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NASA NTRS1975

Control mechanisms of circadian rhythms in body composition: Implications for manned spaceflight

The mechanisms that underlie the circadian variations in electrolyte content in body fluid compartments were investigated, and the mechanisms that control the oscillations were studied in order to investigate what effects internal desynchronization in such a system would have during manned space flight. The studies were performed using volunteer human subjects and squirrel monkeys. The intercompartmental distribution of potassium was examined when dietary intake, activity, and posture are held constant throughout each 24-hour day. A net flux of potassium was observed out of the body cell mass during the day and a reverse flux from the extracellular fluid into the body cell mass during the night, counterbalanced by changes in urinary potassium excretion. Experiments with monkeys provided evidence for the synchronization of renal potassium excretion by the rhythm of cortisol secretion with the light-dark cycle. Three models of the circadian timing system were formalized.

Ede, M. C. M.↗

NASA NTRS1990

LASSO, two-way, and GPS time comparisons: A (very) preliminary status report

The first results are presented on the time transfer experiments between TUG (Graz, Austria) and OCA (Grasse, France) using common view Global Positioning System (GPS) and two-way stations at both sites. The present data, providing arms of the clock offsets of 2 to 3 nanoseconds for a three month period, have to be further analyzed before any conclusions on the respective precision and accuracy of these techniques can be drawn. Two years after its start, the Laser Synchronization from Stationary Orbit (LASSO) experiment is finally giving its first results at TUG and OCA. The first analysis of three common sessions permitted researchers to conclude that the LASSO package on board Meteosat P2 is working satisfactorily, and that time transfer using this method should provide clock offsets at better than 1 nanosecond precision, and clock rates at better than 10(exp -12) s/s in a 5 to 10 minutes session. A new method for extracting this information from the raw data sent by LASSO should enhance the performances of this experiment, exploiting the stability of the on-board oscillator.

Veillet, Christian J. L.↗

DOE OSTI2022

Plasma photonic spatiotemporal synchronization of relativistic electron and laser beams

Not Available

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

NASA NTRS2012

Sample-Clock Phase-Control Feedback

To demodulate a communication signal, a receiver must recover and synchronize to the symbol timing of a received waveform. In a system that utilizes digital sampling, the fidelity of synchronization is limited by the time between the symbol boundary and closest sample time location. To reduce this error, one typically uses a sample clock in excess of the symbol rate in order to provide multiple samples per symbol, thereby lowering the error limit to a fraction of a symbol time. For systems with a large modulation bandwidth, the required sample clock rate is prohibitive due to current technological barriers and processing complexity. With precise control of the phase of the sample clock, one can sample the received signal at times arbitrarily close to the symbol boundary, thus obviating the need, from a synchronization perspective, for multiple samples per symbol. Sample-clock phase-control feedback was developed for use in the demodulation of an optical communication signal, where multi-GHz modulation bandwidths would require prohibitively large sample clock frequencies for rates in excess of the symbol rate. A custom mixedsignal (RF/digital) offset phase-locked loop circuit was developed to control the phase of the 6.4-GHz clock that samples the photon-counting detector output. The offset phase-locked loop is driven by a feedback mechanism that continuously corrects for variation in the symbol time due to motion between the transmitter and receiver as well as oscillator instability. This innovation will allow significant improvements in receiver throughput; for example, the throughput of a pulse-position modulation (PPM) with 16 slots can increase from 188 Mb/s to 1.5 Gb/s.

Quirk, Kevin J.↗

NASA NTRS2017

Reconfigurable Model Execution in the OpenMDAO Framework

NASA's OpenMDAO framework facilitates constructing complex models and computing their derivatives for multidisciplinary design optimization. Decomposing a model into components that follow a prescribed interface enables OpenMDAO to assemble multidisciplinary derivatives from the component derivatives using what amounts to the adjoint method, direct method, chain rule, global sensitivity equations, or any combination thereof, using the MAUD architecture. OpenMDAO also handles the distribution of processors among the disciplines by hierarchically grouping the components, and it automates the data transfer between components that are on different processors. These features have made OpenMDAO useful for applications in aircraft design, satellite design, wind turbine design, and aircraft engine design, among others. This paper presents new algorithms for OpenMDAO that enable reconfigurable model execution. This concept refers to dynamically changing, during execution, one or more of: the variable sizes, solution algorithm, parallel load balancing, or set of variables-i.e., adding and removing components, perhaps to switch to a higher-fidelity sub-model. Any component can reconfigure at any point, even when running in parallel with other components, and the reconfiguration algorithm presented here performs the synchronized updates to all other components that are affected. A reconfigurable software framework for multidisciplinary design optimization enables new adaptive solvers, adaptive parallelization, and new applications such as gradient-based optimization with overset flow solvers and adaptive mesh refinement. Benchmarking results demonstrate the time savings for reconfiguration compared to setting up the model again from scratch, which can be significant in large-scale problems. Additionally, the new reconfigurability feature is applied to a mission profile optimization problem for commercial aircraft where both the parametrization of the mission profile and the time discretization are adaptively refined, resulting in computational savings of roughly 10% and the elimination of oscillations in the optimized altitude profile.

