Performance of STAR-Light receivers during CLPX

STAR-Light is a 10 element, 1.4 GHz aperture synthesis radiometer being developed at the University of Michigan. It features 3 new technologies: 1) 2-dimensional aperture synthesis using 3-bit correlation, 2) Direct Sampling Digital Receiver (DSDR) architecture, and 3) band definition in the digital definition in the digital domain. The instrument successfully completed Critical Design Review in the spring of 2002 and is being fabricated as funds become available. As a test of robustness of the receiver design, we are using four STAR-Light receivers in a dual-polarized 1.4 GHz radiometer, and two are used as IF amplifiers in a dual-polarized 6.7 GHz radiometer. Both radiometers will eventually be fully polarimetric. The system is currently deployed near Fraser, Colorado, as part of the NASA Cold Lands Processes Experiment (CLPX) to occur in February and April, 2003. We will report on the performance of these receivers in this relatively harsh environment.