GEOScan: a geoscience facility from space

Lars P. Dyrud; Jonathan T. Fentzke; Kerri Cahoy; Shawn Murphy; Warren Wiscombe; Chad Fish; Brian Gunter; Rebecca Bishop; Gary Bust; Bob Erlandson; Brian Bauer; Om Gupta

doi:10.1117/12.919514

24 May 2012 GEOScan: a geoscience facility from space

Lars P. Dyrud, Jonathan T. Fentzke, Kerri Cahoy, Shawn Murphy, Warren Wiscombe, Chad Fish, Brian Gunter, Rebecca Bishop, Gary Bust, Bob Erlandson, Brian Bauer, Om Gupta

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 8385, Sensors and Systems for Space Applications V; 83850V (2012) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.919514
Event: SPIE Defense, Security, and Sensing, 2012, Baltimore, Maryland, United States

Abstract

GEOScan is a grassroots effort, proposed as globally networked orbiting observation facility utilizing the main Iridium NEXT 66-satellite constellation. This will create a revolutionary new capability of massively dense, global geoscience observations and targets elusive questions that scientists have not previously been able to answer, and will not answer, until simultaneous global measurements are made. This effort is enabled by Iridium as part of its Hosted Payload Program. By developing a common sensor suite the logistical and cost barriers for transmitting massive amounts of data from 66 satellites configured in 6 orbital planes with 11 evenly spaced slots per plane is removed. Each sensor suite of GEOScan's networked orbital observation facility consists of 6 system sensors: a Radiometer to measure Earth's total outgoing radiation; a GPS Compact Total Electron Content Sensor to image Earth's plasma environment and gravity field; a MicroCam Multispectral Imager to measure global cloud cover, vegetation, land use, and bright aurora, and also take the first uniform instantaneous image of the Earth; a Radiation Belt Mapping System (dosimeters) to measure energetic electron and proton distributions; a Compact Earth Observing Spectrometer to measure aerosol-atmospheric composition and vegetation; and MEMS Accelerometers to deduce non-conservative forces aiding gravity and neutral drag studies. Our analysis shows that the instrument suites evaluated in a constellation configuration onboard the Iridium NEXT satellites are poised to provide major breakthroughs in Earth and geospace science. GEOScan commercial-of-the-shelf instruments provide low-cost space situational awareness and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance opportunities.

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Lars P. Dyrud, Jonathan T. Fentzke, Kerri Cahoy, Shawn Murphy, Warren Wiscombe, Chad Fish, Brian Gunter, Rebecca Bishop, Gary Bust, Bob Erlandson, Brian Bauer, and Om Gupta "GEOScan: a geoscience facility from space", Proc. SPIE 8385, Sensors and Systems for Space Applications V, 83850V (24 May 2012); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.919514

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