A SMALL SATELLITE FOR MEASURING ATMOSPHERIC WATER CONTENT; PART II, CROSSLINK AND DATA COLLECTION

Abstract

This student paper was produced as part of the team design competition in the University of Arizona course ECE 485, Radiowaves and Telemetry. It describes a telemetering system design recommendation for a small satellite capable of conducting scientific research regarding atmospheric water content. This paper focuses on the cross-link subsystem required to make the scientific measurements and on the power generation and distribution subsystem for the satellite. A companion paper (Cramer, et. al.) focuses on the subsystems required to send the scientific data and monitored operational conditions from the satellite to, and commands to the satellite from, a ground station. The central objective is to validate a new technique for precisely measuring water vapor profiles of clouds throughout the troposphere. This method involves the detection of 4 SHF tones sent out from the International Space Station (ISS), providing high-resolution amplitude and phase delay data.