P00002 THE PROJECT AIMS TO DEVELOP KEY UNDERLYING TECHNOLOGY FOR A CLIMATE-MONITORING MICROWAVE RADIOMETER (CLIMMR) WHICH IS A COMPACT, LOW-COST, LOW POWER, HIGH PRECISION CORRELATING RADIOMETER DESIGNED TO HAVE HIGH LINEARITY, STABILITY AND NIST-TRACEABLE CALIBRATION ACCURACY. THE PROPOSED WORK FOCUSES ON ADAPTING, TESTING AND CHARACTERIZING PREVIOUSLY PROVEN TECHNOLOGIES FOR SPACE BORNE RADIOMETER APPLICATIONS, SPECIFICALLY: 1) ULTRA-PRECISE INVERTED-CONE TARGETS AND CLOSE-COUPLED FEEDHORNS FOR PRECISION CALIBRATION, AND 2) SIGE BASED LOW NOISE AMPLIFIERS 3) USE OF SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED WAVEGUIDE (SIW) TECHNOLOGY FOR DEVELOPING A NOVEL LOW PROFILE FILTER+ 3DB COMBINER STAGE. IMPROVED UNDERSTANDING OF THE EARTH S CLIMATE SYSTEM (PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE) IS ONE OF THE MAIN GOALS OF NASA'S EARTH SCIENCE PROGRAM. WITHOUT SATELLITE MEASUREMENTS THE GLOBAL SCALE TEMPERATURE MONITORING AND CLIMATE CHANGE STUDY IS IMPOSSIBLE. MICROWAVE SOUNDING OBSERVATIONS OF THE TROPOSPHERE AND LOWER STRATOSPHERE BY CURRENT AND PREVIOUS SATELLITE MISSIONS HAVE PROVEN EXTREMELY VALUABLE IN THIS REGARD, PROVIDING POTENTIALLY USEFUL TROPOSPHERIC TEMPERATURE TREND INFORMATION. BUT CURRENT STATE-OF-THE ART SYSTEMS, DESIGNED PRIMARILY FOR WEATHER FORECASTING, DO NOT MEET CRITICAL STABILITY AND ACCURACY REQUIREMENTS NEEDED FOR HIGH-FIDELITY CLIMATE STUDY. THE SATELLITE BASED TEMPERATURE MEASUREMENT RECORDS FROM THESE SOUNDERS EVEN THOUGH CONTINUOUS HAVE SIGNIFICANT VARIABILITIES THAT COMPLICATES THEIR USE IN LONG TERM CLIMATE STUDY. THE MAJOR SOURCES OF MEASUREMENT VARIABILITIES ARE 1) CHANGES IN LOCAL TIME OF MEASUREMENT 2) MEASUREMENT FREQUENCY CHANGE FROM MISSION TO MISSION AND 3) CALIBRATION DRIFTS AND INSTRUMENT NON LINEARITY. MEASURING THE STATISTICAL DIURNAL VARIATION OF GLOBAL TEMPERATURE IS ESSENTIAL FOR LONG TERM OBSERVATIONAL STUDIES NEEDED TO ASSESS ATMOSPHERIC TRENDS. A CONSTELLATION OF 2 OR 3 SMALL SATELLITES HAVING A HIGHER ORBITAL PRECESSION RATE IN ADDITION TO THE PRESENT SET OF SOUNDERS IN SUN SYNCHRONOUS ORBITS CAN COVER THE ENTIRE GLOBE FASTER AND FOR A LARGER SET OF LOCAL TIMES THUS IMPROVING ACCURACY OF TEMPERATURE RECORDS MULTIFOLD. THE PROPOSED RADIOMETER DESIGN INCLUDES 9 CHANNELS ENSURING CONTINUITY WITH MSU AND AMSU-A IN THE 5MM OXYGEN BAND FROM 50-58 GHZ. CORRELATING RADIOMETER ARCHITECTURE WILL BE IMPLEMENTED AS IT CAN ELIMINATE THE EFFECTS OF RECEIVER NOISE TEMPERATURE FLUCTUATIONS AND PROVIDE THE MUCH NEEDED LINEARITY AND STABILITY. THE PROPOSED WORK MAINLY CONSISTS OF FOUR MAJOR TASKS WHICH ON SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION WILL RAISE THE TRL OF THE CLIMMR INSTRUMENT FROM 4 TO 6. 