Raytheon Company

United States of America As Represented by the Secretary of the Air Force

Hughes Aircraft Company

Hughes Electronics Corporation

Richard C Savage

Peter B Landecker

Marion N Todd

Jim Cole

R Todd Lines

James L Peirce

A passive microwave icing avoidance system (MIAS) senses atmospheric conditions that lead to aircraft icing when the aircraft is flying at an altitude above the earth's surface. The MIAS includes a 37 GHz receiver and an 89 GHz receiver coupled to an antenna for sensing two microwave frequencies at different angles creating six passive microwave beams. The two receivers output data to a processor that processes the data to determine the amount of cloud liquid water and generates signals to an indicator/display to instruct the pilot of an aircraft to divert or proceed along the flight path.

Microwave icing avoidance system

An apparatus for measuring the properties of the tropopause includes a variable frequency microwave radiometer operating over a range of from about 118.0 to about 119.0 GHz. The radiometer receives as an input a frequency selector signal and produces as an output a measured power level at a measurement frequency corresponding to the input frequency selector signal. The apparatus further includes a feedback controller having as an input the measured power level and producing as an output the frequency selector signal. The feedback controller varies the frequency selector signal to a target frequency so as to produce a minimum value in the measured power level. The tropopause equivalent altitude is determined from the target frequency.

Variable frequency microwave tropopause sensor system and method

An imaging system is attached to a satellite, the imaging system includes a transmitting segment which transmits a field of view of photonic radiation to a focal plane array imager. Displacements such as jitter and drift are capable of being applied to the imaging system, which can result in apparent movement of said field of view applied to the focal plane array imager. A stabilizing segment limits the apparent movement of the field of view detected by said focal plane array imager in two orthogonal sensed translational directions, and about a sensed rotary direction.

Satellite focal plane array imager

A surveying satellite apparatus having an on-board microprocessor to process sensor-provided data from planetary and/or celestial reference scene. The sensor data is compared with the on-board spacecraft database to determine if any misorientation or translation error is present. The spacecraft attitude and ephemeris solutions are autonomously updated to reflect the realtime alignment.

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Franktown, CO, United States of America

Richard C Savage