Project number
18095
Organization
UA Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
Academic year
2018-2019
Radar sounding of Earth’s glaciers and ice sheets is performed on the surface or in the air, but current techniques provide limited data pertaining to subsurface and bed topography. Data gathering is time consuming, and land coverage is limited by weather and costs. A CubeSat design with a sounder radar and camera systems can provide full coverage of glaciers and ice sheets. The CubeSat will be placed in a low Earth polar orbit for four months, and will provide radar sounding in the dark side of orbit and camera data in the light side. The subsystems maximize the performance of the system as a whole while minimizing mass and volume and providing sufficient power and a high data transfer rate. The four 1.5-meter antennas have a low mass and volume to allow simple deployment with minimal effects on the rest of the system.