A push-broom imaging camera with time expansion, selected for its ability to generate images with high resolution and high radiometric signal, is described for accurate site-certification from space. The imaging system providing the high resolution imaging requires a sensor with an increased dwell time to generate a high radiometric signal. This may be accomplished by pointing the camera at each pixel for a longer interval of time than that available due to the sensor motion in the push-broom imaging configuration. This is referred to as the push-broom imaging with time expansion. The use of the camera with time expansion may be applicable to any remote sensing imaging problem that requires simultaneously high spatial resolution and a high level of radiometric signal. For surveying a Martian landing site, it is necessitated by the imaging from an autonomous orbiting sensor that's speed is determined by its orbit and the planet mass.

Date Published: 1 September 1995
PDF: 16 pages
Proc. SPIE 2555, Airborne Reconnaissance XIX, (1 September 1995); doi: 10.1117/12.218618

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 2555:
Airborne Reconnaissance XIX
Wallace G. Fishell; Arthur A. Andraitis; Paul A. Henkel; Alfred C. Crane Jr., Editor(s)