
Giovanni AlbertiIndependent Researcher
Giovanni Alberti
Doctor of Engineering
About
100
Publications
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1,168
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Introduction
Education
October 2007 - June 2010
November 1982 - December 1989
Publications
Publications (100)
The objective of the European Union (EU) in the field of external border protection is to safeguard the freedom of movement within the Schengen area, and to ensure efficient monitoring of people who cross EU's external borders. To achieve an effective and efficient border management, there is a need for applying enhanced technologies and methods th...
The objective of the European Union (EU) in the field of external border protection is to safeguard the freedom of movement within the Schengen area, and to ensure efficient monitoring of people who cross EU's external borders. To achieve an effective and efficient border management, there is a need for applying enhanced technologies and methods th...
This work is aimed at showing the present capabilities and future potentialities of an imaging radar system that can be mounted onboard flexible aerial platforms, such as helicopters or small airplanes, and may operate in the UHF and VHF frequency bands as Sounder and as Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR). More specifically, the Sounder operates at 165...
SHARAD is a subsurface sounding radar aboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, capable of detecting dielectric discontinuities in the subsurface caused by compositional and/or structural changes. Echoes coming from the surface contain information on geometric properties at metre scale and on the permittivity of the upper layers of the Martian cru...
In recent years, research attention has been devoted to the development of a new class of airborne radar systems using low frequency bands ranging from VHF/UHF to P and L ones. In this frame, the Italian Space Agency (ASI) has promoted the development of a new multi-mode and multi-band airborne radar system, which can be considered even a “proof-of...
In the framework of Exomars Mission 2016, test equipment were developed in order to verify the performance of the Radar Doppler Altimeter onboard of the Entry, descent and landing Demonstrator Module before the Radar Field Test campaign. Three Echo Simulator Systems are currently involved into test activities of radar units. Their main task is the...
This letter deals with the design, realization, and validation of a multimode/multifrequency airborne radar designed for both surface and subsurface prospections. The system operates in the frequency band from very high frequency (VHF) to ultrahigh frequency (UHF) and works in two different modes: 1) a nadir-looking sounder in the VHF band (carrier...
In the recent years a new class of airborne radar system using low frequency have emerged. They are sounder working at VHF/UHF band and SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) that are able to provide high resolution images at P and L band. Behind these developments lie technological advances in antenna design, low noise amplifiers, band pass filters, digit...
This chapter discusses a spaceborne P-band synthetic aperture radar concept based on a distributed architecture and formation flying technologies. This approach can in principle allow overcoming physical constraints that limit the performance of monolithic SARs, leading in the P-band case to huge antennas and hard swath/resolution trade-offs. The p...
This paper presents the Radar for Icy Moons Exploration (RIME) instrument, which has been selected as payload for the JUpiter Icy moons Explorer (JUICE) mission. JUICE is the first Large-class mission chosen as part of the ESA's Cosmic Vision 2015-2025 programme, and is aimed to study Jupiter and to investigate the potentially habitable zones in th...
SHARAD (SHAllow RADar) is the sub-surface sounding radar provided by the Italian Space Agency (ASI) as a facility instrument to NASA's 2005 Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). The main activity of SHARAD is to make significant new scientific data available toward on Mars, including subsurface layering and an improved understanding of the electromagn...
This work deals with the design of multimode/multifrequency airborne radar suitable for imaging and subsurface sounding. The system operates at relatively low frequencies in the band ranging from VHF to UHF. It is able to work in two different modalities: (i) nadir-looking sounder in the VHF band (163 MHz) and (ii) side-looking imager (SAR) in the...
Cerberus Palus is a thoroughly studied region of Mars, characterized by
evident platy textures that were interpreted either as evidence for a
frozen sea close to Mars' equator or as being resultant of lava, mud or
ice-flows coming from Cerberus Fossae through Athabasca Valles.
Radargrams provided by radar sounder SHARAD clearly show the presence of...
Metop Second Generation (MetOp-SG) is a mission that will ensure the delivery of continuous, high-quality global meteorological data starting from 2020 onwards, providing weather data services for monitoring the climate and improving weather forecasts. The program is a continuation of current EUMETSAT Polar System (EPS), and is jointly funded by th...
GPR systems installed on helicopters or spotter planes represent effective monitoring tools to cover surface and underground characterization of wide areas. In this respect, the paper discusses the on field reconstruction capabilities resulting from the joint exploitation of a novel sounder system and an advanced data processing approach. The sound...