1) CHARACTERIZATION AND REDESIGN OF INVERTED CONE ALMA TARGETS FOR SPACE APPLICATIONS TO MAXIMIZE INTEGRATION TIME 2) PRECISE MECHANICAL SHROUDING TO ENSURE CLOSE COUPLING OF TARGET-HORN ASSEMBLY AND PERFORMANCE EVALUATION WITH THE NEW HORN-TARGET ARCHITECTURE 3) EVALUATION OF SIGE BASED LNA AND MIXER STAGES WHICH ARE EXPECTED TO PROVIDE HIGHER RADIOMETER STABILITY AND REDUCED GAIN AND OFFSET FLUCTUATION NOISE 4) DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF AN INNOVATIVE TECHNIQUE FOR REALIZING CHANNEL FILTERING AND 3 DB QUADRATURE SIGNAL COMBINING SIMULTANEOUSLY IN THE SAME STRUCTURE USING SIW LTCC TECHNOLOGY. THE CLIMMR INSTRUMENT IS ALSO THE PRIMARY PAYLOAD OF A TO-BE-PROPOSED NASA EV MISSION FOR A SMALL SATELLITE CONSTELLATION TO PRECISELY MEASURE THE DIURNAL CYCLE OF GLOBAL TEMPERATURE. THE HARDWARE AND INSTRUMENT SUPPORT FOR THE ACCOMPLISHMENT OF THE TASKS ARE LARGELY AVAILABLE AT CET. ADDITIONAL SUPPORT HAS BEEN OFFERED BY MIT LINCOLN LABORATORIES (MIT/LL) AND NIST AS A RESULT OF THEIR ACTIVE COLLABORATION WITH CET IN THE PAST FOR THE CLIMMR NASA IIP PROPOSAL. THE DESIGN AND TESTING ASPECTS OF THE INDIVIDUAL TASKS IDENTIFIED EARLIER IS EARMARKED 27 MONTHS WHEREAS LAST 9 MONTHS IS DEVOTED TO INTEGRATION OF THE COMPONENTS TO THE TEST BED AND THE END TO END CHARACTERIZATION. Funding Only Action $45.0k 6/20/19 Not listed THE PROJECT AIMS TO DEVELOP KEY UNDERLYING TECHNOLOGY FOR A CLIMATE-MONITORING MICROWAVE RADIOMETER (CLIMMR) WHICH IS A COMPACT LOW-COST LOW POWER HIGH PRECISION CORRELATING RADIOMETER DESIGNED TO HAVE HIGH LINEARITY STABILITY AND NIST-TRACEABLE CALIBRATION ACCURACY. THE PROPOSED WORK FOCUSES ON ADAPTING TESTING AND CHARACTERIZING PREVIOUSLY PROVEN TECHNOLOGIES FOR SPACE BORNE RADIOMETER APPLICATIONS SPECIFICALLY: 1) ULTRA-PRECISE INVERTED-CONE TARGETS AND CLOSE-COUPLED FEEDHORNS FOR PRECISION CALIBRATION AND 2) SIGE BASED LOW NOISE AMPLIFIERS 3) USE OF SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED WAVEGUIDE (SIW) TECHNOLOGY FOR DEVELOPING A NOVEL LOW PROFILE FILTER+ 3DB COMBINER STAGE. IMPROVED UNDERSTANDING OF THE EARTH S CLIMATE SYSTEM (PAST PRESENT AND FUTURE) IS ONE OF THE MAIN GOALS OF NASA'S EARTH SCIENCE PROGRAM. WITHOUT SATELLITE MEASUREMENTS THE GLOBAL SCALE TEMPERATURE MONITORING AND CLIMATE CHANGE STUDY IS IMPOSSIBLE. MICROWAVE SOUNDING