Session
Pre-Conference Poster Session II
Location
Utah State University, Logan, UT
Abstract
Wildfires are becoming a major challenge to our civilization today. Early warning and detection of wildfires not only helps in managing them but also mitigates the loss of lives and property. To meet this challenge, OroraTech is developing a constellation of CubeSats for wildfire detection to alert about wildfire hazards within minutes instead of hours.
On board these CubeSats, a thermal infrared imager will scan the surface in multiple spectral bands to identify fires. Radiometric simulations with influences of sun glint, daylight and atmospheric absorption were done. A prototype of the imager based on an uncooled micro-bolometer focal plane array was developed including a shutter system, thermal stabilization, mounting structure and a data processing unit. The imager was tested for absolute temperature accuracy and noise behavior. With image processing the performance of the imager was further improved. The prototype is scheduled to fly on a stratospheric balloon late 2020, and the on-orbit demonstration is planned for early 2021.
Thermal Infrared Imager Development for CubeSat Constellation
Utah State University, Logan, UT
Wildfires are becoming a major challenge to our civilization today. Early warning and detection of wildfires not only helps in managing them but also mitigates the loss of lives and property. To meet this challenge, OroraTech is developing a constellation of CubeSats for wildfire detection to alert about wildfire hazards within minutes instead of hours.
On board these CubeSats, a thermal infrared imager will scan the surface in multiple spectral bands to identify fires. Radiometric simulations with influences of sun glint, daylight and atmospheric absorption were done. A prototype of the imager based on an uncooled micro-bolometer focal plane array was developed including a shutter system, thermal stabilization, mounting structure and a data processing unit. The imager was tested for absolute temperature accuracy and noise behavior. With image processing the performance of the imager was further improved. The prototype is scheduled to fly on a stratospheric balloon late 2020, and the on-orbit demonstration is planned for early 2021.
