Session
Technical Session I: Mission Payloads and their Applications
Abstract
Numerous Hyperspectral Imagers have been launched or are being built for resource management, monitoring anthropogenic effects on the troposphere gases, and for defense applications. Payloads such as Hyperion, EnMAP, HyspIRI, and SCHYAMACHY are instruments with mass in excess of 100 Kg. Technologies recently developed in precision manufacturing of aspherical mirrors, detectors, and spectral filters allow to shrink a hyperspectral instrument in an envelope that will fit on a small satellite, or even in a CubeSat. The reduction of mass, volume, and power is not the only problems to be solved to successfully use a hyperspectral on board of a small satellite. The amount of data acquired over one orbit can be as high as 1 TB (terabyte). To store and download the data can be unmanageable tasks for the resources of a small satellite. The reduced mass and volume of a compact hyperspectral comes at the expenses of a decreased signal to noise ratio. Can digital image processing and the knowledge acquired with the hyperspectral already in orbit help to compress the data to a manageable size? What type of information can be extracted from a compact hyperspectral? The paper describes the results obtained with the PhytoMapper, a technology demonstrator of a Compact Hyperspectral Instrument recently developed. The instrument fits in a volume of approximately 15 cm^3 (6 cubic inches) and has a mass of approximately 2 Kg. The instrument has a spectral resolution of 10nm, a field of view 34 degrees, and 2400 spectral bands. If flown on a 600km polar orbit, it will provide 100m spatial resolution and 3 days revisit time. The work presents the performance measured in the lab and the analyses performed to assess what type of mission objectives are achievable with this instrument. Further work has been done to push the envelope of a Hyperspectral within a CubeSat. A micro-telescope with a very aggressive optical design has been built and tested. The paper gives an overview of the performance that can be achieved with this extreme downscaled hyperspectral instrument and what, in the view of the Authors, can be the possible applications. A roadmap from the current technology status to the in-flight demonstration is finally presented.
Presentation Slides
Compact Hyperspectrals
Numerous Hyperspectral Imagers have been launched or are being built for resource management, monitoring anthropogenic effects on the troposphere gases, and for defense applications. Payloads such as Hyperion, EnMAP, HyspIRI, and SCHYAMACHY are instruments with mass in excess of 100 Kg. Technologies recently developed in precision manufacturing of aspherical mirrors, detectors, and spectral filters allow to shrink a hyperspectral instrument in an envelope that will fit on a small satellite, or even in a CubeSat. The reduction of mass, volume, and power is not the only problems to be solved to successfully use a hyperspectral on board of a small satellite. The amount of data acquired over one orbit can be as high as 1 TB (terabyte). To store and download the data can be unmanageable tasks for the resources of a small satellite. The reduced mass and volume of a compact hyperspectral comes at the expenses of a decreased signal to noise ratio. Can digital image processing and the knowledge acquired with the hyperspectral already in orbit help to compress the data to a manageable size? What type of information can be extracted from a compact hyperspectral? The paper describes the results obtained with the PhytoMapper, a technology demonstrator of a Compact Hyperspectral Instrument recently developed. The instrument fits in a volume of approximately 15 cm^3 (6 cubic inches) and has a mass of approximately 2 Kg. The instrument has a spectral resolution of 10nm, a field of view 34 degrees, and 2400 spectral bands. If flown on a 600km polar orbit, it will provide 100m spatial resolution and 3 days revisit time. The work presents the performance measured in the lab and the analyses performed to assess what type of mission objectives are achievable with this instrument. Further work has been done to push the envelope of a Hyperspectral within a CubeSat. A micro-telescope with a very aggressive optical design has been built and tested. The paper gives an overview of the performance that can be achieved with this extreme downscaled hyperspectral instrument and what, in the view of the Authors, can be the possible applications. A roadmap from the current technology status to the in-flight demonstration is finally presented.
