The Moon as a calibrator of linearly polarized radio emission for the SPOrt project.

The Moon could be the best external calibrator for the Sky Polarization Observatory (SPOrt) experiment, providing the highest polarized signal at large angular scales (>=7 °) in the 22–90 GHz range. Maps of linearly polarized lunar radio emission have been realized at 8.3 GHz with the 32-m radiotelescope of IRA-CNR (Medicina-Italy) at full Moon, new Moon, first and last quarter. We derived estimates of spectral and time properties of both the intensity and the linear polarization of the Moon radio emission, taking into account the radiative transfer of heat in lunar soil and the surface roughness. A comparison between predictions of the theory and observations is presented. © 2002 American Institute of Physics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]