FLORAD: Micro-satellite flower constellation of millimeter-wave radiometers for atmospheric remote sensing

Author

Marzano, F.S. ; Cimini, D. ; Montopoli, M. ; Memmo, A. ; Ferretti, R. ; Rossi, T. ; De Sanctis, M. ; Lucente, M. ; Mortari, D. ; Oricchio, D. ; Varchetta, S. ; Pavia, P. ; Nassisi, A. ; Balduccini, M. ; Scorzolini, A. ; Reboa, L. ; Tozzi, P. ; Bruno, A. ;

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electron. Eng., Sapienza Univ. of Rome, Rome

fYear

2008

fDate

11-14 March 2008

Firstpage

1

Lastpage

4

Abstract

Requirements and preliminary specifications to design a micro-satellite flower constellation, named FLORAD, of millimeter-wave (MMW) radiometers for atmospheric observations are here introduced. The FLORAD small-mission scientific objectives are aimed at the retrieval of thermo-dynamical and hydrological properties of the atmosphere. Radiometer specifications and inversion algorithms are briefly discussed, pointing out the trade-off between performances and complexity for low-cost low-weight micro-satellite platforms. In order to fulfill the goal of a short revisit time for meteorological monitoring and now casting purposes, a flower constellation (FC) of micro-satellites is proposed due to its design flexibility.

Keywords

artificial satellites; atmospheric humidity; atmospheric measuring apparatus; atmospheric techniques; atmospheric thermodynamics; geophysical signal processing; inverse problems; millimetre wave imaging; radiometers; radiometry; remote sensing by radar; spaceborne radar; FLORAD small mission scientific objectives; MMW radiometers; atmospheric hydrological property retrieval; atmospheric remote sensing; atmospheric thermodynamical property retrieval; inversion algorithms; microsatellite flower radiometer constellation; radiometer specifications; spaceborne millimeterwave radiometers; Atmosphere; Frequency; Low earth orbit satellites; Millimeter wave technology; Monitoring; Radiometers; Radiometry; Remote sensing; Satellite broadcasting; Satellite constellations; Atmospheric retrieval; Millimeter-wave radiometers; Satellite constellations; Spaceborne radiometry;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Microwave Radiometry and Remote Sensing of the Environment, 2008. MICRORAD 2008

Conference_Location

Firenze

Print_ISBN

978-1-4244-1986-9

Electronic_ISBN

978-1-4244-1987-6

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/MICRAD.2008.4579470

Filename

4579470