ESSIC scientist Martin Perrine has been awarded the Robert H. Goddard Honor Award for Science in recognition of his exceptional engineering elevating science missions at NASA/GSFC.
Perrine worked on EcoSAR (Ecosystems Synthetic Aperture Radar), the world’s first digital beamforming single-pass airborne synthetic aperture radar, to study the ecosystems in the world’s densest forests. Perrine was instrumental in design, manufacturing, testing and in-flight operations of the EcoSAR transceivers, all 32 of which had to be calibrated to work in unison to generate the desired beam patterns.
The instrument design led to development of further airborne and planetary SAR systems, including Space Exploration Synthetic Aperture Radar (SESAR), a P-band (435 MHz) multiple channel planetary missions, which would allow for penetration of dry dust particles that cover most rocky planets; and Snow Water Equivalent Synthetic Aperture Radar and Radiometer (SWESARR), a three band (9.65, 13.6, and 17.2 GHz) dual polarization system and provides GSFC with the unique capability to measure snow properties at meter scales. In addition to these imaging radars, Perrine has also worked on the HIWRAP (High-Altitude Imaging Wind and Rain Airborne Profiler), which is a dual frequency (14 and 35 GHz), dual beam conical scanning doppler radar.
The Robert H. Goddard awardees will be celebrated during a ceremony on Tuesday, Sept 24 at 10 a.m. on the NASA Goddard campus.
