Radiometer Calibration using Machine Learning
Journal:
arXiv
Published Date:
Apr 23, 2025
Abstract
Radiometers are crucial instruments in radio astronomy, forming the primary
component of nearly all radio telescopes. They measure the intensity of
electromagnetic radiation, converting this radiation into electrical signals. A
radiometer's primary components are an antenna and a Low Noise Amplifier (LNA),
which is the core of the ``receiver'' chain. Instrumental effects introduced by
the receiver are typically corrected or removed during calibration. However,
impedance mismatches between the antenna and receiver can introduce unwanted
signal reflections and distortions. Traditional calibration methods, such as
Dicke switching, alternate the receiver input between the antenna and a
well-characterised reference source to mitigate errors by comparison. Recent
advances in Machine Learning (ML) offer promising alternatives. Neural
networks, which are trained using known signal sources, provide a powerful
means to model and calibrate complex systems where traditional analytical
approaches struggle. These methods are especially relevant for detecting the
faint sky-averaged 21-cm signal from atomic hydrogen at high redshifts. This is
one of the main challenges in observational Cosmology today. Here, for the
first time, we introduce and test a machine learning-based calibration
framework capable of achieving the precision required for radiometric
experiments aiming to detect the 21-cm line.
