SWIFT-SAT: Observational Data Sharing

射电天文台在成立之初就开始处理无线电频率干扰（RFI）的影响。由于意识到强大的广播和敏感的科学仪器不能轻易共存，因此为射电天文学建立了受保护的频率，并建立了国家无线电安静区。随着时间的推移，这些保护措施得到了扩展。尽管如此，无线通信向更高频率的扩展，以及覆盖全球的低地球轨道卫星网络的出现，已经在更多的频率和偏远地区产生了射频无线通信。天文学界需要解决方案，既能实现这些通信能力，又能保护地面射电望远镜的可行性。在先前nsf资助的设计和规划工作的基础上，该项目将构建一个操作数据共享（ODS）系统，支持射电天文台和卫星星座之间的自动化、实时频谱共享。该项目将部署ODS，并在新墨西哥州的Jansky甚大阵列、西弗吉尼亚州的Green Bank望远镜和由太空探索技术公司（SpaceX）运营的Starlink星座之间进行频谱共享实验。来自不同背景的学生将作为暑期实习生参与这项工作，通过将来自ODS系统的实时更新整合到现有的面向公众的望远镜状态显示中，公众对频谱问题的认识将得到加强。计划中的ODS系统将射电天文台的状态和计划信息传输给卫星操作员，包括天线指向方向或相控阵波束方向，接收器中心频率和带宽作为时间的函数。ODS的结构是由卫星操作员查询的数据库，因此只传输该操作员所需的信息。天文台和运营商相互同意共享方法。例如，当卫星将相控阵波束指向天文台附近的指定区域时，当天文台在该频段内主动感应时，卫星将只在运营商许可频率的一个子集中传输。该项目探索了一些方法，使操作员能够使用比当前静态保护方法下可用的更多频谱，当天文台在其他频率上传感时。初步部署和实验主要集中在10.7-12.7 GHz频段。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Radio astronomy observatories have dealt with the impacts of radio frequency interference (RFI) since their earliest days. The realization that powerful broadcasts and sensitive scientific instruments could not easily coexist led to the creation of protected frequencies for radio astronomy and to the establishment of the National Radio Quiet Zone. These protections have been expanded over time. Nevertheless, the expansion of wireless communications to ever higher frequencies, and the advent of globe-spanning low earth orbit networks of satellites, have resulted in RFI at many more frequencies and in remote locations. The astronomy community needs solutions that enable these communications capabilities while protecting the viability of terrestrial radio telescopes. Building on prior NSF-funded design and planning work, this project will construct an Operational Data Sharing (ODS) system that supports automated, real-time spectrum sharing between radio astronomy observatories and satellite constellations. The project will deploy ODS and experiment with spectrum sharing between the Jansky Very Large Array in New Mexico, the Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia, and the Starlink constellation operated by Space Exploration Technologies, Inc. (SpaceX). Students from diverse backgrounds will take part in this work as summer interns, and public awareness of spectrum issues will be enhanced by integrating real-time updates derived from the ODS system into the existing public-facing telescope status display. The planned ODS system transmits information about the radio astronomy observatory’s status and plans to the satellite operator, including the antenna pointing direction or phased array beam direction, receiver center frequency and bandwidth as a function of time. ODS is structured as a database queried by the satellite operator, so only the information needed by that operator is transmitted. The observatory and the operator mutually agree on sharing approaches. For example, that satellites pointing phased-array beams into a specified zone near the observatory will only transmit in a subset of the operator’s licensed frequencies when the observatory is actively sensing in that band. The project explores methods that enable the operator to use more spectrum than is available under current static protection approaches when the observatory is sensing at other frequencies. The initial deployment and experiments focus on the 10.7-12.7 GHz band.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.