Analytical and Experimental Characterization of a Linear-Array Thermopile Scanning Radiometer for Geo-Synchronous Earth Radiation Budget Applications

The Thermal Radiation Group, a laboratory in the department of Mechanical Engineering at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, is currently working towards the development of a new technology for cavity-based radiometers. The radiometer consists of a 256-element linear-array thermopile detector mounted on the wall of a mirrored wedge-shaped cavity. The objective of this research is to provide analytical and experimental characterization of the proposed radiometer. A dynamic end-to-end opto-electrothermal model is developed to simulate the performance of the radiometer. Experimental results for prototype thermopile detectors are included. Also presented is the concept of the discrete Green's function to characterize the optical scattering of radiant energy in the cavity, along with a data-processing algorithm to correct for the scattering. Finally, a parametric study of the sensitivity of the discrete Green's function to uncertainties in the surface properties of the cavity is presented.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science

Level thesis:degree_level

masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Mechanical Engineering

Department dc:contributor.department

Mechanical Engineering

Grantor dc:publisher

Virginia Tech

Year dc:date.issued

1998

Author dc:creator

• Sorensen, Ira Joseph

Chair dc:contributor.committeechair

• Mahan, James Robert

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Vick, Brian L.
• Priestley, Kory J.

• Earth radiation budget
• thermopile radiation detectors
• radiometry

Statement dc:rights

• In Copyright

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Dc Identifier Other

etd-110498-120720

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/35598