CubeSat Infrared Spectrometer Slit and Grating Design
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current weather forecasting and climate data collection systems, such as Low Earth Orbiting (LEO) infrared sounders, face high development costs and long timescales, which can lead to coverage gaps if a satellite fails, necessitating a cost-effective and robust alternative for maintaining continuous data sets.
Innovation Solution
A compact spectrometer system, including a slit, diffraction grating, and two-dimensional focal plane array, designed for a CubeSat platform, capable of measuring infrared wavelengths and forming spatial and spectral images of the Earth's atmosphere, allowing for efficient weather mapping and data collection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If traditional LEO infrared sounders are used for weather forecasting and climate data collection, then measurement precision and data quality are improved, but device complexity, cost, and development time increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the atmospheric sounding function into separate spectral bands (visible, near-infrared, mid-infrared) detected by different sensor arrays. This segmentation allows each sensor to be optimized for its specific wavelength range while maintaining overall system precision, reducing the complexity of using a single complex broad-band instrument.
Solution Approach 2:
The imaging spectrometer is designed to perform multiple functions: it captures spatial images, spectral signatures, and atmospheric profiles simultaneously across multiple wavelength ranges. This multi-functionality replaces what would traditionally require multiple separate instruments, reducing overall system complexity while maintaining measurement precision.
2Reliability
If traditional LEO infrared sounders are deployed, then data quality is improved, but cost and development time increase, leading to potential coverage gaps
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the operational parameters of the sounder by implementing a push-broom scanning mechanism with a wide field of view and utilizing multiple spectral bands simultaneously. This allows for faster data collection and improved temporal coverage, enhancing reliability while the integrated design keeps system complexity manageable.
Solution Approach 2:
The imaging spectrometer continuously scans the Earth's atmosphere with a wide field of view, ensuring uninterrupted data collection. The push-broom scanning mechanism maintains continuous spectral measurements across the observed swath, guaranteeing data continuity without requiring complex redundant systems.
3Weight of moving object
If a compact CubeSat platform is used, then size, mass, and power requirements are reduced, but measurement precision and data quality may deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a nested optical design where the imaging spectrometer integrates multiple spectral detection channels within a compact folded optical path. This nesting allows the CubeSat to carry a high-performance spectrometer with multiple bands and sensor arrays without proportionally increasing mass, maintaining measurement precision while minimizing satellite weight.
Solution Approach 2:
The imaging spectrometer uses a two-dimensional detector array that simultaneously captures spatial information (x, y dimensions) and spectral information (wavelength dimension). This dimensional approach allows compact data collection in space while achieving comprehensive atmospheric measurements, maintaining precision without requiring a large satellite platform.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The system significantly reduces size, mass, and power requirements while maintaining comparable performance to existing sounders, enabling cost-effective and robust atmospheric sounding, potentially reducing costs by an order of magnitude and enhancing data collection capabilities.
Implementation Method 1
the diffraction grating diffracts the electromagnetic radiation transmitted through the slit into a plurality of beams, each of the beams comprise a portion of the electromagnetic radiation comprising a different one of the bands of the wavelengths
Implementation Method 2
a two dimensional focal plane array electromagnetically coupled to the diffraction grating
Data Source
AI summary
A CubeSat compatible spectrometer including a slit having a first length and first width; a diffraction grating; and a two dimensional focal plane array electromagnetically coupled to the diffraction grating. The 2D focal plane array includes an array of pixels including a plurality of sets of pixels. Diffraction of electromagnetic radiation transmitted through the slit by the diffraction grating forms a plurality of beams, each of the beams comprising a different one of the bands of the wavelengths in the electromagnetic radiation, and each of the beams transmitted onto a different one of the sets of the pixels.