Recent work by Gillies et al. (2012Gillies et al. ( , 2009Gillies et al. ( , 2010 has sought an explanation for the SuperDARN line-of-sight velocity underestimate of ionospheric plasma velocity. The reason for the underestimation is thought to be from the modification of the measured Doppler shift of the backscattered signal due to phase refractive index of the ionospheric plasma in the scattering region. Presented here is an analysis technique to estimate the plasma drift velocity, correcting for the index of the refraction of the scattering medium. The technique requires dual frequency SuperDARN observations and calculates velocity from the phase of the SuperDARN autocorrelation function (ACF). Both plasma velocity and plasma density are treated as independent unknowns, and self-consistent error estimates are generated for each. This new technique was employed at the McMurdo radar, resulting in estimates of plasma velocity on scales relevant to existing SuperDARN data products. The McMurdo dual frequency analysis also provides a new SuperDARN data product, an estimate for the plasma density in the ionospheric region derived wholly from SuperDARN backscatter.

Power budgets on small satellites are restricted by the limited surface area for solar panels. This limits the power available for radio communications, which constrains the downlink budget. The limited transmit power translates to low downlink data rates on small satellites. Antenna gain from directive antennas mad be a power efficient wad of improving the downlink budget, thereby increasing the downlink rate of small satellites.

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