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An Inter-Comparison of Two Independent Site Test Interferometers Located in Goldstone, California: Initial Study ResultsSite Test Interferometers (STIs) have been deployed at two different locations at the NASA Deep Space Network (DSN) tracking complex in Goldstone, California. An STI measures the difference in path length between a geostationary satellite and two antennas on the Earth, producing a measure of atmospheric phase fluctuations over spatial distances comparable to those between elements of possible microwave phased arrays. The purposes of the Goldstone STIs are to assess the suitability of Goldstone as an array site and to statistically characterize atmospheric induced delay fluctuations for application to future array scenarios.The two STI's are separated by 13 km across the Goldstone complex. Each instrument is composed of two small-diameter antennas and associated electronics separated by approx. 200 meters in a principally east-west configuration. The antennas continuously observe signals emitted by geo-stationary satellites and produce data that contain information on the phase difference between signals received by both antennas. The fluctuation in delay (or path length difference) statistics derived from these data sets can be used to infer power loss for particular array configurations.We report on a comparison of the root mean square (RMS) phase delay statistics estimated over 10-minute intervals between the two Goldstone STIs. We have achieved good statistical agreement between the data acquired from the two STIs, given that each instrument is observing different satellites, at different frequencies, over different baseline lengths, with very different implementations, and are located 13 km apart in widely separated terrain at different geodetic altitudes.
Document ID
20150004692
Acquisition Source
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Document Type
Conference Paper
External Source(s)
Authors
Morabito, David
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
D'Addario, Larry
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Acosta, Roberto J.
(NASA Glenn Research Center Cleveland, OH, United States)
Nessel, James A.
(NASA Glenn Research Center Cleveland, OH, United States)
Date Acquired
April 8, 2015
Publication Date
September 24, 2012
Subject Category
Communications And Radar
Meeting Information
Meeting: AIAA International Communications Satellite Systems Conference (ICSSC)
Location: Ottawa, Ontario
Country: Canada
Start Date: September 24, 2012
End Date: September 27, 2012
Sponsors: American Inst. of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other
Keywords
propagation
Ka-band
arraying

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