Finnish expertise launched into space
esa SMOS on its orbitEuropean Space Agency ESA has launched its brand new SMOS environmental satellite, which operates on Finnish expertise. The satellite utilizes laser technology developed by Tampere-based Modulight. In addition to this Helsinki University of Technology TKK together with DA-Design Oy have been involved in developing and testing the satellite's radar equipment.
Specialist in laser technology, Modulight supplied fibre pigtailed laser diodes to SMOS-satellite. They have a function in transmitting information from antennae receivers onwards to the central unit. This is the very first time, when laser diodes replace ordinary conductors in transmitting information within an environmental satellite. The benefits of laser technology are for instance that laser enables much faster data transmission and better functionality despite the magnetic disturbances of space storms. The technology is expected to generalize rapidly in space applications.
Helsinki University of Technology reports that this is the first time that an interferometric radiometer has been used in a satellite. The instrument features groups of small antennaes and receivers instead of one single large receiver. The concept was first tested in airborne HUT-2D radiometer, also developed by Helsinki University of Technology. The onboard Calibration System (CAS) developed by DA Design Oy converts the information collected by the antennaes into comparable form.
- This technology has never been used for satellites or aircrafts before. Our research team is the first to prove that the measurement principle really works also in distance mapping, tells Professor of Space Technology Martti Hallikainen from the Department of Radio Science and Engineering at Helsinki University of Technology.
The SMOS, Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity satellite is the first ever satellite designed both to map sea surface salinity and to monitor soil moisture on a global scale. It features a unique interferometric radiometer that will enable passive surveying of the water cycle between oceans, the atmosphere and land. SMOS will provide global information on surface soil moisture every three days within accuracy of 4% at a spatial resolution of 50 km. The measurements improve for instance short and long-term weather forecasts and helps to predict natural disasters better than before.
