Single Antenna Phase Errors for NAVSPASUR Receivers

摘要

Interferometrics Inc. has investigated the phase errors on single antenna NAVSPASUR data. We find that the single antenna phase errors are well modeled as a function of signal strength only. The phase errors associated with data from the Kickapoo transmitter are larger than the errors from the low-power transmitters (i.e., Gila River and Jordan Lake). Further, the errors in the phase data associated with the Kickapoo transmitter show significant variability among data taken on different days. We have applied a quadratic polynomial fit to the single antenna phases to derive the Doppler shift and chirp, and we have estimated the formal errors associated with these quantities. These formal errors have been parameterized as a function of peak signal strength and number of data frames. We find that for a typical satellite observation the derived Doppler shift has a formal error of approx. 0.2 Hz and the derived chirp has a formal error of 0 less than or approx. 1 Hz/sec. There is a clear systematic bias in the derived chirp for targets illuminated by the Kickapoo transmitter. Near-field effects probably account for the larger phase errors and the chirp bias of the Kickapoo transmitter. (rh)