IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - March 2013 - 60

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

FIGURE 1. SMOS brightness temperatures observed over the U.K. [(a) and (b)] and Spain [(c) and (d)] early in the mission [(a) and (c)] and in
April 2011 [(b) and (d)] after efforts to characterize and mitigate radio-frequency interference [1].

flexibility in handling RFI. Beyond the identification and
mitigation of RFI, monitoring the radio-frequency environment informs scientific users of the spectrum of the
expanding nature of RFI and shapes future policy. Understanding how contamination and mitigation affect measurements furthers data quality.
RFI Identification, Mitigation,
Monitoring, and Impact Assessments
The desire to measure an expanding list of features of
the Earth and the universe results in an increasing need
for high-precision measurements. Consequentially, the
ability to discern radio-frequency contamination, particularly at low levels, is key to compiling long-term,
consistent data records. Those who design sensors and
data-processing software must work to ensure the quality of observations, while users must understand how RFI
and its mitigation impact data. As society expands its use
of the electromagnetic spectrum, a limited resource, the
potential for interference in remote scientific observations increases.
60

Outside of spectrum management, which focuses on
policy-level decisions informed by scientific and societal
need, the subject of radio-frequency interference may
be divided into four distinct, but interconnected, topics.
Identification deals with the hardware and/or software
methods of determining measurements that may be corrupted with RFI. While many instances of measurement
contamination may result in obvious outliers in the data,
low-level RFI is much more insidious. The inability to
discern small amounts of contamination can skew environmental and climate data records. Mitigation allows for
the use of contaminated measurements after the removal
of RFI, and is an important and evolving aspect of operating in a congested radio-frequency environment. Informing those who work with remote sensing instruments
and data, both from the engineering and usage arenas,
requires careful monitoring of RFI. In many instances
monitoring RFI is reactive, as there may be no knowledge of an interferer until it begins to transmit. In some
cases, monitoring the environment results in the removal
of unsanctioned transmitters (see Figure 1, where SMOS
ieee Geoscience and remote sensing magazine

march 2013



Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - March 2013

IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - March 2013 - Cover1
IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - March 2013 - Cover2
IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - March 2013 - 1
IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - March 2013 - 2
IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - March 2013 - 3
IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - March 2013 - 4
IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - March 2013 - 5
IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - March 2013 - 6
IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - March 2013 - 7
IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - March 2013 - 8
IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - March 2013 - 9
IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - March 2013 - 10
IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - March 2013 - 11
IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - March 2013 - 12
IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - March 2013 - 13
IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - March 2013 - 14
IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - March 2013 - 15
IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - March 2013 - 16
IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - March 2013 - 17
IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - March 2013 - 18
IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - March 2013 - 19
IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - March 2013 - 20
IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - March 2013 - 21
IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - March 2013 - 22
IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - March 2013 - 23
IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - March 2013 - 24
IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - March 2013 - 25
IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - March 2013 - 26
IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - March 2013 - 27
IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - March 2013 - 28
IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - March 2013 - 29
IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - March 2013 - 30
IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - March 2013 - 31
IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - March 2013 - 32
IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - March 2013 - 33
IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - March 2013 - 34
IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - March 2013 - 35
IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - March 2013 - 36
IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - March 2013 - 37
IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - March 2013 - 38
IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - March 2013 - 39
IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - March 2013 - 40
IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - March 2013 - 41
IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - March 2013 - 42
IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - March 2013 - 43
IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - March 2013 - 44
IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - March 2013 - 45
IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - March 2013 - 46
IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - March 2013 - 47
IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - March 2013 - 48
IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - March 2013 - 49
IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - March 2013 - 50
IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - March 2013 - 51
IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - March 2013 - 52
IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - March 2013 - 53
IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - March 2013 - 54
IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - March 2013 - 55
IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - March 2013 - 56
IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - March 2013 - 57
IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - March 2013 - 58
IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - March 2013 - 59
IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - March 2013 - 60
IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - March 2013 - 61
IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - March 2013 - 62
IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - March 2013 - 63
IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - March 2013 - 64
IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - March 2013 - 65
IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - March 2013 - 66
IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - March 2013 - 67
IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - March 2013 - 68
IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - March 2013 - 69
IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - March 2013 - 70
IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - March 2013 - 71
IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - March 2013 - 72
IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - March 2013 - 73
IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - March 2013 - 74
IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - March 2013 - 75
IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - March 2013 - 76
IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - March 2013 - 77
IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - March 2013 - 78
IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - March 2013 - 79
IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - March 2013 - 80
IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - March 2013 - Cover3
IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - March 2013 - Cover4
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/geoscience_december2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/geoscience_september2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/geoscience_june2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/geoscience_march2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/geoscience_december2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/geoscience_september2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/geoscience_june2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/geoscience_march2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/geoscience_december2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/geoscience_september2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/geoscience_june2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/geoscience_march2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/geoscience_december2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/geoscience_september2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/geoscience_june2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/geoscience_march2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/geoscience_december2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/geoscience_september2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/geoscience_june2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/geoscience_march2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/geoscience_december2018
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/geoscience_september2018
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/geoscience_june2018
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/geoscience_march2018
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/geoscience_december2017
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/geoscience_september2017
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/geoscience_june2017
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/geoscience_march2017
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/geoscience_december2016
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/geoscience_september2016
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/geoscience_june2016
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/geoscience_march2016
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/geoscience_december2015
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/geoscience_september2015
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/geoscience_june2015
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/geoscience_march2015
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/geoscience_december2014
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/geoscience_september2014
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/geoscience_june2014
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/geoscience_march2014
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/geoscience_december2013
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/geoscience_september2013
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/geoscience_june2013
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/geoscience_march2013
https://www.nxtbookmedia.com