Development of the RF electronics unit for NASA´s ecological synthetic aperture radar

In its Carbon Cycle research efforts, prioritized by the National Science Foundation Decadal Survey and mandated by the US Congress, NASA is developing an airborne P-band Ecological Synthetic Aperture Radar called EcoSAR. By using polarimetric and interferometric techniques, and a digital beamforming phased-array architecture, EcoSAR will characterize biomass and ecological structure in three dimensions aboard a P-3 aircraft. One of the main components in the EcoSAR instrument development is the 32 channel RF Electronics Unit (REU). The multi-channel solid-state REU design provides amplification, conditioning, blanking, and several calibration schemes to meet EcoSAR´s science and engineering requirements. The design, assembly, and testing of the REU is well underway with 16 of 32 channels completed. The remaining channels are nearly finished. The REU once complete, will be calibrated and integrated with the rest of the system in preparation for EcoSAR´s first flight campaign.