A W-band comet-jet Doppler radar prototype
Ken B. Cooper (California Institute of Technology)
Raquel Rodriguez Monje (California Institute of Technology)
Maria Alonso-Delpino (California Institute of Technology)
Robert J. Dengler (California Institute of Technology)
Corey J. Cochrane (California Institute of Technology)
Stephen L. Durden (California Institute of Technology)
Adrian Tang (California Institute of Technology)
Mathieu Choukroun (California Institute of Technology)
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Abstract
A 95 GHz Doppler radar prototype has been developed with a design guided by requirements for potential space flight missions to comets or icy moons of the outer planets in order to probe ice- and dust-filled jets and plumes. The radar operates in a frequency-modulated continuous-wave (FMCW) mode with a bandwidth, pulse repetition interval, and coherent integration time chosen to achieve better than 10 m range resolution, 0.1 m/s velocity resolution, 5.1 km maximum unambiguous range, and 46 m/s maximum unambiguous velocity span. With an ultra-high transmit/receive isolation exceeding 85 dB, the radar operates with thermal-noise-limited sensitivity even with 1 Watt of continuous transmit power and a 540 K noise-temperature receiver sharing a single, 15 cm diameter monostatic aperture. Experimental testing has verified the radar's range-Doppler remote sensing capabilities using a developing rain shower as a dynamic and distributed target.