The Capella X-band SAR Constellation for Rapid Imaging

Stringham, Craig; Farquharson, Gordon; Castelletti, Davide; Quist, Eric B.; Riggi, Lucas; Eddy, Duncan; Soenen, Scott

doi:10.1109/igarss.2019.8900410

Cited by 46 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…It is of note that the method of coverage analysis and orbit design presented in this paper is independent of sensor type, and the swath widths for very-high-resolution synthetic aperture radar (SAR) spacecraft are similar to those of the multi-spectral optical systems presented. For example, the recently launched ICEYE constellation can collect SAR imagery at <1 m GSD with a corresponding swath of 5 km [42] and Capella SAR offers <1 m GSD with a swath of approximately 10 km [43]. The spacecraft in both constellations have a mass of approximately 100 kg each, similar to the optical systems considered here.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Towards a Satellite System for Archaeology? Simulation of an Optical Satellite Mission with Ideal Spatial and Temporal Resolution, Illustrated by a Case Study in Scotland

et al. 2020

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Applications of remote sensing data for archaeology rely heavily on repurposed data, which carry inherent limitations in their suitability to help address archaeological questions. Through a case study framed around archaeological imperatives in a Scottish context, this work investigates the potential for existing satellite systems to provide remote sensing data that meet defined specifications for archaeological prospection, considering both spatial and temporal resolution, concluding that the availability of commercial data is currently insufficient. Tasking a commercial constellation of 12 spacecraft to collect images of a 150 km2 region in Scotland through the month of July 2020 provided 26 images with less than 50% cloud cover. Following an analysis of existing systems, this paper presents a high-level mission architecture for a bespoke satellite system designed from an archaeological specification. This study focuses on orbit design and the number of spacecraft needed to meet the spatial and temporal resolution requirements for archaeological site detection and monitoring in a case study of Scotland, using existing imaging technology. By exploring what an ideal scenario might look like from a satellite mission planning perspective, this paper presents a simulation analysis that foregrounds archaeological imperatives and specifies a satellite constellation design on that basis. High-level design suggests that a system of eight 100 kg spacecraft in a 581 km altitude orbit could provide coverage at a desired temporal and spatial resolution of two-weekly revisit and <1 m ground sampling distance, respectively. The potential for such a system to be more widely applied in regions of similar latitude and climate is discussed.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Towards a Satellite System for Archaeology? Simulation of an Optical Satellite Mission with Ideal Spatial and Temporal Resolution, Illustrated by a Case Study in Scotland

et al. 2020

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“…However, recent developments in radar technology, particularly at X‐ and Ku‐band frequencies (1–3 cm wavelength) provide an excellent opportunity for relatively high‐spatial resolution observations from a geostationary platform (Rodríguez et al, 2019 ; Xiao et al, 2020 ). Alternatively, a collection of smallsats (cubesats or other similar size classes) with different daily observation times could also potentially achieve the required temporal and spatial resolution (e.g., the Capella Space constellation (Stringham et al, 2019 )). Each individual satellite could be placed in a sun‐synchronous orbit, but combining observations from multiple instruments would still enable observations of the full diurnal cycle.…”

Section: The Need For Spaceborne Diel Observationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Detecting forest response to droughts with global observations of vegetation water content

Konings

Saatchi

Frankenberg

et al. 2021

Global Change Biology

105

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“…Currently, there exist very few X-band spaceborne missions run by national space agencies. New actors from the private sector are, however, entering into business, such as ICEYE [33] and Capella Space [34], who offer high spatial resolution and frequent revisit times, such that an almost perfect time agreement can be achieved among the passive and the active sensing operations. Despite their data not being distributed for free, possible future commercial services for vegetation and soil moisture monitoring will be in a position to rely on abundant and ubiquitous X-band data sources.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Covariation of Passive–Active Microwave Measurements over Vegetated Surfaces: Case Studies at L-Band Passive and L-, C- and X-Band Active

et al. 2021

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The analysis of soil and land cover scattering properties and their connection with the parameters of microwave scattering is a longstanding research topic. Recently, the advent of modern space-borne microwave radiometers like SMAP in addition to the trend towards open data for scientific use fostered the development of enhanced models based on data fusion from different platforms permitting more accurate assessments. SMAP was designed to operate on an integrated combination of a radiometer and a radar, both operating in L-band. Unexpected failure of the radar component encouraged scientists to experiment various combination of data from the surviving radiometer with other sources of radar data, notably C-band Sentinel-1 data. In this work, we present a case study on a possible combination of SMAP radiometer data with X-band radar data from TerraSAR-X and COSMO-SkyMed, comparing results with those provided by NASA from their standard production procedures. The study was performed on two test sites, one at an agricultural site in Germany and one in the Brazilian Amazon, to explore very different vegetation conditions. This work is a part of a broader research effort addressing the combination of multiple sources of passive and active microwave sensing data. The research question defining this research effort is whether the use of data from multiple active sources affords either obtaining more accurate estimates of active–passive co-variation parameters for a given observation period, or shortening the minimum observation period by increasing the temporal density of active samples. In this framework, this paper addresses a preliminary comparison of fresh and past results obtained from C-, X-, and L-band active sensing data. The observed relations offer interesting clues on the impact of band selection on soil vegetation analysis.

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The Capella X-band SAR Constellation for Rapid Imaging

Cited by 46 publications

References 4 publications

Towards a Satellite System for Archaeology? Simulation of an Optical Satellite Mission with Ideal Spatial and Temporal Resolution, Illustrated by a Case Study in Scotland

Towards a Satellite System for Archaeology? Simulation of an Optical Satellite Mission with Ideal Spatial and Temporal Resolution, Illustrated by a Case Study in Scotland

Detecting forest response to droughts with global observations of vegetation water content

Covariation of Passive–Active Microwave Measurements over Vegetated Surfaces: Case Studies at L-Band Passive and L-, C- and X-Band Active

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