29 MHz LEO satellite SDR LFM radar for citizen ionospheric science
Abstract
We describe a 29 MHz radar system that illuminates
the ionosphere from a CubeSat in low
earth orbit. The radar uses a Linear Frequency
Modulation (LFM) format that matches that of
the Coastal Observation Radar (CODAR). SDR
receivers operated by radio Amateurs and citizen
scientists running a GNURadio flowgraph
are used to measure the impulse response and
Doppler of the radio propagation path through
the ionosphere. The system may be viewed as
a bi-static radar with transmitter and receiver in
different location. The measured data and metadata
is uploaded to a central data repository for
analysis.
One of the objectives of the project is to motivate
citizen scientists and radio Amateurs to learn
about radar systems, ionospheric science, SDR,
GNU Radio and low earth orbit satellites.
The GNU Radio-related work is the development
of a Toolbox for the processing of CODAR signals.
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