CCD Cameras for Space Science and Earth Observation

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• CCD Cameras for Space Science and Earth
  Observation
• Nick Waltham
• Space Science and Technology Department
• Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (UK)
• nick.waltham_at_stfc.ac.uk
• 44 1235 446500

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Contents

• Historical background.
• CCD principles.
• The scientific CCD.
• CCDs in Space Science and Earth Observation.
• Recent highlights from RAL.

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The charge-coupled device (CCD)

• Invented in 1969 by Boyle and Smith at Bell
  Laboratories.
• 40th anniversary of the CCD (next year).
• 1969 also famous for Apollo 11 . . .

Slow-scan TV camera 35 mm
film
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CCDs in everyday life
Security
Industrial machine vision
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CCD Principles
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CCD Principles
Charge transfer through the substrate
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CCDs in Space
1969
1986
1979
1999
Today
1986
1979
CCDs first flown in space
CCDs first invented
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CCDs in Space
1969
1979
1999
Today
1986
Russian Vega 1/2 ESAs Giotto missions
to Comet Halley
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CCDs in Space
1969
1979
1999
Today
1989
Galileo
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CCDs in Space
1969
1979
1999
Today
1990
Hubble
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CCDs in Space
1969
1979
1999
Today
1989
Planetary Science
Solar Physics
Astronomy
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CCDs in Space
1969
1979
1999
Today
1989
Urban mapping
Climate change
Disaster Monitoring
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The scientific CCD

• Large format Tens of millions of pixels and
  wafer-scale.
• Near perfect quantum efficiency (peak 95 ).
• Almost zero readout noise few electrons rms.
• Dynamic range 100,000 ( 16 bits).

e2v technologies 61 x 61 mm
Sony 1/4 inch
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CCD varieties - Imaging arrays
Hubble WFC3 4k x 2k pixels
STEREO 2k x 2k pixels
GAIA 4.5k x 2k pixels
SDO 4k x 4k pixels
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CCD varieties - Linear arrays
Spot 5 12,000 pixel linear CCD
Push-broom imaging
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Recent highlights from RAL

• Solar physics
• STEREO / SECCHI.
• Solar Dynamics Observatory.

• Earth observation
• Medium / high resolution cameras.

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STEREO
Observing Coronal Mass Ejections from the Sun to
the Earth using the STEREO SECCHI Instruments
STEREO Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory
SECCHI Sun Earth Connection Coronal and
Heliospheric Investigation
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The SECCHI payload on STEREO
UV Imager EUVI Coronagraphs COR1 COR2 COR1
- 1.1-3.0 solar radii COR2 - 2-15 solar radii

• Heliospheric Imager (HI)
• HI-1 - 20 degrees
• HI-2 - 70 degrees

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Images from the five cameras in SECCHI
The Sun
COR1 EUVI
HI-1 COR2
HI-2
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Solar Dynamics Observatory

• CCD camera design for AIA and HMI instruments.
• New 4kx4k pixel CCD (12 ?m pixel size).
• 2 Mpixels/s readout from 4 corners.
• Requirements for high dynamic range, low noise.
• Reduced size, mass, and power.

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Solar Dynamics Observatory
First mission within NASAs LWS - Launch 2009
In-house, custom-designed video processing and
digitization ASIC
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TopSat - high resolution Earth imaging

• TopSat 2.5 m GSD Camera
• Panchromatic 2.5 m GSD _at_ 600 km
• R/G/B Colour 5.0 m GSD
• 17 km swath.
• 1.68 m focal length.
• 0.2 m aperture.
• Size 760 x 640 x 450 mm
• Mass 30 kg mass.
• Power 20 W

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TOPSAT - high resolution Earth imaging
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TOPSAT - high resolution Earth imaging
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Technology spin-out
MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates
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RALCam-4 1 m GSD Camera

• 1 m GSD panchromatic
• 20 km swath
• 4 m GSD R/G/B/NIR
• 6 m focal length
• 480 mm aperture

• Length 1.17 m
• Mass 76 kg
• Power 60 W

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Medium resolution Earth imaging

• RALCam-3 - 10 m GSD
• 4 linear CCDs.
• 8800 pixels per array.
• 88 km swath.
• R, G, B, NIR wavebands.
• 46 cm focal length.
• Size 750 x 145 x 145 mm
• Mass 10 kg mass.
• Power 20 W

3 element lens based camera optics
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Brazilian Amazonia-1
Thank you for your attention