Transcript PowerPoint Presentation - The MOLNIYA ORBIT IMAGER a …

The Molniya Orbit Imager
- a high-latitude quasi-geostationary satellite
mission
Lars Peter Riishojgaard
Joint Center for Satellite Data Assimilation
Mission highlights
• High-latitude quasi-geostationary imager (“GOES to the pole”)
– Full Earth disc image every 15 minutes at 1 km (VIS channel) and 2 km
(5 IR channels) horizontal resolution
• High-latitude winds => improved weather forecasts (fewer busts)
also at low latitudes
– MODIS winds => better forecasts overall, hurricane landfall prediction
– WMO recommendation on polar winds
• Rapid repeat imaging data have applications in wide range of Earth
science disciplines
Arctic Imaging Workshop, NBI, August 20-21, 2008
Overview
• Scientific rationale behind the mission
• Why choose the Molniya orbit ?
• How do we implement it?
• Programmatic context, international collaboration
Arctic Imaging Workshop, NBI, August 20-21, 2008
Why this mission?
•
Weather forecasts (global Numerical Weather Prediction products) have on
average become very good
=> economic consequences of failure are large and growing
•
Reducing the severity and frequency of forecast busts high on NWS list of
priorities
•
Busts over North America (mid-latitudes in general) often have high-latitude
origins
•
General lack of high-latitude wind observations is among the most important
shortcoming of the Global Observing System (GOS)
Arctic Imaging Workshop, NBI, August 20-21, 2008
Arctic Imaging Workshop, NBI, August 20-21, 2008
Arctic Imaging Workshop, NBI, August 20-21, 2008
Arctic Imaging Workshop, NBI, August 20-21, 2008
MODIS water vapor imagery (winds)
animation courtesy of CIMSS
Arctic Imaging Workshop, NBI, August 20-21, 2008
Status of satellite wind observations
•
No operational satellite wind measurements beyond 55-60 deg latitude
•
Experimental polar winds from MODIS; no operational follow-on planned
– Data latency is problematic; 4 to 6 hours after real time
– Image refresh rate problematic; 15 minutes is optimal, MODIS: ~100 minutes
– No water vapor channel on NPOESS/VIIRS (until at least 2020)
• Timetable for VIIRS in general is uncertain
– Latitudinal coverage gap between MODIS and GEO winds
•
=> Need for “geostationary-type” imagery over high-latitude regions;
Molniya Orbit Imager is a good candidate
Arctic Imaging Workshop, NBI, August 20-21, 2008
Molniya orbit characteristics
• Highly eccentric Kepler orbit
–
–
–
–
Apogee height 39750 km (geostationary orbit height ~36000 km)
Perigee height ~600 km
Inclination 63.4 degrees
Orbital period ~11h 58m (half a sidereal day)
• Location of apogee w.r.t. Earth is fixed and stable!
• Platform in quasi-stationary imaging position near the apogee for
about two thirds of the duration of the orbit
• Used extensively by USSR and later Russia (to a lesser degree by
the US) for communications purposes
• First suggested for meteorological applications by Kidder and
Vonder Haar (1990)
Arctic Imaging Workshop, NBI, August 20-21, 2008
QuickTime™ and a
YUV420 codec decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Arctic Imaging Workshop, NBI, August 20-21, 2008
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Arctic Imaging Workshop, NBI, August 20-21, 2008
Arctic Imaging Workshop, NBI, August 20-21, 2008
Why Molniya orbit?