OBSERVATIONS OF THE TROPOSPHERE AND LOWER STRATOSPHERE BY CURRENT AND PREVIOUS SATELLITE MISSIONS HAVE PROVEN EXTREMELY VALUABLE IN THIS REGARD PROVIDING POTENTIALLY USEFUL TROPOSPHERIC TEMPERATURE TREND INFORMATION. BUT CURRENT STATE-OF-THE ART SYSTEMS DESIGNED PRIMARILY FOR WEATHER FORECASTING DO NOT MEET CRITICAL STABILITY AND ACCURACY REQUIREMENTS NEEDED FOR HIGH-FIDELITY CLIMATE STUDY. THE SATELLITE BASED TEMPERATURE MEASUREMENT RECORDS FROM THESE SOUNDERS EVEN THOUGH CONTINUOUS HAVE SIGNIFICANT VARIABILITIES THAT COMPLICATES THEIR USE IN LONG TERM CLIMATE STUDY. THE MAJOR SOURCES OF MEASUREMENT VARIABILITIES ARE 1) CHANGES IN LOCAL TIME OF MEASUREMENT 2) MEASUREMENT FREQUENCY CHANGE FROM MISSION TO MISSION AND 3) CALIBRATION DRIFTS AND INSTRUMENT NON LINEARITY. MEASURING THE STATISTICAL DIURNAL VARIATION OF GLOBAL TEMPERATURE IS ESSENTIAL FOR LONG TERM OBSERVATIONAL STUDIES NEEDED TO ASSESS ATMOSPHERIC TRENDS. A CONSTELLATION OF 2 OR 3 SMALL SATELLITES HAVING A HIGHER ORBITAL PRECESSION RATE IN ADDITION TO THE PRESENT SET OF SOUNDERS IN SUN SYNCHRONOUS ORBITS CAN COVER THE ENTIRE GLOBE FASTER AND FOR A LARGER SET OF LOCAL TIMES THUS IMPROVING ACCURACY OF TEMPERATURE RECORDS MULTIFOLD. THE PROPOSED RADIOMETER DESIGN INCLUDES 9 CHANNELS ENSURING CONTINUITY WITH MSU AND AMSU-A IN THE 5MM OXYGEN BAND FROM 50-58 GHZ. CORRELATING RADIOMETER ARCHITECTURE WILL BE IMPLEMENTED AS IT CAN ELIMINATE THE EFFECTS OF RECEIVER NOISE TEMPERATURE FLUCTUATIONS AND PROVIDE THE MUCH NEEDED LINEARITY AND STABILITY. THE PROPOSED WORK MAINLY CONSISTS OF FOUR MAJOR TASKS WHICH ON SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION WILL RAISE THE TRL OF THE CLIMMR INSTRUMENT FROM 4 TO 6. 1) CHARACTERIZATION AND REDESIGN OF INVERTED CONE ALMA TARGETS FOR SPACE APPLICATIONS TO MAXIMIZE INTEGRATION TIME 2) PRECISE MECHANICAL SHROUDING TO ENSURE CLOSE COUPLING OF TARGET-HORN ASSEMBLY AND PERFORMANCE EVALUATION WITH THE NEW HORN-TARGET ARCHITECTURE 3) EVALUATION OF SIGE BASED LNA AND MIXER STAGES WHICH ARE EXPECTED TO PROVIDE HIGHER RADIOMETER STABILITY AND REDUCED GAIN AND OFFSET FLUCTUATION NOISE 4) DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF AN INNOVATIVE TECHNIQUE FOR REALIZING CHANNEL FILTERING AND 3 DB QUADRATURE SIGNAL COMBINING SIMULTANEOUSLY IN THE SAME STRUCTURE USING SIW LTCC TECHNOLOGY. THE CLIMMR INSTRUMENT IS ALSO THE PRIMARY PAYLOAD OF A TO-BE-PROPOSED NASA EV MISSION FOR A SMALL SATELLITE CONSTELLATION TO PRECISELY MEASURE THE DIURNAL CYCLE OF GLOBAL TEMPERATURE. THE HARDWARE AND