Radiometric Noise Characterization of the 183–664GHz Front-End Receivers for the MetOp-SG Ice Cloud Imager Instrument — Prospects for Future Missions

The 183–664 GHz heterodyne Schottky and MMIC based receivers for the Ice Cloud Instrument onboard MetOp-SG have been developed and tested against the most stringent requirements of an operation space mission. The Noise Figure and short-term gain stability (1/f) of these receivers was one of the key aspects to ensure the desired sensitivity at instrument level. A review of the methods and state-of-the-art results obtained on the Proto-Flight (PFM) and 2nd Flight (FM2) Models will be presented and compared. Outcome of these results in the light of future missions will be discussed to evaluate future routes to integration.