December 23, 2016

CER

CER antenna

The CER antenna

The e-POP Coherent Electromagnetic Radiation tomography experiment (CER) is for radio transmission from e-POP to ground for radio propagation and ionospheric scintillation measurements.

CER consists of a tri-frequency beacon and a three-frequency, circular polarized antenna on a 68.6 cm boom. CER generates beacon signals at 150, 400, and 1067 MHz for reception by a 14-station network in the Western hemisphere from Alert, NU, to Jicamarca, Peru. Data is collected from these receiving stations and analyzed using ionospheric tomography techniques, producing 2-D ionospheric electron density maps.

The development of CER was led by the Naval Research Lab in Washington, D.C. under the direction of Dr. Paul Bernhardt.