ECE’s Paul Siqueira and Stephen Frasier Publish Overview of MIRSL in IEEE Microwave Magazine

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Professors Paul Siqueira and Stephen Frasier of the UMass Amherst Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) Department have published an enlightening overview paper in the IEEE Microwave Magazine that gives their perspective of the Microwave Remote Sensing Laboratory (MIRSL), a 45-year-old ECE lab that has provided pioneering sensing of the Earth’s geophysical environment. Siqueira and Frasier are the co-directors of MIRSL. IEEE Microwave Magazine is a publication of the Microwave Theory and Techniques Society of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). See https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/11396945.

MIRSL was founded in 1981 by UMass Professors Robert E. McIntosh and Calvin T. Swift. Siqueira and Frasier have been the co-directors of MIRSL since 2006 and, under their guidance, the lab specializes in the conception, design, and implementation of advanced microwave and millimeter-wave systems for remote sensing of the geophysical environment. Since its founding, MIRSL has graduated more than 100 advanced-degree students who now work in industry, academia, and government.

As Siqueira and Frasier write in their IEEE Microwave Magazine piece, MIRSL “has a 45-year history of development, deployment, and application of microwave instrumentation for studying the environment. In this article, the research, teaching, and engagement missions of the lab are described and put into the context of current trends that are prevalent in the field.” 

Siqueira and Frasier go on to explain that “These trends manifest themselves through the wider incorporation of digital systems into microwave instrumentation, as well the impact of multimodal (e.g., hyperspectral and microwave) remote sensing. The article concludes by describing ongoing projects for the remote sensing of the atmosphere, of snow, and other emerging opportunities that are occurring within MIRSL.”

Siqueira received his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Michigan's Radiation Laboratory in Ann Arbor. Prior to arriving at UMass Amherst, he worked in the Radar Science and Engineering Section of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, run by the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California. Siqueira's research interests are in radar interferometry, polarimetry, micro- and millimeter-wave instrument development, and remote-sensing science for terrestrial applications. 

Through Siqueira’s close ties with NASA, he has been the principal investigator for a number of projects in NASA’s Earth Science Technology office and is also the Ecosystems Lead for an imaging radar mission known as NISAR. NISAR is a joint effort between NASA and the Indian Space Research Organization that launched on July 30, 2025, from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, located in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. NISAR is now producing more than 90 TeraBytes per day of scientific data that are being used for studying the environment and learning more about the world around us.

Frasier received his B.E.E. degree from the University of Delaware and his Ph.D. degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from UMass Amherst. His research interests include microwave imaging and interferometric techniques, as well as remote-sensing applications in oceanography and meteorology. Since 1994, he has been employed by UMass Amherst as a Research Engineer, Senior Research Fellow, and faculty member. 

Frasier is a senior member of the IEEE Geoscience & Remote Sensing Society and a member of the International Union of Radio Science Commission F, the American Geophysical Union, and the American Meteorological Society. He is currently an Associate Editor for IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing and a past Associate Editor for Radio Science and for the IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society eNewsletter.

According to the IEEE website, “IEEE Microwave Magazine includes the president's message, committee reports, and conference and meeting schedules and reports of the IEEE Microwave Theory and Technology Society. The magazine also publishes reviewed tutorial and application articles, as well as book reviews and regular columns.” 

Among the scientific papers published in the magazine, which has an “impact factor” of 3.7, are technical articles describing any aspect of “radio frequency/microwave through millimeter-wave and terahertz engineering” within the field of interest of the IEEE Microwave Theory and Technology Society.