An airborne terahertz ice cloud detection system

Ice clouds have a high coverage on the Earth's surface and significantly impact the Earth's energy balance, climate change, and weather evolution. The brightness temperature in the terahertz band is highly sensitive to the main detection factors such as ice-water path and ice particle size, making it the optimal frequency band for ice cloud detection. Against the backdrop of ice cloud detection, an airborne terahertz ice cloud detector has been designed and developed. The radiometer system utilizes a full power type with periodic calibration, the antenna subsystem employs a plane mirror antenna and quasi-optical feed network for feeding and receiving, and the receiver subsystem adopts a direct mixing reception mode. The performance indicators of the system have been tested and verified, with results showing that the system performance meets the requirements of ice cloud detection.