Two frequencies on one plane

Two antennas under the fuselage of the Twin Otter plane can be seen in this photograpgh. The bigger antenna (lower part of the image) belongs to the ASIRAS instrument and measures at Ku-band, the same frequency as CryoSat’s. The smaller antenna within the fuselage hole was built by MetaSensing BV and uses the higher-frequency Ka-band. Future dual-frequency satellites, which exist only on the drawing board at the moment, can be simulated from the air by combining the frequencies. The concept is being tested as part of an experiment campaign in the Arctic.