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Unlike the focusing of radio and optical light, X-rays are brought to focus through shallow, grazing incident angles. The analogy of skimming a stone across a pond is appropriate in describing how X-rays are focused. The higher the energy of the X-ray photon the shallower the incident angle must be, thereby introducing the requirement of longer focal lengths for focusing high-energy X-rays (E > 10 keV). This technical challenge has hindered scientific advancement in the high-energy regime, while at lower X-ray energies the community has prospered immensely with spectacular data from focusing observatories like XMM-Newton, Chandra, and Suzaku. Now, with ASTRO-H, the community will reap similar rewards from the tremendous improvement in spatial and spectral resolution at high energies. ASTRO-H is a JAXA mission. More information can be found on the ASTRO-H web site [1].
Because of the grazing-angle optics, high-energy X-ray instruments have a long focal length. The Hard X-ray Imager (HXI) of ASTRO-H has its detector housed in a boom that will extend by about 6 m in orbit so that a focal length of 12 m can be achieved for that instrument. This long structure will inevitably oscillate and flex, especially when passing across the orbital day/night boundary. In order to retain the essential imaging resolution, it is important that the boom has a metrology system that measures this flexion in order to allow post-acquisition compensation in generating the science images. In the current paper, we describe a possible Alignment Monitoring System (AMS) to measure in real time the relative position of the boom. The AMS will be an important element to guaranty that the ASTRO-H observatory will meet its performance requirements.
The Canadian Space Agency has the intention of providing the AMS to the ASTRO-H mission. The current paper reports a study that was conducted to support that intention.
The CLARREO mission was classified as a Small Mission to be contained in a 300 M US$ budgetary envelope. CLARREO will provide a benchmark climate record that is global, accurate in perpetuity, tested against independent strategies that reveal systematic errors, and pinned to international standards. The long term objective thus suggests that NOAA or NASA will fly the CLARREO instrument suite on an operational basis following the first scientific experiment
The CLARREO missions will conduct the following observations:
1. Absolute spectrally-resolved measurements of terrestrial thermal emission with an absolute accuracy of 0.1 K in brightness temperature (3σ or 99% confidence limits.) The measurements should cover most of the thermal spectrum.
2. Absolute spectrally-resolved measurements of the solar radiation reflected from Earth. The measurements should cover the part of the solar spectrum most important to climate, including the near-ultraviolet, visible, and near-infrared.
3. Independent measurements of atmospheric temperature, pressure, and humidity using Global Positioning System (GPS) occultation measurements of atmospheric refraction.
4. Serve as a high accuracy calibration standard for use by the broadband CERES instruments on-orbit.
Following the DS conclusion, and considering the early development stage of the mission, NASA funded three Instrument Incubator Programs (IIP) to push instrument concepts to a higher level of maturity. A joint proposal between University of Wisconsin (UW) and Harvard University was selected to address the first above objective and part of the fourth one in the corresponding spectral region. In order to achieve this goal, four complementary technologies are to be developed [2]:
(1) On-orbit Absolute Radiance Standard (OARS), a high emissivity blackbody source that uses multiple miniature phase-change cells to provide a revolutionary on-orbit standard with absolute temperature accuracy proven over a wide range of temperatures.
(2) On-orbit Cavity Emissivity Modules (OCEMs), providing a source (quantum cascade laser, QCL, or “Heated Halo”) to measure any change in the cavity emissivity of the OARS.
(3) On-orbit Spectral Response Module (OSRM), a source for spectral response measurements using a nearly monochromatic QCL source configured to uniformly fill the sensor field-of-view.
(4) Dual Absolute Radiance Interferometers (DARI), providing spectral coverage from 3.3 to 50 μm that can be inter-compared to dissect any unexpected systematic errors in overlapping spectral regions.
ABB's GFI (Generic Flight Interferometer) has been selected as the favoured architecture for the DARI, mainly due to the maturity of the design and its space heritage. A GFI with commercial grade components was optimised for the selected spectral range. The architecture of the GFI will ensure a high response stability between calibrations.
