Properties of the RFI Environment at 1400-1427 MHz as Observed by the Soil Moisture Active/Passive Mission Microwave Radiometer

Abstract

The soil moisture active/passive (SMAP) satellite microwave radiometer has been providing global measurements of L-band thermal emission from Earth since April 2015. Although the radiometer operates in the protected 1400-1427 MHz portion of the radio spectrum, its measurements are still corrupted by either radio frequency interference (RFI) from out-of-band emissions via legal sources or by sources operating in-band illegally. The SMAP radiometer includes a digital backend that enables implementation of multiple ground-based RFI detection and filtering algorithms. This data is used to collect statistics and trends of Earth's RFI environment. This article examines properties of the global RFI environment as observed by SMAP, including information on RFI source properties (obtained from analysis of SMAP multiple detector outputs) and the evolution of the RFI environment in time. Residual RFI contributions after the application of SMAP RFI processing are also examined as preliminary information for the development of future methods to address their effect.