Earth Remote Sensing with Signals of Opportunity
University
Goals
Conduct field experiments to collect P-band (137-400 MHz) satellite signals and evaluate their qualities for use in Earth remote sensing.
Issues
We wish to determine if communication satellite transmissions can be used as "signals of opportunity", sources of illumination in a bistatic radar configuration. Two key unknowns are the "ambiguity function", which represents our ability to identify the time of arrival of a signal, and the signal to noise ratio. Starting with published information about the expected performance of these satellite transmissions, you will use antennas designed by a previous VIP team to make direct measurements of the satellite signals and compute the ambiguity function to compare with a theoretical model
Tools and Methods
Antenna design
Software Defined Radio
Link Budgets
Cross-correlation
Spectrum analyzer
Signal generator
Desired Majors
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering
Prep
Good programming experience: C, MATLAB <br />Embedded programming: VHDL would be a plus <br />Experience with/intersting in buidling hardware