Hwang, John T.↗

NASA NTRS2013

Megadroughts in Southwestern North America in ECHO-G Millennial Simulations and Their Comparison to Proxy Drought Reconstructions

Simulated hydroclimate variability in millennium-length forced transient and control simulations from the ECHAM and the global Hamburg Ocean Primitive Equation (ECHO-G) coupled atmosphere-ocean general circulation model (AOGCM) is analyzed and compared to 1000 years of reconstructed Palmer drought severity index (PDSI) variability from the North American Drought Atlas (NADA). The ability of the model to simulate megadroughts in the North American southwest is evaluated. (NASW: 25deg42.5degN, 125deg-105degW). Megadroughts in the ECHO-G AOGCM are found to be similar in duration and magnitude to those estimated from the NADA. The droughts in the forced simulation are not, however, temporally synchronous with those in the paleoclimate record, nor are there significant differences between the drought features simulated in the forced and control runs. These results indicate that model-simulated megadroughts can result from internal variability of the modeled climate system rather than as a response to changes in exogenous forcings. Although the ECHO-G AOGCM is capable of simulating megadroughts through persistent La Nina-like conditions in the tropical Pacific, other mechanisms can produce similarly extreme NASW moisture anomalies in the model. In particular, the lack of low-frequency coherence between NASW soil moisture and simulated modes of climate variability like the El Nino-Southern Oscillation, Pacific decadal oscillation, and Atlantic multidecadal oscillation during identified drought periods suggests that stochastic atmospheric variability can contribute significantly to the occurrence of simulated megadroughts in the NASW. These findings indicate that either an expanded paradigm is needed to understand multidecadal hydroclimate variability in the NASW or AOGCMs may incorrectly simulate the strength and/or dynamics of the connection between NASW hydroclimate variability and the tropical Pacific.

variability↗

DOE OSTI2023

Synchronizing the consistency relation

We study the N-point function of the density contrast to quadratic order in the squeezed limit during the matter-dominated (MD) and radiation-dominated (RD) eras in synchronous gauge. Since synchronous gauge follows the free-fall frame of observers, the equivalence principle dictates that in the gradient approximation for the long-wavelength mode there is only a single, manifestly time-independent consistency relation for the N-point function. This simple form is dictated by the initial mapping between synchronous and local coordinates, unlike Newtonian gauge and its correspondingly separate dilation and Newtonian consistency relations. Dynamical effects only appear at quadratic order in the squeezed limit and are again characterized by a change in the local background, also known as the separate universe approach. We show that for the 3-point function the compatibility between these squeezed-limit relations and second-order perturbation theory requires both the initial and dynamical contributions to match, as they do in single-field inflation. This clarifies the role of evolution or late-time projection effects in establishing the consistency relation for observable bispectra, which is especially important for radiation acoustic oscillations and for establishing consistency below the matter-radiation equality scale in the MD era. Defining an appropriate angle and time average of these oscillations is also important for making separate universe predictions of spatially varying local observables during the RD era, which can be useful for a wider range of cosmological predictions beyond N-point functions.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2023

