Abstract
Planet’s medium resolution satellite imagery products are derived from a fleet of roughly 200 SuperDove CubeSats operating in low Earth orbit. Their hardware is frequently updated and the constellation replenished to ensure the availability of daily updates to the image catalog. Until now, on-orbit geometric calibration of these satellites has been limited to an initial estimation of lens distortion parameters performed during commissioning. A new line-of-sight model describes the SuperDove imaging system in greater detail, adding rotational parameters for boresight calibration and incorporating corrections for pointing errors in the attitude control system. Using historical imagery we study the temporal stability of calibration parameters for SuperDoves across flocks and hardware changes, and determine proper intervals for recalibration to ensure optimal data quality. These changes to the model and calibration protocols are anticipated to improve real world geometric accuracy and coverage of the PlanetScope catalog.
Post-Launch Calibration of a Line-Of-Sight Model for PlanetScope
Planet’s medium resolution satellite imagery products are derived from a fleet of roughly 200 SuperDove CubeSats operating in low Earth orbit. Their hardware is frequently updated and the constellation replenished to ensure the availability of daily updates to the image catalog. Until now, on-orbit geometric calibration of these satellites has been limited to an initial estimation of lens distortion parameters performed during commissioning. A new line-of-sight model describes the SuperDove imaging system in greater detail, adding rotational parameters for boresight calibration and incorporating corrections for pointing errors in the attitude control system. Using historical imagery we study the temporal stability of calibration parameters for SuperDoves across flocks and hardware changes, and determine proper intervals for recalibration to ensure optimal data quality. These changes to the model and calibration protocols are anticipated to improve real world geometric accuracy and coverage of the PlanetScope catalog.