Terra Space Lab satellites to improve the temporal and spatial resolution of Earth observation in SWIR and MWIR diapasons

Currently, optical remote sensing is mostly being conducted by satellites operating in the visual-NIR parts of the electromagnetic spectrum. While several orbital constellations operate also in the SWIR and MWIR parts of the spectrum, they either have a low temporal resolution (8 days for Landsat-8 and -9 SWIR, 5 days for Sentinel-2 SWIR), or limited spatial resolution (such as 1 km for MODIS SWIR and MWIR). Earth observation in SWIR and MWIR diapasons is important because they are optimal for employing in various crucial remote sensing tasks such as fire monitoring, soil moisture estimation, and forest biomass estimation. Moreover, reflectance in SWIR bands might be a proxy of vegetation development as estimation of such important field variables as leaf area index and biomass were previously accomplished via satellites operating with SWIR bands. Therefore, supplementing the currently existing constellations of earth observation satellites with a new system, which would provide additional capabilities is necessary. Such a system is currently being developed by Terra Space Lab Company (TSL). The new system will be operating with satellites equipped with an optical multi-spectral instrument that will operate in the bandwidth of 1.2-4.2 µm (SWIR and MWIR), with a spatial resolution of approximately 80 m, swath width up to 1000 km, and a very high temporal resolution of 30 min (after the constellation of 30 satellites is deployed). The new system will be theoretically capable of detecting a fire with the area as small as ~10m². The working bands of new satellites will be carefully chosen in order to be compatible with the working bands of MODIS, VIIRS, and Sentinel-2, which would permit the development of cross-calibration functions between imagery obtained by these satellites. As a result, the application of various image processing algorithms and applications developed for these systems will be possible also for a new system. This possibility will dramatically improve the applicability of the Terra Space Lab satellites for earth monitoring and provide insights into various phenomena.