Calgary, February 19, 2016 – As part of a Space Technologies Development Program (STDP) initiated by the Canadian Space Agency, ITRES was awarded a contract to develop an airborne prototype light-weight, high performance water color imaging spectrometer. Microsatellite-based, the hyperspectral WaterSat will be used to meet Canadian user needs for coastal and inland environmental and water resource management monitoring. Development work on this airborne prototype is now underway.
Ultimately, the microsatellite model WaterSat mission imager will provide moderate spatial resolution (~100m at an orbit altitude of 700km) with a frequent revisit time (~3 days or less). In doing so, it will fill a gap between coarse spatial resolution satellite systems such as SeaWiFS or MODIS and high spatial resolution, low revisit systems such as LANDSAT.
With this technology development project, ITRES revisits its space technology roots. Using our deep experience in airborne hyperspectral imaging, the development of the Achal -type portable WaterSat imager will result in an advanced prototype imager that will permit formal airborne evaluation of the technologies to be used in the flight model.
The system being developed by ITRES will feature a 360-1000nm spectral range, 5nm spectral sampling interval, a minimum 10nm FWHM monochromatic spectral resolution. The goal for the microsatellite model to be developed from this airborne prototype is a 150km flight swath to be achieved from a 700km orbit.
This development program is undertaken with the financial support of the Canadian Space Agency. Development is scheduled to provide prototype delivery in early 2017.
ABOUT ITRES (WWW.ITRES.COM)
ITRES is a leading-edge technology company specializing in the development, manufacturing, and use of hyperspectral
airborne sensors. ITRES offers sensor systems that cover visible-near-infrared, shortwave infrared, midwave infrared, and thermal infrared wavelengths. Services include providing airborne hyperspectral imaging for defense & humanitarian applications, and environmental and commercial mapping applications in forestry, agriculture, wetlands, water quality, coastal zone, mineralogy, geology, heat loss, wildfire mapping, and search and rescue.
