[A-CG41] Satellite Earth Environment Observation

[ACG41-17] Development of CubeSat Payload for Ocean Color Images

*KUAN-YI CHOU¹, Jann-Yenq LIU^1,2 (1.Department of Space Science and Engineering (DSSE), National Central University, 2.Center for Astronautical Physics and Engineering (CAPE), National Central University)

Keywords:Ocean color, CubeSat, Satellite payload

Ocean color images have been employed to observe the concentration of chlorophyll, colored dissolved organic matter, and concentration of suspended matter changes in the ocean environment over a large area. The Nimbus-7/CZCS (Coastal Zone Color Scanner Experiment) was the first satellite for ocean observations, with a spatial resolution of 825 meters per pixel, while Aqua/MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer), with a spatial resolution of 250 meters, has been in orbit since 2002. In 2019, the Hawkeye instrument, flown onboard the SeaHawk CubeSat, was launched. This instrument was optimized to provide high-quality, high-resolution imagery (120 meter) of the open ocean, coastal zones, lakes, estuaries and land features. It provided a valuable complement to the lower resolution measurements from previous missions like Nimbus-7/CZCS, SeaWiFS, MODIS and VIIRS, etc. Based on SeaHawk /Hawkeye, we are developing a next generation CubeSat payload, named TaiOCI, to further improve the optical imaging quality to a spatial resolution of 70-80 meters. Fusions of Aqua/MODIS and SeaHawk/Hawkeye satellite images will lead to a better understanding on the open ocean, coastal zone, lake, estuary, and land environmental sciences.