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The Calibration Ground Station
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CGS Roof (57 K JPEG)
Radome (55 K JPEG)/ Radome 2 (56 K JPEG)
Antenna (365 K GIF)
RF circuitry (463 K GIF)
Antenna/RF (414 K GIF)
Pedestal (67 K JPEG)
Equipment Rack (296 K GIF)
Equip. Rack 2 (7 K JPEG)
In association with the Seawinds on QuikSCAT mission, a Calibration Ground Station (CGS) has been constructed by the Jet Propulsions Laboratory in White Sands, New Mexico. It was set up to calibrate the instrument and validate data. Calibration means to adjust, standardized, or determine performance. For the instrument, it means determining everything about its operation; its position, its pointing, its timing, its power.
Because the satellite operates at extreme distances from its target, 800 kilometers above the earth, extreme accuracy is needed. Tolerated errors in pointing are only 2 or 3 hundredths of a degree. Allowed timing errors are under 1 ms.
The CGS is set up to assist in exact calibration. It operates by pointing its antenna in the direction of the satellite as it flies overhead. The microwave pulses from the satellite enter the CGS antenna, and are measured and stored there. They are then made available through web and ftp service to researchers who desire to use the data.
