Title: Hyperspectral TIR Camera for Geostationary Earth Observation
Presenting Author: David Tratt
Organization: Aerospace Corporation

Abstract:
A compact thermal-infrared (TIR) imaging spectrometer design has been conceived for persistent high-accuracy monitoring of outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) from GEO. The proposed spectrometer concept would enable enhanced resolution of land surface spectral emissivity for the extraction of (i) land surface temperatures and (ii) non-thermal IR emissions related to stress build-up within the Earth's crust. The sensor will be applicable to high-resolution characterization of the Earth's OLR emission to serve multiple applications with two primary driving objectives: (a) to enable improved estimates of local- to regional-scale evapotranspiration that will feed water usage and drought susceptibility forecasting, and (b) to permit systematic exploration of the putative relationships between TIR surface emission signatures and crustal strain associated with seismically active regions. The common feature linking these applications is that they will significantly benefit from the high-SNR and spectral resolution available with the proposed sensor. The sensor design assumes limited SWAP accommodation resources commensurate with a 6U Cubesat bus or other Smallsat platform, or to be compatible with manifesting aboard a multi-ball GEO constellation as a hosted payload. A near-ambient temperature detector operating point puts sensor cooling requirements within the capability of passive thermal control schemes. The instrument concept will be based on a dispersive hyperspectral spectrometer design coupled to a 2-D microbolometer focal-plane array. A key component of this study is a structural/thermal/optical (STOP) analysis of the system optical performance to validate the strawman sensor design and predicted performance in the GEO environment.