Sovremennye problemy distantsionnogo zondirovaniya Zemli iz kosmosa, 2025, V. 22, No. 6, pp. 100-114
Determination of antenna system parameters of MTVZA-GYa scanner/sounder operating on board Meteor-M No. 2-4 spacecraft
I.N. Sadovsky
1 , D.S. Sazonov
1 1 Space Research Institute RAS, Moscow, Russia
Accepted: 19.09.2025
DOI: 10.21046/2070-7401-2025-22-6-100-114
The paper presents the results of determining actual characteristics of antenna system of the Russian scanner/sounder named MTVZA-GYa (Microwave Atmospheric Temperature and Humidity Sounding Module, GYa — in memory of G. Ya. Gus’kov (1918–2002)), currently operating on board Meteor-M No. 2-4 spacecraft. The research is based on measurements of the intensity of radiothermal radiation of the solar disk and its surroundings, carried out by this instrument on May 22 and 28, 2024. On the dates, the spacecraft performed a roll maneuver to the right (relative to the flight direction), which opened the possibility to observe open space in part of the instrument’s working scanning sector. For the descending half-turns, the condition of proximity of the MTVZA-GYa instantaneous observation vectors and the Sun-position vector (both calculated in the inertial coordinate system) was fulfilled. During the processing of the available data, for each measurement the Sun-position vector was transferred to a coordinate system formed by an instantaneous triple of vectors that determine the spatial and polarization orientation of the antenna. Next, the obtained coordinates were converted into the space of angles, defined by the instrument’s scanning geometry and as close as possible to the concept of 3D antenna radiation pattern. The final operation of normalizing the obtained radiothermal images made it possible to identify the direction of maximum radiation and the isolines of the half-power level. The main task was to determine the mutual orientation of the optical beams of sight of individual frequency channels of the scanner/sounder, related to different feeds of the antenna system. Relative to the calculated position of the Sun’s disk center, they were: for the 6.9–23.8 GHz channel group — (–0.85°; 0.52°); for the 31.5–48.0 GHz channel group — (–1.65°; 0.33°); for the 52.0–91.65 GHz channel group — (–1.13°; –0.47°), and for the 165–183 GHz channels — (0.1°; 0.0°). The obtained forms of antenna patterns, practically for all frequencies of MTVZA-GYa, have the shape of an ellipse, with different degree of compression and orientation of the main axis. Estimates of their width (especially in the H-plane) exceed the values obtained by equipment developers based on electrodynamic modeling. The results of model estimates of the expected MTVZA-GYa signals during scanning of the Sun, performed by the authors, confirm correctness of the data presented in the article.
Keywords: MTVZA-GYa, Meteor-M No. 2-4, 3D antenna radiation pattern, orientation of optical sighting beams, observation of the Sun disk
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