A New Plasma Radar Concept for Simultaneous Magnetic and Density Measurements

An innovative, compact 288GHz interferometer has been fabricated, tested, installed and successfully demonstrated on the LAPD-U magnetized plasma at UCLA. The system takes advantage of frequency modulated (FM) radar techniques to deliver a compact heterodyne system. In addition, the reflected power from the source is taken advantage of to eliminate the need for additional quasi-optical components. Electron density in LAPD-U plasma has recently been increased substantially thereby requiring a higher frequency/shorter wavelength interferometer to avoid deleterious refractive effects. This system satisfies those needs. The system uses a 96GHz varactor tuned Gunn oscillator which passes to a passive tripler. This tripler has ~3% conversion efficiency. The 288GHz radiation is then coupled to free space using a so-called dual-mode or Pickett horn. The output 288GHz beam is then coupled to an aspheric lens manufactured from low-loss, high-density polyethylene. This lens is employed to collimate the emerging beam. Small axial adjustment of the lens position can also be used to create a slowly focusing beam so as to optimize the measured signal. In addition, up-down or side-to-side adjustment of the lens can be utilized to steer the beam vertically or horizontally – again to optimize alignment. The propagating beam passes through a beam splitter and then through a water-free, bubble-free fused quartz window into the LAPD-U vacuum vessel. The beam-splitter is a thin sheet of G10 which reflects a small fraction of the incident power (~5 %) towards a zero-bias detector optimized for the frequency range from 220 to 300GHz. Note that waveguides at this frequency have dimensions of ~0.9mm x 0.45mm and so have very large conductive losses. This drives the use of quasi-optical propagation. The detector requires no DC bias and is very responsive (> 1V/mW into 1MΩ). Radiation is coupled to the detector via a similar lens-horn arrangement used for the launch. This reflected beam acts as the local oscillator or reference millimeter-wave beam for the detector. The remainder of the launched source beam then enters the LAPD-U vacuum vessel and passes through the plasma at the mid-plane until reaching the opposing port which is closed off with an aluminum flange. This flange is used as a mirror to retroreflect the incident 288GHz beam back along its path. The retroreflected beam exits the input port but does NOT couple directly into the zero-bias detector. Instead, the majority of the return power continues towards the 288GHz source. As mentioned above the transmitted beam enters the source a second time. This would appear undesirable. However, at these frequencies multipliers are highly non-linear elements which results in a significant portion of the return beam (~20%) re-emerging from the multiplier and horn and then coupling via the G10 beam-splitter to the zero-bias detector. This approach eliminated the need for a second quasi-optical beam-splitter. The system is extremely compact measuring approximately 28 inches x 20 inches. The above did not explain how heterodyne operation was achieved. As mentioned above the Gunn oscillator is able to be varactor tuned. This allows a low voltage to be applied to control the operating frequency of the Gunn oscillator. During heterodyne operation a sawtooth shaped voltage is applied to the varactor at 750kHz using an 80MHz Arbitrary Waveform Generator (AWG). This voltage changes the Gunn frequency linearly during the up-sweep which is then reset abruptly at the sawtooth crash to be immediately followed by another linear sweep. Passage through the 288GHz multiplier triples the frequency change experienced by the electromagnetic wave. These frequency changes are small – tens of megahertz. This FM radar approach results in the launched electromagnetic wave frequencies at the detector for the reference and plasma wave to be different. The approximately 10 ns delay propagation delay for the plasma beam results in the local oscillator and plasma beams NOT having an identical frequency – there is in fact a fixed difference frequency. The frequency tuning level of the Gunn oscillator is then adjusted so that there is ONE cycle of this difference frequency during each linear ramp. During the sawtooth crash or downward re-sweep this one cycle replays in reverse but on a very fast timescale. The process then repeats. Low-pass filtering eliminates the fast re-sweep to leave a pure sine wave heterodyne signal. When the plasma is present it introduces a phase delay in the sine wave (caused by the extremely small Doppler shift resulting from the optical path length change). Of course, to measure this phase change we need a reference. This is simply obtained from an arbitrary waveform generator which provides a synchronized output pulse train which again is low pass filtered to obtain a 750kHz sinusoidal voltage reference for the interferometer. The interferometer was installed on LAPD-U where it has worked reliably and has established that electron densities exceeding 1x10 13 cm -3 are routinely achieved. In addition, the system sensitivity was able to easily observe density fluctuation at frequencies up to 50kHz. FM Radar techniques have enabled a full demonstration of a compact, sensitive, high frequency (288GHz/1mm) heterodyne interferometer.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

