Hardware redesign and DAQ system implementation for a high-frequency electric field detector on a sounding rocket

• Main Author: García Morilla, Alejandro
• Other Authors: Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya. Departament de Teoria del Senyal i Comunicacions, Goddard Space Flight Center, Camps Carmona, Adriano José, Samara, Marilia, Ibáñez Domenech, Iban
• Format: Master Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya 2023
• Subjects: Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Enginyeria de la telecomunicació::Radiocomunicació i exploració electromagnètica::Satèl·lits i ràdioenllaços; Atmosphere; Upper > Rocket observations; Auroras; Sounding rockets; auroras borealis; heliophysics; auroras boreales; heliofísica; cohetes de sondeo; Atmosfera superior > Sondatges per coets; Aurores; aurora borealis
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2117/411959

Despite the great advances that have been made in space exploration over the past century, the number of unknowns that remain to be resolved is still very large. The need for new discoveries and the validation of theories drives the continuous development of new technologies and the improvement of existing ones. Space weather and heliophysics are an important space exploration area that allow to understand the interaction between stars and planets as well as the universe and its origins. In the space weather field there are many different phenomena to study, with one notable event being the aurora borealis. These phenomena are a visible consequence of the interactions between our planet and the Sun, thus, they have important relevance for the scientific community. While the origin of auroras is relatively well understood, there are a lot of properties and effects whose origin is still unknown and which can give important insights to the field. The objective of this thesis is to contribute to the advancement of technology used in sounding rocket missions aimed to studying auroras. This project centers on the redesign of the hardware used in a high-frequency electric field detector as well as the implementation of a real-time data acquisition system focusing on the ground-segment software. The thesis has been carried out in the code 673 of the heliophysics division of NASA Goddard Space Flight center. A pesar de los grandes avances que se han logrado en la exploración espacial durante el último siglo, la cantidad de incógnitas que aún deben resolverse es todavía muy grande. La necesidad de nuevos descubrimientos y la validación de teorías impulsa el continuo desarrollo de nuevas tecnologías así como la mejora de las ya existentes. El clima espacial y la heliofísica son áreas importantes de exploración espacial que permiten entender la interacción entre estrellas y planetas, así como el universo y sus orígenes. En el campo del clima espacial, hay muchos fenómenos diferentes para estudiar, y entre ellos se ...