INSTRUMENT SUPPORT FOR THE ACCOMPLISHMENT OF THE TASKS ARE LARGELY AVAILABLE AT CET. ADDITIONAL SUPPORT HAS BEEN OFFERED BY MIT LINCOLN LABORATORIES (MIT/LL) AND NIST AS A RESULT OF THEIR ACTIVE COLLABORATION WITH CET IN THE PAST FOR THE CLIMMR NASA IIP PROPOSAL. THE DESIGN AND TESTING ASPECTS OF THE INDIVIDUAL TASKS IDENTIFIED EARLIER IS EARMARKED 27 MONTHS WHEREAS LAST 9 MONTHS IS DEVOTED TO INTEGRATION OF THE COMPONENTS TO THE TEST BED AND THE END TO END CHARACTERIZATION. $45.0k 6/20/19 P00001 THE PROJECT AIMS TO DEVELOP KEY UNDERLYING TECHNOLOGY FOR A CLIMATE-MONITORING MICROWAVE RADIOMETER (CLIMMR) WHICH IS A COMPACT, LOW-COST, LOW POWER, HIGH PRECISION CORRELATING RADIOMETER DESIGNED TO HAVE HIGH LINEARITY, STABILITY AND NIST-TRACEABLE CALIBRATION ACCURACY. THE PROPOSED WORK FOCUSES ON ADAPTING, TESTING AND CHARACTERIZING PREVIOUSLY PROVEN TECHNOLOGIES FOR SPACE BORNE RADIOMETER APPLICATIONS, SPECIFICALLY: 1) ULTRA-PRECISE INVERTED-CONE TARGETS AND CLOSE-COUPLED FEEDHORNS FOR PRECISION CALIBRATION, AND 2) SIGE BASED LOW NOISE AMPLIFIERS 3) USE OF SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED WAVEGUIDE (SIW) TECHNOLOGY FOR DEVELOPING A NOVEL LOW PROFILE FILTER+ 3DB COMBINER STAGE. IMPROVED UNDERSTANDING OF THE EARTH S CLIMATE SYSTEM (PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE) IS ONE OF THE MAIN GOALS OF NASA'S EARTH SCIENCE PROGRAM. WITHOUT SATELLITE MEASUREMENTS THE GLOBAL SCALE TEMPERATURE MONITORING AND CLIMATE CHANGE STUDY IS IMPOSSIBLE. MICROWAVE SOUNDING OBSERVATIONS OF THE TROPOSPHERE AND LOWER STRATOSPHERE BY CURRENT AND PREVIOUS SATELLITE MISSIONS HAVE PROVEN EXTREMELY VALUABLE IN THIS REGARD, PROVIDING POTENTIALLY USEFUL TROPOSPHERIC TEMPERATURE TREND INFORMATION. BUT CURRENT STATE-OF-THE ART SYSTEMS, DESIGNED PRIMARILY FOR WEATHER FORECASTING, DO NOT MEET CRITICAL STABILITY AND ACCURACY REQUIREMENTS NEEDED FOR HIGH-FIDELITY CLIMATE STUDY. THE SATELLITE BASED TEMPERATURE MEASUREMENT RECORDS FROM THESE SOUNDERS EVEN THOUGH CONTINUOUS HAVE SIGNIFICANT VARIABILITIES THAT COMPLICATES THEIR USE IN LONG TERM CLIMATE STUDY. THE MAJOR SOURCES OF MEASUREMENT VARIABILITIES ARE 1) CHANGES IN LOCAL TIME OF MEASUREMENT 2) MEASUREMENT FREQUENCY CHANGE FROM MISSION TO MISSION AND 3) CALIBRATION DRIFTS AND INSTRUMENT NON LINEARITY. MEASURING THE STATISTICAL DIURNAL VARIATION OF GLOBAL TEMPERATURE IS ESSENTIAL FOR LONG TERM OBSERVATIONAL STUDIES NEEDED TO ASSESS ATMOSPHERIC TRENDS. A CONSTELLATION OF 2 OR 3 SMALL SATELLITES HAVING A HIGHER ORBITAL PRECESSION