The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jun. 16, 1998
Filed:
Aug. 26, 1996
Steven A Macenka, Altadena, CA (US);
Ulli G Hartmann, Huntington Beach, CA (US);
Robert E Haring, Alta Loma, CA (US);
Herbert A Roeder, Brea, CA (US);
Orbital Sciences Corporation, Dulles, VA (US);
Abstract
The invention provides an imaging spectrometer that provides a wide field-of-view camera and spectrometer for spectral imaging of a large two-dimensional area of the Earth's surface from an orbiting satellite or airplane. The wide field-of-view camera fore-optics includes spherical optical elements arranged monocentrically. The spectrometer includes an all-reflective coupling design that transfers the curved optical image to one or more compact imaging spectrometers. The spectrometers preferably comprise a spherical convex holographic grating and associated reflective optics for dispersing a collimated optical beam into its spectral components and focusing the spectral image onto a planar detector array. The instrument described herein is designed to operate in a 'pushbroom' fashion, that is, the forward motion of the satellite or airplane generates the spatial dimension of the resulting image. Because of its compact optical design and because no additional scanning equipment is required to scan the Earth's surface, the instrument is very compact and light-weight.