REFLECTOMETER DESIGN STUDY AND CONCEPT DEMONSTRATION

PSR WILL PRODUCE A DETAILED DESIGN AND SMALL SCALE BRASSBOARD PROOF OF CONCEPT HARDWARE VERSION OF A FIELD PORTABLE, MONOSTATIC BIDIRECTIONAL REFLECTOMETER (MR). THE PROPOSED FAR-FIELD REFLECTOMETER WILL BE BROADBAND (UV TO MMW) AND ACHROMATIC, WILL ALLOW FLEXIBILITY IN THE CHOICE OF SOURCES AND DETECTORS, AND WILL BE ABLE TO ACCOMMODATE ALL THE PARAMETERS (E.G., ASPECT ANGLE, SAMPLING SIZE AND DISTRIBUTION, POLARIZATION, SURFACE ROUGHNESS) REQUIRED TO PERFORM SUCH A MEASUREMENT. THE DESIGN STUDY WILL INCLUDE A COMPLETE ANALYSIS AND PRIORITIZATION OF THESE PARAMETERS, THE DETERMINATION OF THE RANGE OVER WHICH THEY NEED TO BE MEASURED, AND THE RESOLUTION TO WHICH THEY NEED TO BE MEASURED. THE APPARATUS REQUIRED TO ACHIEVE THESE REQUIREMENTS WILL BE DESIGNED. THIS DESIGN STUDY WILL ADDRESS THE RANGE OF REFLECTANCES EXPECTED IN THE MEASUREMENT, DETERMINE THE REQUIRED SYSTEM SENSITIVITY, AND PRODUCE A LIST OF SOURCE/DETECTOR COMBINATIONS IN THE ULTRAVIOLET (UV) THROUGH MILLIMETER WAVE (MMW) ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVELENGTHS. THE SYSTEM WILL CONSIST OF SEVERAL MONOSTATIC REFLECTOMETERS, EACH COVERING A PORTION OF THE WIDE SPECTRUM REQUIRED. CALIBRATION METHODS AND STANDARDS WILL BE IDENTIFIED, AND THE DATA ACQUISITION ARCHITECTURE WILL BE DETERMINED. IN ADDITION, THE ARCHIVING AND DATA PRESENTATION FORMAT WILL BE DESCRIBED. BECAUSE PSR HAS EXTENSIVE EXPERIENCE IN PRODUCTING SIMILAR MONOSTATIC REFLECTOMETERS, OUR PHASE I PROPOSAL INCLUDES DEMONSTRATION OF A SMALL BRASSBOARD PROOF OF CONCEPT MEASUREMENT SYSTEM. THIS BRASSBOARD WILL BE BUILT UP FROM PSR CAPITAL EQUIPMENT AND WILL NOT ADD MATERIALS COST TO THIS PHASE I EFFORT.