Ultralow-Power Digital Correlator for Microwave Polarimetry

A recently developed high-speed digital correlator is especially well suited for processing readings of a passive microwave polarimeter. This circuit computes the autocorrelations of, and the cross-correlations among, data in four digital input streams representing samples of in-phase (I) and quadrature (Q) components of two intermediate-frequency (IF) signals, denoted A and B, that are generated in heterodyne reception of two microwave signals. The IF signals arriving at the correlator input terminals have been digitized to three levels (-1,0,1) at a sampling rate up to 500 MHz. Two bits (representing sign and magnitude) are needed to represent the instantaneous datum in each input channel; hence, eight bits are needed to represent the four input signals during any given cycle of the sampling clock. The accumulation (integration) time for the correlation is programmable in increments of 2(exp 8) cycles of the sampling clock, up to a maximum of 2(exp 24) cycles. The basic functionality of the correlator is embodied in 16 correlation slices, each of which contains identical logic circuits and counters (see figure). The first stage of each correlation slice is a logic gate that computes one of the desired correlations (for example, the autocorrelation of the I component of A or the negative of the cross-correlation of the I component of A and the Q component of B). The sampling of the output of the logic gate output is controlled by the sampling-clock signal, and an 8-bit counter increments in every clock cycle when the logic gate generates output. The most significant bit of the 8-bit counter is sampled by a 16-bit counter with a clock signal at 2(exp 8) the frequency of the sampling clock. The 16-bit counter is incremented every time the 8-bit counter rolls over

Signals of Opportunity Airborne Demonstrator (SoOP-AD)

In the second year of the SoOp-AD project, a brassboard analog section has been completed, along with working designs for the digital section and an antenna compatible with the NASA Langley B-200 or UC-12B aircraft. Resource requirements for the digital section FPGA are being finalized. One technical challenge at P-band is that the low transmitted data rate makes isolation of the direct and reflected signals using path delay, the conventional practice for GNSS reflectometry, difficult. Any retrieval of surface reflectivity from these measurements must account for the combination of direct and reflected signal in both the sky-view and Earth-view antennas. We have approached this challenge on several fronts; First, through null steering of the antenna. Second, through the formulation of an empirical calibration function for the reflectivity; and finally through estimating the direct and reflected signal powers as independent states in a Kalman filter. In addition to the direct-reflected interference from the same transmitter, there is also the possibility of interference due to transmissions, in adjacent bands, from other satellites in the constellation. Ground-based repeaters are also present in the S-band spectrum. Digital filters are being designed to isolate these repeaters, using simulations to verify the magnitude of their effect on the reflectivity and soil moisture retrievals. Other contributions to the error budget include the uncertainty in aircraft altitude, and the antenna pattern

Signals of Opportunity - Airborne Demonstrator (SoOP-AD): Instrument Overview, Performance During First Flights and Future Instrument Concept

The Signals of Opportunity Airborne Demonstrator (SoOp-AD) was developed as part of the NASA InstrumentIncubator Program (IIP) with the goal of maturing the use of SoOp from existing communication satellites in geostationaryorbit, operating within the heavily used P-band (under 500 MHz) spectrum for soil moisture observations. P-band offers the benefit of roughly five (5) times deeper soil penetration compared to conventional L-band methods. SoOp-AD operates in a bi-static radar configuration, and only requires reception of direct and scattered signals from the source satellite. In this paper we present an overview of the SoOp-AD instrument architecture, signal processing, internal calibration approach and preliminary results from flights over the Little Washita watershed in Oklahoma, USA. Finally, future steps towards a U-class ("cubesat") instrument concept based upon experience with the airborne demonstrator are presented

The Radio Frequency Environment at 240-270 MHz with Application to Signal-of-Opportunity Remote Sensing

Low frequency observations are desired for soil moisture and biomass remote sensing. Long wavelengths are needed to penetrate vegetation and Earths land surface. In addition to the technical challenges of developing Earth observing spaceflight instruments operating at low frequencies, the radio frequency spectrum allocated to remote sensing is limited. Signal-of-opportunity remote sensing offers the chance to use existing signals exploiting their allocated spectrum to make Earth science measurements. We have made observations of the radio frequency environment around 240-270 MHz and discuss properties of desired and undesired signals

Status of the Signals of Opportunity Airborne Demonstrator (SoOp-AD)

