MOMS - The First Along Track Stereo Camera in Space - A Mission Review

Kurzfassung

MOMS (Modular Optoelectronic Multispectral Stereo Scanner) is a German spaceborne pushbroom scanner for high resolution (HR), multispectral (MS) and threefold along-track stereoscopic imaging. The camera was first flown on the second German Space Shuttle Mission in spring 1993. After the 11 days shuttle mission the camera system was refurbished for a second flight onboard the PRIRODA module of the Russian space station MIR. This mission, called MOMS-2P, lasted from May 1996 to August 1999. MOMS-2P was equipped with a navigation package consisting of a GPS receiver and two redundant gyro subsystems for obtaining position and attitude data with high accuracy. For the MIR orbit altitude of 400 km the ground pixel size was 18 m and 6 m (HR). The orbit inclination was 51.6°. The data takes mainly cover Europe, North-East Africa, Middle East and South America, but also selected image strips from other parts in the world are available. In total approximately 65 Mio. km2 of the land mass have been recorded. In the meantime a series of MOMS data takes have been evaluated. Accuracy analysis using independent ground control led to point accuracies of better than 10 m in X, Y, Z for test sites in Germany. The geometric calibration was conducted by band to band registration for the multispectral channels and by photogrammetric adjustment using precise ground control for the stereo channels (inverse photogrammetry). The paper decribes the imaging technique of the camera, presents the actual status of data recording and data availability, reports on the applied calibration methods and summarises results of photogrammetric data evaluation.