Light Pollution Correlation Mission

Group: Adeline, Emily, and Zaire

Correlation Missions: 

• Light pollution & temperature 
• Light Pollution & animal population 
• Light Pollution & Wildfires [plumes, CO2, Oxygen?] 
• Biodiversity Loss and Species Disruption in Highly-Illuminated areas
• Testing whether groups trying to lower light pollution are accomplishing it 
• Couple with studies on human sleep and health in areas with light population?  

Moving towards:

• Dual-sensor Earth-pointing payload for humanitarian impact 
  • Wildfire Prediction 

Instruments/Sensors: Thermal Camera + Imager 

Cost analysis:

• Thermal camera , imager, spectrometer cost
  • Thermal camera 
    • Thermal imaging camera - 2,000-6000 dollars
  • Imaging 
    • Looking into pricing, many different shapes and sizes for camera 
    • https://dragonflyaerospace.com/products/gecko/
      • offers 1U to 6U cameras
  • Spectrometer 
    • Standard spectrometer 3,000-8,000
  • SAR
    • https://umbra.space/pricing/
  • LIDAR
    • https://ommatidia-lidar.com/lidar-technology-markets/space/
    • https://science.larc.nasa.gov/lidar/

Size Analysis:

• https://technology.nasa.gov/patent/GSC-TOPS-138#:~:text=The%20need%20for%20such%20a,more%20robust%20missions%20for%20science.
  • 3U for just this thermal camera
• Spectrometers

  • Uvsq-Sat NG (Nanosatellite for GHG monitoring)

    • Spectrometer occupies 1 U of payload volume

    • Physical dimensions: 10 × 10 × 10 cm³

    • Mass: 1–2 kg

Why it would be interesting to pursue:

Wildfires are a big threat to human and natural safety.  We hope to use thermal and imaging cameras to better understand how wildfires start and predict various natural causes that would liken wildfire creation.  Data could be easily found through controlled burnings in the U.S. and other countries, which would provide a good source of baseline data.
• Putting a sensor that outputs processable data 
• Serious imaging with fun side mission like imaging big MIT sign 

Payload Compatibility