CloudSat
The Radio Frequency Electronics Subsystem Receiver (RFES Receiver), built by COM DEV for the CSA, forms part of the CloudSat instrument.
CloudSat, successfully launched in 2006, is a millimetre-wavelength radar instrument designed to look down on the Earth's clouds from space and probe their water content and vertical profile. The CloudSat spacecraft will fly in formation with two other earth-observation satellites deploying a wide range of sensors. All three spacecraft will perform measurements on the cloud scene below them. Data will be gathered over thousands of orbits providing coverage over the entire Earth. The data from these satellites will be used to improve global weather models and allow future changes in the Earth's climate to be more accurately predicted.
The RFES Receiver built by COM DEV is a sensitive millimetre-wave radar receiver which works with input signal power levels as small as 1 femtowatt. The receiver incorporates a noise source for on-orbit calibration of the system gain and noise figure, and also incorporates input protection switches to safeguard the delicate receive electronics from the high-power radar transmit pulses.
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CloudSat RFES receiver in vibration
testing at COM DEV
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CloudSat RFES receiver in thermal
testing at COM DEV |