TIRCIS: Hyperspectral Thermal Infrared Imaging Using a Small-Satellite Compliant Fourier-Transform Imaging Spectrometer, for Natural Hazard Applications

Abstract:

Many natural hazards, including wildfires, volcanic eruptions, and, from the perspective of climate-related hazards, urban heat islands, could be better quantified via the routine availability of hyperspectral thermal infrared remote sensing data from orbit. However, no sensors are currently in operation that provide such data at high-to-moderate spatial resolution (e.g. Landsat-class resolution). In this presentation we will describe a prototype instrument, developed using funding provided by NASA’s Instrument Incubator Program, that can make these important measurements. Significantly, the instrument has been designed such that its size, mass, power, and cost are consistent with its integration into small satellite platforms, or deployment as part of small satellite constellations. The instrument, TIRCIS (Thermal Infra-Red Compact Imaging Spectrometer), uses a Fabry-Perot interferometer, an uncooled microbolometer array, and push-broom scanning to acquire hyperspectral image data cubes. Radiometric calibration is provided by blackbody targets while spectral calibration is achieved using monochromatic light sources. Neither the focal plane nor the optics need to be cooled, and the instrument has a mass of <10 kg and dimensions of 53 cm × 25 cm × 22 cm. Although the prototype has four moving parts, this can easily be reduced to one. The current optical design yields a 120 m ground sample size given an orbit of 500 km. Over the wavelength interval of 7.5 to 14 microns up to 90 spectral samples are possible, by varying the physical design of the interferometer. Our performance model indicates signal-to-noise ratios of the order of about 200 to 300:1. In this presentation we will provide an overview of the instrument design, fabrication, results from our initial laboratory characterization, and some of the application areas in which small-satellite-ready instruments such as TIRCIS could make a valuable contribution to the study of natural hazards.