Consorzio di Ricerca su Sistemi di Telesensori Avanzati
Solar System Exploration
UNI EN ISO
9001:2008
http://www.corista.eu
Consorzio di Ricerca su Sistemi di Telesensori Avanzati
CO.RI.S.T.A. is a non-profit
consortium.
It is formed by one of the
major European aerospace
industries,
Thales Alenia Space Italia
and by the Second
University of Naples
Areas of technical expertise
within remote sensing
activity:
definition and simulation of
innovative airborne sensors
and of prototypes of satellite
subsystems
development of satellite data
processing algorithms.
It deals with the design, prototype
development and application of advanced
sensors for remote sensing conceived to
be installed on the ground, in the air and in
space (ground devices, balloons, aircraft,
helicopters and satellites).
It conducts research and prototype
development in the field of remote sensing
systems, also including aspects of their
control in operation and processing of
data.
Consorzio di Ricerca su Sistemi di Telesensori Avanzati
Solar System Exploration
Mars and the search for water:


MARSIS (Mars Advanced
Radar for Subsurface and
Ionosphere Sounding)
SHARAD (SHAllow RADar)
The European Space Agency and NASA have
designed two missions to investigate the
presence of past and present water on the
surface of Mars, in its subsoil and in its
atmosphere:
•Mars Express mission
•Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter mission
Consorzio di Ricerca su Sistemi di Telesensori Avanzati
Mars Express and MARSIS radar
(Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionosphere
Sounding)
Mars Express is the first mission of the European Space Agency directed
to another planet in the Solar System.
Launch: 02-Jun-2003 17:45 UT
Mission end: 31 December 2014
(extended mission)
Launch vehicle: Soyuz-Fregat
Launch mass: 1223 kg
Mission phase: Operational
Mars Express is equipped with seven instruments
for remote sensing observation of Mars atmosphere, surface and subsoil,
among them MARSIS radar
MARSIS is an unique type of low-frequency (1.3-5.5 MHz) ground
penetrating radar. It can operate as a Subsurface Sounder at an
altitude below 800km (from the surface of Mars) and as a
Ionosphere Sounder at an altitude below 1200km (from the
surface of Mars) .
MARSIS, with its 40m antenna, has the task to sound Mars
surface down to about 5 kilometers (3 miles) below.
MARSIS project, in the responsibility of the
Italian Space Agency, has been developed by
Thales Alenia Space Italia in collaboration
with NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory and it
has an Italian Principal Investigator of the
University of Rome "La Sapienza".
Consorzio di Ricerca su Sistemi di Telesensori Avanzati
CO.RI.S.T.A. programs:
• MARSIS (Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionosphere Sounding)
Phase E (2004/2006) :
Planning Tool, Commanding Tool, Quick Look Tool, Level 2 Tool, Geographic
Visualization Tool implementation
• Continuation of the research activities of MARSIS radar - Phase E (2007)
CO.RI.S.T.A. has been responsible
for the activities concerning
MARSIS Ground Segment, the
element of the project devoted to
the instrument control and
monitoring, able to receive and
process on the earth the scientific
data sent by the radar onboard the
orbiter.
In particular :
•
Long Term PLANNING Tool - to be used in the Long
Term Planning, to compute six months long
instrument orbit timelines;
•
COMMANDING Tool - a tool to perform a detailed
Short-Term Planning and to generate all the
necessary commanding parameters;
•
Science Data QUICK LOOK Tool - This is an
operational Tool to be used for a quick evaluation of
the performances of the instrument after Science
Data De-Formatting;
•
Science Data LEVEL 2 Tool - This tool has been
added to satisfy the general planning requirements
of the Scientific Community and to allow crosscorrelation between the observation activity of
MARSIS and that of other instruments, also
belonging to different missions.
Consorzio di Ricerca su Sistemi di Telesensori Avanzati
NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter mission
SHARAD – SHAllow RADar
Launch - Aug. 12, 2005 Cape Canaveral Florida
Cruise - Aug. 2005 - March 2006 Voyage
through space to Mars
Arrival - March 10, 2006
Extended Mission 2 - Oct. 2012 - Oct. 2014 (in
progress)
SHARAD is designed to fulfill the tasks aimed at NASA's
strategy "Follow the water“,
in fact it has the potential to detect its presence in the
subsurface of Mars to a depth of about one kilometer with
a high resolution
While other missions have demonstrated the
evidence of past presence of water on the red
planet surface, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
has the task of determining how long the water
remained on it and whether it has been able to
create a habitat for some form of life
SHARAD is a radar sounder, designed and funded by
the Italian Space Agency, to explore the underground
and the surface of Mars.
