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A prototype 2.3 GHz (S band) high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) amplifier/closed cycle refrigerator (CCR) system was installed in the DDS-13 feedcone, replacing the 2.3 GHz maser. The amplifier is cryogenically cooled to a physical temperature of 12 K and provides 31.5 K antenna system noise temperature and 29 dB of gain. The HEMT device used in the amplifier is a prototype.
Improved pump source assemblies and new 8.4-GHz low noise traveling-wave masers (TWMs) were installed at the same time at Deep Space Stations 14 and 43 as part of the Mark IVA DSCC Antenna Microwave Subsystems upgrade. The pump source assemblies are part of the new 8.4-GHz TWMs, which are identified as Block IIA Low-Noise TWMs. Improved reliability of the pump source assemblies was required to meet stress analysis criteria.
An 8.4 GHz front-end system consisting of a feedhorn, a waveguide feed assembly, dual masers, and downconverters is being reimplemented at Parkes as part of the Parkes-Canberra Telemetry Array for the Voyager Neptune encounter. The front-end system was originally assembled by the European Space Agency on the Parkes antenna for the Giotto project. It was also used on a time-sharing basis by the DSN as part of the Parkes-Canberra Telemetry Array to enhance the data return from Voyager 2 at Uranus. At the conclusion of these projects in 1986, the front-end system was dismantled, packed, and shipped to Europe. Part of the system was then shipped to JPL on loan for reimplementation at Parkes for the Voyager Neptune encounter. The system is being redesigned and refurbished for operation at Parkes. Tasks include new microwave front-end control cabinets, a closed-cycle refrigeration data acquisition system, a new noise-adding radiometer system, a front-end controller assembly, and refurbishment of the dual 8.4 GHz traveling-wave masers (TWMs) and waveguide feed system.
Tests were conducted at NASA Lewis to measure the bit-error-rate performance of two 30-GHz 200-W coupled-cavity traveling-wave tubes (TWTs). The transmission effects of each TWT on a band-limited 220-Mbit/s SMSK signal were investigated. The tests relied on the use of a recently developed digital simulation and evaluation system constructed at Lewis as part of the 30/20-GHz technology development program. This paper describes the approach taken to test the 30-GHz tubes and discusses the test data. A description of the bit-error-rate measurement system and the adaptations needed to facilitate TWT testing are also presented.
Global observations at 37 GHz by the Nimbus-7 SMMR are related to zonal variations of land surface evaporation and primary productivity, as well as to temporal variations of atmospheric CO2 concentration. The temporal variation of CO2 concentration and the zonal variations of evaporation and primary productivity are shown to be highly correlated with the satellite sensor data. The potential usefulness of the 37-GHz data for global biospheric and climate studies is noted.
The present analysis of the use of a 32-GHz (Ka-band) downlink for deep space communications notes significant benefits over current standard 8.4-GHz downlinks; the consequences of the 8-dB telemetry performance gain thus obtained is presently evaluated for the case of the Cassini and Mars Sample Return missions. This potential can only be realized, however, with upgradings of both the ground stations in the Deep Space Network and the spacecraft communications subsystem. Proposals are made for the use of a Ka-band beacon on the Mars observer spacecraft, as well as the demonstration of such a system aboard the CRAF.
A microwave radiative transfer model that describes the effect of scattering by cirrus clouds on the brightness temperatures that may be measured by a geostationary temperature-sounding radiometer has been developed. The model assumes that cirrus clouds are situated at an altitude where the temperature is about 230 K above completely absorbing land surfaces. It is shown that the brightness temperature at 118.75 + or - 3.9 GHz is depressed by 0.3-0.4 K per g per sq m of ice. The channels that operate at frequencies closer to 118.75 GHz are less affected by cirrus clouds. The brightness temperature reduction is most pronounced in warm temperate and tropical conditions.
A water vapor radiometer was deployed at DSS 63 for 3 months of sky brightness temperature measurements at 31 GHz. An exceedance plot was derived from this data showing the fraction of time that 31 GHz 30 degree elevation angle brightness temperature exceeds specified values. The 5 percent exceedance statistics occurs at 75 K, compared with 70 K in Australia.
A prototype 8.4 GHz (X-band) high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) amplifier/closed cycle refrigerator system was installed in the Deep Space Station 13 feedcone in August 1987. The amplifier is cryogenically cooled to a physical temperature of 12 K and provides 31 K antenna noise temperature (zenith) and 35 dB of gain at a frequency of 8.2 to 8.6 GHz. Antenna system noise temperature is less than 50 K from 7.2 to 9.4 MHz. The low noise HEMT amplifier system is intended for use as a radio astronomy or space communications receiver front end.
Microwave radiometric measurements made from an aircraft altitude of 20 km at 183.3 + or - 2, 183.3 + or - 5, and 183.3 + or - GHz, and at 92 GHz were used to retrieve the atmospheric water vapor profiles. Retrieval techniques shown to function properly in cloudfree conditions, were improved and extended to profile water vapor under moderate cloud cover conditions. The retrieved water vapor profiles compare favorably with those of rawinsonde observations at times nearly concurrent with the radiometric measurements.
