Yavor Shopov
Sofia University
Bulgaria
Title: Micro-Satellite Hosted Laser- gated System for Space Debris Tracking, Forest Fires and Plants’ Health Monitoring and Underground Facilities’ Location
Biography
Biography: Yavor Shopov
Abstract
Here we propose a space platform integrating telescope with an interchangeable head holding 5 receptors: NIR, MIR, FIR and VIS cameras and laser range meter. Such construction is very appropriate for using on micro satellites and space probes because it is much more compact and light than conventional payload with separate optics for each receptor. It allows high resolution imaging for Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) estimation of the wilting (water loss) of the vegetation to determine the degree of drying of plant, for monitoring the state of health of the vegetation, for early tracing of illness of plants, and to determine fire hazardous areas of dry vegetation in order to prevent forest fires. It is very useful for: prediction of forest fires; natural disaster warning; accurate determination of the area of ​​the forest fire-affected areas and to monitor fire hazard areas of dry vegetation. Most effective and precise method for remote localization of forest fires is with mid-IR (MIR) camera, mounted on board of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) or high resolution satellite. MIR camera “sees” clearly the hot spot of the fire even through dense smoke which is impossible for observations in the visible range of the spectra. Therefore they are particularly useful for localization of the hot spots of forest fires and their extension. FIR camera allows location of entrances of underground facilities due to temperature difference of the ambient air and this coming from the facility. At the same time laser ranging is very useful for space surveillance and tracking of space debris, etc. Presented Laser-gated imaging for debris observation/detection use common telescope with other cameras
