System concept for electro-optical imaging of sea ice from space in the visible and infrared spectra

The surveillance of icebergs and pack ice from space is of importance for maritime navigation, oceanography, and Earth resource monitoring. This paper explores the feasibility of detecting and tracking sea ice from space using an electro-optical imaging satellite, and presents preliminary payload and bus designs as well as a mission operations concept for a prototype system designated as Sea Ice Location and Tracking System (SILTS). The SILTS satellite operates from an 880 km circular, sun synchronous orbit. This orbit provides global access, synoptic equatorial coverage, and a maximum target revisit time of 24 hours. SILTS can image in excess of 130,000 km/sup 2/ per day around a selected target area, and supports geolocation of targets to within 1 km. Processed data can be disseminated to users within two hours of collection. The SILTS payload includes a 0.5 m telescope assembly, a visible focal plane array, and a mechanically cooled infrared focal plane array. The dual payloads enable the SILTS satellite to image both the visible and submerged portions of hazardous sea ice.