NASA NTRS1991

Airborne water vapor DIAL system and measurements of water and aerosol profiles

The Lidar Applications Group at NASA Langley Research Center has developed a differential absorption lidar (DIAL) system for the remote measurement of atmospheric water vapor (H2O) and aerosols from an aircraft. The airborne H2O DIAL system is designed for extended flights to perform mesoscale investigations of H2O and aerosol distributions. This DIAL system utilizes a Nd:YAG-laser-pumped dye laser as the off-line transmitter and a narrowband, tunable Alexandrite laser as the on-line transmitter. The dye laser has an oscillator/amplifier configuration which incorporates a grating and prism in the oscillator cavity to narrow the output linewidth to approximately 15 pm. This linewidth can be maintained over the wavelength range of 725 to 730 nm, and it is sufficiently narrow to satisfy the off-line spectral requirements. In the Alexandrite laser, three intracavity tuning elements combine to produce an output linewidth of 1.1 pm. These spectral devices include a five-plate birefringent tuner, a 1-mm thick solid etalon and a 1-cm air-spaced etalon. A wavelength stability of +/- 0.35 pm is achieved by active feedback control of the two Fabry-Perot etalons using a frequency stabilized He-Ne laser as a wavelength reference. The three tuning elements can be synchronously scanned over a 150 pm range with microprocessor-based scanning electronics. Other aspects of the DIAL system are discussed.

Higdon, Noah S.↗

NASA NTRS1995

Prospects for high accuracy time dissemination and synchronization using coded radar pulses from a low-earth orbiting spacecraft

The radar (an acronym for radio detection and ranging) is an instrument developed just before the WW-II to precisely measure the position of an object (target) in space. This is done by emitting a narrow pulse of electromagnetic energy in the RF spectrum, receiving the return echo and measuring the time of flight in the two-way path from the emitter to the target. The propagation delay provides a measure of the range to the target, which is not in itself sufficient to uniquely locate the position of the same in space. However, if a directional antenna is used, the direction of the echo can be assessed by the antenna pointing angles. In this way the position of the target can be uniquely determined in space. How well this can be done is a function of the resolution of the measurements performed (range and direction, i.e.: angles); in turn, the resolution will dictate the time and frequency requirements of the reference oscillator.

Detoma, Edoardo V.↗

DOE OSTI2020

Convectively Forced Diurnal Gravity Waves in the Maritime Continent

Long-lived, zonally propagating diurnal rainfall disturbances are a highly pronounced and common feature in the Maritime Continent (MC). A recent study argues that these disturbances can be explained as diurnally phase-locked gravity waves. Here we explore the origins of these waves through regional cloud-permitting numerical model experiments. The gravity waves are reproduced and isolated in the model framework through the combined use of realistic geography and diurnally cyclic lateral boundary conditions representative of both characteristic easterly and westerly background zonal flow regimes. These flow regimes are characteristic of the Madden–Julian oscillation (MJO) suppressed and active phase in the MC, respectively. Tests are conducted wherein Borneo, Sumatra, or both islands and/or their orography are removed. These tests imply that the diurnal gravity waves are excited and maintained directly by latent heating from the vigorous mesoscale convective systems (MCSs) that form nocturnally in both Borneo and Sumatra. Removing orography has only a secondary impact on both the MCSs and the gravity waves, implying that it is not critical to these waves. We therefore hypothesize that diurnal gravity waves are fundamentally driven by mesoscale organized deep convection, and are only sensitive to orography to the measure that the convection is affected by the orography and its mesoscale flows. Factor separation further reveals that the nonlinear interaction of synchronized diurnal cycles in Sumatra and Borneo slightly amplifies this gravity wave mode compared to if either island existed in isolation. This nonlinear feedback appears most prominently at longitudes directly between the two islands.

Ruppert, Jr., James H.↗

DOE OSTI2026

ENSO Recharge Oscillator Theory Integrating the Southward Wind Shift

The El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is one of the most‐well understood climate phenomena, and the Recharge Oscillator (RO) theory is widely used to conceptualize its physics in observations and models. ENSO‐associated equatorial zonal wind anomalies shift southward in boreal winter, contributing to ENSO termination. Thus far, this effect has not been explicitly described in the RO framework. Here we derive a new form of the RO under the low‐frequency limit that incorporates the seasonal migration of zonal wind anomalies. In our theory, the Bjerknes feedback depends on the central latitude of zonal wind anomalies, decaying exponentially as winds shift away from the equator. Meanwhile, wind anomalies centered off the equator induce equatorial wave adjustment and thereby have a delayed effect on sea surface temperature anomalies. A stochastic RO simulation with a prescribed wind shift reproduces about half the amplitude of ENSO seasonal synchronization as well as ENSO combination tones.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2021

