Joseph Coughlin (Stinger Ghaffarian Technologies (SGT))
Keywords: Spectral, unresolved targets, rotation
Abstract:
Analyzing temporal variations in spectral signatures is a potential tool to determine the rotation rates, spin axes, and attitude of satellites from unresolved spectral images. By calculating rotational information, analysts can define the satellite in terms of its space object taxonomy [1]. This research presents an evaluation of whether temporal pattern matching techniques can be used to determine the rotation rates of satellites. This investigation uses detailed models to simulate satellite signatures in the visible and near infrared as seen by a hypothetical ground sensor. At each time step, spectral and photometric images are averaged to yield unresolved images as the satellite is propagated through the field-of-view. For each image, a material pattern map is generated based on either material identification or spectral similarity. Using techniques similar to those used to determine the rotations of asteroids from fragmented light curves, we determine satellite rotation rate and spin axes. For unresolved targets, this approach uses the periodic changes in the irradiance but evaluates the additional information available from the spectra. Previous work [2] has shown the utility of spectral material mapping for satellite anomaly detection. This research continues that effort by investigating satellite rotation and attitude information.
Date of Conference: September 9-12, 2014
Track: Poster