IMPACT OF OPTICAL BAFFLE ON ANTENNA PATTERN

An assessment of the impact of the optical baffle on the NASA Earth Ob serving System (EOS) downlink antenna radiation pattern is described. The assessment was accomplished by theoretical prediction of the radio frequency (RF) field reflected from the baffle (and interfering with the downlink pattern) based upon measurements of the RF reflectivity o f several samples of proposed baffle materials. The predicted results indicate that a baffle made of these materials will not significantly impact the downlink antenna radiation pattern above the -50 dB level r elative to the beam peak. (C) 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.