Please explain the purpose of operation: |
The primary purpose of this testing is to collect airborne radar data.
The primary purpose of this testing is to collect airborne radar data needed by our development team to fully integrate and troubleshoot the radar as well as to refine the signal processing and exploitation algorithms in the system.
The radar is designed to operate bistatically with a transmitter on one aircraft and a receiver on one or two other aircraft. The angular difference in the paths (transmitter to target to receiver) is 10 to 20 degrees. The antennas are steered to look at the ground for moving targets approximately 3 to 7 km from the aircraft, looking to the side of the aircraft.
We plan to fly the system in the desert region around Grand Junction, Colorado in November 2012 and again for a few days in January 2012. The aircraft will orbit our aimpoint at 3 to 8 km radius separated by appx 10 to 20 degress, at approximately 3000 ft above ground level looking inward on the ground, subject to safety-of-flight constraints. The aircraft will be Twin Otters (DHC-6) which are twin propeller engine, unpressurized aircraft. We will provide people and vehicles on the ground as targets in an area approximately 2 to 3 km on a side.
Although we have planned dates for flights in November and January, this system is still in the early stages of development. As such, the schedule often slips to the right and so we are requesting a single large window of time for this STA. If we finish our experiment earlier in the window, we will notify the FCC.
We are coordinating with the Bureau of Land Management for use of particular terrain around Grand Junction and Twin Otter International is coordinating airspace. |