• Quasi-stationary perspective; ideal for feature tracking
• Apogee height => GEO technology can be reused
– Cost savings
– Risk reduction
• Best possible high-latitude coverage per satellite
– Fully complements geostationary data; no LEO-like latitudinal coverage
gap
– Little time “wasted” over lower latitudes adequately seen from GEO
• Simple ground segment; real-time dissemination can be achieved
with a single primary ground station, as for GEO
– Target is user delivery of calibrated and rectified images within less than
20 minutes and winds within less than 60 minutes of real time
Arctic Imaging Workshop, NBI, August 20-21, 2008
Additional science applications
(beyond satellite winds and NWP)
• Sea ice (GSFC, MSC)
– Age, temperature, motion, thickness, model validation
– Temporal resolution will benefit operational applications, studies of
polynyas, leads and marginal ice zone
• Vegetation/forest fire monitoring (NESDIS, MSC)
– Detection, intensity monitoring over Alaska, Canada, Siberia
– Air quality applications over the Continental US (NOAA, EPA)
• Volcanic eruptions; SO2, ash clouds (UMBC, USGS, OFCM)
– NOAA, USGS interested in real-time monitoring capabilities for the
Alaska Volcano Observatory for FAA/commercial aviation customers
• Clouds, fog (NESDIS, UCPH)
– Several cloud products planned by CIMSS
– Temporal resolution enables e.g. contrail/cirrus studies
Arctic Imaging Workshop, NBI, August 20-21, 2008
Additional science applications (II)
• Polar weather (NWS, GSFC)
– Operational monitoring of high-latitude weather
– Development and life cycle of e.g. polar lows
• Snow-cover and albedo monitoring (FMI)
– Will benefit from temporal resolution primarily due to higher probability
of clear-sky images
• Regional water quality (HUT)
– Dynamic phytoplankton and suspended solids mapping in the
Baltic Sea
• Surface radiation balance and SVAT models (UCPH)
– Temporal resolution enables incorporation of the diurnal cycle in landsurface temperature, variability of aerosol loading and humidity in SVAT
(Soil Vegetation Atmosphere Transfer) models
Arctic Imaging Workshop, NBI, August 20-21, 2008
Arctic Imaging Workshop, NBI, August 20-21, 2008
Molniya Orbit Imager
Preliminary data products list
Product
Aerosols/dust/smoke
Calibrated images
Cloud mask
Cloud-top microphysics
Cloud-top pressure/temperature
Fires/hot spots
Land skin temperature
Low cloud and fog
Derived motion (atmosphere)
Sea ice motion
Sea ice temperature
Sea ice concentration
Sea surface temperature
Snow detection (cover)
Volcanic ash product
Channels
VIS, 11, 12
VIS, 3.9, 6.3, 7.1, 11, 12
VIS, 3.9, 6.3, 7.1, 11, 12
VIS, 3.9, 11, 12
3.9, 11
VIS, 3.9, 11, 12
3.9, 7.1, 11 12
3.9, 11
6.3, 7.1, 11, 12
VIS, 11
11,12
VIS, 11
3.9, 11, 12
VIS, 3.9, 11
VIS, 3.9, 7.1, 11, 12
Status
TBD
Core
Core
Intended
Core
Core
Intended
Core
Core
Core
Core
Core
Intended
TBD
Core
Mission level requirements
•
High temporal and spatial resolution imagery for all areas N of 60 degrees N
for multitemporal applications and derived products
– Full-disc view every 15 minutes within 60% of apogee
– Special events rapid-scan capability: 1000 x 1000 km every 60 s
– Horizontal resolution 1 km (VIS), 2 km (IR) at nadir from apogee
•
Nominal 3-year mission duration
– Not technically difficult to meet or exceed
– Proposal development originally targeted for NASA’s ESSP; opportunity never
materialized
•
Real-time “operational” dissemination of images and derived products
Arctic Imaging Workshop, NBI, August 20-21, 2008
Mission implementation studies
•
Overall Molniya Orbit Imager mission design based on
– A series of concurrent engineering studies by the Integrated Design Capability at
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
– A series of industry-funded studies (Ball Aerospace, Raytheon, SS/Loral, ITT
Industries, Orbital Sciences, …)
•
Key IDC results:
– Mission is technically feasible and classified as “low risk”
– Total costs of three-year mission: ~$300M (with 30% margin)
•
Space segment
– Instrument vendor (Raytheon) was selected for baseline mission
– S/C proposals from four vendors were evaluated
•
Ground segment
– NESDIS helped draft plans for data processing chain and indicated possibility of
ground support (Fairbanks station)
– Finland (FMI) has committed in principle to ground support (Sodankyla station;
data processing)
Arctic Imaging Workshop, NBI, August 20-21, 2008
Instrument system requirements (from POD)
Lifetime
36 months (goal: 60 months)
Orbit
718 min Molniya
Visible Channel
0.55-0.80 micron
1 km horizontal resolution
IR Channels
3.9 (3.8-4.0) micron
6.3 (5.8-6.8) micron
7.1 (6.8-7.4) micron
11.0 (10.7-11.3) micron
12.0 (11.5-12.5) micron
2 km horizontal resolution
Radiometric Precision
VIS: SNR 500:1 @ 100% albedo
IR: 0.2 K @300K, 0.5 K @ 250K
Radiometric Accuracy
VIS: 6%
IR: 1 K
Field of View
>24 degrees + star field
Time to image a complete
scene
<15 minutes
Input Power (baseline)
< 180 W (including 20% cont.)
