An airborne radiometer for stratospheric water vapor measurements at 183 GHz

The Airborne Millimeter- and Submillimeter Observing System (AMSOS) is a total-power radiometer for observations of the 183.3-GHz water vapor rotational line, operated onboard a Learjet aircraft of the Swiss Air Force. The radiometer is also used to observe the 175.45-GHz ozone line in the other sideband. The neatly designed quasi optics provide a regular and narrow output beam with a half-power beam-width angle of 1.2 degrees and efficient sideband switching. A lambda/4-quasi-optical isolator is used for baseline reduction securing attenuation of internal reflections by more than 30 dB. A low noise temperature of the ambient-temperature-operating system (1900 K) and excellent target pointing (better than OX) provide a good duty cycle and reliable calibration. A reliable control over the radiometer's operational parameters, like system stability and system temperatures, and higher automatization were required to come up with high demands of an onboard operation. The measured spectra look typical for the region and time where they were observed.