Linear array imaging systems are widely used in remote sensing satellites. The data of these sensors can only be used when they are geometrically, radiometrically, and spectrally calibrated. Therefore, calibration procedures before and after launch must be carefully planned, at the first stages of sensor design, in such a way that the measured payloads data during the satellite lifetime is still validated. As for the push-broom imaging, each line of data has its own independent geometry, there are many sets of independent data in each images which could be used for accurate geometric calibration. In this paper, focusing on optical distortion, a step-by-step procedure for pre-launch geometric calibration of a high resolution push-broom payload is investigated and the mathematical approaches of the calibration coefficients are presented here. Finally an error-budget analysis is done to investigate the methodology sensitivity. The simulation results show that the nonlinear effects of distortion can be minimized and the accuracy of the geometric position of this method on the image screen can be improved to the order of sub-pixels.
Proper utilization of the remote sensing payload output data in a real situation of a high-resolution satellite, deeply depends on the detailed orientation and relative attitude of the sensitive elements such as star sensors, optical payloads and etc. Very small unknown installation errors between star sensor and optical payload axes, will results in several hundred meters pointing error for imaging payload footprint on the ground targets. In practice, the final error and transform matrixes of elements coordinate systems to each other as well as to the satellites body must be accurately determined. Different methods are widely using in satellite industries where the CMM method is the most well-known of them. In this manuscript we introduced a practical methodology to extract the accurate mutual coordinate transformation matrix of sensitive satellite elements and to the satellite body. Our general approach was to improve the operational pointing accuracy of imaging payloads missions and improving the reliability of the final payload data. This method is using four theodolites in a predefined architecture along with some very accurate alignment cubes. After final assembly and integration of the whole satellite, final alignment accuracy depends on the individual instrument’s accuracies. Using proper instruments, the attitude of sensitive elements coordinate system with respect to the satellite body coordinate system is measured at the order of several arcseconds. The proposed method, in addition to improving the final accuracy, has other advantages such as simplicity in setup and speeding up the implementation.
Baffles are connected in front of the space cameras and star sensors to prevent the stray lights entering to the electrooptical system. Star sensors are mounted in various places of a spacecraft and imposed to different mechanical and thermal loads. In this research a star sensor baffle with a specified dimension is considered to simulate and analyze the deflections in various conditions. Vibration force from the launcher and gravity force considered as the mechanical load. Launcher vibrant force considered as QSL force and heat load is only considered from the solar radiation and have been modeled for both cold and hot cases. Deflection of the baffle is obtained using finite element method. Heat and mechanical loads are considered both at the launch time and in the orbit. Different materials such as aluminum, titanium, and CFRP composite are selected to do comparison among them. Composite materials are considered in many layer orientation configurations. Monte Carlo method is used to do ray tracing and obtain the efficiencies of the baffle to prevent the stray light entering to the entrance pupil diameter of the camera. Results show that baffles in launch time suffer from some deflections that affect the performance. In the orbit condition, baffles have negligible deformation although the thermal part is dominant. In launch condition, deflection mainly caused from the mechanical load. In orbit condition, deflection mainly caused from the heat load.
Power Supply is one of the most important subjects in Remote Sensing satellite. Having an appropriate and adequate
power resources, A Remote Sensing satellite may utilize more complex Payloads and also make them more operable in
orbit and mission timeline. This paper is deals with a design of electrical power supply subsystem (EPS) of a
hypothetical satellite with remote sensing mission in Low Earth Orbits, without any restriction on the type and number of
Payloads and only assuming a constraint on the total power consumption of them. EPS design is in a way that can supply
the platform consumption to support Mission and Payload(s) requirements beside the power consumption of the
payload(s). The design is also modular, as it can be used not only for the hypothetical system, but also for the other
systems with similar architecture and even more needs on power and differences in some specifications. Therefore, a
modularity scope is assumed in design of this subsystem, in order to support the satellite in the circular orbits with
altitude of 500 to 700 km and inclination of 98 degrees, a sun-synchronous orbit, where one can say the design is
applicable to a large range of remote sensing satellites. Design process will be started by high level and system
requirements analysis, continued by choosing the best approach for design and implementation based on system
specification and mission. After EPS sizing, the specifications of elements are defined to get the performance needed
during operation phases; the blocks and sub-blocks are introduced and details of their design and performance analysis
are presented; and the modularity is verified using calculations for the confined area based on design parameters and
evaluated by STK software analysis results. All of the process is coded in MATLAB software and comprehensive graphs
are generated to demonstrate the capabilities and performance. The code and graphs are developed in such a way to
completely review the design procedure and system efficiency in worst case of power consumption scenario at the
beginning and end of satellite life
This paper presents a computationally efficient algorithm for attitude estimation of remote a sensing satellite. In this
study, gyro, magnetometer, sun sensor and star tracker are used in Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) structure for the
purpose of Attitude Determination (AD). However, utilizing all of the measurement data simultaneously in EKF
structure increases computational burden. Specifically, assuming n observation vectors, an inverse of a 3n×3n
matrix is required for gain calculation. In order to solve this problem, an efficient version of EKF, namely Murrell’s
version, is employed. This method utilizes measurements separately at each sampling time for gain computation.
Therefore, an inverse of a 3n×3n matrix is replaced by an inverse of a 3×3 matrix for each measurement vector.
Moreover, gyro drifts during the time can reduce the pointing accuracy. Therefore, a calibration algorithm is utilized for
estimation of the main gyro parameters.
