Hyperspectral Cubesat Constellation for Natural Hazard Response

The authors on this paper are team members of the Earth Observing 1 (E0-1) mission which has flown an imaging spectrometer (hyperspectral) instrument called Hyperion for the past 15+ years. The satellite is able to image any spot on Earth in the nadir looking direction every 16 days and with slewing, of the satellite for up to a 23 degree view angle, any spot on the Earth can be imaged approximately every 2 to 3 days. EO-1 has been used to track many natural hazards such as wildfires, volcanoes and floods. An enhanced capability that has been sought is the ability to image natural hazards in a daily time series for space-based imaging spectrometers. The Hyperion cannot provide this capability on EO-1 with the present polar orbit. However, a constellation of cubesats, each with the same imaging spectrometer, positioned strategically can be used to provide daily coverage or even diurnal coverage, cost-effectively. This paper sought to design a cubesat constellation mission that would accomplish this goal and then to articulate the key tradeoffs.