SWAP (SWAP (Sun Watcher using Active Pixel System detector and Image Processing) is an instrument that has been selected to fly on the PROBA- 2 technology demonstration platform, a program of the European Space Agency (ESA) to be launched in 2006. SWAP is based on an off-axis degraded Ritchey Chretien telescope that will image the EUV solar corona at 19.5 nm on a specifically fabricated extreme ultraviolet (EUV) sensitivity enhanced CMOS APS detector. The optical design and the optical coatings are derived from the Extreme Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (EIT) operating on-board SOHO since 1995 [1]. It has been adapted for a single wavelength telescope with off-axis optics. It allows to use smaller optics and filters, with simple internal baffles avoiding external protruding parts. The superpolished optics will receive a multilayer coating that provides spectral selection centred on 19.5 nm and EUV reflectivity in normal incidence. This compact design is specifically adapted for accommodation on PROBA-2, where mass and envelope requirements are very stringent The SWAP PROBA-2 program will be an opportunity to demonstrate this new optical concept, while it will also validate space remote sensing with APS detectors, as well as on-board image processing capabilities. On the science outcomes, SWAP will provide solar corona images in the Fe XII line on a baselined 2-min cadence. Observations with this specific wavelength allow detecting phenomena, such as solar flares or ‘EIT-waves’, associated with the early phase of coronal mass ejections. The SWAP data will complement the observations provided by SOHO-EIT, and STEREOSECCHI.
is an instrument that has been selected to fly on the PROBA- 2 technology demonstration platform, a program of the European Space Agency (ESA) to be launched in 2006. SWAP is based on an off-axis degraded Ritchey Chretien telescope that will image the EUV solar corona at 19.5 nm on a specifically fabricated extreme ultraviolet (EUV) sensitivity enhanced CMOS APS detector. The optical design and the optical coatings are derived from the Extreme Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (EIT) operating on-board SOHO since 1995 [1]. It has been adapted for a single wavelength telescope with off-axis optics. It allows to use smaller optics and filters, with simple internal baffles avoiding external protruding parts. The superpolished optics will receive a multilayer coating that provides spectral selection centred on 19.5 nm and EUV reflectivity in normal incidence. This compact design is specifically adapted for accommodation on PROBA-2, where mass and envelope requirements are very stringent The SWAP PROBA-2 program will be an opportunity to demonstrate this new optical concept, while it will also validate space remote sensing with APS detectors, as well as on-board image processing capabilities. On the science outcomes, SWAP will provide solar corona images in the Fe XII line on a baselined 2-min cadence. Observations with this specific wavelength allow detecting phenomena, such as solar flares or ‘EIT-waves’, associated with the early phase of coronal mass ejections. The SWAP data will complement the observations provided by SOHO-EIT, and STEREOSECCHI.
The activities described in this paper have been developed in the frame of the EUCLID CEPA 9 RTP 9.9 “High Resolution Optical Satellite Sensor” project of the WEAO Research Cell. They have been focused on the definition of an interferometric instrument optimised for the high-resolution optical surveillance from geostationary orbit (GEO) by means of the synthetic aperture technique, and on the definition and development of the related enabling technologies. In this paper we describe the industrial team, the selected mission specifications and overview of the whole design and manufacturing activities performed.
KEYWORDS: Interferometers, Sensors, Space telescopes, Telescopes, Metrology, Point spread functions, Mirrors, Surveillance, Modulation transfer functions, Control systems design
This paper describes the study of an interferometric instrument for the high-resolution surveillance of the Earth from geostationary orbit (GEO) performed for the EUCLID CEPA 9 RTP 9.9 “High Resolution Optical Satellite Sensor” project of the WEAO Research Cell. It is an in-depth description of a part of the activities described in. The instrument design, both optical and mechanical, is described; tradeoffs have been done for different restoration methods, based on an image generated using calculated point spread functions (PSF’s) for the complete FOV. Co-phasing concept for the optical interferometer has been defined together with the optical metrology needed. Design and simulation of the overall instrument control system was carried out.
A breadboard set-up has demonstrated a concept of cophasing and co-alignment based on an external reference source for synthetic aperture telescopes applications. These types of systems can be extremely valuable in order to perform coarse re-alignment of synthetic aperture telescope, following thermo-elastic deformation and deployment effects in space flight environments.
This experimental study was carried out within the context of high concentration photovoltaics. The paper presents the results of an experimental investigation relating to the quantification of the impacts of the chromatic effect on the performance of a double junction GaInP/GaAs solar cell. Chromatic effects are the result of material dispersion caused by the refractive optics component. This study aims to evaluate the effect of the spectral modification of the incident beam on the whole solar concentrator system performance. Such considerations are fundamental in producing a highly accurate design, with which to achieve the best possible system performance. Efficiency is evaluated within the vicinity of the focus of a Fresnel lens designed for concentration. On the optical axis, rays with different wavelengths are not focalized at the same points. The spectral content of the beam depends, therefore, upon the position of the cell along the optical axis. It is assumed that spectral content modification may have an impact on cell performance and, as a consequence, on system efficiency as a whole. Efficiency of the optical Fresnel lens and of the cell were evaluated in relation to spectral content modification.
The SWAP telescope (Sun Watcher using Active Pixel System detector and Image Processing) is being developed to be
part of the PROBA2 payload, an ESA technological mission to be launched in early 2008. SWAP is directly derived
from the concept of the EIT telescope that we developed in the '90s for the SOHO mission. Several major innovations
have been introduced in the design of the instrument in order to be compliant with the requirements of the PROBA2
mini-satellite: compactness with a new of-axis optical design, radiation resistance with a new CMOS-APS detector, a
very low power electronics, an athermal opto-mechanical system, optimized onboard compression schemes combined
with prioritization of collected data, autonomy with automatic triggering of observation and off-pointing procedures in
case of Solar event occurrence, ... All these new features result from the low resource requirements (power, mass,
telemetry) of the mini-satellite, but also take advantage of the specificities of a modern technological platform, such as
quick pointing agility, new powerful on-board processor, Packetwire interface and autonomous operations.
