Aerospace & Defense Technology - October 2021 - 26

RF & Microwave Technology
Six CubeSat nanosatellites - each the size of a shoebox - will be launched in early 2022. (Image: Blue
Canyon Technologies)
at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
in Maryland.
Since tropical cyclones and hurricanes
can change rapidly as they travel
across the ocean, the increased observations
from the TROPICS satellites will
not only advance the science of understanding
storm intensity but also may
improve intensity forecasts.
" The project holds great promise to
boost NOAA's steady improvements in
weather and hurricane forecasts by feeding
new environmental data into our
world-class numerical weather prediction
models, " according to Frank Marks,
director of the Hurricane Research Division
of NOAA's Atlantic Oceanographic
and Meteorological Laboratory. After all
six satellites are launched and positioned
in 2022, " this new constellation
will provide high-frequency temperature
and humidity soundings as we seek to
learn how hurricanes interact with the
surrounding temperature and moisture
environment - key data that could improve
hurricane intensity forecasts. "
A Pathfinder Leads the Way
A critical step in preparing for the
constellation is the launch of a Path -
finder satellite, a seventh identical copy
of the TROPICS smallsats, that will enable
full testing of the technology, communication
systems, data processing,
and data flow to application users in advance
of the constellation's launch. This
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will allow time for adjustments to the
ground system and data products, helping
ensure the success of the TROPICS
mission.
Said Nicholas Zorn, Pathfinder program
manager from MIT Lincoln Laboratory,
" Its mission is a real-world, end-toend
test, from environmental verification
through integration, launch, ground
communications, commissioning, calibration,
operations, and science data processing.
Any areas for improvement identified
along the way can be reinforced
before the constellation launches. "
MIT Lincoln Laboratory's William
Blackwell is the TROPICS principal investigator.
Six years ago, he submitted
TROPICS as a proposal to NASA's Earth
Venture Instrument competition series
and was awarded funding. The Earth
Venture Instrument program calls for
innovative, science-driven, cost-effective
missions to solve pressing issues related
to Earth science.
Microwave Instrument is Key
Blue Canyon Technologies (Boulder,
CO) built the constellation of CubeSats
- satellites the size of a loaf of bread
that are often economical to launch.
The satellites consist of a single, highperformance,
microwave radiometer
payload hosted on each spacecraft bus.
Each payload includes a motor as well as
electronics to control the MIT Lincoln
Laboratory payload spin mechanism.
www.aerodefensetech.com
ToC
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The microwave radiometer detects
temperature, moisture, and rainfall in
the atmosphere. On current weather
satellites, microwave radiometers are
about the size of a washing machine. On
TROPICS' small satellites, the radiometers
are about the size of a coffee mug.
Microwave radiometers work by detecting
the thermal radiation naturally
emitted by oxygen and water vapor in
the air. The TROPICS instrument measures
these emissions via an antenna
spinning at one end of the satellite. The
antenna listens in at 12 microwave
channels between 90 and 205 gigahertz,
where the relevant emission signals are
strongest. These channels capture signals
at different heights throughout the
lowest layer of the atmosphere, or troposphere,
where most weather we experience
occurs. By flying the TROPICS radiometers
at lower altitude and detect ing
fewer channels than their larger counterparts
in the channels they do carry,
the radiometers deliver comparable performance.
Miniaturizing
the microwave radiometer
has been an incremental
process over the past 10 years for Blackwell
and his team, spurred by the invention
of CubeSats. TROPICS builds
on Blackwell and his team's 2018 success
in launching the first microwave
radiometer on a CubeSat to collect atmospheric
profiling data. The instrument
aboard the TROPICS' six satellites
has been upgraded to provide improved
sensitivity, resolution, and reliability
and will make more targeted and rapid
weather observations.
" These storms affect a lot of people
and we expect that with the increased
observations over a single storm from
TROPICS, we will be able to improve
forecasts, which translates to helping
people get to safety sooner, protect
property, and overall enhance the national
economy, " Blackwell said, looking
ahead to the full constellation
launch next year.
" It is amazing technology that we
have proven out that allows us to maximize
the science from the instrument's
size factor. To pull this off has taken
contributions of so many people. "
For more information, visit MIT Lincoln
Laboratory at https://www.ll.mit.edu.
Aerospace & Defense Technology, October 2021
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Aerospace & Defense Technology - October 2021

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