Remote Geophysical Observatory in Antarctica with HF Data Transmission: A Review

Remote Sensing

Joan Lluis Pijoan¹  David Altadill²  Joan Miquel Torta²  Rosa Ma Alsina-Pagès¹  Santiago Marsal² 

[1] GR-SETAD La Salle, Universitat Ramon Llull, Quatre Camins 30, 08022 Barcelona, Spain; E-Mails:;Observatori de l’Ebre, CSIC, Universitat Ramon Llull, Horta Alta 38, 43520 Roquetes, Spain; E-Mails:

关键词: HF;    ionosphere;    spread spectrum;    channel sounding;    geomagnetism;    observatories;    remote sensors;    advanced modulations;   

DOI  :  10.3390/rs6087233

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

The geophysical observatory in the Antarctic Spanish Station, Juan Carlos I (ASJI), on Livingston Island, has been monitoring the magnetic field in the Antarctic region for more than fifteen years. In 2004, a vertical incidence ionospheric sounder completed the observatory, which brings a significant added value in a region with low density of geophysical data. Although the ASJI is only operative during the austral summer, the geomagnetic station records the data throughout the year. A High Frequency (HF) transmission system was installed in 2004 in order to have the geomagnetic data available during the whole year. As the power supply is very limited when the station is not operative, we had to design a low-power HF transceiver with a very simple antenna, due to environmental aspects. Moreover, the flow of information was unidirectional, so the modulation had to be extremely robust since there is no retransmission in case of error. This led us to study the main parameters of the ionospheric channel and to design new modulations specially adapted to very low signal to noise scenarios with high levels of interference. In this paper, a review of the results of our remote geophysical observatory and associated transmission system in Antarctica during the last decade is presented.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2014 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland