A Proposal on Antenna Alignment Calibration Method of a Receiving Ground Station for Earth Observation Satellite

Abstract

We have an assumption that both X-axis and Y-axis of a receiving antenna (5m in diameter, X-band) for earth observation satellite are not exactly at right angles to each other, and that an antenna mount is rotated. In this paper, we make a proposal on antenna alignment calibration method of a receiving ground station for earth observation satellite. And, we conduct a test of an earth observation satellite reception by using the calibration parameters derived from our proposal. Through the test, we confirm the effectiveness of our proposal. Our proposal using virtual six-axis antenna alignment model is a method which corrects an antenna drive angle by using the sun as a signal source. As a result, we do not need to do mechanical alignments which are dangerous operations, in an antenna drive system. Also, we do not need to own , manage and maintain collimation facilities. As our proposal is realizable by adding a RF power meter to a receiving system, it can be said a safer and cheaper method.