A low weight/power/cost infrared Earth sensor

Author

Falbel, Gerald

Author_Institution

Opt. Energy Technol. Inc., Stamford, CT, USA

Volume

4

fYear

2004

fDate

13-13 March 2004

Firstpage

2716

Abstract

This paper describes and analyzes a <2.5 cu. in Earth sensor weighing <100 grams, providing ±1° single axis attitude readout accuracy for Earth orbit altitudes below 800 km. Above 800 km, orbit altitudes, the same volume sensor, can provide two axis attitude readout with the same or better accuracy. These low volumes, weights and costs are achieved by using the spacecraft computer to implement a proprietary algorithm that compensates for seasonal Earth horizon infrared radiance variations. This algorithm is described in this paper. Improvements in the ±1° accuracy can also be achieved by sensor fusion with a 40 gram two axis Sun sensor, which is described in a referenced paper.

Keywords

aerospace instrumentation; artificial satellites; attitude measurement; infrared detectors; optical sensors; sensor fusion; Earth orbit altitudes; infrared Earth sensor; proprietary algorithm; seasonal Earth horizon infrared radiance variations; sensor fusion; single axis attitude readout accuracy; spacecraft computer; two axis Sun sensor; two axis attitude readout; volume sensor; Costs; Earth; Extraterrestrial measurements; Infrared sensors; Optical computing; Optical filters; Optical sensors; Sensor fusion; Sensor phenomena and characterization; Space vehicles;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Aerospace Conference, 2004. Proceedings. 2004 IEEE

Conference_Location

Big Sky, MT

ISSN

1095-323X

Print_ISBN

0-7803-8155-6

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/AERO.2004.1368068

Filename

1368068