Microwave interferometric radiometry with satellite formation flight for earth observation

Abstract

Presented in the submitted thesis is a feasibility study on performing geostationary microwave interferometric radiometry for Earth observation using antennas distributed in free flight, on board a fleet of formation-flying satellites.

The two fields of microwave interferometric radiometry for Earth observation and precision satellite formation flight for novel satellite applications have recently achieved maturity via numerous technology demonstration missions, most notably SMOS and Proba-3. As the time is now ideal to combine the accomplishments of these two disciplines, this project explores the following avenues: 1) the required distribution of antenna elements for optimal radiometric performance, which can be deployed on formation-flying platforms, 2) the required precision at which the positions of these antennas are maintained for optimal radiometric performance, and the consequences of failing to achieve this precision, 3) the requirements on part of the satellite relative position sensors and thrusters to achieve this precision, and 4) new calibration strategy for inter-satellite baselines.

The expected performance of these systems are characterised using two simulators developed in this project: the formation flight synthetic aperture interferometric radiometer performance simulator, with emphasis on the effects of baseline vector bias and uncertainties, and the satellite formation flight simulator with continuous feed-back control, with emphasis on the achievable accuracy in the satellite relative positions. Using these simulators, four suitable interferometer configurations have been identified, and new inversion algorithms have been developed. The spatial resolution, temporal resolution, radiometric resolution of these configurations, and the radiometric accuracy of the inversion algorithms are discussed. The sensitivity of these parameters to errors in inter-satellite baseline vectors are discussed, which set the accuracy required from the formation feed-back controller. Using existing satellite relative position sensors and thrusters, the stability of the required formation has been simulated, showing that the above requirements can be met. Finally, a new calibration strategy suitable is presented.

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Identifiers

ORCID for Ahmed Kiyoshi Sugihara El Maghraby: orcid.org/0000-0001-9183-1317

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