RATE IN ADDITION TO THE PRESENT SET OF SOUNDERS IN SUN SYNCHRONOUS ORBITS CAN COVER THE ENTIRE GLOBE FASTER AND FOR A LARGER SET OF LOCAL TIMES THUS IMPROVING ACCURACY OF TEMPERATURE RECORDS MULTIFOLD. THE PROPOSED RADIOMETER DESIGN INCLUDES 9 CHANNELS ENSURING CONTINUITY WITH MSU AND AMSU-A IN THE 5MM OXYGEN BAND FROM 50-58 GHZ. CORRELATING RADIOMETER ARCHITECTURE WILL BE IMPLEMENTED AS IT CAN ELIMINATE THE EFFECTS OF RECEIVER NOISE TEMPERATURE FLUCTUATIONS AND PROVIDE THE MUCH NEEDED LINEARITY AND STABILITY. THE PROPOSED WORK MAINLY CONSISTS OF FOUR MAJOR TASKS WHICH ON SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION WILL RAISE THE TRL OF THE CLIMMR INSTRUMENT FROM 4 TO 6. 1) CHARACTERIZATION AND REDESIGN OF INVERTED CONE ALMA TARGETS FOR SPACE APPLICATIONS TO MAXIMIZE INTEGRATION TIME 2) PRECISE MECHANICAL SHROUDING TO ENSURE CLOSE COUPLING OF TARGET-HORN ASSEMBLY AND PERFORMANCE EVALUATION WITH THE NEW HORN-TARGET ARCHITECTURE 3) EVALUATION OF SIGE BASED LNA AND MIXER STAGES WHICH ARE EXPECTED TO PROVIDE HIGHER RADIOMETER STABILITY AND REDUCED GAIN AND OFFSET FLUCTUATION NOISE 4) DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF AN INNOVATIVE TECHNIQUE FOR REALIZING CHANNEL FILTERING AND 3 DB QUADRATURE SIGNAL COMBINING SIMULTANEOUSLY IN THE SAME STRUCTURE USING SIW LTCC TECHNOLOGY. THE CLIMMR INSTRUMENT IS ALSO THE PRIMARY PAYLOAD OF A TO-BE-PROPOSED NASA EV MISSION FOR A SMALL SATELLITE CONSTELLATION TO PRECISELY MEASURE THE DIURNAL CYCLE OF GLOBAL TEMPERATURE. THE HARDWARE AND INSTRUMENT SUPPORT FOR THE ACCOMPLISHMENT OF THE TASKS ARE LARGELY AVAILABLE AT CET. ADDITIONAL SUPPORT HAS BEEN OFFERED BY MIT LINCOLN LABORATORIES (MIT/LL) AND NIST AS A RESULT OF THEIR ACTIVE COLLABORATION WITH CET IN THE PAST FOR THE CLIMMR NASA IIP PROPOSAL. THE DESIGN AND TESTING ASPECTS OF THE INDIVIDUAL TASKS IDENTIFIED EARLIER IS EARMARKED 27 MONTHS WHEREAS LAST 9 MONTHS IS DEVOTED TO INTEGRATION OF THE COMPONENTS TO THE TEST BED AND THE END TO END CHARACTERIZATION. Funding Only Action $45.0k 8/31/18 Not listed THE PROJECT AIMS TO DEVELOP KEY UNDERLYING TECHNOLOGY FOR A CLIMATE-MONITORING MICROWAVE RADIOMETER (CLIMMR) WHICH IS A COMPACT LOW-COST LOW POWER HIGH PRECISION CORRELATING RADIOMETER DESIGNED TO HAVE HIGH LINEARITY STABILITY AND NIST-TRACEABLE CALIBRATION ACCURACY. THE PROPOSED WORK FOCUSES ON ADAPTING TESTING AND CHARACTERIZING PREVIOUSLY PROVEN TECHNOLOGIES FOR SPACE BORNE RADIOMETER APPLICATIONS SPECIFICALLY: 1) ULTRA-PRECISE INVERTED-CONE TARGETS AND CLOSE-COUPLED