Passive Active L- and S-band Sensor

Status

Operated By
PI

PALS is a combined polarimetric radiometer and NASA licensed radar sharing a rotating planar array antenna. The PALS instrument includes a combined L-band radiometer and scatterometer , operating at 1.413 GHz and 1.26 GHz respectively. It was designed and built to investigate the benefits of combining passive and active microwave sensors for Ocean salinity and Soil moisture remote sensing. It is the prototype for the Aquarius and SMAP missions and its flexible design is compatible with many aircraft.

The PALS radar and radiometer time share a dual pole, dual frequency planner array antenna. The antenna configuration can be fixed or rotating. It provides scalable resolution, between 3,000 and 20,000 feet AGL. It is an Aquarius and SMAP test bed.

PALS has flown on the NCAR C-130, NASA’s P-3 and Twin Otter International’s, Twin Otter. It is a very mature instrument, and has flown more than 800 hours, in support of NASA campaigns.

Instrument Type
Radar,
Scatterometer,
Radiometer
Measurements
Radar backscatter,
Ocean Salinity,
Soil Moisture
Aircraft
C-130H - WFF,
P-3 Orion - WFF,
Twin Otter - GRC,
DC-8 - AFRC
Point(s) of Contact
Sid Misra
(POC; PI),
Deborah G. Vane
(PI),
Steven J Dinardo
(PI),
Simon Yueh
(Prev PI),
Steven J Dinardo
(Prev PI)

 

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 Though accurate at the time of publication, it is no longer being updated.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 https://espo.nasa.gov for information about our current projects.