Electro-Optical design of a push-broom space camera for a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) remote sensing satellite is performed
based on the noise analysis of TDI sensors for very high GSDs and low light level missions. It is well demonstrated that
the CCD TDI mode of operation provides increased photosensitivity relative to a linear CCD array, without the sacrifice
of spatial resolution. However, for satellite imaging, in order to utilize the advantages which the TDI mode of operation
offers, attention should be given to the parameters which affect the image quality of TDI sensors such as jitters,
vibrations, noises and etc. A predefined TDI stages may not properly satisfy image quality requirement of the satellite
camera. Furthermore, in order to use the whole dynamic range of the sensor, imager must be capable to set the TDI
stages in every shots based on the affecting parameters. This paper deals with the optimal estimation and setting the
stages based on tradeoffs among MTF, noises and SNR. On-board SNR estimation is simulated using the atmosphere
analysis based on the MODTRAN algorithm in PcModWin software. According to the noises models, we have proposed
a formulation to estimate TDI stages in such a way to satisfy the system SNR requirement. On the other hand, MTF
requirement must be satisfy in the same manner. A proper combination of both parameters will guaranty the full dynamic
range usage along with the high SNR and image quality.
All the star trackers must be composed of a baffle system to removes stray lights intensity. The baffle is designed to mount in front of the optical system. The performance of a star tracker is often limited by the stray light level on the detector. According to the space conditions, the baffle may deflect due to the temperature variation during the mission. Sun heat flux imposed to the baffle from one side and heat radiates from baffle to the space in all sides. In our case, the baffle is fixed to the satellite structure by four titanium screw. A finite element model has been used to modeling the baffle and temperature distribution and deflection is obtained in worst cold and hot conditions. Results show that in the worst cold condition, baffle is deflected symmetrically whereas in hot case, deflection is not symmetric and the side exposed to the sun light is elongated. Using ray tracing methods along with Monte Carlo algorithm, the baffle efficiency is obtained and compared for both cases. Results show that baffle deflections are not so extreme to force us to cover it with the MLI.
Performance of high resolution remote sensing payloads is often limited due to satellite platform vibrations. Effects of Linear and high frequency vibrations on the overall MTF are known exactly in closed form but the low frequency vibration effect is a random process and must be considered statistically. It should be considered in system level payload designing to know whether or not the overall MTF is limited by the vibration blur radius. Usually the vibration MTF budget is defined based on the mission requirements and the overall MTF limitations. With a good understanding of harmful vibration frequencies and amplitudes in the system preliminary design phase, their effects could be removed totally or partially. This procedure is cost effective and let designer to just eliminate the harmful vibrations and avoids over-designing. In this paper we have analyzed the effects of low-frequency platform vibrations on the payload’s modulation transfer function. We have used a statistical analysis to find the probability of imaging with a MTF greater or equal to a pre-defined budget for different missions. After some discussions on the worst and average cases, we have proposed some “look-up figures” which would help the remote sensing payload designers to avoid the vibration effects. Using these figures, designer can choose the electro-optical parameters in such a way, that vibration effects be less than its pre-defined budget. Furthermore, using the results, we can propose a damping profile based on which vibration frequencies and amplitudes must be eliminated to stabilize the payload system.
Image motion due to satellite platform vibrations often limits the resolution and performance of remote sensing payloads, especially for the missions with high resolution objectives. Vibration blurs the incoming energy and degrades the overall payload’s ability to detect the target with proper quality. Effects of Linear and high frequency vibrations on the overall MTF are known exactly in closed-form but the low frequency vibration effect is a random process and must be considered statistically. It should be considered in system level payload design to know whether or not the overall MTF is limited by the vibration blur radius. The maximum resolvable spatial frequency of the camera may be limited by this vibration effects. Here we fully analyzed different vibration effects on the image quality and have specified the allowable image motion. Image motion velocity due to the Earth rotation around its axis and the satellite motion in its orbit considered separately. Degradation in the modulation transfer function due to this kind of movement is calculated to define the required pointing stability of the satellite. In this paper we have considered the effects of a single and double harmonics low frequency vibration on the Modulation Transfer Function (MTF). Because of its random effects, the majority of this paper deals with the statistical analysis of its blur radius and its consequent MTF budget.
Electro-Optical design of a push-broom space camera for a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) remote sensing satellite is discussed in this paper. An atmosphere analysis is performed based on ModTran algorithm and the total radiance of visible light reached to the camera entrance diameter is simulated by Atmosphere radiative transfer software PcModWin. Simulation is done for various conditions of sun zenith angles and earth surface albedos to predict the signal performance in different times and locations. According to the proposed simulation of total radiance incidence, appropriate linear CCD is chosen and then an optical design is done to completely satisfy electro-optics requirements. Optical design is based on Schmidt-Cassegrain scheme, which results in simple fabrication and high accuracy. Proposed electro-optical camera satisfies 5.9 meter ground resolution with image swath of higher than 23 km on the earth surface. Satellite is assumed to be at 681km altitude with 6.8km/s ground track speed.
KEYWORDS: Stray light, Star sensors, Signal attenuation, Sun, Sensors, Ray tracing, Monte Carlo methods, Stars, Testing and analysis, Optical components
All the star trackers must be composed of a baffle system to removes stray lights intensity. According to the mission,
some external sources can illuminate the optical system and introduce some noises in the final image. The performance
of a star tracker is often limited by the stray light level on the detector. Some familiar formulas for baffle system design
that have already been introduced are somewhat useless due to some fundamental problems. In this paper, a complete
analytical method is developed to fully design a two-stage baffle system. Furthermore, some new relationships are
introduced to determine vane positions and heights. Finally, ray tracing performance analyses are performed to prove the
formulation. The designed baffle simulations reveal that the attenuation factors are on the order of 109 for angles larger
than the pre-defined exclusion angle.
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