SHARAD (SHAllow RADar) is the sub-surface sounding radar provided by the
Italian Space Agency (ASI) as a facility instrument for NASA's 2005 Mars
Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). The science objective of SHARAD is to map,
in selected regions, dielectric interfaces to depths of up to one
kilometre in the Martian subsurface and to interpret these interf...
In the context of MetOp Second Generation (MetOp-SG) phase A/B1 study, Thales Alenia Space is responsible of Microwave Imager (MWI) and Ice Cloud Imager (ICI) instruments. MWI and ICI are conically scanning microwave radiometers, together covering frequency range from 18.7 GHz up to 664 GHz. The on-going study covers all elements of the space segme...
In the framework of the Phase A study for MetOp Second Generation mission (MetOp-SG), CORISTA developed an instrument performance model for MicroWave Imager (MWI) instrument that is currently studied for MetOp-SG. MWI is a conically scanning microwave radiometer, consisting of 28 channels and covering frequency range from 18 GHz up to 183 GHz. The...
Radar sounding of Jovian icy satellites has great potential to address
specific science questions such as the presence of subsurface liquid
water. Radargrams acquired over Mars polar caps allow observing clear
echoes up to kilometers depth. However, Jovian icy satellites display
dramatically different surface topographies. In order to assess possib...
The Radar instruments allow to investigate the planet's sub-surface. The
Planetary Radar Operation Center joins different missions with the purpose
of the processing and divulging Radar data and relative works. This paper
presents the PROC system with its architecture and functionalities.
In recent years a new class of airborne radar systems using low frequency have emerged. They are sounder working at VHF/UHF band and SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) that are able to provide high-resolution images at P and L band. Behind these developments lie technological advances in antenna design, low noise amplifiers, bandpass filters, digital r...
The remote sensing plays a crucial role in oil spill countermeasures. In case of wintertime, the problem of remote sensing oil spills beneath ice sheet is particularly challenging since an operational system will need to accommodate different kind of oil in ice configurations over an equally broad range of ice conditions and water depths.
TAS-I, on...
We may state that in general the presence of ice in the surrounding of
an active volcano exacerbates the physical hazards related to volcanic
activity. The future of volcanic research will be determining the deep
structure of volcanic edifices and localizing possible deep ice and/or
water deposits in their surroundings with a goal to document
sub-...
SHARAD (SHAllow RADar), the sounding instrument provided by the Italian
Space Agency, is participating as Italian facility instrument on board
the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, a NASA's mission which is on a search
for evidence that water persisted on the red planet surface for a long
period of time. This paper is meant to provide an overview of SHA...
The Europa Jupiter System Mission (EJSM) is one of the major European
Space Agency (ESA) missions in the Solar System currently under study.
It is aimed at exploring Jupiter and its icy moon Ganymede. The
Sub-Surface Radar (SSR) instrument is a radar sounder system at low
frequency (HF/VHF band) designed to penetrate the surface of Ganymede
icy moo...
A key aspect of a previously proposed undersampled digitally heterodyned stepped frequency GPR is the capability to generate and acquire a large band of frequencies. This is obtained by moving most of the analog domain functionalities of the SFGPR into the digital one. The necessity to generate a large bandwidth is to achieve high resolution. In th...
This paper provides an overview of the Europa Jupiter System Mission (EJSM) and of its scientific objectives, focusing the attention on the subsurface radar (SSR) instrument included in the model payload of the Jupiter Ganymede Orbiter (JGO). The SSR instrument is a radar sounder system at low frequency (HF/VHF band) designed to penetrate the surfa...
A key aspect of a previously proposed undersampled digitally heterodyned stepped frequency GPR is the capability to generate and acquire a large band of frequencies. This is obtained by moving most of the analog domain functionalities of the SFGPR into the digital one. In this paper an analysis of the aliased images generated by the digital frequen...
The area of Mars known as Cerberus Palus, suspected of harboring a frozen body of water, has been ob-
served by the two subsurface sounding radar MARSIS and SHARAD. SHARAD data reveal subsurface
interfaces at depths ranging from ≈ 50 m to ≈ 150 m which could be interpreted as either the bottom of an
ice sheet lying over bedrock, or an interface bet...
The MARSIS and SHARAD subsurface radar sounders have been observing the
Martian polar terrains, which are considered a close analogue to the
material forming the crusts of Europa and Ganymede. MARSIS and SHARAD
results are reviewed and discussed, and expected capabilities and
challenges for similar instruments on the two Jovian moons are assessed....
