KEYWORDS: Satellites, Commercial off the shelf technology, Space operations, Data processing, Artificial intelligence, Super resolution, Temporal resolution, Earth sciences
ESA Directorate of Earth Observation Programmes (ESA-EOP) have seized the opportunity to support the development of small and nano-satellites to complement the EOP scientific and application-driven flagship missions. These developments include new science driven missions and constellations which enable a significant increase in temporal resolution leading to new applications. This paper presents an overview of the NewSpace paradigm, describes the overall ESA-EOP small mission strategy and provides a brief insight into some of the small satellites being developed at ESA across three programmatic lines: Scout Missions, Φ-sat Missions and the Investing in Industrial Innovation (InCubed) Programme. The paper focuses on optical missions.
The paper relates to design of a sensor, operating on a platform Low-Earth Orbit, that will detect and measure actively burning fires on Earth surface. Trade-offs for selection of spectral bands are covered, concentrating on options using cooled detectors. A system using only two mid-wave infrared (MWIR) bands is shown to be viable; it will have significant cost advantages compared with a system that also uses long-wave infrared (LWIR), since it requires smaller optics for spatial resolution at the diffraction limit, and less-extreme detector cooling. Imaging in at least one visible band will allow identification of false detections due to sun glint, so that small fires can be positively identified in sunlight.
A proposed sensor will operate in pushbroom mode. The design uses a single area-array MWIR detector with a 1280 x 1024 element format. A swath approaching 10,000 pixels wide is provided by sub-dividing the swath between 8 telescopes that image onto separate sets of strip filters and detector rows. This allows a total swath width approaching 1000km wide to be scanned at 100m ground sample distance (GSD). The relatively small GSD, and use of multiple detector rows for each swath-section and band, will provide a capability for detection of small fires, with radiant powers in the range 0.5 to 1.0 MW. Wide swath will maximize statistical data collected by the sensor, and will also be of potential interest for development of constellation providing global fire monitoring.
During latter half of the twentieth century the concept that the behavior of the planet Earth can only be understood in terms of coupling between dynamic systems in atmosphere, solid Earth, hydrosphere, cryosphere, biosphere and anthroposphere was launched. The study of these interactions has become known as Earth System Science. The land surface plays a driving role in Earth System Science through its dominant biospheric and anthropogenic populations. It plays a key connecting role between systems, for example, interacting with the atmosphere through exchange of heat, momentum and trace gases. It serves as a central but complex stage in the carbon and water cycles. Missions to study the land surface are very important and will be increasingly high impact. This paper examines the challenges and gaps in observations of the Land Surface from satellite remote sensing. Satellite observations are required to monitor change, to allow the causes of change to be diagnosed and to understand in detail the current state. However, these observations must also be integrated to have greatest impact, flying in formation or as part of an overall system can yield a much greater dividend than individual measurements. Hence there are a large number of application areas of the land surface, which are increasing at a rapid rate. Fortunately, there is a strong link between variables observed as useful and products, which can be used in application services. Therefore science gaps tend to map into application service gaps, although application areas also demand long-term operational services usually.
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