Multispectral camera is the principal payload in China's first hazards mitigation satellite, which is designed for hazards monitoring, assessment, and management. However, the camera's dynamic range of scenery is not as wide as expected and partly influences imaging quality on-orbit. This paper analyzed the reason of this phenomenon, discussed potential solutions and proposed a strategy of on-orbit gain control. The key point of this strategy is to update the radiation property of imaging area dynamically, to effectively narrow down the flux range and sufficiently employ system capability of quantification. A case study on urban scene achieved gains for different latitudes and different seasons to generate a lookup table. And the effect of the strategy was validated by simulation and comparison between before and after use of the strategy. The result demonstrated that the strategy could effectively improve dynamic range and imaging performance. This study can provide guidance for future camera design.

Date Published: 12 October 2011
PDF: 7 pages
Proc. SPIE 8176, Sensors, Systems, and Next-Generation Satellites XV, 81761W (12 October 2011); doi: 10.1117/12.896760

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 8176:
Sensors, Systems, and Next-Generation Satellites XV
Roland Meynart; Steven P. Neeck; Haruhisa Shimoda, Editor(s)