Session
Poster Session 1
Location
Salt Palace Convention Center, Salt Lake City, UT
Abstract
Distributed SmallSat SAR requires independent spacecraft to maintain phase coherence over long integration times. This work presents a Monte Carlo simulation that combines manufacturer-derived oscillator phase noise, spacecraft thermal dynamics, and orbital perturbations to evaluate passive coherence limits. The results show that oscillator quality alone is insufficient; differential thermal-state evolution becomes a dominant driver of long-duration coherence performance.
Document Type
Event
Paper
Included in
Numerical Characterization of Phase Coherence in Distributed SmallSat SAR Interferometry
Salt Palace Convention Center, Salt Lake City, UT
Distributed SmallSat SAR requires independent spacecraft to maintain phase coherence over long integration times. This work presents a Monte Carlo simulation that combines manufacturer-derived oscillator phase noise, spacecraft thermal dynamics, and orbital perturbations to evaluate passive coherence limits. The results show that oscillator quality alone is insufficient; differential thermal-state evolution becomes a dominant driver of long-duration coherence performance.