A tropospheric water vapor profiling system is presented. The hardware consists of an upward looking radiometer (CORRAD) deployed at ground level. The CORRAD measures the autocorrelation of the downwelling thermal emission from the atmosphere over a passband of 20.5 to 23.5 GHz out to a maximum time delay of 6.1 ns. This produces 100 MHz resolution imaging of the complete emission spectrum about the 22.235 GHz water vapor resonance line. The 31 equivalent frequency channels produced by Fourier transformation of the data provide additional constraints on the inversion process required to estimate the water vapor profile, as compared to standard 2 to 5 frequency channel profiling systems. The CORRAD hardware is described, and radiometer and radiosonde profiles are compared.
The results of a low sensitivity Radio Frequency Interference (RFI) survey carried out at the Venus Station of the Goldstone Communications Complex are reported. The data cover the spectral range from 1 GHz to 10.4 GHz with a 10-kHz instantaneous bandwidth. Frequency and power levels were observed using a sweep-frequency spectrum analyzer connected to a 1-m diameter antenna pointed at zenith. The survey was conducted from February 16, 1987 through February 24, 1987.
The computational results of a comparison of maser materials for a 32 GHz maser amplifier are presented. The search for a better maser material is prompted by the relatively large amount of pump power required to sustain a population inversion in ruby at frequencies on the order of 30 GHz and above. The general requirements of a maser material and the specific problems with ruby are outlined. The spin Hamiltonian is used to calculate energy levels and transition probabilities for ruby and twelve other materials. A table is compiled of several attractive operating points for each of the materials analyzed. All the materials analyzed possess operating points that could be superior to ruby. To complete the evaluation of the materials, measurements of inversion ratio and pump power requirements must be made in the future.
This program covers the initial design and development of a 75 watt, 60 GHz traveling-wave tube for intersatellite communications. The objective frequency band was 59 to 64 GHz, with a minimum tube gain of 35 dB. The objective overall efficiency at saturation was 40 percent. The tube, designated the 961H, used a coupled-cavity interaction circuit with periodic permanent magnet beam focusing to minimize the weight. For efficiency enhancement, it incorporated a four-stage depressed collector capable of radiation cooling in space. The electron gun had a low-temperature (type-M) cathode and an isolated anode. Two tubes were built and tested; one feasibility model with a single-stage collector and one experimental model that incorporated the multistage collector.
VLBI observations of the compact, nonthermal radio source at the Galactic center show it to be elongated at 8.4 GHz along a position angle of 82 + or - 6 deg. The source has an axial ratio of 0.53 + or - 0.10 with a major axis of 17.4 + or - 0.5 mas. Examination of VLA maps of the Galactic center region indicate no obvious alignment with this smaller-scale elongation of the nuclear region, nor is the nuclear position angle aligned with the axis of Galactic rotation. Comparison with the size measured at frequencies from 1 to 22 GHz shows that the size follows very closely the lambda-squared dependence expected from interstellar scattering. The alongated nature of the source implies either that the scattering medium is anisotropic or that some remnant of the intrinsic structure remains visible through the scattering medium.
This paper is a study of the feasibility of a 35-GHz microwave power transmission system in space. It was found that a dc to dc transmission efficiency better than 50 percent can be achieved over a distance of 50 km by using a transmitting antenna of 20 m in diameter and a receiving antenna of 40 m in diameter. Technology requirements at 35 GHz have been assessed and several stages of development have been proposed.
Ground based radiometer measurements at 20.6, 31.65, and 90.0 GHz were analyzed to provide attenuation statistics, thus extending the data base of previous NAPEX studies. Using data from colocated radiosondes, comparisons of measurements and calculations of brightness temperatures are presented. The oxygen absorption model of Rosenkranz and the water vapor absorption models of Liebe and of Waters are used. Data from July 1987 at San Nicolas Island, California and from December 1987, August and November 1988 at Denver, Colorado, are included. Joint attenuation statistics at 20.6 and 31.65 GHz are presented for two locations of the Colorado Research Network for December 1987 and August 1988.
The results of preliminary 32 GHz calibrations of the 70 meter antenna at Goldstone are presented. Measurements were done between March and July 1989 using Virgo A and Venus as the primary efficiency calibrators. The flux densites of theses radio sources at 32 GHz are not known with high accuracy, but were extrapolated from calibrated data at lower frequencies. The measured value of efficiency (0.35) agreed closely with the predicted value (0.32), and the results are very repeatable. Flux densities of secondary sources used in the observations were subsequently derived. These measurements were performed using a beamswitching radiometer that employed an uncooled high-electron mobility transistor (HEMT) low-noise amplifier. This system was installed primarily to determine the performance of the antenna in its 1989 configuration, but the experience will also aid in successful future calibration of the Deep Space Network (DSN) at this frequency.