Astro Aerospace sells Canada's MDA AIS antennas for RCM satellite Arctic use

Astro Aerospace to provide JIB Antennas for Radarsat - Via Satellite
Canada's MDA receives radar antennas for satellite use

JIB Monopoles

Self-deploying radar antennas from Astro Aerospace are to be used on Canada's Earth observation satellites that monitor maritime activity.

The antennas, which self-deploy in 200 milliseconds, are configurable stored-energy monopoles that will be integrated into the satellites' automatic identification system payload. The 13 antennas used in the RCM stow in a low mass and compact 4-inch by 4-inch by 2.5-inch canister, the company said.

 Northrop Grumman Delivers Lightning Fast, Self-Deploying Antennas for Canada's RADARSAT Constellation Mission

USN is also improving Arctic AIS coverage with MUOS

Next gen satellite to be tested during Arctic Shield 2014  
From studying the effects of solar activity to improve radio transmissions to enhancing the capabilities of Automated Identification Systems, the importance of having a reliable communications infrastructure in the Arctic has not been lost on researchers traveling aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Healy as part of Arctic Shield 2014.

The Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) is the U.S. Navy's next generation narrowband military satellite communications system that will replace the legacy Ultra High Frequency Follow-On (UHF-FO) communications system before that system reaches its end of service life. 

Satellite AIS is a relatively new technology that has changed the landscape for monitoring the maritime domain. Improving upon existing technology already deployed aboard most large vessels across the globe, Satellite AIS is truly revolutionary in providing a complete and global picture of the world’s shipping.

Main RCM applications

The RADARSAT Constellation mission is being designed for three main uses:

• Maritime surveillance (ice, wind, oil pollution and ship monitoring);
• Disaster management (mitigation, warning, response and recovery); and
• Ecosystem monitoring (forestry, agriculture, wetlands and coastal change monitoring).

In addition to these core user areas, there are expected to be a wide range of ad hoc uses of RADARSAT Constellation data in many different government applications, federally and  provincially, and in the private sector, both in Canada and internationally.

For example, while the mission design initially focused on maritime security requirements, land security, particularly in the Arctic, will be dramatically enhanced. The system offers up to four passes per day in Canada's far north, and several passes per day over the Northwest Passage.
The increase in revisit frequency introduces a range of applications that are based on regular collection of data and creation of composite images that highlight changes over time. Such applications are particularly useful for monitoring changes such as those induced by climate change, land use evolution, coastal change, urban subsidence and even human impacts on local environments.

Self-Deploying Monopole Antennas Seize Greater Coverage of the Seas | Active components content from Microwaves & RF

IEEE Xplore Abstract - Digital beamforming techniques applied to satellite-based AIS receiver
Maggio, F.; Rossi, T.; Cianca, E.; Ruggieri, M., "Digital beamforming techniques applied to satellite-based AIS receiver," Aerospace and Electronic Systems Magazine, IEEE , vol.29, no.6, pp.4,12, June 2014
doi: 10.1109/MAES.2014.130168
This article investigates using DBF onboard AIS satellites with the objective to increase the signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) so that the number of decoded AIS messages can be increased. A DBF system is based on an array of antenna elements acting as independent receivers that capture radio frequency (RF) signals. These signals are converted into two digital streams of baseband I and Q signals, and then they are weighted (by changing their amplitude and phase) so that when they are combined together (summed) they create a desired output (i.e., the AIS signal of interest with a high level of SINR). The article presents an antenna array with a single-element radiation pattern optimized to mitigate interference. Based on this antenna array, static and adaptive DBF techniques have been compared in terms of SINR increase and system complexity (i.e., need for a large antenna, computational complexity of an adaptive DBF technique, etc.)
URL: http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=6867653&isnumber=6888966