- Starion is providing expertise on Earth observation (EO) sensors, products and missions to the Quantum-based Absolute In-Satellite Radiometric Calibration (QUASAR) project.
- The 12-month project, led by the National Metrology Institute of Italy (INRiM), is studying quantum-based solutions to improve the long-term accuracy of instrument calibration for EO satellites.
Starion Italia is playing a key role in the QUASAR project, which is exploring the potential for quantum-based calibration of detectors on board EO satellites. The project is seeking to address the issue of ‘calibration drift’, which can affect the accuracy of EO data. This directly impacts the continuity of climate data and the retrieval of data for essential climate variables (ECVs), which are essential for monitoring and understanding climate change. It also impacts confidence in the comparability of EO missions.
Led by INRiM, QUASAR will look at the scientific relevance, feasibility and future potential for a quantum-based solution, as well as strategic alignment with the EO community’s interests. It will also assess a potential on-board architecture, considering aspects such as optical layout constraints, thermo-mechanical stability and power consumption, to clarify whether such a unit can realistically be integrated into EO payloads to provide real-time calibration.
Calibration is fundamental for providing confidence in the accuracy and reliability of operational satellite instruments. Current calibration solutions rely on ground targets and onboard blackbody sources that suffer from aging, contamination and limited spectral coverage. Instruments that would benefit from new calibration processes include radiometers, spectrometers and imagers that capture data in a range of spectral bands to provide information about the Earth’s atmosphere, land and sea.
Starion will be leading activities around the development roadmap and collecting feedback from the EO community, along with project partner Astro. Starion’s experts will also be contributing to exploration of potential use cases and domains, and the demonstration of the future potential for quantum-based calibration systems.
Stefano Tatoni, General Manager, Starion Italia, said: “Starion has a long heritage in supporting EO missions, including spacecraft operations and all aspects of data capture, collection, storage and exploitation, so we understand how vital it is that instruments are accurately calibrated. We’re therefore pleased to be contributing to the QUASAR project, including providing expertise on the calibration and validation of sensors and products, and knowledge of the state of the art of current EO missions, all of which will help the definition of this new concept.”
This project is being funded by the European Space Agency’s Future Missions and Instruments Division of the Directorate of EO Programmes at the European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC).
Main image credit: ESA/ATG medialab