The MARSIS and SHARAD subsurface radar sounders have been observing the Martian polar terrains, which are considered a close analogue to the material forming the crusts of Europa and Ganymede. MARSIS and SHARAD results are reviewed and discussed, and expected capabilities and challenges for similar instruments on the two Jovian moons are assessed....
In the framework of a nationally funded project, a Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) has been developed by
the Italian Consortium for Research on Advanced Remote Sensing Systems (CO.RI.S.T.A.). The system was
described in a previous paper (Alberti et al., 2002). As new aspects, the system is a stepped frequency GPR that
can work both in gated and unga...
Radar instruments are part of the core payload of the two Europa Jupiter System Mission (EJSM) spacecraft: NASA-led Jupiter Europa Orbiter (JEO) and ESA-led Jupiter Ganymede Orbiter (JGO). At this point of the project, several frequency bands are under study for radar, which ranges between 5 and 50 MHz. Part of this frequency range overlaps with th...
Planetary exploration by means of radar systems, mainly using Ground Penetrating Radars (GPR) is an important role of Italy and numerous scientific international space programs are carried out jointly with ESA and NASA by Italian Space Agency, the scientific community and the industry. Actually three important experiments under Italian leadership (...
The radar altimeter of the Cassini mission to Titan operates in a transition region between pulse- and beam-limited conditions. Due to the specific observation geometry, low values of mispointing angle have been found to significantly affect altimeter impulse response (IR). This involves a nonconventional formulation of the system response which is...
The Cassini mission, that is a joint NASA/ESA/ASI effort, has recently offered the unique possibility of exploring Titan, the largest moon of Saturn, that is the only satellite in the solar system to host an appreciable atmosphere, which unfortunately made the surface below very difficult to be observed from the Earth, with optical instruments. In...
This paper discusses some basic requirements for a Doppler Radar intended to provide critical measures to be used for safe descent and landing on planets. Some considerations are briefly developed in order to establish a preliminary design of such a radar.
SHARAD is a sounder provided by ASI, which is participating as a facility instrument to 2005 NASApsilas Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter mission. SHARAD is, together with MARSIS, the only sounding instrument that orbits around Mars. It has a higher vertical resolution than MARSIS, however the latter has a greater penetration capability. Goal of this nad...
This paper focuses on a new concept for spaceborne P-band radar implementation, that is distributed SAR based on formation flying. This approach can in principle allow to overcome physical constraints that limit the performance of monolithic SARs, leading in the P-band case to huge antennas and hard swath/resolution trade-offs. The proposed SAR is...
Cassini's third and fourth radar flybys, T7 and T8, covered diverse terrains in the high southern and equatorial latitudes, respectively. The T7 synthetic aperture radar (SAR) swath is somewhat more straightforward to understand in terms of a progressive poleward descent from a high, dissected, and partly hilly terrain down to a low flat plain with...
This paper focuses on a new concept for spaceborne P-band radar implementation, that is distributed Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) based on formation flying. This approach can in principle allow to overcome physical constraints that limit the performance of monolithic SARs, leading in the P-band case to huge antennas and hard swath/resolution trade...
Planetary exploration by means of radar systems, mainly using Ground Penetrating Radars (GPR) plays an important role in Italy. Numerous scientific international space programs are currently carried out jointly with ESA and NASA by Italian Space Agency, the scientific community and the industry. Three important experiments under Italian leadership...
Mars' polar regions are covered with ice-rich layered deposits that potentially contain a record of climate variations. The sounding radar SHARAD on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter mapped detailed subsurface stratigraphy in the Promethei Lingula region of the south polar plateau, Planum Australe. Radar reflections interpreted as layers are correlat...
SHARAD (SHAllow RADar) is the sub-surface sounding radar provided by the Italian Space Agency (ASI) as a facility instrument to NASA's 2005 Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). SHARAD has been launched on August '05 and has started its nominal observation phase since November '06. Primary objective of its investigation is to map, in selected regions,...
MARSIS (Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionosphere Sounding) is a low frequency nadir looking sounding radar selected by ESA as a payload of the Mars Express mission, whose primary Scientific Objective is to map the distribution of water both solid and liquid, at global scale on the Martin crust. MARSIS is the first instrument to be able to...
Titan: Flat, with hills; radar profiles new landscape: secrets from echoes.
