ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING BY MEANS OF HYPERSPECTRAL CAMERAS ON BOARD THE CUBESAT

The aim of this research project is the feasibility study of an innovative hyperspectral, with stereo capability, instrumentation of some CubeSat units, or in any case in a miniaturized SmallSat perspective, defining the possible system design for the purposes of terrestrial remote sensing, Earth observation from space, in particular for environmental monitoring and natural resources, or so that the feasibility study can be extended to the observation of other celestial bodies in the exploration of the solar system. One of the proposed integrated activities is the identification of an opto-mechanical solution for HYPSOS, for its possible application at CubeSat level and aimed at terrestrial planetary mapping (EO-HYPSOS) together with an industrial partner EIE GROUP. The research relating to the Hyperspectral Instrumentation on board Small Satellite/CubeSat, carried out by analyzing also past missions, currently underway and those planned for the near future, is aimed not only at evaluating the state of the art of the associated instrumentation but also at being able to find innovative solutions from a scientific and technological point of view aimed at satisfying new research needs in line with the Grant project. The bibliographic research highlights that there are several satellites currently in orbit around the Earth, or in the process of being defined, that allow remote observations; but as regards the instrumentation for CubeSat, the application horizons can be further expanded from a design and construction point of view. In fact, in most cases in the past the satellites were large, placed in orbit with extremely complex and sophisticated instrumentation. Other possible applications are highlighted on satellites defined as SmallSat/CubeSat for different levels (declinations) of imaging units, therefore for different resolution levels.