ACCURACy: Adaptive Calibration of CUbesat RAdiometer Constellations

Abstract

Recent advances in sensing technology have enabled the deployment of CubeSats equipped with radiometers for scientific missions. While constellations of CubeSats provide benefits to remote sensing science missions, they also bring with them unique challenges in calibration due to considerable sensitivity to ambient conditions. To address this problem, a constellation-level calibration framework is being developed, called “Adaptive Calibration of CUbesat RAdiometer Constellations (ACCURACy)”. This framework is in early stages, currently covering the theoretical basis through an initial end-to-end prototype utilizing synthetic data. This framework will use instrument-level telemetry data collected pre-launch and in-orbit to separate constellation members into time-adaptive groups (or clusters) of radiometers in similar states. Within clusters, all radiometers share their absolute calibration measurements to a common calibration data pool. These calibration pools, containing measurements of different calibration targets at different times, facilitate frequent multi-point absolute calibration. This, in turn, serves to reduce and quantify calibration errors and uncertainties.