Development of a Dynamically Re-Configurable Radio-Frequency Interference Detection System for L-Band Microwave...

Area of Science:

• Earth and Space Science
• Electrical Engineering
• Signal Processing

Background:

• Microwave radiometers are crucial for Earth observation and remote sensing.
• Radio-Frequency Interference (RFI) can corrupt radiometer data, impacting scientific accuracy.
• Existing RFI detection methods may lack efficiency or adaptability.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a novel FPGA algorithm for real-time RFI detection and flagging (RT-RDF) in microwave radiometers.
• To enhance the reliability and performance of L-Band microwave radiometry systems.
• To provide a modular and re-configurable solution for RFI mitigation.

Main Methods:

• Implementation of computationally-efficient algorithms on an FPGA.
• Utilizing Kurtogram and Spectrogram analysis to identify non-Gaussian signal behavior indicative of RFI.
• Employing an FFT-based filter bank to divide the receiver bandwidth into sub-bands for targeted RFI detection.
• Applying multiple blanking strategies based on RFI detection flags.

Main Results:

• The RT-RDF algorithm successfully detected and flagged RFI in various test scenarios.
• Validation with the ARIEL commercial microwave radiometer confirmed excellent system performance.
• The algorithm demonstrated effectiveness in mitigating interference and maintaining data integrity.

Conclusions:

• The developed RT-RDF algorithm offers a versatile and efficient solution for real-time RFI detection in microwave radiometers.
• The modular design and re-configurability allow adaptation to diverse operational environments and RFI conditions.
• This technology significantly improves the reliability of microwave radiometer data, crucial for scientific applications.