FEEDHORNS FOR PRECISION CALIBRATION AND 2) SIGE BASED LOW NOISE AMPLIFIERS 3) USE OF SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED WAVEGUIDE (SIW) TECHNOLOGY FOR DEVELOPING A NOVEL LOW PROFILE FILTER+ 3DB COMBINER STAGE. IMPROVED UNDERSTANDING OF THE EARTH S CLIMATE SYSTEM (PAST PRESENT AND FUTURE) IS ONE OF THE MAIN GOALS OF NASA'S EARTH SCIENCE PROGRAM. WITHOUT SATELLITE MEASUREMENTS THE GLOBAL SCALE TEMPERATURE MONITORING AND CLIMATE CHANGE STUDY IS IMPOSSIBLE. MICROWAVE SOUNDING OBSERVATIONS OF THE TROPOSPHERE AND LOWER STRATOSPHERE BY CURRENT AND PREVIOUS SATELLITE MISSIONS HAVE PROVEN EXTREMELY VALUABLE IN THIS REGARD PROVIDING POTENTIALLY USEFUL TROPOSPHERIC TEMPERATURE TREND INFORMATION. BUT CURRENT STATE-OF-THE ART SYSTEMS DESIGNED PRIMARILY FOR WEATHER FORECASTING DO NOT MEET CRITICAL STABILITY AND ACCURACY REQUIREMENTS NEEDED FOR HIGH-FIDELITY CLIMATE STUDY. THE SATELLITE BASED TEMPERATURE MEASUREMENT RECORDS FROM THESE SOUNDERS EVEN THOUGH CONTINUOUS HAVE SIGNIFICANT VARIABILITIES THAT COMPLICATES THEIR USE IN LONG TERM CLIMATE STUDY. THE MAJOR SOURCES OF MEASUREMENT VARIABILITIES ARE 1) CHANGES IN LOCAL TIME OF MEASUREMENT 2) MEASUREMENT FREQUENCY CHANGE FROM MISSION TO MISSION AND 3) CALIBRATION DRIFTS AND INSTRUMENT NON LINEARITY. MEASURING THE STATISTICAL DIURNAL VARIATION OF GLOBAL TEMPERATURE IS ESSENTIAL FOR LONG TERM OBSERVATIONAL STUDIES NEEDED TO ASSESS ATMOSPHERIC TRENDS. A CONSTELLATION OF 2 OR 3 SMALL SATELLITES HAVING A HIGHER ORBITAL PRECESSION RATE IN ADDITION TO THE PRESENT SET OF SOUNDERS IN SUN SYNCHRONOUS ORBITS CAN COVER THE ENTIRE GLOBE FASTER AND FOR A LARGER SET OF LOCAL TIMES THUS IMPROVING ACCURACY OF TEMPERATURE RECORDS MULTIFOLD. THE PROPOSED RADIOMETER DESIGN INCLUDES 9 CHANNELS ENSURING CONTINUITY WITH MSU AND AMSU-A IN THE 5MM OXYGEN BAND FROM 50-58 GHZ. CORRELATING RADIOMETER ARCHITECTURE WILL BE IMPLEMENTED AS IT CAN ELIMINATE THE EFFECTS OF RECEIVER NOISE TEMPERATURE FLUCTUATIONS AND PROVIDE THE MUCH NEEDED LINEARITY AND STABILITY. THE PROPOSED WORK MAINLY CONSISTS OF FOUR MAJOR TASKS WHICH ON SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION WILL RAISE THE TRL OF THE CLIMMR INSTRUMENT FROM 4 TO 6. 