Consorzio di Ricerca su Sistemi di Telesensori Avanzati
CO.RI.S.T.A. Programs:
•
•
•
•
•
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Payload SHARAD (2002)
Mars Echo Generator System (2002/2005)
SHARAD MEGS (2004/2005)
SHARAD - Phase E
SHARAD Ground Data System (GDS) S/W Tools Design and
Development (2005/2007)
SHARAD scientific activities on MRO (2009/2013)
In the first three programs CO.RI.S.T.A. has
had a part in the definition and
implementation of the requirements of the
EGSE (Electrical Ground Support
Equipment).
In particular, in the implementation and
validation of Mars Echoes Generation System
(MEGS), which allows to simulate the echoes
of the radar as received by Mars surface.
Moreover, it collaborated with Thales Alenia
Space Italia for the determination of the radar
system definitions and performances, and to
the data processing.
Consorzio di Ricerca su Sistemi di Telesensori Avanzati
SHARAD - Phase E
SHARAD Ground Data System (GDS)
S/W Tools Design and Development
The Ground Data System, which controls SHARAD
radar, has three main functions:
•
planning and commanding, aimed at instrument
operability definition (Planning Tool and
Commanding Tool);
•
instrument checking, to verify the instrument
engineering functionality (Monitoring Tool), and the
instrument performances (Quick Look Tool);
•
data processing, to allow the scientific community a
correct and uniform data interpretation in an unique
standard format (Deformatting /Level 1A Tool), and,
subsequently, to carry out the processing and
formatting of the Level 1A data in successive
products (Level 1B/Level 2 Tool).
In this project CO.RI.S.T.A. has been responsible
for the implementation of specific tools, operative
instruments of the Ground Data System, devoted
to SHARAD data processing and to the estimate
of the radar performances.
In particular CO.RI.S.T.A. has been in charge of
the development of the following tools:
•Science Data Processing/ Level 1B Tool
•Science Data Quick Look Tool
•Science Data Processing/ Level 2 Tool (optional)
Consorzio di Ricerca su Sistemi di Telesensori Avanzati
SHARAD scientific activities on MRO
(2009/2013)
CO.RI.S.T.A. has participated in the
activities on behalf of INFOCOM,
Department of Information and
Communication Science and
Technique, of the University of
Rome "La Sapienza", which has
been team leader of the project
CO.RI.S.T.A. had the responsibility
for the development of "Operations
Management" and "Mission
Operations" activities, moreover it
has been Deputy Team Leader with
regard to SHARAD scientific
activity.
This graphic composition explains the use of SHARAD radar on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
for the mapping of the subsurface soil layers at the north pole of Mar planet. (Image credit: NASA/JPLCaltech/University of Rome/Southwest Research Institute/University of Arizona)
Consorzio di Ricerca su Sistemi di Telesensori Avanzati
Saturn and its moon Titan:
Cassini Radar
• Study of the Moon;
• use of the Moon as a platform for
Universe observation;
• use of the Moon for Earth
observation.
Italian Vision for Moon
Exploration
Consorzio di Ricerca su Sistemi di Telesensori Avanzati
Cassini-Huygens mission and its radar
Cassini - Huygens is the first mission planned to
explore Saturn system of moons and rings from a
spacecraft in its orbit.
It is an international collaboration between three
space agencies with the contribute of seventeen
nations.
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory has realized and
managed Cassini orbiter,
the European Space Agency the Huygens probe
Both the orbiter and the probe are equipped
with a great deal of sophisticated
instruments, 12 on Cassini and 6 on the
Huygens probe. They are optical and
microwave instruments able to work from a
great distance: cameras, spectrometers,
radar and radio.
Launch: 15 October 1997 (Titan-IVB/Centaur
at Cape Canaveral, United States)
Earth-Saturn distance at arrival: 1.5 billion
km (934 million mi) (10 times Earth to Sun
distance)
Distance traveled to reach Saturn: 3.5 billion
km (2.2 billion mi)
Saturn arrival date: June 30, 2004 PDT(July 1,
2004, UTC)
Mission: Cassini Solstice Mission up to 2017
Consorzio di Ricerca su Sistemi di Telesensori Avanzati
CO.RI.S.T.A.:
Cassini Radar - Processing Altimetric Data (PAD)
(2005/2006)
The scientific objectives of the Cassini
RADAR involve the study of one of the
34 moons of Saturn, Titan, its largest
moon.
Bigger then the planets Mercury and
Pluto, Titan is of great interest for
scientists as it is the only moon in our
solar system with its own atmosphere
and like Earth's before life developed.
CASSINI RADAR Scientific Objectives:
• to determine whether oceans exist on Titan, and,
if so, to determine their distribution;
• to investigate the geologic features and
topography of the solid surface of Titan;
• to acquire data on non-Titan targets (rings, icy
satellites) as conditions permit.
