Design, Development and Calibration of a Miniature High Radiometric Precision Hyperspectral Imager for CubeSat/NanoSat constellations and Small, Low-C

高光谱成像仪是一种相机，它可以在多达数百个连续的窄色带中获取场景中每个像素的详细光谱信息。由于小型化，目前在立方体卫星/纳米卫星上进行高光谱成像的努力在光学上受到了损害；该项目的目的是设计一种地球观测高光谱仪器，能够集成到立方体卫星平台上，同时保持更大的科学级仪器的性能。将采用整体方法解决立方体卫星上的紧凑型高光谱成像仪和低成本无人机（无人驾驶飞行器）的问题；设计的所有方面都将被考虑，从光学设计的小型化而不显著降低光学质量，到机载数据处理和所需的处理链，再到地面数据分析以及如何最好地向最终用户提供所需的信息。这项技术的一个潜在应用是精准农业。因此，所收集数据的保真度至关重要，必须加以量化。这些考虑将与CubeSat平台的一些技术限制相平衡，这些限制必须在仪器的设计中解决，例如平台不稳定和从CubeSat下载数据的低数据速率。例如，为了在不丢失重要信息的情况下，通过受限的下行速率从仪器下载大量高光谱数据，必须采用数据压缩。此外，在任务期间将研究细致的飞行前和替代校准技术，以保持数据的保真度。

Hyperspectral imagers are cameras that can obtain detailed spectral information on each pixel within a scene in as many as hundreds of contiguous, narrow colour bands. Current efforts in hyperspectral imaging aboard CubeSats/nano-satellites are optically compromised due to miniaturisation; the aim of this project is to produce a design for an Earth Observation hyperspectral instrument, capable of being integrated onto the CubeSat platform, while maintaining the performance of a larger, science grade instrument. A holistic approach will be taken to the problem of compact hyperspectral imagers aboard CubeSats and low cost UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles); all aspects of the design will be considered, from the miniaturisation of the optical design without significant reduction to optical quality, to on-board data handling and required processing chain, to data analysis on the ground and how best to provide required information to end-users. A potential application of this technology is precision agriculture. Hence, the fidelity of the data collected is of paramount importance and must be quantified. These considerations will be balanced against a number of technical limitations of the CubeSat platform, which must be addressed with the design of the instrument, such as platform instability and low data rates for downloading the data from the CubeSat. For example, data compression must be employed in order to download the large amount of hyperspectral data from the instrument via a constrained downlink rate, without loss of important information. In addition, meticulous pre-flight and vicarious calibration techniques during the mission will be investigated to maintain data fidelity.