MARSIS (Mars advanced Radar for subsurface and ionosphere sounding) is a low frequency nadir looking sounding radar selected by ESA as a payload of the Mars Express mission, whose primary Scientific Objective is to map the distribution of water both solid and liquid, at global scale on the Martin crust. MARSIS is the first instrument to be able to...
A primary scope of Mars exploration is the research of underground water. Knowledge of water and ice quantity and distribution has enourmous impacts on our under-standing on gelogic, hydrologic and climate evolution of Mars and of its origin. To this aim, high resolution observations of geophysical parameters can address these items expecially when...
This paper describes the Cassini RADAR PAD System, which has been de-signed and developed in the frame of Cassini-Huygens, a joint NASA/ESA/ASI mission to Saturn and its moons, responding to ASI request to process the data collected by the Cassini RADAR Altimeter. The PAD System contains the HW and SW operational tools necessary to evaluate the ins...
We have examined range-compressed waveforms from the Cassini Radar operating in altimeter mode (Ku band, bandwidth 4.25 MHz, nadir pointing) during observations of Titan. We find that leading edge detection provides a straight forward determination of a maximum surface height. The heights from the set of observations give a mean radius of Titan abo...
This paper reports on a model developed for evaluating major system performance of a spaceborne bistatic synthetic aperture radar (SAR) for remote sensing applications. The procedure accounts for formation flying aspects. It is particularly aimed at comparison of monostatic and bistatic cases, and, as a test case, it is applied to study a novel con...
NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter mission, MRO, scheduled for launch in 2005, will be equipped with a sounder to find subsurface water and ice: Shallow Radar, SHARAD. This radar has been developed by Alenia Spazio and funded by Italian Space Agency, ASI. An integral part of such kind missions is the development of an EGSE (Electrical Ground Suppor...
As widely known the RA-2 data are affected by the so-called "S-Band anomaly" discovered in the early days of the Commissioning Phase. As described in [1] it consists in the accumulation of the S-Band echo waveforms that starts, apparently randomly, after an instrument Acquisition phase. Investigation is on going to try and find the instrumental cau...
This paper shows the main results of a pre-feasibility study commissioned by the European Space Agency (ESA) in the framework of the Earth Explorer Core Mission programme. The analysed mission is called WATS (Water vapour and wind in Atmospheric Troposphere and Stratosphere) and aims to monitor variations and changes in the global atmospheric water...
In the framework of ARCHEO, a national research project funded by the Italian Ministry for Universities and Scientific and Technological Research (M.I.U.R.), a ground penetrating radar (GPR) has been developed by the Italian Consortium for Research on Advanced Remote Sensing Systems (CO.RI.S.T.A.). The system has been designed to meet archaeologica...
In the frame of the study "Innovative radar altimeter concepts", founded by the European Space Agency (ESA), the authors analyzed potential advanced measurement concepts for radar altimeters of future generation, studied the feasibility of the identified techniques and proposed a design for an instrument based on the most promising system concept....
ENVISAT Microwave Radiometer (MWR) is an instrument designed and developed as part of the Envisat-1 satellite scientific payload, with Alenia Aerospazio engaged in the phase C-D as instrument Prime Contractor, leading an industrial consortium of European and American companies. The Flight Model of the Instrument was delivered to ESA at the end of J...
MINISAR is a compact airborne interferometric SAR potentially suitable for many applications but mainly finalized for the production of technical topographic maps and monitoring the evolution of landslides events and assessing their extension and risk area. The program is co-funded by the Italian Ministry for Education, Universities and Research (M...
loped by the Italian Consortium for Research on Advanced Remote Sensing Systems (CO.RI.S.T.A.). The system has been specially designed to satisfy archaeological requirements and it will be used to identify and characterise buried objects. The system is a stepped frequency GPR. It can work within a wide band of frequencies both in gated and ungated...
This paper summarizes scientific rationale and technical approach for a bistatic synthetic aperture radar (SAR) mission (BISSAT). The study has been funded by the Italian Space Agency for a competitive Phase-A study along with other five missions. Its concept consists in flying a passive SAR on board a small satellite, which observes the area illum...
In the framework of ARCHEO, a national research project funded by the Italian Ministry for Universities and Scientific and Technological Research (MURST), a new Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) has been developed by the Italian Consortium for Research on Advanced Remote Sensing Systems (CO.RI.S.T.A.). The system has been specially designed to satisfy...