Earth Science Projects for Olin College Students: J. Vanderlei Martins UMBC Physics Department and NASA GSFC Climate and Radiation Branch

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Earth Science Projects for Olin College
StudentsJ. Vanderlei Martins UMBC Physics
Departmentand NASA GSFC Climate and Radiation
Branch

• CCD Detection System for Rainbow Camera
• CCD readout system for specific lines of the CCD
• CubeSat Sun-Sensor
• CCD or CMOS based
• Position Sensing Detector Based
  (http//www.on-trak.com/theory.html)
• Solar Cell based
• CubeSat Attitude Control System
• Sun-Sensor to determine pointing
• Magnetorquers to control the satellites
  attitude

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Science The Big Picture Interaction Between
Aerosols and Clouds
Andreae, et al. Science 2004Smoking Rain
Clouds over the Amazon
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Cloud Droplet Measurements from Cloud
RainbowF-M. Breon, P. Goloub, 1998.
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Project 1- CCD Detection System for Rainbow Camera

• Interested in Only Selected lines of the CCD
• Most CCD/Cameras allow for windowing or binning
  but not for reading a bunch of selected lines
  along the CCD.
• Reading only selected lines increases speed and
  reduces data volume

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Example of stripe filter need to read only one
line in the center of each stripe
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Project 2 - CubeSat Sun-Sensor

• One face of the satellite must always point to
  the sun
• maximizes solar incidence in the solar panel
• Assures optimum geometry for cloud-side
  measurements
• Feedback from Sun-Sensor increases accuracy of
  the Attitude and Determination Control System

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More Science Cloud-Side Profiling
ice
Temperature
Water
ice
Aerosol Impact in Microphysics?
mixed phase
Water-ice processes
water
Collision-Coalescence
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Cloud CubeSatOrbit Geometry
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Cloud-CubeSat
Ex SunSensor from Nat. Cheng Kung University for
the PACE CubeSat

• Other options
• PSD analog position sensitive detector
• Solar cell pyramid

CMOS Detector Array
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Project 3 - CubeSat Attitude Control System

• Can we control the attitude of the satellite
  using Earths magnetic field
• How much torque is needed and how to implement an
  active control system to keep one face of the
  satellite always pointing to the sun.
• Sun-Sensor can be used as feedback mechanism

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Use Sun-Sensor signal to align one face of the
satellite (or solar panel) to the sun
Magnetorquer Coils