Mechanism of signal adaptation for hot events with the BIRD-IR-Sensor

Abstract

Starting with the FIRES Phase A Study a process of thinking about the possibilities of the observation of hot events from Space went into a new direction. Current remote sensing systems has the disadvantage that they were not designed for the observation of hot events. With BIRD mission a new approach in the design of infrared sensors has been made. Starting with the requirements for a fire recognition sensor the technical solution and the problems of signal processing of this sensor will be described. BIRD is a small satellite mission with its restrictions in mass and power consumption. The state of art of the IR Technology does not allow to realise high resolution systems with large swath width. One of the main ideas of this project is the use of the sub-pixel ability of the IR-sensor. This technique requires a conception for pixel co-registration of the different channels. The paper describes the problems of the technical solution, the implemented signal processing and the equipment for calibration and validation.