Mass (baseline)
<136 kg (including 30% cont.)
Volume (baseline)
<0.9 m x 1.2 m x 1.3m
MOI Spacecraft (IMDC flight configuration)
Instrument
Scan Control
Instrument
Cooler Control
Instrument
Sensor Module
Instrument
Main Electronics
Arctic Imaging Workshop, NBI, August 20-21, 2008
22
Strong, broad-based community support
•
WMO recommendation (Alpbach 2004):
– Operational satellite agencies are encouraged to investigate possibilities for
ensuring a follow-on to the high-latitude winds from MODIS with improved
timeliness
•
WMO Vision for the GOS in 2025 (R&D/pathfinders): “… Visible /IR imagers on
satellites in highly elliptical orbit (HEO)”
•
Louis Uccellini, Director of NOAA/NCEP
– “ … there is no question that the scientific rationale behind the Molniya mission is
rock solid”
•
US Navy, NPOESS IPO, ECMWF, national weather services in a number of countries
(e.g. UK, Germany, Netherlands, Nordic countries, Canada ) are behind this
•
Interest from a number of other science disciplines
–
–
Data from the Molniya Orbit Imager can be used to monitor sea ice, forest fires, volcanic
eruptions, snow cover, water quality, etc.
Possibility of co-flying small scientific payload, e.g. Canadian/Finnish UV Aurora imager
Arctic Imaging Workshop, NBI, August 20-21, 2008
Prospective partners
• National science partners
– NOAA/NESDIS; ground support, data processing, instrument
– DoD (USAF, NRL/FNMOC); endorsement
• International science partners
– EUMETSAT; ground support
– Finland (TEKES, FMI); ground support, space segment, launch
– CSA/MSC; Canada launching own pre-Phase A Molniya study
• Partners of opportunity
– University of Calgary/FMI; secondary scientific payload: UV
Aurora imager
– CSA; high-latitude communications
Arctic Imaging Workshop, NBI, August 20-21, 2008
International perspective
• Canadian Space Agency and Environment Canada in
pre-Phase A of two-satellite Molniya-like communications
system
• Russia developed “Arktika” mission proposal closely
related to MOI
– Being discussed in IGEOLAB context
• FMI has attempted to initiate ESA pre-Phase A study for
high-latitude imaging mission
Arctic Imaging Workshop, NBI, August 20-21, 2008
International perspective (II)
• High-latitude imaging mission realization could involve ring of
countries surrounding the Arctic: Canada, Russia, Nordic countries,
USA, …
– Climate change => increased interest in Arctic region, both politically,
economically and scientifically
• Discussions taking place in the WMO IGEOLAB Highly Elliptical Orbit
Working Group
– HEO Working Group is CGMS-driven; not all parties interested in highlatitude imagery are members
– HEO WG focuses on programmatics, not on requirements and
applications
• One role of Arctic Imaging Workshop is to gauge (and hopefully raise)
the level of interest within the scientific community
Arctic Imaging Workshop, NBI, August 20-21, 2008
Summary
•
Geostationary-class multipurpose imager in Molniya orbit;
will complement the GEO system providing imagery and
derived products (e.g. winds) to the pole
•
Additional data products supporting a wide variety of earth
science applications
•
First (civilian) remote sensing mission in Molniya orbit
•
First high-temporal resolution imagery for regions N of 60 N
•
Mission ideally suited for national and international
collaboration
•
Strong interest from Finland, Canada and several other
countries
Arctic Imaging Workshop, NBI, August 20-21, 2008