Advanced microphotonic and MEMS technologies for the MEOS microsatellite Earth observation mission

Infrared spectroscopy is a vital component of various Earth observation and planetary exploration space missions. It probes the characteristic vibrational modes of chemical bonds in molecules to provide information about not only the chemical composition but also the local bonding configuration and environment of the chemical bond. In particular, infrared spectroscopy has been employed to study atmospheric processes and various gas distributions. To date, mainly large bulk-optic Fourier transform (FT-IR) spectrometers employing variations of the Michelson interferometer, and massive high-order dispersive spectrometers have been employed in space for atmospheric studies on large and costly satellite platforms. In the following paper, we discuss the use of advanced optical coding and signal processing techniques to enable high-performance infrared spectral measurements of atmospheric components using MPB's miniature IR waveguide spectrometer. The miniature size of the spectrometer enables several dedicated spectrometers to be accommodated on a single microsatellite to extend the measurements that are feasible. In particular, these advanced technologies are being employed as the basis for the development of the use of the MEOS micro Earth observation mission.