A Chinese Spaceborne Scanning Scatterometer (CNSCAT) design

The system design, principles, technical characteristics, and preliminary s imulation results of the China Spaceborne Scanning Scatterometer (China Sca nscat or CNSCAT) are introduced. This system uses two parabolic antennas, w hich do conical scanning around the axis normal to the observation surface. These two antennas (one for horizontal polarization and the other for vert ical polarization) are separated by 90-degrees in azimuth but have the same incident angle. The CNSCAT is different from the recently launched NASA Qu ickscat, although both of them use a pencil-beam antenna. In the design of CNSCAT, a near-field absolute calibration of the antenna is involved. The s imulation shows that the CNSCAT has the capability to retrieve the wind fie ld and can meet the design goal.