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Payload and Applications
Ground Segment
Payload and Applications
EMS Technologies of Sainte-Anne de Bellevue, Quebec designed, manufactured, and tested onboard electronic sub-systems for the Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar (ASAR) antenna that will enable ENVISAT to capture data from every corner of our planet in all weather conditions, day or night. The ASAR antenna will contribute to preparing the scientific community for future SAR satellites such as RADARSAT-2.
Specifically, EMS' role in the ASAR Project encompasses mostly three areas:
- Structural and thermal analysis support to the prime contractor (Astrium) for the overall Antenna subsystem;
- Design of the composite RF Panel Feed distribution network including RF design and associated mechanical analysis of large distributed feed networks;
- Design and manufacture of the Antenna Deployment Test System (DTS).
ABB Bomem of Québec City, Quebec, provided support in instrument design and data analysis, and developed optical test equipment for one of the ten special instruments to be placed onboard ENVISAT, the Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding (MIPAS). The MIPAS is an infrared Fourier spectrometer – a sophisticated instrument designed to measure the concentration of various atmospheric constituents. It has a high spectral resolution and range, allowing global measurement of more than 20 trace gases during all seasons, atmospheric pressure, and temperature. Bomem also developed software to allow selection and generation of Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS instrument) products.
COM DEV of Cambridge, Ontario, supplied the MIPAS Signal Processing Subsystem Electronics and onboard flight software, and delivered two space qualified oscillator units operating at 23.8 GHz and 36.5 GHz for the microwave radiometer (MWR). This instrument will be used to measure atmospheric water vapour, the liquid water content of clouds, soil moisture over land, surface energy, and detect and classify different forms of ice.
Ground Segment
MPB Technologies of Pointe Claire, Quebec, built three transponders, part of a system that characterizes the signal from the ASAR instrument. The transponders, located in Flevoland, The Netherlands, will be used as a precision point target to monitor gain variations. The transponder calibration gives excellent gain calibration and also provides data for the estimation of antenna beam-pointing biases.
MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates (MDA) of Richmond, British Columbia, was the main supplier of high-speed data acquisition and processing systems due to their expertise in Earth Observation satellites and their solid experience as leader of the development of the ground segment for ESA's ERS-1 and ERS-2 satellites. It developed and provided eight innovative Front End Processors, a direct-to-disk data capture system that enables direct archiving of newly acquired ENVISAT Advanced SAR data and created systems capable of processing ERS SAR data into ENVISAT format.
Finally, the Canada Centre for Remote Sensing (CCRS) will play a key role in the reception and distribution of ENVISAT ASAR data information through ground stations in Gatineau, Quebec and Prince Albert, Saskatchewan.
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