In August, 1998, a Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) instrument telemetry housekeeping parameter generated a yellow warning message that indicated an on- board +15V Data Acquisition Assembly (DAA) power converter deregulation anomaly. An exhaustive investigation was undertaken to understand this anomaly and the long-term consequnces which have severely reduced CERES operations on the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) spacecraft. Among investigations performed were groudn tests that approximated the on-board electronic circuitry using a small quantity of flight identical components exposed to maximum spacecraft bus over-voltage conditions. These components include monolithic integrated microcircuits that perform analog signal conditions on instrument sensor signals and an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) for the entire DAA. All microcircuit packages have either a bipolar silicon design with internal current limiting protections or have a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) design with bias protections. Ground test that have been running for approximately 8 months have indicated that these components are capable of withstanding as much as twice their input supply voltage ratings without noticeable performance degradation. This data provided CERES operators with assured confidence to be able to continue instrument science operations over the remaining life of the TRMM. This paper will discuss this anomaly and some possible cause, a simulator of affected electronics, test results, prognosis for future CERES operations, and conclusions.

Date Published: 24 September 1999
PDF: 9 pages
Proc. SPIE 3750, Earth Observing Systems IV, (24 September 1999); doi: 10.1117/12.363546

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 3750:
Earth Observing Systems IV
William L. Barnes, Editor(s)