The State Administration for Market Regulation of China has become the first in the world to approve the establishment of a national microwave brightness temperature measurement standard. This standard is crucial for resolving the long-standing issue of the inability to directly trace and calibrate microwave brightness temperature parameters in fields like radio astronomy and planetary exploration.
According to official sources, any object in the universe with a temperature above absolute zero emits microwave energy, and microwave brightness temperature is a quantitative measure of the intensity of an object’s microwave radiation. The accuracy of microwave brightness temperature directly impacts the accuracy of physical and chemical parameter inversion in various scenarios, including atmospheric, oceanic, terrestrial, and cosmic background environments.
In meteorology, microwave brightness temperature is used to forecast weather by monitoring atmospheric conditions. In agriculture, soil microwave brightness temperature helps manage humidity for irrigation guidance. In aerospace, satellites detect planetary microwave brightness temperatures to infer surface composition and geological activity. In disaster prevention and mitigation, monitoring the microwave brightness temperature of target objects helps identify potential hazards such as landslides and collapses.
It is reported that this measurement standard operates in a vacuum environment, with temperatures ranging from -180°C to room temperature. It is equipped with an ultra-wideband, high-emissivity radiation source with precise temperature control, capable of generating weak radiation signals at the 10^-12-watt level, equivalent to one-third of the human body's own radiation intensity. These faint signals are accurately captured by radiometers, with an error margin of only 0.003%. This is akin to capturing faint starlight from several light-years away amidst the noisy cosmic background radiation. This technology enables precise reproduction of microwave energy emitted by natural objects in various environments, including land, atmosphere, and oceans, achieving a measurement accuracy at the international leading level.
