Engineering topics

Parks, G. S.

Publications and source records attributed to Parks, G. S..

9 records

NASA NTRS1991

Monolithic microwave integrated circuit water vapor radiometer

A proof of concept Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuit (MMIC) Water Vapor Radiometer (WVR) is under development at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). WVR's are used to remotely sense water vapor and cloud liquid water in the atmosphere and are valuable for meteorological applications as well as for determination of signal path delays due to water vapor in the atmosphere. The high cost and large size of existing WVR instruments motivate the development of miniature MMIC WVR's, which have great potential for low cost mass production. The miniaturization of WVR components allows large scale deployment of WVR's for Earth environment and meteorological applications. Small WVR's can also result in improved thermal stability, resulting in improved calibration stability. Described here is the design and fabrication of a 31.4 GHz MMIC radiometer as one channel of a thermally stable WVR as a means of assessing MMIC technology feasibility.

Sukamto, L. M.↗

NASA NTRS1990

A feasibility study: California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection utilization of infrared technologies for wildland fire suppression and management

NASA's JPL has completed a feasibility study using infrared technologies for wildland fire suppression and management. The study surveyed user needs, examined available technologies, matched the user needs with technologies, and defined an integrated infrared wildland fire mapping concept system configuration. System component trade-offs were presented for evaluation in the concept system configuration. The economic benefits of using infrared technologies in fire suppression and management were examined. Follow-on concept system configuration development and implementation were proposed.

Nichols, J. D.↗

NASA NTRS1988

Millimeter-Wave Radiometer Imager

A 3-mm radiometer system with mechanically scanned antenna built for use on small aircraft or helicopter to produce near-real-time moderate-resolution images of ground. Main advantage of passive imaging sensor able to provide information through clouds, smoke, and dust when visual and infrared (IR) systems unusable. Used also for variety of remote-sensing applications such as measurements of surface moisture, snow cover, vegetation type and extent, mineral type and extent, surface temperature, and thermal inertia. Possible to map fires and volcanic lava flows through obscuring clouds and smoke.

Wilson, W. J.↗

NASA NTRS1988

Airborne rain mapping radar

An airborne scanning radar system for remote rain mapping is described. The airborne rain mapping radar is composed of two radar frequency channels at 13.8 and 24.1 GHz. The radar is proposed to scan its antenna beam over + or - 20 deg from the antenna boresight; have a swath width of 7 km; a horizontal spatial resolution at nadir of about 500 m; and a range resolution of 120 m. The radar is designed to be applicable for retrieving rainfall rates from 0.1-60 mm/hr at the earth's surface, and for measuring linear polarization signatures and raindrop's fall velocity.

Wilson, W. J.↗

NASA NTRS1986

Millimeter-wave imaging sensor

A scanning 3-mm radiometer system has been built and used on a helicopter to produce moderate-resolution (0.5 deg) images of the ground. This millimeter-wave sensor can be used for a variety of remote-sensing applications and produces images through clouds, smoke, and dust when visual and IR sensors are not usable. The system is described and imaging results are presented.

Wilson, W. J.↗

NASA NTRS1985

High resolution millimeter-wave imaging sensor

A scanning 3-mm radiometer is described that has been built for use on a small aircraft to produce real time high resolution images of the ground when atmospheric conditions such as smoke, dust, and clouds make IR and visual sensors unusable. The sensor can be used for a variety of remote sensing applications such as measurements of snow cover and snow water equivalent, precipitation mapping, vegetation type and extent, surface moisture and temperature, and surface thermal inertia. The advantages of millimeter waves for cloud penetration and the ability to observe different physical phenomena make this system an attractive supplement to visible and IR remote sensing systems.

Wilson, W. J.↗

NASA NTRS1983

MV-3 communication subsystem

The operational mobile VLBI data acquisition system (MV-3) requires that a voice link be established between the mobile data system and a fixed site. A communications subsystem was incorporated in the MV-3 design which consists of HF radio, VHF mobile radio telephone and conventional land line telephone. The HF antenna design was optimized for short and long range transmission using both inverted V and yagi antennas mounted on a self-supporting telescoping mast.

Parks, G. S.↗

NASA NTRS1983

Operational radio interferometry observation network (ORION) mobile VLBI station

The design and current status of the ORION mobile VLBI station is described. The station consists of a five-meter antenna, a receiving and recording system installed in a mobile antenna transporter, and an electronics transporter. The station is designed for field operation by a two-person crew at the rate of two sites per week. The various subsystems are described in detail, including the antenna, housing facilities for electronics and crew, microwave equipment, receiver, data acquisition subsystem, frequency and timing subsystem, phase calibration, monitoring and control, water vapor radiometer, and communications.

Renzetti, N. A.↗

NASA NTRS1980

Use of a digital tone extractor for real-time phase analysis

A digital tone extractor which monitors the phase integrity of a VLBI recording system in real time was developed. The digital tone extractor monitors phase calibrator tones injected at the antenna and tracks their phase as a function of time. It is capable of maintaining 0.001 cycle phase accuracy over the course of a VLBI experiment in accordance with the accuracy requirements of centimeter VLBI work. This real time VLBI system monitor is a safeguard against most instrumental breakdowns and operator errors.

Sigman, E.↗