IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - June 2018 - 24

and 81-86 GHz. In addition, the frequency bands 31.8-
33.4, 40.5-42.5, and 47-47.2 GHz may be considered for
new allocations to the mobile services on a primary basis.
Many of these bands are used by science services to measure weather and climate variables with active and passive
sensors onboard satellites. Therefore, there is a potential for
a harmful impact on these scientific missions.
Another concern for remote sensing is AI 1.14, which examines enabling access to broadband applications delivered
by high-altitude platform stations (HAPS). HAPS would
provide wireless broadband deployment in remote areas,
including mountainous, coastal, and sandy desert regions.
The frequencies considered on a global level are 38-39.5 GHz
and, on a regional level, 21.4-22 and 24.25-27.5 GHz.
Again, these latter bands are used for many remote-sensing
observations of Earth variables and scientific studies.
Similarly, AI 1.15 considers identification of the landmobile and fixed-service applications operating in the frequency range of 275-450 GHz for use by administrations.
Numerous passive sensor missions use frequencies within
this spectrum range.
In addition, AI 1.16 seeks to identify potential wireless access system/radio local area network (WAS/RLAN)
mitigation techniques to facilitate sharing with incumbent
systems in the 5,150-5,350, 5,350-5,470, 5,725-5,850, and
5,850-5,925 MHz frequency bands. Numerous active EESS
and SRS satellites and airborne missions use the 5,300-
5,500 MHz band, which could be severely impacted.
In sharing the spectrum, one of the main challenges
for passive remote sensors is their vulnerability to RFI because of their inherently high sensitivity (given that they
are designed to measure noise-like signals). For active EESS
sensors, one of the main challenges is that they cover vast
regions of the Earth's surface, so the aggregate effect of
spectrum sharing in urban areas can have a detrimental effect on their measurements and render them useless.
THE FREQUENCY ALLOCATIONS AND REMOTE
SENSING TECHNICAL COMMITTEE'S ROLE AND
ACTIVITIES IN SPECTRUM MANAGEMENT
The FARS-TC was established by the GRSS to defend the
interests of the remote-sensing community in matters relevant to frequency allocations. Its membership is composed of scientists and engineers working in remote sensing at a variety of institutions worldwide. The technical
committee is among the international entities that help
advocate for and create awareness of the importance of
the RF spectrum regulation process in efficiently sharing
this limited resource for society's benefit. It cooperates
with various organizations, such as the Space Frequency
Coordination Group at the international level and the
Committee on Radio Frequencies of the National Academy of Sciences at the U.S. level, on spectrum management issues relevant to remote sensing. In the spectrum
management community, it is in a position to represent
remote-sensing scientists and engineers more indepen24

dently than administrations, which that need to consider
all their national interests.
In addition, the FARS-TC promotes the development of
RFI detection and mitigation technology through organizing tutorials, workshops, and conference technical sessions
and by fostering the exchange of information between researchers in different fields, such as remote sensing, radio
astronomy, and telecommunications, with the common
goal of minimizing harmful interference between systems.
More information on the technical committee can be found
at [11]. Anyone interested in joining, either to contribute to
or stay informed on these issues, can sign up on the FARSTC webpage.
AUTHOR INFORMATION
Paolo de Matthaeis (paolo.dematthaeis@nasa.gov) received
his Laurea degree (summa cum laude) in electrical engineering from the University of Rome "Tor Vergata," Italy.
After graduation, he was with the European Space Agency in
The Netherlands as part of the Young Graduate Trainee program and then with the Remote Sensing Laboratory at the
University of Rome "Tor Vergata." He earned a D.Sc. degree
in electrical engineering from George Washington University, Washington, D.C., in 2005, when he started working
at the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, as a
research associate; he is currently a research scientist there.
His research interests include active and passive microwave
remote sensing, with a focus on electromagnetic modeling
of vegetation and land/sea surfaces and detection and mitigation of radio-frequency interference. He was cochair of
the IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society Frequency
Allocations in Remote Sensing Technical Committee from
2013 to 2017 and has been its chair since July 2017. He is
member of the U.S. National Committee for Union for Radio Science, and he is a Senior Member of the IEEE.
Roger Oliva (roger.oliva.balague@esa.int) received his
M.Sc. degree in telecommunication engineering from the
Polytechnic University of Catalonia, Spain, in 2004 and
is currently preparing his Ph.D. degree thesis on "L-Band
Interferometric Radiometers for Earth Observation, Contribution to Calibration and System Performance Improvements" at the same university. Previously, he worked on
several space and astronomy projects, including the European Space Agency's (ESA's) mission Mars Express, two astronomical microwave observatories, and the design of advanced telecommunications satellite payloads. Since 2007,
he has been a contractor for the ESA in the Earth-observation
L-band passive radiometer satellite soil moisture ocean salinity. In 2013, he received a certificate of appreciation from the
IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society Frequency Allocation in Remote Sensing Technical Committee (FARS-TC)
for his successful efforts in working with national authorities
to reduce illegal interference in the protected 1,400-1,427-MHz
passive remote sensing band. He has been cochair of the
FARS-TC since 2017.
ieee Geoscience and remote sensing magazine

june 2018

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - June 2018