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Denning, Richard F.

Publications and source records attributed to Denning, Richard F..

8 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2012

High-Altitude MMIC Sounding Radiometer for the Global Hawk Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

Microwave imaging radiometers operating in the 50-183 GHz range for retrieving atmospheric temperature and water vapor profiles from airborne platforms have been limited in the spatial scales of atmospheric structures that are resolved not because of antenna aperture size, but because of high receiver noise masking the small variations that occur on small spatial scales. Atmospheric variability on short spatial and temporal scales (second/ km scale) is completely unresolved by existing microwave profilers. The solution was to integrate JPL-designed, high-frequency, low-noise-amplifier (LNA) technology into the High-Altitude MMIC Sounding Radiometer (HAMSR), which is an airborne microwave sounding radiometer, to lower the system noise by an order of magnitude to enable the instrument to resolve atmospheric variability on small spatial and temporal scales. HAMSR has eight sounding channels near the 60-GHz oxygen line complex, ten channels near the 118.75-GHz oxygen line, and seven channels near the 183.31-GHz water vapor line. The HAMSR receiver system consists of three heterodyne spectrometers covering the three bands. The antenna system consists of two back-to-back reflectors that rotate together at a programmable scan rate via a stepper motor. A single full rotation includes the swath below the aircraft followed by observations of ambient (roughly 0 C in flight) and heated (70 C) blackbody calibration targets located at the top of the rotation. A field-programmable gate array (FPGA) is used to read the digitized radiometer counts and receive the reflector position from the scan motor encoder, which are then sent to a microprocessor and packed into data files. The microprocessor additionally reads telemetry data from 40 onboard housekeeping channels (containing instrument temperatures), and receives packets from an onboard navigation unit, which provides GPS time and position as well as independent attitude information (e.g., heading, roll, pitch, and yaw). The raw data files are accessed through an Ethernet port. The HAMSR data rate is relatively low at 75 kbps, allowing for real-time access over the Global Hawk high-data-rate downlink. Once on the ground, the raw data are unpacked and processed through two levels of processing. The Level 1 product contains geo-located, time-stamped, calibrated brightness temperatures for the Earth scan. These data are then input to a lD variational retrieval algorithm to produce temperature, water vapor, and cloud liquid water profiles, as well as several derived products such as potential temperature and relative humidity.

Brown, Shannon T.↗
NASA NTRS2009

Microwave Temperature Profiler Mounted in a Standard Airborne Research Canister

Many atmospheric research aircraft use a standard canister design to mount instruments, as this significantly facilitates their electrical and mechanical integration and thereby reduces cost. Based on more than 30 years of airborne science experience with the Microwave Temperature Profiler (MTP), the MTP has been repackaged with state-of-the-art electronics and other design improvements to fly in one of these standard canisters. All of the controlling electronics are integrated on a single 4 ~5-in. (.10 ~13- cm) multi-layer PCB (printed circuit board) with surface-mount hardware. Improved circuit design, including a self-calibrating RTD (resistive temperature detector) multiplexer, was implemented in order to reduce the size and mass of the electronics while providing increased capability. A new microcontroller-based temperature controller board was designed, providing better control with fewer components. Five such boards are used to provide local control of the temperature in various areas of the instrument, improving radiometric performance. The new stepper motor has an embedded controller eliminating the need for a separate controller board. The reference target is heated to avoid possible emissivity (and hence calibration) changes due to moisture contamination in humid environments, as well as avoiding issues with ambient targets during ascent and descent. The radiometer is a double-sideband heterodyne receiver tuned sequentially to individual oxygen emission lines near 60 GHz, with the line selection and intermediate frequency bandwidths chosen to accommodate the altitude range of the aircraft and mission.

Mahoney, Michael J.↗
NASA NTRS1997

Miniature Low Power Submillimeter-Wave Spectrometer for Detection of Water in the Solar System

The mass and power of a heterodyne spectrometer must be greatly reduced to satisfy small space mission constraints. We report on a 220 GHz receiver, requiring less than 4.8 W, with a mass of 1.25 kg. The mass and power savings are achieved through reducing components to a minimum, while providing performance for a Martian atmospheric sounder.

spectrometer water vapor atmospheric sounder submi↗
NASA NTRS1997

Miniature Low Power Submillimeter-Wave Spectrometer For Detection of Water in The Solar System

Mass and power for the next generation of NASA's heterodyne spectrometers must be greatly reduced to satisfy the constraints of future small-spacecraft missions. Here we present a new receiver concept for remote sensing in the Solar System, with greatly reduced mass, power, and size compared to instruments implemented in current missions.

Miniature Submillimeter-Wave Spectrometer↗
NASA NTRS1994

Suppression Of Range Sidelobes In Spaceborne Rain-Mapping Radar

Adequate suppression of range sidelobes in chirp pulse-compression radar system for spaceborne rain-mapping application demonstrated in operation of aircraft version of system. Radar system operates at center frequency of 13.8 GHz, developed for operation aboard NASA DC-8 aircraft to measure vertical rainfall-rate profiles and rain-cell dimensions. Sidelobes suppressed by at least 55 dB. Technique applied to other frequencies, therefore, useful in other radar systems in which low sidelobes at mid to far range needed.

Im, Eastwood↗
NASA NTRS1993

Mapping Wildfires In Nearly Real Time

Airborne infrared-sensing system flies over wildfire as infrared detector in system and navigation subsystem generate data transmitted to firefighters' camp. There, data plotted in form of map of fire, including approximate variations of temperature. System, called Firefly, reveals position of fires and approximate thermal intensities of regions within fires. Firefighters use information to manage and suppress fires. Used for other purposes with minor modifications, such as to spot losses of heat in urban areas and to map disease and pest infestation in vegetation.

Nichols, Joseph D.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Instrument description of the airborne microwave temperature profiler

The microwave temperature profiler (MTP) is a passive microwave radiometer installed in the NASA ER-2 aircraft and used to measure profiles of air temperature versus altitude. It operates at 57.3 and 58.8 GHz, where oxygen molecules emit thermal radiation. Brightness temperature is measured at a selection of viewing elevation angles every 14 s. MTP was the only remote sensing experiment aboard the ER-2 during the Airborne Antarctic Ozone Experiment. This paper describes hardware, calibration, and performance aspects of the MTP.

Denning, Richard F.↗