Consorzio di Ricerca su Sistemi di Telesensori Avanzati
CASSINI RADAR can operate as:
• Synthetic Aperture Radar Imager [SAR] (13.78 GHz Kuband; 0.35 to 1.7 km resolution)
• Altimeter (13.78 GHz Ku-band; 24 to 27 km horizontal, 90 to
150 m vertical resolution)
• Radiometer (13.78 GHz passive Ku-band; 7 to 310 km
resolution)
The Cassini PAD System (Altimetric Processing of Data) has been designed, developed and tested by
CO.RI.STA and Thales Alenia Space, under ASI contract, in order to support the scientific data analysis of
the radar onboard the Cassini orbiter.
The main purpose of the system is the processing of the data acquired by the Radar in Altimeter mode.
Consorzio di Ricerca su Sistemi di Telesensori Avanzati
Preliminary studies and projects on the theme "Italian Vision for Moon
Exploration"
CO.RI.S.T.A. research activities in the Electro-optical Sector (2007)
CO.RI.S.T.A. research activities in the Microwave Sector (2006/2007)
The Italian Space Agency has focused its
attention on three principal subjects:
• study of the Moon;
• use of the Moon as a platform for
Universe observation;
• use of the Moon for Earth observation.
The Moon, for its closeness to the
Earth
As the Moon surface has remained almost
unchanged since about three billions years,
this could allow to obtain new information on
the Earth and the other rocky planets of the
inner Solar System, about their formation and
evolution.
allows us to study the phenomena
occurred following the big
collisions in the first phases of the
history of this part of the Solar
System.
Consorzio di Ricerca su Sistemi di Telesensori Avanzati
CO.RI.S.T.A. participated in the research activities,
both in electro-optical and in microwave sector
In the electro-optical sector CO.RI.S.T.A. took part in the team leaded
by Galileo Avionica in relation to the following technical specifications
of the Italian Space Agency:
•study of electro-optical P//L for the lunar surface remote sensing
•study of In Situ Sensing
As for the first topic, the subject in CO.RI.S.T.A. responsibility has
been "Analysis of the electromagnetic scenario“
while for the second topic, within the "Analysis of the electromagnetic
scenario", the subjects have been "Active Instruments" and "Lidar
Altimeters".
In microwave sector CO.RI.S.T.A.
participated, in Thales Alenia
Space team, for “Remote
Sensing Study of the Moon and
from the Moon by microwaves”
Consorzio di Ricerca su Sistemi di Telesensori Avanzati
"SABRINA-Large-Baseline Bistatic Algorithms"
(2007/2008)
It is a small only receiving satellite flying in formation with
the satellites of COSMO/SkyMed SAR mission.
COSMO/SkyMed is a constellation of satellites equipped
with SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) and electro-optical
sensors for the satellite observation of the Earth,
according to the European Union strategies and aiming at
disaster management, coastal and environment
monitoring.
SABRINA mission deals with the experimentation of
algorithms relating to new applications by exploiting
monostatic and bistatic data reflected by common
covered areas or targets.
CO.RI.S.T.A. has participated in the project in Thales
Alenia Space Italia team for the definition of the products
and their requirements.
Consorzio di Ricerca su Sistemi di Telesensori Avanzati
Planetary Radar Operation Center - PROC (2008/2012)
The Italian Space Agency has designed and realized three radars in a joint venture
NASA / ESA / ASI in the context of three major space missions:
• Mars Express - MARSIS
• Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter - SHARAD
• Cassini-Huygens - Cassini
CO.RI.S.T.A. has participated in
PROC project within the team of
Thales Alenia Space Italia
For each of these three radars the Italian
Space Agency has realized an operative
centre for their control, management, data
processing and distribution.
The Planetary Radar Processing Center
(PROC) has been thought to unify these
centres, to enable them to:
continue to operate as before,
but, at the same time, to strengthen their
capacity in terms of trade and exploitation of
data, ability to interpret and compare.
For SHARAD and MARSIS,
CO.RI.S.T.A. has had the
responsibility of updating and
improving the performances and
the capability of the instruments
For Cassini radar CO.RI.S.T.A. has
developed a new tool dedicated to
the processing of the radar data
which has been integrated into the
CASSINI PAD (Processing
Altimetric Date).
Consorzio di Ricerca su Sistemi di Telesensori Avanzati
ExoMars RDA EGSE Echo Simulator System (ESS) (Beginning activities
2012)
ExoMars - RDA EGSE Echo Generator (Beginning activities 2010)
ExoMars-RME-ATE (2012/2013)
ExoMars is the first mission of ESA Aurora
Exploration Programme.
The European Space Agency has organized
the ExoMars programme whose aim is the
preliminary study of the Martian environment
using the most advanced technologies.
In the ExoMars Programme have been
scheduled two missions in co-operation with
the Russian Federal Space Agency
Roscosmos.
