Brightness Temperature of a Flat Water Surface
Joel T. Johnson
February 26th, 2002
1 Introduction
A flat water surface will be an important target for use in radiometer tests. This note
describes prediction of the brightness temperature TB of a flat water surface. The parameters
involved are:
• the frequency f (Hz), polarization (horizontal h or vertical v), and polar observation
angle θ of an observing radiometer
• The physical temperature T of the water surface (Celsius)
• The salinity S of the water in grams of salt/kilogram water. Units are also known as
“practical salinity units” or psu.
The pattern of the observing antenna is neglected in the following. The symbol is used to
represent the relative permittivity of the water.
2 Permittivity of water
Two models of the permittivity of sea water [1]-[2] are commonly applied at present. The
older model [1] has been found more successful at reproducing water surface observations at
L-band [3]. According to this model, the relative permittivity of sea water is given by
(1 − ∞ ) iσ
= ∞ + + (1)
1 − iωτ ω0
where 0 is the permittivity of free space, ω = 2πf is the radian frequency of the radiometer
in rads per sec, and
1 = (87.134 − 0.1949T − 0.01276T 2 + 0.0002491T 3 )
(1 + 1.613 × 10−5 T S − 0.003656S + 3.21 × 10−5 S 2 − 4.232 × 10−7 S 3 ) (2)
∞ = 4.9 (3)
τ = (1.1109 × 10−10 − 3.824 × 10−12 T + 6.398 × 10−14 T 2 − 5.096 × 10−16 T 3 )
(1. + 2.282 × 10−5 T S − 7.638 × 10−4 S − 7.760 × 10−6 S 2 + 1.105 × 10−8 S 3 ) (4)
σ = S(.18252 − 0.0014619S + 2.093 × 10−5 S 2 − 1.282 × 10−7 S 3 )
exp((T − 25)(0.02033 + 0.0001266(25 − T ) + 2.464 × 10−6 (25 − T )2
−S(1.849 × 10−5 − 2.551 × 10−7 (25 − T ) + 2.551 × 10−8 (25 − T )2 ))) (5)
A nominal value at 1413 MHz, T = 10 C, S = 35 grams/Kg is = 74.83 + i56.01.
1
3 Brightness temperature of a flat interface
For a flat interface, Kirchhoff’s law states that the brightness temperature (Kelvin) is given
by
TB = (T + 273.16) 1 − |Γ|2 (6)
where Γ is the Fresnel reflection coefficient of the flat interface:
√
cos θ − − sin2 θ
Γ = √ (7)
cos θ + − sin2 θ
for horizontal polarization, or
√
cos θ − − sin2 θ
Γ = √ (8)
cos θ + − sin2 θ
for vertical polarization. The value of found in the previous section and knowledge of T
and θ are thus sufficient to predict the water surface brightness temperature.
4 Example values
Figure 1 plots variations in horizontal and vertical brightness temperatures with observation
angle for frequency 1413 MHz, surface temperature 5 C, and salinity 35 psu. The plot
demonstrates the standard flat surface behaviors, with a strong Brewster angle effect in
vertical polarization. Note observation angles in the 45◦ to 55◦ range are preferred for Earth
observing satellites due to swath considerations. A strong contrast between polarizations is
observed for sea water in this range of angles.
Figure 2 plots variations in horizontal and vertical brightness temperatures with surface
temperature T for frequency 1413 MHz, salinity 35 psu, and observation angle 50 degrees.
The dependence of on temperature results in a more complex variation than the simple
T + 273.16 factor multiplying the brightness temperature in equation (6).
Figure 3 plots variations in horizontal and vertical brightness temperatures with fre-
quency from 1300 to 1500 MHz, for surface temperature T = 20 C, observation angle 50
degrees, and salinity 35 psu. A relatively strong variation in frequency is observed; we will
need to account for this with our widebandwidth system. In the 100 MHz bandwidth cen-
tered on 1413 MHz, the horizontal brightness is predicted to increase from 63.2 K to 64.4 K
while the vertical brightness is predicted to increase from 130.3 K to 132.3 K.
5 Sensitivity to salinity
Since the eventual goal of our project is to apply the technology to sea salinity sensing
systems, it is worthwhile to examine the sensitivities that result from the model. In the
open ocean, salinity values are expected to vary in the range 32 to 37 psu. NASA desires
remote measurements of salinity that are accurate to within 0.2 to 0.3 psu. Figure 4 plots
2
Klein and Swift, 1413 MHz, 35 psu
250
Horizontal
Vertical
200
Brightness temperature (K)
150
100
50
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
Observation angle (deg)
Figure 1: Variations in brightness temperatures with observation angle. T = 5 C, S = 35
psu, 1413 MHz
3
Klein and Swift, 1413 MHz, 35 psu
63.5
Horizontal Brightness (K)
63
62.5
62
5 10 15 20 25 30
Surface temperature (C)
130.5
Vertical Brightness (K)
130
129.5
129
5 10 15 20 25 30
Surface temperature (C)
Figure 2: Variations in brightness temperatures with water temperature. 50 degrees, S = 35
psu, 1413 MHz
4
Klein and Swift, 50 degrees, T=20 C, S=35 psu
65
Horizontal Brightness (K)
64
63
62
1300 1350 1400 1450 1500
Frequency (MHz)
133
Vertical Brightness (K)
132
131
130
129
128
1300 1350 1400 1450 1500
Frequency (MHz)
Figure 3: Variations in brightness temperatures with frequency. 50 degrees, T = 20 C,
S = 35 psu
5
Klein and Swift, 1413 MHz, T=20 C, 35 psu
0
−0.1 Horizontal
Vertical
−0.2
−0.3
Sensitivity K/psu
−0.4
−0.5
−0.6
−0.7
−0.8
−0.9
−1
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
Observation angle (deg)
Figure 4: Sensitivity to salinity. 50 degrees, T = 20 C, S = 35 psu, 1413 MHz
the sensitivity of brightess temperature to salinity (units K/psu) at 1413 MHz for T = 20 C,
S = 35 psu versus observation angle. These are computed through a numerical differentiation
of the corresponding brightness temperatures. The result illustrates that vertical polarization
is generally more sensitive to salinity variations than horizontal polarization. In both cases,
measurements of salinity to within 0.2 to 0.3 psu will require brightness temperature accuracy
of 0.1 K or better. Most proposed satellite L-band salinity systems will be polarimetric so
that both h and v polarized brightnesses will be obtained.
References
[1] Klein, L. A. and C. T. Swift, “An improved model for the dielectric constant of sea
water at microwave frequencies,” IEEE Trans. Ant. Prop., vol. AP-25, pp. 104–111,
1977.
[2] Ellison, W., A. Balana, G. Delbos, K. Lamkaouchi, L. Eymard, C. Guillou, and C.
Prigent, “New permittivity measurements of seawater,” Radio Science, vol. 33, pp.
639–648, 1998.
[3] Personal communication with W. Wilson, JPL.