Root zone soil moisture (RZSM) is not directly measured by any current satellite instrument, despite its importance as a key link between surface hydrology and deeper processes. Presently, model assimilation of surface measurements or indirect estimates using other methods must be used to estimate this value. Signals of Opportunity (SoOp) methods, exploiting reflected P- and S-band communication satellite signals, have many of the benefits of both active and passive microwave remote sensing. Reutilization of active transmitters, with forward-scattering geometry, presents a strong reflected signal even at orbital altitudes. Microwave radiometry is advantageous as it measures emissivity, which is directly related to dielectric constant and sensitive to water content of soil. Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) is used in P-band (400 MHz) for soil moisture and biomass, but faces issues in obtaining permission to transmit due to spectrum regulations, particularly over North America and Europe. A primary advantage of SAR is excellent spatial resolution. Signals-of-opportunity (SoOp) reflectometry provides a good compromise between radiometry and SAR by providing decent sensitivity and special resolution for RZSM measurements without issues of spectrum access. Further, a SoOp instrument would not be limited to operating in only a few protected frequencies and is also expected to have less susceptibility to radio-frequency interference (RFI). Although advantageous if available, SoOp techniques do not require the ability to demodulate or decode the communication signals. The SoOp instrument is receive only and therefore requires much less electrical power than a SAR and is more similar to a radiometer in receiver architecture. These unique features of SoOp circumvent past obstacles to a spaceborne P-band remote sensing mission and have the potential to enable new RZSM measurements that are not possible with present technology. We will present the latest development status of a SoOp reflectometer airborne demonstrator (SoOp-AD) operating at 250 MHz to take advantage of existing communication satellite. The instrument is currently in laboratory integration and test

Real-Time Detection and Filtering of Radio Frequency Interference On-board a Spaceborne Microwave Radiometer: The CubeRRT Mission

The Cubesat Radiometer Radio frequency interference Technology validation mission (CubeRRT) was developed to demonstrate real-time on-board detection and filtering of radio frequency interference (RFI) for wide bandwidth microwave radiometers. CubeRRT’s key technology is its radiometer digital backend (RDB) that is capable of measuring an instantaneous bandwidth of 1 GHz and of filtering the input signal into an estimated total power with and without RFI contributions. CubeRRT’s on-board RFI processing capability dramatically reduces the volume of data that must be downlinked to the ground and eliminates the need for ground-based RFI processing. RFI detection is performed by resolving the input bandwidth into 128 frequency sub-channels, with the kurtosis of each sub-channel and the variations in power across frequency used to detect non-thermal contributions. RFI filtering is performed by removing corrupted frequency sub-channels prior to the computation of the total channel power. The 1 GHz bandwidth input signals processed by the RDB are obtained from the payload’s antenna (ANT) and radiometer front end (RFE) subsystems that are capable of tuning across RF center frequencies from 6 to 40 GHz. The CubeRRT payload was installed into a 6U spacecraft bus provided by Blue Canyon Technologies that provides spacecraft power, communications, data management, and navigation functions. The design, development, integration and test, and on-orbit operations of CubeRRT are described in this paper. The spacecraft was delivered on March 22nd, 2018 for launch to the International Space Station (ISS) on May 21st, 2018. Since its deployment from the ISS on July 13th, 2018, the CubeRRT RDB has completed more than 5000 hours of operation successfully, validating its robustness as an RFI processor. Although CubeRRT’s RFE subsystem ceased operating on September 8th, 2018, causing the RDB input thereafter to consist only of internally generated noise, CubeRRT’s key RDB technology continues to operate without issue and has demonstrated its capabilities as a valuable subsystem for future radiometry missions

SMAP L-Band Microwave Radiometer: Instrument Design and First Year on Orbit

The Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) L-band microwave radiometer is a conical scanning instrument designed to measure soil moisture with 4 percent volumetric accuracy at 40-kilometer spatial resolution. SMAP is NASA's first Earth Systematic Mission developed in response to its first Earth science decadal survey. Here, the design is reviewed and the results of its first year on orbit are presented. Unique features of radiometer include a large 6-meter rotating reflector, fully polarimetric radiometer receiver with internal calibration, and radio-frequency interference detection and filtering hardware. The radiometer electronics are thermally controlled to achieve good radiometric stability. Analyses of on-orbit results indicate the electrical and thermal characteristics of the electronics and internal calibration sources are very stable and promote excellent gain stability. Radiometer NEdT (Noise Equivalent differential Temperature) less than 1 degree Kelvin for 17-millisecond samples. The gain spectrum exhibits low noise at frequencies greater than 1 megahertz and 1 divided by f (pink) noise rising at longer time scales fully captured by the internal calibration scheme. Results from sky observations and global swath imagery of all four Stokes antenna temperatures indicate the instrument is operating as expected