Miguel Velez-Reyes, The University of Texas at El Paso; Hector Erives, The University of Texas at El Paso; Aryzbe Najera, The University of Texas-El Paso; Francis Chun, U.S. Air Force Academy; Elena Plis, Georgia Tech Research Institute; Gregory Badura, Georgia Tech Research Institute; Jacqueline Reyes, The University of Texas at El Paso; Michael Gartley, Rochester Institute of Technology; Douglas Hope, Georgia Tech Research Institute; Ethan M. Albrecht, U.S. Air Force Academy; Kody A. Wilson, United States Air Force Academy; David M. Strong, Strong EO Imaging, Inc.
Keywords: Non resolved objects, signature analysis, laboratory spectra, simulation models
Abstract:
Modeling and understanding signatures and developing the corresponding signature analytics can lead to knowledge generation about non-resolved space objects (NRSO) that can be translated into information exploitation algorithms to infer, classify, predict and diagnose the health of an NRSO for improved space domain awareness (SDA) beyond what is currently possible with light curves. Ground-based observations (new and archived), laboratory measurements, and physics-based simulation models can be used to extract and generate signatures (multi-optical, multi-temporal, and geographically diverse) of measured and modeled behaviors for NRSO. Integrating physics-based models enables controlled experimentation with a broader sense of operational scenarios beyond what may have been captured by ground-based observations. Measured and simulated signatures can be used to build libraries for training of machine learning algorithms or other inference engines as well as mined to translate signatures (or their features) to information.
This paper presents preliminary results of two simulation studies being conducted using the Digital Imaging and Remote Sensing Image Generation (DIRSIG™) to simulate ground-based multi-spectral observations using Johnson-Cousins photometric filters (B, V, R) of resolved and non-resolved space objects. In the first study, we illustrate the integration of laboratory data in a simulation model to study the state of a space asset. Spectral data collected by team members of typical materials used in spacecrafts under pristine and simulated space weather conditions as input to DIRSIGTM to simulate observations of a simple satellite. The changes in the observed simulated ground-based radiance are studied. The purpose is to study the observability of these changes in measured radiance. The second simulation study involves using the DIRSIGTM model to replicate actual ground-based observations of the DirecTV-10 (DTV10, satellite number 31,862) collected between 04:00-08:00 UTC on 23 February 2021 using the US Air Force Academy (USAFA) Falcon Telescope Network (FTN) USAFA-16 telescope. Details on building the simulation model for this satellite are provided. Simulation results show that the simulation model is capable of capturing the shape of the photometric observations which are due to glint produced by the solar panels. However, the resulting simulated model was dimmer than the actual observations.
The results are encouraging but also point to needed additional work before this simulation approach can be utilized as a complement to real observations to understand signatures of NRSO and be used in design, development and validation of algorithms for signature analytics.
The views expressed in this abstract are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the United States Air Force Academy, the Air Force, the Department of Defense, or the U.S. Government.
Approved for public release: distribution unlimited. (USAFA-DF-2022-717).
Date of Conference: September 27-20, 2022
Track: Non-Resolved Object Characterization