1) CHARACTERIZATION AND REDESIGN OF INVERTED CONE ALMA TARGETS FOR SPACE APPLICATIONS TO MAXIMIZE INTEGRATION TIME 2) PRECISE MECHANICAL SHROUDING TO ENSURE CLOSE COUPLING OF TARGET-HORN ASSEMBLY AND PERFORMANCE EVALUATION WITH THE NEW HORN-TARGET ARCHITECTURE 3) EVALUATION OF SIGE BASED LNA AND MIXER STAGES WHICH ARE EXPECTED TO PROVIDE HIGHER RADIOMETER STABILITY AND REDUCED GAIN AND OFFSET FLUCTUATION NOISE 4) DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF AN INNOVATIVE TECHNIQUE FOR REALIZING CHANNEL FILTERING AND 3 DB QUADRATURE SIGNAL COMBINING SIMULTANEOUSLY IN THE SAME STRUCTURE USING SIW LTCC TECHNOLOGY. THE CLIMMR INSTRUMENT IS ALSO THE PRIMARY PAYLOAD OF A TO-BE-PROPOSED NASA EV MISSION FOR A SMALL SATELLITE CONSTELLATION TO PRECISELY MEASURE THE DIURNAL CYCLE OF GLOBAL TEMPERATURE. THE HARDWARE AND INSTRUMENT SUPPORT FOR THE ACCOMPLISHMENT OF THE TASKS ARE LARGELY AVAILABLE AT CET. ADDITIONAL SUPPORT HAS BEEN OFFERED BY MIT LINCOLN LABORATORIES (MIT/LL) AND NIST AS A RESULT OF THEIR ACTIVE COLLABORATION WITH CET IN THE PAST FOR THE CLIMMR NASA IIP PROPOSAL. THE DESIGN AND TESTING ASPECTS OF THE INDIVIDUAL TASKS IDENTIFIED EARLIER IS EARMARKED 27 MONTHS WHEREAS LAST 9 MONTHS IS DEVOTED TO INTEGRATION OF THE COMPONENTS TO THE TEST BED AND THE END TO END CHARACTERIZATION. $45.0k 8/31/18 Not listed THE PROJECT AIMS TO DEVELOP KEY UNDERLYING TECHNOLOGY FOR A CLIMATE-MONITORING MICROWAVE RADIOMETER (CLIMMR) WHICH IS A COMPACT, LOW-COST, LOW POWER, HIGH PRECISION CORRELATING RADIOMETER DESIGNED TO HAVE HIGH LINEARITY, STABILITY AND NIST-TRACEABLE CALIBRATION ACCURACY. THE PROPOSED WORK FOCUSES ON ADAPTING, TESTING AND CHARACTERIZING PREVIOUSLY PROVEN TECHNOLOGIES FOR SPACE BORNE RADIOMETER APPLICATIONS, SPECIFICALLY: 1) ULTRA-PRECISE INVERTED-CONE TARGETS AND CLOSE-COUPLED FEEDHORNS FOR PRECISION CALIBRATION, AND 2) SIGE BASED LOW NOISE AMPLIFIERS 3) USE OF SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED WAVEGUIDE (SIW) TECHNOLOGY FOR DEVELOPING A NOVEL LOW PROFILE FILTER+ 3DB COMBINER STAGE. IMPROVED UNDERSTANDING OF THE EARTH S CLIMATE SYSTEM (PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE) IS ONE OF THE MAIN GOALS OF NASA'S EARTH SCIENCE PROGRAM. WITHOUT SATELLITE MEASUREMENTS THE GLOBAL SCALE TEMPERATURE MONITORING AND CLIMATE CHANGE STUDY IS IMPOSSIBLE. MICROWAVE SOUNDING OBSERVATIONS OF THE TROPOSPHERE AND LOWER STRATOSPHERE BY CURRENT AND PREVIOUS SATELLITE MISSIONS HAVE PROVEN EXTREMELY VALUABLE IN THIS REGARD, PROVIDING POTENTIALLY USEFUL TROPOSPHERIC TEMPERATURE TREND INFORMATION. BUT CURRENT STATE-OF-THE ART SYSTEMS, DESIGNED PRIMARILY FOR WEATHER FORECASTING, DO NOT MEET CRITICAL STABILITY AND ACCURACY REQUIREMENTS NEEDED FOR HIGH-FIDELITY CLIMATE STUDY. THE SATELLITE BASED TEMPERATURE MEASUREMENT RECORDS FROM THESE SOUNDERS EVEN THOUGH CONTINUOUS HAVE SIGNIFICANT