This week the first images of the Netherlands taken by cosine’s HyperScout 2 instrument were downloaded from the FSSCat satellite.
HyperScout 2, a new Earth observation instrument flying on board of the FSSCat nanosatellite, differentiates between 50 wavelengths of visible light and thermal infrared. This makes it possible to not only see shapes, but also to analyze composition. The horizontal bands in this image correspond to different wavelengths, which are reflected differently by vegetation and water and are absorbed differently by water vapor, oxygen and other gasses and aerosols in the atmosphere.
A combination of such images provides a lot of information about the composition of the atmosphere and surface of the Earth. Since the satellite is not much bigger than a shoe-box, it is possible to have several in orbit at the same time and repeat these measurements every day or even several times per day. This way it is not only possible to determine what happened after the fact, but it is also possible to take direct action in case of drought, flooding, deforestation, algae growth, air pollution, (risk of) wildfires and many other applications that can be implemented using artificial intelligence on board.
Credits: cosine remote sensing
