Background phenomenology databases and models are essential for the design and assessment of electro-optical sensing systems. The MWIR band has been proposed to satisfy a number of specific requirements in the DoD space based mission areas. However, the phenomenology database in the MWIR to support the design and performance evaluation is limited. Currently the high resolution infrared radiation sounder (HIRS/2) onboard NOAA 12, an operational polar orbiting environmental and weather satellite, offers continual global coverage of several bands in the MWIR. In particular, Channel 17 operates in the heart of the 4.23 micrometer carbon-dioxide band. Though with coarse resolution (approximately 20 km), the vast database offers a good baseline understanding of the MWIR phenomenology related to space based MWIR systems on (1) amplitude variation as function of latitude, season, and solar angle, (2) correlation to relevant MWIR features such as high-altitude clouds, stratospheric warming, aurora and other geomagnetic activities, (3) identification of potential low spatial frequency atmospheric features, and (4) comparison with future dedicated measurements. Statistical analysis on selected multiple orbits over all seasons and geographical regions was conducted. Global magnitude and variation in these bands were established. The overall spatial gradient on the 50 km scale was shown to be within sensor noise; this established the upper bound of spatial frequency in the heart-of-the-carbon-dioxide-band. Results also compared favorably with predictions from atmospheric background models such as the Synthetic High Altitude Radiance Code (SHARC-3).
KEYWORDS: Space telescopes, Sensors, Telescopes, Asteroids, Imaging systems, Aerospace engineering, Surveillance, Cameras, Performance modeling, Signal to noise ratio
The electro-optical space surveillance (EOSS) technology program at MIT/Lincoln Laboratory develops advanced electro-optical technology for space and missile surveillance. This advanced technology includes visible CCD focal plane arrays and cameras, mid-wave IR (MWIR) Shottky barrier focal planes and cameras, and the detection processing algorithms and processors to optimize the use of these focal plane arrays. Some of these EOSS technologies are highly suited to the detection of faint near earth objects. A near-earth asteroid surveillance system has been designed to utilize recently developed technology and existing telescopes to meet the performance requirements outlined in the NASA SPACEGUARD Study (Morrison, 1992). A detailed model was developed to evaluate the expected detection performance of this system and the proposed Spaceguard system. The components of the designed system have been tested as part of routine device evaluation and field measurements. Results indicate that the proposed system can meet the performance objectives spelled out in the spaceguard study at lower cost and risk than the proposed spaceguard system and with existing technology.
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