SeaHawk, a type of nanosatellite called a CubeSat, is closing in on its debut. This small but powerful device – with cubes measuring about 10cm on each side – will provide a unique vantage point for observing changes in ocean surface color with its sophisticated color sensor. Ocean color is one of the most useful remote-sensing missions to society, for both science and operations. The color of ocean waters relates directly to the substances and the organisms within it, which can have a profound effect on our health, our environment and our commerce. Capturing daily, high-resolution observations of ocean color changes can be used in multiple ways – from alerting researchers to the onset and expansion of harmful algal blooms to potential fishing zones.
According to the National Research Council, a study committee was convened in 2011 to review the need to sustain global ocean color measurements for research. It was concluded that “continued monitoring of the ocean’s ecosystems on a global scale is essential. The continuity, global coverage, and high temporal and spatial resolution of ocean color products make remote sensing a critical tool for monitoring and characterizing ocean biology and marine ecosystems.”
Advantages of nanosatellites
Ocean observation from satellites is the principal tool monitoring global marine ecosystems. Unlike large land masses on earth that change slowly, the oceans are constantly changing and require multiple, high-resolution observations per day to generate optimal data. Today’s earth-observing satellites provide global coverage, but only once every two days and with relatively low resolution. These more conventional satellites are designed, constructed and launched by NASA. The process is a long and expensive one, which limits the number of sensors in orbit and by the time the satellite is launched, the sensor design is often outdated.
The next planned ocean-color satellite mission is 2023, but it is unclear if that will even happen considering the government’s current funding environment. To date, no CubeSat with sophisticated sensors that produce science quality data have been planned or launched for sustained ocean observation. With SeaHawk, there is an opportunity to demonstrate that autonomous nanosatellites can be constructed more quickly and less expensively than conventional satellites and provide high-spatial resolution information about the ocean surface processes. Additionally, once launched, SeaHawk will be the first CubeSat to make its data publicly available and at no cost.
Principal Investigator and Professor of Physics and Physical Oceanography at the University of North Carolina, Wilmington, John M. Morrison says there is no other satellite quite like SeaHawk. “No other university has a satellite like this. Sure, there are a lot of universities launching CubeSats, but none are generating a dataset that will be made available to the international community. Landsat ocean color images traditionally cost about $1,000 each, and UNCW’s will be free to everybody. It’s pretty remarkable!”
With funding from the foundation, Morrison has spent the past two years working with a team of international scientists from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Cloudland Instruments and Clyde Space to develop SeaHawk and its precious cargo: a groundbreaking ocean-color sensor, dubbed HawkEye.
“With the forthcoming launch of two SeaHawk CubeSats, we will be able to collect ocean color data for the international scientific community and anyone interested in accessing this free information,” said Gary Greenburg, Ph.D., program officer for science at the foundation. “The foundation’s hope is that a successful launch will demonstrate that inexpensive satellites containing state-of-the-art imaging sensors can collect real, useful data from space and provide the ocean color science community and NASA the evidence needed to launch a constellation of these sensors to fill a looming gap in high-quality ocean color data.”
NASA is supporting the SeaHawk project with in-kind matching funds for downloading, processing, calibrating, distributing and storing data collected from SeaHawks’ mission.
Learn more about SeaHawk and Hawkeye.
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