The Feasibility of Interrogating and Locating Ocean Platforms with Orbiting Satellites

Present methods of telemetering data from the oceans by low-frequency over-water paths are unreliable and require high-powered transmitters and large platforms. The Interrogation, Recording, and Locating System (IRLS) has been developed for satellite interrogating and locating land-based moving platforms via the UHF band. This paper describes the feasibility of utilizing the IRLS system for oceanographic purposes. Included in the paper are discussions of: 1) the effects of the ocean on antenna performance, and the selection of the "best" antenna among existing and new configurations for an ocean-based system, and 2) the communication link reliability and accuracy, and the overall performance of the IRLS system, utilizing a full-scale satellite simulation experiment.