The novel programmable riometer for in-depth ionospheric and magnetospheric observations (PRIAMOS) using direct sampling DSP techniques

Abstract

This paper describes the feasibility study and simulation results for the unique multi-frequency, multi-bandwidth, Programmable Riometer for in-depth Ionospheric And Magnetospheric ObservationS (PRIAMOS) based on direct sampling digital signal processing (DSP) techniques. This novel architecture is based on sampling the cosmic noise wavefront at the antenna. It eliminates the usage of any intermediate frequency (IF) mixer stages (-6 dB) and the noise balancing technique (-3 dB), providing a minimum of 9 dB increase in performance. The DSP implements high-speed filtering and selects the appropriate centre frequencies and signal bandwidths. For the first time a riometer would automatically generate both the experimental and theoretical Quiet Day Curves (QDCs) and Absorption values. For the first time the full extent of Solar Radio Emissions (SREs Type III & IV) would be measured by a riometer, due to the receiver’s programmable sliding gain range. The programmable auto-correlator integration time allows in-depth observation of the different magnetospheric and ionospheric events. Noise analysis was a crucial factor in selecting the appropriate components, since the received power signals are very low