About the RFI and Frequency Management Technical Sub Group
A technical sub group of ITWG has been created to work on frequency protection for the microwave region of the electromagnetic spectrum used for scientific and operational applications of passive remote sensing. This sub group is based on the following background.
The protection of key regions of the microwave spectrum for passive remote sensing of the Earth surface and atmosphere is a dramatic challenge due to the huge pressure of the commercial and military telecommunication systems.
Since 2000, ITWG has been a member of SFCG (Space Frequency Coordination Group).SFCG is the pre-eminent radio-frequency collegiate of Space Agencies and related national and international organizations through which global space systems spectrum resources are judiciously husbanded for the benefit of humanity. The purpose of SFCG is to provide working level coordination of international RF spectrum usage among the science services, to informally implement policy and procedural changes in advance of formal ITU regulatory changes and to adopt agreements that provide means for space agencies to make best use of allocated bands and to avoid interference among member space systems.
Related documents on frequency management can be found on this web page.
Additional information on the impact of radio-frequency interference (RFI) on remote sensing is available on the RFI and NWP page and the RFI examples maintained by the NWP working group.
Links
European Scientists on Spectrum for Earth Observation: https://www.esa.int/Applications/Observing_the_Earth/FutureEO/Preparing_for_tomorrow/ESSEO_European_Scientists_on_Spectrum_for_Earth_Observation
Committee on Radio Frequencies: https://www.nationalacademies.org/our-work/committee-on-radio-frequencies
CORF filings with the US Federal Communications Commission: https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/search/search-filings/results?q=(filers.name:(%22CORF%22))
RFI conferences: https://rfi-conference.org/
World Radiocommunication Conference 2023: https://www.itu.int/wrc-23/
Key Documents
RFI for EES passive bands: SMOS RFI at 1.4 GHZ (J. Pla, E. Daganzo, 2012)
Preliminary document on the passive bands above 275 GHz (ITU-R/7C, 2008)
Use of microwave radiances for weather forecasting (R. Saunders, 2004)
Overview of passive microwave protection
(G. Rochard, 2004)