These new enhancements will greatly improve the operations of SWAP as a space weather sentinel from a low Earth
orbit while the downlink capabilities are limited. This paper summarizes the conceptual design, the development and the
qualification of the instrument, the autonomous operations and the expected performances for science exploitation.
PROBA2 is an ESA technology demonstration mission to be launched in early 2007. The two primary scientific instruments on board of PROBA2 are SWAP (Sun Watcher using Active Pixel System detector and Image Processing) and the LYRA VUV radiometer. SWAP provides a full disk solar imaging capability with a bandpass filter centred at 17.5 nm (FeIX-XI) and a fast cadence of ≈1 min. The telescope is based on an off-axis Ritchey Chretien design while an extreme ultraviolet (EUV) enhanced APS CMOS will be used as a detector. As the prime goal of the SWAP is solar monitoring and advance warning of Coronal Mass Ejections (CME), on-board intellige nce will be implemented. Image recognition software using experimental algorithms will be used to detect CMEs during the first phase of eruption so the event can be tracked by the spacecraft without huma n intervention. LYRA will monitor solar irradiance in four different VUV passbands with a cadence of up to 100 Hz. The four channels were chosen for their relevance to solar physics, aeronomy and space weather: 115-125 nm (Lyman-α), 200-220 nm Herzberg continuum, the 17-70 nm Aluminium filter channel (that includes the HeII line at 30.4 nm) and the 1-20 nm Zirconium filter channel. On-board calibration sources will monitor the stability of the detectors and the filters throughout the duration of the mission.
The Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI), an instrument to be carried on METOP satellites, has been developed by Alcatel Space, for final use by CNES and EUMETSAT. The objective is an improvement of vertical resolution and accuracy of temperature and humidity atmospheric profiles measurement. This development created the need of an infrared collimator whose mission is to characterise Pixel Angular Response and to localise optical axis of the flight hardware.
For this purpose, a collimator covering the spectral range 645 - 2760 cm-1 has been designed, manufactured in collaboration with AMOS company and delivered to Alcatel Space. Infrared source uses a blackbody working from 310 to 1200 K followed by spectral filtering. Motorization allows angular orientation on two axes around the IASI instrument entrance pupil with a 10 μrad accuracy. The present contribution will provide the critical points, which have been identified and solved during manufacturing and testing inside CSL vacuum facilities.
SWAP (Sun Watcher using Active Pixel System detector andImage Processing) is an instrument that has been selected to fly on the PROBA-II technology demonstration platform, a program of the European Space Agency (ESA) to be launched in 2006. This paper presents the instrument concept and its scientific goals. SWAP uses an off-axis Ritchey Chretien telescope that will image the EUV solar corona at 19.5 nm on a specifically fabricated extreme ultraviolet (EUV) sensitivity enhanced CMOS APS detector. This type of detector has advantages that promise to be very profitable for solar EUV imaging. The SWAP design is built on a similar concept as the MAGRITTE instrument suite for the NASA Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) mission to be launched in 2007. The optics have been adapted to the detector size. The SWAP PROBA-2 program will be an opportunity to demonstrate and validate the optical concept of MAGRITTE, while it will also validate space remote sensing with APS detectors. On the science outcomes, SWAP will provide solar corona images in the Fe XII line on a baselined 1-min cadence. Observations with this specific wavelength allow detecting phenomena, such as solar flares or 'EIT-waves’, associated with the early phase of coronal mass ejections. Image recognition software will be developed that automatically detects these phenomena and sends out space weather warnings. Different modules of this software will run both on the ground system as well as on the onboard computer of PROBA II. The SWAP data will complement the observations provided by SOHO-EIT, and STEREO-SECCHI.
Jussi Graeffe, Heikki Saari, Heikki Astola, Kari Rainio, Lorand Mazuray, Dominique Pierot, Pierre Craen, Michel Gruslin, Jean-Herve Lecat, Francis Bonnemason, Jean Flamand, Alain Thevenon
A Finnish-French group has proposed an imaging spectrometer- based instrument for the ENVISAT Earth observation satellite of ESA, which yields a global mapping of the vertical profile of ozone and other related atmospheric gases. The GOMOS instrument works by measuring the UV-visible spectrum of a star that is occulting behind the Earth's atmosphere. The prime contractor of GOMOS is Matra Marconi Space France. The focal plane optics are designed and manufactured by Spacebel Instrumentation S.A. and the holographic grating by Jobin-Yvon. VTT Automation, Measurement Technology has participated in the GOMOS studies since 1989 and is presently responsible for the verification tests of the imaging quality and opto-mechanical interfaces of the holographic imaging grating of GOMOS. The UVIS spectrometer of GOMOS consists of a holographic, aberration corrected grating and of a CCD detector. The alignment of the holographic grating needs as an input very accurate knowledge of the mechanical interfaces. VTT Automation has designed, built and tested a characterization system for the holographic grating. This system combines the accurate optical imaging measurements with the absolute knowledge of the geometrical parameters at the accuracy of plus or minus 10 micrometers which makes the system unique. The developed system has been used for two breadboard gratings and the qualification model grating. The imaging quality results and their analysis together with alignment procedure utilizing of the knowledge of mechanical interfaces is described.
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