Passive millimeter wave (MMW) imaging systems have attracted an increasing interest over the past years due to their superior poor weather performance compared with visible and infrared (IR) systems. In the UK the Defence Research Agency Malvern developed its first MMW radiometers in the late 1950s. These systems were bulky and had poor spatial resolution and low thermal sensitivity, but the considerable advances in semiconductor solid state devices have allowed the size and weight of images to be reduced. Advantage can also be taken of sophisticated on-line signal processing and of complex theoretical modeling and analysis. This paper examines the impact of these advances of technology and to identify new methods to overcome the usual difficulties of poor spatial resolution and slow response time. High quality images are presented to demonstrate the potential of this emerging technology.
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