Satellite RFI Analysis and Prediction for HERA

The Hydrogen Epoch of Reionization Array (HERA) is one of the most sensitive low-frequency radio astronomy telescopes dedicated to detecting and measuring one of the universe’s weakest signals in the 100–200 MHz range. However, Radio Frequency Interference (RFI) from satellite downlink bands within the observing range is a limiting factor leading to the loss of observations. Previously, HERA’s RFI environment surveys were done by investigating each RFI frequency and looking up the most likely source. In this paper, simulations of satellite orbits using the Simplified General Perturbations Model 4 (SGP4) are used to provide diagnostic information about the HERA RFI environment. The aim is thus to provide a strategy that researchers in this field can use to distinguish between RFI caused by satellites and other forms of RFI; this would help extract from the sampled data only those signals that are authentic extraterrestrial sources.