Development, Implementation, and Verification of Partially-Ionized Collisional Multifluid Plasma Models in Drekar

We consider the development of multifluid models for partially ionized multispecies plasmas. The models are composed of a standard set of five-moment fluid equations for each species plus a description of electromagnetics. The most general model considered utilizes a full set of fluid equations for each charge state of each atomic species, plus a set of fluid equations for electrons. The fluid equations are coupled through source terms describing electromagnetic coupling, ionization, recombination, charge exchange, and elastic scattering collisions in the low-density coronal limit. The form of each of these source terms is described in detail, and references for required rate coefficients are identified for a diverse range of atomic species. Initial efforts have been made to extend these models to incorporate some higher-density collisional effects, including ionization potential depression and three- body recombination. Some reductions of the general multifluid model are considered. First, a reduced multifluid model is derived which averages over all of the charge states (including neutrals) of each atomic species in the general multifluid model. The resulting model maintains full consistency with the general multifluid model from which it is derived by leveraging a quasi-steady-state collisional ionization equilibrium assumption to recover the ionization fractions required to make use of the general collision models. Further reductions are briefly considered to derive certain components of a single-fluid magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) model. In this case, a generalized Ohm's law is obtained, and the standard MHD resistivity is expressed in terms of the collisional models used in the general multifluid model. A number of numerical considerations required to obtain robust implementations of these multifluid models are discussed. First, an algebraic flux correction (AFC) stabilization approach for a continuous Galerkin finite element discretization of the multifluid system is described in which the characteristic speeds used in the stabilization of the fluid systems are synchronized across all species in the model. It is demonstrated that this synchronization is crucial in order to obtain a robust discretization of the multifluid system. Additionally, several different formulations are considered for describing the electromagnetics portion of the multifluid system using nodal continuous Galerkin finite element discretizations. The formulations considered include a parabolic divergence cleaning method and an implicit projection method for the traditional curl formulation of Maxwell's equations, a purely- hyperbolic potential-based formulation of Maxwell's equations, and a mixed hyperbolic-elliptic potential-based formulation of Maxwell's equations. Some advantages and disadvantages of each formulation are explored to compare solution robustness and the ease of use of each formulation. Numerical results are presented to demonstrate the accuracy and robustness of various components of our implementation. Analytic solutions for a spatially homogeneous damped plasma oscillation are derived in order to verify the implementation of the source terms for electromagnetic coupling and elastic collisions between fluid species. Ionization balance as a function of electron temperature is evaluated for several atomic species of interest by comparing to steady-state calculations using various sets of ionization and recombination rate coefficients. Several test problems in one and two spatial dimensions are used to demonstrate the accuracy and robustness of the discretization and stabilization approach for the fluid components of the multifluid system. This includes standard test problems for electrostatic and electromagnetic shock tubes in the two-fluid and ideal shock-MHD limits, a cylindrical diocotron instability, and the GEM challenge magnetic reconnection problem. A one-dimensional simplified prototype of an argon gas puff configuration as deployed on Sandia's Z-machine is used as a demonstration to exercise the full range of capabilities associated with the general multifluid model.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

DOE OSTI2025

Existing Methods for Grid Strength Assessment and Role of Hydropower in Future Grids

The power system is undergoing rapid evolution with increasing penetration of inverter-based resources (IBRs), large loads, microgrids, and power electronic devices. Ensuring reliable and stable operation of the modern power grid is a multi-faceted challenge that requires detailed understanding of this complex system. Dynamic stability is a major concern in maintaining the security of power grids as the generation mixes and large loads transitions to include high shares of power electronic devices. The operation of IBRs in regions with low system strength and higher grid impedances has been found to be the main reason behind many of the power system instabilities that manifest themselves in various types of oscillations and interactions that, if not properly addressed and damped, can jeopardize the reliable operation of the power system. Weak grid conditions compound such stability problems, particularly when many IBRs operate in proximity to and connect to weak power grids. Therefore, it is important to assess grid strength for planning, integration and operation of IBRs for a given power system. In this report, we aim to understand and classify existing methodologies for grid strength assessment, along with their limitations and future needs. Further, we aim to utilize the huge untapped potential in utilizing hydro energy resources in addressing some of the pertinent challenges of grid strength and reliable operation of modern power systems. Hydropower, historically valued for its flexibility and dispatchability, now faces new constraints due to reduced share of synchronous machines in the generation mix and seasonal variability of available water resources. Yet, these same plants present untapped potential beyond energy generation - notably, as providers of critical grid services. This report explores how hydropower plants, particularly through operation as synchronous condensers, can play a pivotal role in strengthening the grid amid evolving system dynamics.

