric ducts and elucidates the mechanisms governing the formation of marine atmospheric ducts, as well as the associated atmospheric ducting phenomena for electromagnetic waves. According to the detection characteristics of K-band ground-based microwave radiometers, the emissivity of K-band ground-based microwave radiometers on the sea surface is calculated, and the obtained emissivity is used to judge whether atmospheric ducting occurs at sea. When the sea emissivity (η) in the microwave range is not between 0.3 and 0.9, it is judged that atmospheric ducting is occurring at sea. Otherwise, it is judged that there is no atmospheric ducting over the sea. In this paper, the feasibility and effectiveness, in the relevant areas, of using K-band ground-based microwave radiometers for the real-time monitoring of atmospheric ducts over the sea are verified. It solves the problem wherein the existing atmospheric-duct-monitoring equipment easily exposes targets and struggles to monitor all day in real time.