D2P is a JHU/APL (Johns Hopkins University/Applied Physics Laboratory) designed, built, and operated airborne radar instrument sponsored by NASA's Instrument Incubator Program (start in 1998). The goal of this project is to demonstrate the use of two enhancements to satellite radar altimetry and to reduce the risk to a future flight program that would employ an enhanced altimeter.
The D2P system is composed of two logical portions: the flight system, and the ground system. The flight system has also two logical sections:
• A set of RF and digital components that create, amplify and transmit the radar pulse, and receivers to capture the returning radar echoes
• A set of computers that control the operation of the RF/digital components as well as digitizing and recording the received data.