Space Imaging System Reveals Pollution Hot Spots

German aerospace centre Deutsches Zentrum für Luft-und Raumfahrt (DLR, Berlin), developers of the DLR Earth Sensing Imaging Spectrometer (DESIS) and US company Teledyne Brown Engineering recently announced the start of routine operations for DESIS on the International Space Station.

Described as the most powerful hyperspectral Earth observation instrument in orbit the spectrometer collects high-resolution image data that could help with provision of measures for environmental protection and also support efficient, ecological use of agricultural land. The ground resolution of 30 metres and spectral resolution of 2.55 nanometres significantly increases the depth of information available for observation. Images acquired shortly after initial setup have identified plastic islands and oil slicks at sea. Its motorised UV-Vis-NIR collimator and interferometric alignment system supplied by Optical Surfaces Ltd, of DESIS made it possible to detect rare Earth elements from space for the first time.

Ilse Sebastian, a Calibration Engineer at DLR commented “By installing the motorised UV-Vis-NIR collimator and interferometric alignment system in our class 100,000 clean room we have been able to undertake diffraction limited broadband imaging for MTF measurement, focusing and geometric calibration of single optics and focal planes, fully integrated camera systems and hyperspectral imaging systems such as DESIS. To monitor and verify that the UV-Vis-NIR collimator system is consistently in alignment, Optical Surfaces also designed and supplied a software-operated Laser Unequal Pathlength Interferometer (LUPI) system to interface with the collimator system.”
For further information visit www.optisurf.com