The satellite is in operation since 2003, exceeding its initially planned lifetime of 2 years by more than a factor of 5. Given its success, its usefulness and the uniqueness of the data it provides, the Canadian Space Agency has founded the development of technologies enabling the second generation of ACE-FTS instruments through the High Vertical Resolution Measurement (HVRM) project but is still waiting for the funding for a mission.
This project addresses three major improvements over the ACE-FTS. The first one aims at improving the vertical instantaneous field-of-view (iFoV) from 4.0 km to 1.5 km without affecting the SNR and temporal precision. The second aims at providing precise knowledge on the tangent height of the limb observation from an external method instead of that used in SCISAT-1 where the altitude is typically inferred from the monotonic CO2 concentration seen in the spectra. The last item pertains to reaching lower altitude down to 5 km for the retrieved gas species, an altitude at which the spectra are very crowded in terms of absorption. These objectives are attained through a series of modification in the optical train such as the inclusion of a field converter and a series of dedicated real-time and post-acquisition algorithms processing the Sun images as it hides behind the Earth. This paper presents the concepts, the prototypes that were made, their tests and the results obtained in this Technology Readiness Level (TRL) improvement project.
A precise knowledge of the target infrared signature phenomenology is crucial for the development and improvement of countermeasure and counter-countermeasure systems and so precise quantification of the infrared energy emitted from the targets requires accurate spectral signature measurements. Errors in infrared characterization measurements can lead to weakness in the safety of the countermeasure system and errors in the determination of detection/lock-on range of an aircraft. The infrared signatures are analyzed, modeled, and simulated to provide a good understanding of the signature phenomenology to improve the IRCM and IRCCM technologies efficiency [7,8,9]. There is a growing need for infrared spectral signature measurement technology in order to further improve and validate infrared-based models and simulations.
The addition of imagery to Spectroradiometers is improving the measurement capability of complex targets and scenes because all elements in the scene can now be measured simultaneously. However, the limited dynamic range of the Focal Plane Array (FPA) sensors used in these instruments confines the ranges of measurable radiance intensities. This ultimately affects the radiometric accuracy of these complex signatures. We will describe and demonstrate how the ABB hyperspectral imaging spectroradiometer features enhanced the radiometric accuracy of spectral signature measurements of infrared military targets.
The developments of optical methods to characterize soils and various surface contaminants require complete and reliable databases of spectral signatures of various objects, including chemical and representative background surfaces. Ideally, the databases should be acquired in the field to properly consider the chemical mixing and heterogeneity of the surfaces. Spectral characterization instruments are common in the visible and the shortwave infrared but there are few solutions in the midwave and thermal infrared regions.
ABB recently developed a broad band reflectometer based on a small FTIR spectrometer. It is capable of measuring diffuse spectral reflectance from various surfaces in the infrared from 0.7 to 13.5 microns. This sensor has been developed to be operated in the field by one person. It is lightweight (about 12 kg); it is battery powered and ruggedized for operation in harsh environments. Its operation does not require sophisticated training; it has been designed to be operated by a non-specialist. The sensor can be used to generate spectral libraries or to perform material identification if a spectral library already exists.
Examples of measurements in the field will be presented.
The ABB Hyperspectral Imaging Spectroradiometer (MR-i), configured for gas detection detects and identifies a wide variety of chemical species including toxic industrial chemicals (TICs) and surrogates several kilometers away from the sensor. This configuration is called iCATSI for improved Compact Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer. iCATSI is a standoff passive system.
The modularity of the MR-i platform allows optimization of the detection configuration with a 256 x 256 Focal Plane Array imager or a line scanning imager both covering the long wave IR atmospheric window up to 14 μm. The uniqueness of its extended LWIR cut off enables to detect more chemicals as well as provide higher probability of detection than usual LWIR sensors.
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