Remote Sensing Technologies for Earth Observation 2013

Final Review for the CEOI 5th Open Call held on behalf of the UK Space Agency

The Centre for Earth Observation Instrumentation (CEOI) held its Technology Projects Review Day on behalf of the UK Space Agency, when 19 CEOI projects funded in 2012/13 were presented. These projects are nearing completion and cover a broad range of technologies, instruments and missions important for future Earth observation from space.

Held at BMA House in London on Wednesday 20th March, this event provided an overview of the 19 remote sensing technology projects and enabled insights into how these technology areas can offer opportunities for Earth observation, other space missions and terrestrial applications. Summaries of the projects’ objectives are available in this document.

The project technologies are relevant to a wide-range of industries, including defence, security, medical, energy, analytical instrumentation, environment, agriculture, robotics. They include:

  • Passive microwave instrument and technology development
  • Manufacturing techniques for lightweight optical mirrors
  • Innovative spectrometers for measuring trace gases and air quality
  • Low-cost fire monitoring from space
  • High quality calibration of radiometers
  • Space-based radar technologies and missions

The presentations from the event are available by clicking on the titles below:

High-Level System Integration of UK Receiver Technology for the STEAM-R & MWS Passive Microwave InstrumentsSTFC RALSimon Rea
System and Applications Study for a Future Geosynchronous Radar MissionCranfield UniversityStephen Hobbs
Emulation and performance Study of an On-Board Level 1 Processor for Squinted SARAstrium LtdAlex Wishart
High-frequency Doppler Radars for a Polar Precipitation Mission University of LeicesterPeter Huggard

(STFC RAL)
Advanced GRIN Lens Design for mm-wave Radiometer SystemsAstrium LtdGraham Maxwell-Cox
Pre-development of Critical Technology for Metop-SG MWS Instrument (166/183 diplexer)Astrium LtdMike Winser
The Design of an Innovative Ice Cloud Imager for the Global Measurement of Cirrus CloudSEADave Summers
Assessment of a New Low Weight Mirror Fabrication Technique for Future EO Space SystemsGooch & HousegoPeter MacKay
The Ultra-Compact Air Quality Mapper (UCAM) to Measure Nitrogen Dioxide in the Urban EnvironmentUniversity of LeicesterRoland Leigh
Hollow Waveguide Laser Heterodyne Radiometer – A Fully Integrated, Miniaturised and Ruggedized InstrumentSTFC RALDamien Weidmann
The Application of a New Bolometer Processing Technique to Fire Measurement & Monitoring from SpaceSSTLMark Chang
Concept Studies for a Methane Emission Imager - a Small Satellite Payload for Greenhouse Gas MonitoringUniversity of LeicesterHartmut Boesch
TRUTHS – A Mission to Provide Observational Climate Data to Enable the Unequivocal Detection of Climate ChangeNational Physical LaboratoryPaul Green

Projects from the 2012 “Instruments and Missions Open Call”:

POLYDOROS – A W-Band Doppler Radar to Characterize Clouds, Precipitation Microphysics and Horizontal WindsSTFC RALNeil Humpage

(Uni of Leicester)
Wavemill – A Mission to Provide Wide Swath, High Resolution, High Precision Maps of Ocean Topography and Surface CurrentsAstrium LtdBenjamin Dobke
An Assessment of the Thermal IR Laser Heterodyne Radiiometer for monitoring atmospheric trace gasesSTFC RALDamien Weidmann
Using a THz Limb Sounder to Monitor Important Chemical Species in the Mesosphere and Lower ThermosphereSSTLBruce Swinyard (UCL)
Frequency Selective Surface Filters – Providing Accurate Numerical Predictions of Beam Propagation and ReflectionQueens University BelfastRaymond Dickie
Flying the ComPAQS Air Quality Instrument as an Airborne Demonstrator to Map NO2 Over Leicester at High ResolutionUniversity of LeicesterRoland Leigh