Small-Sat Lidar Sea Surface Vector Winds and Height Measurements System
Abstract
Up to date, a wide range of airborne and satellite instruments from microwave to optical systemshave been utilized to achieve survei,llance and remote sensing of various critical parameterspertinent to the land surface, biosphere, solid Earth, atmosphere, and ocean,s. When it comes to theCubeSats or small satellites many obstacles arise for long-range surveillance. In Phase A of theproposed work,, we have aimed at the affordable and transformative approaches to develop smallspacecraft technology that can enable remote sensing, of littoral variables such as sea surface vectorwinds, sea surface height, etc., without sacrificing performance metrics that are a,chieved inconventional large space and airborne technologies. In particular, we have developed a Lidartechnology suitable for 12U Cu,beSat that can provide measurements with more than 20dB SNRdespite its 500km altitude and about 150dB losses. Also, we have complete,d the preliminarydesign verification that includes power analysis, thermal analysis, mechanical stress analysis forlaunch conditions, and normal operation conditions, data handling and transmission capability, andaltitude control. In our latest report, we have prov,ided detailed results on the Lidar design we havedeveloped. The Lidar concept and data analysis have been experimentally verified in, thelaboratory, and a tabletop Lidar setup has,oals. Our progress has also been published in several journalarticles and conference proceedings and generated two patent applicatio,ns.The main objective of the Phase A2 proposal is to develop a standalone prototype for testing,prepare for a critical design review, for the mission development in Phase B, and address thechallenges pertinent to the NOPP SOAR program requirements. In particular, t,he NOPP SOARprogram specifies that sea surface height must be determined to a 4 cm accuracy within a 50 kmX 200 km area sub-sectione,d to 30 m GSD. These requirements bring up several practicalchallenges for CubeSats that need to be critically evaluated by the univ,ersity team and the industrypartner with experience in CubeSat missions. Most of the challenges arise from the interplaybetween scan, area coverage, power availability, and thermal management. Therefore, in Phase A2we will i) identify constraints to Lidar-based sen,sing coverage of an area from an orbital platform,ii) assess the maximum shot rate achievable within each constraint in the existing, Lidar designwithin practical power and thermal limitations, and iii) provide design improvements to allow forthe highest coverage o,e their expertise to verify the satellitepower budge analysis, provide mission risk analysis, provide an assessment on the optical d,esignand electrical design, and provide thermal analysis of the proposed CubeSat. The outcome of PhaseA2 will allow us to prepare sy,stems requirements review (SRR) and preliminary design review(PDR) with realistic constraints.The UC Irvine team has been leading th,e proposed work for the past three years in Phase A1.In Phase A2, the UC Irvine team will partner with the Aerospace Corporation, wh,ich will provideengineering and laboratory support to the UC Irvine team during the development of the proposedlidar to identify cha,llenges and a roadmap for critical design review (CDR). Support to the UCIrvine will also include identification of space-grade comp,onents, a list of benchtop experimentsthat need to be completed, and provide realistic cost analysis. Finally, the Aerospace Corpora,tionwill help UC Irvine and an industry partner who can lead the manufacturing and assembly to writea Phase-B proposal.The proposed
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- May 16, 2022
- Source ID
- N000142212423
Entities
People
- Özdal Boyraz
Organizations
- Office of Naval Research
- United States Navy
- University of California, Irvine