13 HYDRO ENERGY↗

DOE OSTI2025

Leveraging FPGA Advantages for Quicker Data Processing for LBNF

The Long Baseline Neutrino Facility (LBNF) will deliver a 2.4 MW muon neutrino beam from Fermilab to the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE), requiring unprecedented precision in beamline alignment to achieve DUNE's neutrino oscillation measurement goals. Vertical misalignments of beamline components as small as 0.5 mm can contribute 6-7\% uncertainty in predicted neutrino flux, necessitating sub-0.1 mm alignment monitoring capabilities. The Horn Location Sensor (HLS) system employs frequency sweep interferometry (FSI) in a distributed hydrostatic leveling network to achieve the required precision under harsh radiation conditions up to 5000 kRad/year. Traditional FSI implementations suffer from laser sweep nonlinearities that degrade resolution and require computationally intensive post-processing corrections using gas reference cells. This work presents a real-time FPGA-based implementation of the HLS data acquisition and processing system using a sweep tracker interferometer for dynamic sweep linearization. The system utilizes a PYNQ-Z2 FPGA with programmable logic implementing parallel 16k-point FFT processing across four channels, synchronized by the sweep tracker signal to eliminate post-processing requirements. Spectral performance testing demonstrates significant improvements in peak sharpness compared to traditional fixed-frequency digitization. The FPGA implementation enables real-time displacement monitoring with processing speeds orders of magnitude faster than software-based approaches, essential for the operational requirements of LBNF's eventual distributed sensor network. This advancement in real-time FSI processing directly supports DUNE's precision neutrino physics program by providing the rapid feedback necessary for maintaining stringent beamline alignment tolerances during high-power beam operations.

Rossel, Jacob↗

DOE OSTI2025

Real-Time FPGA Implementation For Frequency Sweep Interferometry In The LBNF Complex

Rossel, A. Jacob [Fermilab; Unlisted]↗

DOE OSTI2023

Asian-Australian summer monsoons linkage to ENSO strengthened by global warming

The El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) used to affect the Asian summer monsoon (ASM) and Australian summer monsoon (AusSM) precipitation in different ways but global warming may have changed it. This study built robust annual ASM (AusSM) precipitation reconstructions during 1588–2013 (1588–1999) to examine the ENSO-monsoon relationship and how it has changed. During the period of 1588–1850 when natural climate variability was dominant, the ENSO-monsoon and inter-monsoon relationship was weak and non-stationary. Since 1850, however, both the inter-monsoon and ENSO-monsoon relationships saw an enhancement and this trend has been persistent to the present day, suggesting the influence of anthropogenic climate warming. Further analysis of climate model projections found that global warming can strengthen the ENSO-monsoon association that, subsequently, acts to synchronize the ASM and AusSM variations.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

NASA NTRS2014

Design and Development of the SMAP Microwave Radiometer Electronics

The SMAP microwave radiometer will measure land surface brightness temperature at L-band (1413 MHz) in the presence of radio frequency interference (RFI) for soil moisture remote sensing. The radiometer design was driven by the requirements to incorporate internal calibration, to operate synchronously with the SMAP radar, and to mitigate the deleterious effects of RFI. The system design includes a highly linear super-heterodyne microwave receiver with internal reference loads and noise sources for calibration and an innovative digital signal processor and detection system. The front-end comprises a coaxial cable-based feed network, with a pair of diplexers and a coupled noise source, and radiometer front-end (RFE) box. Internal calibration is provided by reference switches and a common noise source inside the RFE. The RF back-end (RBE) downconverts the 1413 MHz channel to an intermediate frequency (IF) of 120 MHz. The IF signals are then sampled and quantized by high-speed analog-to-digital converters in the radiometer digital electronics (RDE) box. The RBE local oscillator and RDE sampling clocks are phase-locked to a common reference to ensure coherency between the signals. The RDE performs additional filtering, sub-band channelization, cross-correlation for measuring third and fourth Stokes parameters, and detection and integration of the first four raw moments of the signals. These data are packetized and sent to the ground for calibration and further processing. Here we discuss the novel features of the radiometer hardware particularly those influenced by the need to mitigate RFI.

radio frequency interference↗