Upcoming naval space missions for remote sensing of the oceans, atmosphere and space

The U.S. Navy is permanently forward-deployed and depends critically on precise knowledge and predictability of global environmental conditions from under the ocean, throughout the atmosphere and into near-Earth space. To satisfy global mission needs, the Navy depends on spaceborne remote sensing platforms to characterize and monitor each of these environments at wavelengths from the microwave to the ultraviolet. In the next five years, the Navy, in partnership with other agencies, will be launching a number of experimental, operational and quasi-operational remote sensing satellite instruments. Traditionally, the Navy has used remote sensing in the microwave spectrum to characterize the sea surface wind speed, temperature, ice conditions and other land and atmospheric applications. This year the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) will launch the first in a series of operational Special Sensor Microwave Imager/Sounders (SSMISs) aboard their Block 5D3 satellites. Also this year, the Air Force Space Test Program (STP) will launch the WindSat passive microwave polarimeter to test new techniques for determination of the sea surface wind vector. Along with SSMIS the next block of DMSP satellites will include the first of five Special Sensor Ultraviolet Limb Imagers (SSULIs) developed by the Navy for remote sensing of upper atmospheric density profiles and ionospheric electron density profiles. These data will aid the Navy and DoD in tracking objects in Earth orbit and help characterize the radio frequency environment for communication, radar, navigation and other applications. To characterize the littoral regions using hyperspectral. imagery, the Navy is developing the Naval EarthMap Observing satellite.