VARIABILITIES THAT COMPLICATES THEIR USE IN LONG TERM CLIMATE STUDY. THE MAJOR SOURCES OF MEASUREMENT VARIABILITIES ARE 1) CHANGES IN LOCAL TIME OF MEASUREMENT 2) MEASUREMENT FREQUENCY CHANGE FROM MISSION TO MISSION AND 3) CALIBRATION DRIFTS AND INSTRUMENT NON LINEARITY. MEASURING THE STATISTICAL DIURNAL VARIATION OF GLOBAL TEMPERATURE IS ESSENTIAL FOR LONG TERM OBSERVATIONAL STUDIES NEEDED TO ASSESS ATMOSPHERIC TRENDS. A CONSTELLATION OF 2 OR 3 SMALL SATELLITES HAVING A HIGHER ORBITAL PRECESSION RATE IN ADDITION TO THE PRESENT SET OF SOUNDERS IN SUN SYNCHRONOUS ORBITS CAN COVER THE ENTIRE GLOBE FASTER AND FOR A LARGER SET OF LOCAL TIMES THUS IMPROVING ACCURACY OF TEMPERATURE RECORDS MULTIFOLD. THE PROPOSED RADIOMETER DESIGN INCLUDES 9 CHANNELS ENSURING CONTINUITY WITH MSU AND AMSU-A IN THE 5MM OXYGEN BAND FROM 50-58 GHZ. CORRELATING RADIOMETER ARCHITECTURE WILL BE IMPLEMENTED AS IT CAN ELIMINATE THE EFFECTS OF RECEIVER NOISE TEMPERATURE FLUCTUATIONS AND PROVIDE THE MUCH NEEDED LINEARITY AND STABILITY. THE PROPOSED WORK MAINLY CONSISTS OF FOUR MAJOR TASKS WHICH ON SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION WILL RAISE THE TRL OF THE CLIMMR INSTRUMENT FROM 4 TO 6. 1) CHARACTERIZATION AND REDESIGN OF INVERTED CONE ALMA TARGETS FOR SPACE APPLICATIONS TO MAXIMIZE INTEGRATION TIME 2) PRECISE MECHANICAL SHROUDING TO ENSURE CLOSE COUPLING OF TARGET-HORN ASSEMBLY AND PERFORMANCE EVALUATION WITH THE NEW HORN-TARGET ARCHITECTURE 3) EVALUATION OF SIGE BASED LNA AND MIXER STAGES WHICH ARE EXPECTED TO PROVIDE HIGHER RADIOMETER STABILITY AND REDUCED GAIN AND OFFSET FLUCTUATION NOISE 4) DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF AN INNOVATIVE TECHNIQUE FOR REALIZING CHANNEL FILTERING AND 3 DB QUADRATURE SIGNAL COMBINING SIMULTANEOUSLY IN THE SAME STRUCTURE USING SIW LTCC TECHNOLOGY. THE CLIMMR INSTRUMENT IS ALSO THE PRIMARY PAYLOAD OF A TO-BE-PROPOSED NASA EV MISSION FOR A SMALL SATELLITE CONSTELLATION TO PRECISELY MEASURE THE DIURNAL CYCLE OF GLOBAL TEMPERATURE. THE HARDWARE AND INSTRUMENT SUPPORT FOR THE ACCOMPLISHMENT OF THE TASKS ARE LARGELY AVAILABLE AT CET. ADDITIONAL SUPPORT HAS BEEN OFFERED BY MIT LINCOLN LABORATORIES (MIT/LL) AND NIST AS A RESULT OF THEIR ACTIVE COLLABORATION WITH CET IN THE PAST FOR THE CLIMMR NASA IIP PROPOSAL. THE DESIGN AND TESTING ASPECTS OF THE INDIVIDUAL TASKS IDENTIFIED EARLIER IS EARMARKED 27 MONTHS WHEREAS LAST 9 MONTHS IS DEVOTED TO INTEGRATION OF THE COMPONENTS TO THE TEST BED AND THE END TO END CHARACTERIZATION. Not listed $45.0k 8/17/17