Date of Award

Spring 4-1992

Document Type

Thesis - Open Access

Degree Name

Master of Aeronautical Science

Department

Graduate Studies

Committee Chair

Lance K. Erickson

Committee Member

John T. McGrath

Committee Member

Dong Li

Abstract

The Doppler shift of small bandwidth (several Hertz) microwave signals makes identification of spectral features difficult; the Doppler individual bandwidth shift can be a factor of hundreds or thousands of times greater than the bandwidth. A computer model supplied by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI) project, which can simulate radio frequency interference (RFI) and a buried ETI signal, will determine the limits of the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and false alarm threshold for identification of the signal after Doppler shifting. By running the model on a MicroVAX II computer, it will be possible to measure the limits of the Doppler shifts for signal identification. It is possible that SETI could use the parameters investigated in this study to detect artificial non-random microwave signals and/or microwave radio leakage from outside our solar system once corrections in the Doppler effect have been made.

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