Electrical ground support equipment design for SABER

The SDL/USU is building a broadband earthlimb-viewing radiometer for the SABER (Sounding of the Atmosphere using Broadband Emission Radiometry) instrument. The radiometer will be tested and calibrated before launch in a test chamber that closely simulates the in-flight operational environment of the instrument. SDL/USU has designed electrical ground support equipment (GSE) for this testing to optimize the monitor and control functions of the sensor and calibration sources, and to reduce data collection and processing time. This paper presents the electrical GSE hardware and software designs for the SABER instrument. Data collection, processing, and archival methods are given, as well as a description of the real-time displays that show instrument status and performance. Hardware and software used to control the instrument, test chamber, and calibration sources are presented. The integration of these control systems into a simple user interface is also described.