Description: Phase I of the proposal describes plans to develop a state of the art transmitter for the W-Band and KA -Band Cloud Radar system. Our focus will be concentrated in the design of a dry high voltage assembly including both the power supply and modulator part of the system, thus eliminating the oil, which adds weight and presents complicated sealing problems during environmental conditions during system operatation. The system will be suitable for operatation at ground and aircraft environments and during extreme temperature ranges from -40 degrees centigrade to + 85 degrees centigrade. The simulation will represent actual testing conditions under EIK loading. The second part of our effort will be directed to develop an FR high power amplifier and a sophisticated combiner to direct the output energy to the antenna. The success of this part of our effort will result in the replacement of the EIK tube which is the most expensive part of our system with an RF power amplifier system.

Benefits: Potential Non-Nasa Commerial applications that could benefit from this technology include, but are not limited to, early warning systems for tornadoes and hurricanes, Universities for investigating cloud effects and satellite communication systems and additional satellite communications orbital outlets.

NASA Goddard is seeking a high power and high efficiency dual frequency radar KA-Band and W-Band Solid State Amplifier with the potential use in a satellite mission for Aerosol/Cloud/Ecosystems (ACE).