The one, to be implemented in 2016, which
involves the launch of an Trace Gas Orbiter
(TGO) and an Entry, Descent and Landing
Demonstrator Module,
the other, to be implemented in 2018,
includes a rover which will carry a drill and a
suite of instruments dedicated to exobiology
and geochemistry research.
Roscosmos will provide a Proton launcher for
both missions.
The mission to which these projects refer to,
is the one of 2016.
Consorzio di Ricerca su Sistemi di Telesensori Avanzati
The EDM module, covered with a special
material that will protect it termically, will be
equipped with technology capable of controlling
the orientation and landing speed.
ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter and Entry, Descent and
Landing Demonstrator Module
Indeed the module will slow down its run by
means of a parachute which will open after
entering the Martian atmosphere and will
complete its descent by means of a close-circuit
Guide, Navigation and Control system based on
a Radar Doppler Altimeter and Inertial
Measurement Units.
Copyright: ESA
The Radar Doppler Altimeter is being realized
by Thales Alenia Space Italia.
Consorzio di Ricerca su Sistemi di Telesensori Avanzati
CO.RI.S.T.A. is involved in the test activities of the
EXOMARS Radar Doppler Altimeter (RDA).
In particular it is responsible for the design,
development and test of the two Echo Simulator
Systems (ESS1 and ESS2) and it will provide two
ATE (Automatic Test Equipment) units.
The two Echo Simulator Systems will be integrated
in the radar Electrical Ground Support Equipment
(EGSE) and CO.RI.S.T.A. will support the integration
phase into the EGSE of Thales Alenia Space Milano,
as for the ESS1, and into the GNC SCOE of Thales
Alenia Space Torino, as for the ESS2.
ExoMars 2016 Mission - Trace Gas Orbiter and Entry, Descent
and Landing Demonstrator Module.
Credit: ESA-AOES Medialab
CO.RI.S.T.A. is also responsible for the design and
development of the "core" of the test system of the
instrument, that is the Echo Generator, which
allows to simulate the echoes coming from Mars
surface and to inject them into the radar to test the
instrument in various operating conditions.
Consorzio di Ricerca su Sistemi di Telesensori Avanzati
Development of a simulation tool of SAR raw data for the SAOCOM project: RADASIM
In the frame of the National Space Plan, the
Argentine Space Agency CONAE is developing
a system of Earth observation, dedicated to the
use of remote sensing data for optimization of
socio-economic and scientific studies. This
project involves the launching of two
constellations, SAOCOM 1 and SAOCOM 2,
each of which is itself composed of two
satellites.
This project responds to CONAE need for "the
development of a simulation tool of SAR raw
data for the SAOCOM Project (Satellites for
Observation and Communications) " able to
generate SAOCOM simulated raw data based on
observed scenarios definitions, and asks for the
delivery of predefined raw data sets.
CORISTA has proposed a software tool
(RADASIM) to fulfill CONAE request for raw data
SAR simulation. The simulation tool will be
used to validate SAOCOM processing chain and
to integrate it on the overall payload CAL/VAL
facilities.
RADASIM development goes through three
main steps:
•
•
•
input definition and processing: is conceived
to manipulate input data to extract
information and parameters necessary to
accomplish simulation tasks;
Simulator core: is the core of simulation. It
processes incoming data by means of
assessed algorithms and returns simulated
data;
output data formatting: is conceived to
format output data compliant to SAOCOM
flight to ground segment interface.
Main activities are:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Requirements definition
Core processing prototype & development
Algorithm assessment
Integration & coding
Auxiliary Software implementation for test &
coding
SW test
Support & training to simulator operation
Consorzio di Ricerca su Sistemi di Telesensori Avanzati
ExoMars- RDA EM Field Test Campaign ( Inizio attività 2014)
As part of the verification activities developed to test the
performances of ExoMars Radar Doppler Altimeter, the Field Test is
an important step aimed at testing the instrument on the field during
a flight path with environmental conditions similar to those of Mars.
The test will be carried out in Morocco in the Merzane south of
Erfoud, whose characteristics make it similar to the landing site of
the ExoMars mission.
The system used for this experimentation campaign will make use of
a helicopter under which the RDA will be mounted together with a
system of data acquisition and of measurement of position and
aligment.
CORISTA is responsible for the conduction of the field tests and the
processing of the acquired data.
The results of the data processing, with particular reference to the
estimation of the backscattering from terrestrial analogues, will be
used later in the laboratory by the ESS (Echo Simulator Systems).
ExoMars Rover Copyright: ESA
The activities of Field Test will be carried out on behalf of Thales
Alenia Space Italy in collaboration with the 'IRSPS International
Research School of Planetary Sciences, which will handle the
logistics and the test site.
Consorzio di Ricerca su Sistemi di Telesensori Avanzati
For more information visit our website
www.corista.eu
Images: Credit ESA and NASA