Back to results
US 11,346,718 B2Granted
Spectral imaging system
AssigneeCalifornia Institute of Technology
InventorsAndrew K. Thorpe, Robert O. Green, Pantazis Mouroulis, David R. Thompson, Andrew D. Aubrey, Christian Frankenberg
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A freeform imaging system with a spectrometer and telescope components optically connected and optimized to increase the spectral and spatial resolution capabilities. Many embodiments of the system are capable of producing a spectral resolution of approximately 1 nm and a spatial resolution less than 30 m such that the imaging system can be used to accurately capture and measure point source plumes of various atmospheric gases including CH4, CO2, CO, N2O, and H2O.
Claims20
An imaging system comprising:
- a telescopic component having a plurality of reflective and refractive elements disposed within a body of the telescopic component such that the reflective and refractive elements receive light images from a desired location wherein the light images are in the form of light rays transmitted through the telescopic component and wherein at least one of the refractive elements is a lens with a freeform surface;
- a spectrometer optically coupled to the telescopic component and further comprising one or more spectral reflective elements that receive the light from the telescopic element and redirect the light to a detector array such that the imaging system operates within a spectral frequency range, wherein at least one of the spectral reflective elements has a freeform reflective surface, and wherein the detector array further comprises a number of pixels corresponding to a spatial resolution that is detected from the telescopic component such that the spatial resolution can result in an optimized image;
- and
- a focal plane array comprising a plurality of electronic components disposed within a housing and electro-optically connected to the spectrometer and configured to receive light image data from the optically connected telescope and spectrometer and convert the light image data into a data stream;
- wherein
- the imaging system has a spectral resolution of 1 nm and a spatial resolution selected from a group consisting of less than 30 m and between 10 and 30 m.
3 more elements
A method for detecting atmospheric gases comprising:
- utilizing an imaging system wherein the imaging system further comprises
- a telescopic component having a plurality of reflective and refractive elements disposed within a body of the telescopic component such that the reflective and refractive elements receive light images from a desired location wherein the light images are in the form of light rays transmitted through the telescopic component and wherein at least one of the refractive elements is a lens with a freeform surface;
- a spectrometer optically coupled to the telescopic component and further comprising one or more spectral reflective elements that receive the light from the telescopic element and redirect the light to a detector array such that the imaging system operates within a spectral frequency range, wherein at least one of the spectral reflective elements has a freeform reflective surface, and wherein the detector array further comprises a number of pixels corresponding to a spatial resolution that is detected from the telescopic component such that the spatial resolution can result in an optimized image;
- and
- a focal plane array comprising a plurality of electronic components disposed within a housing and electro-optically connected to the spectrometer and configured to receive light image data from the optically connected telescope and spectrometer and convert the light image data into an analog data stream;
- wherein the imaging system has a spectral resolution of less them 3 nm and a spatial resolution selected from a group consisting of less than 30 m and between 10 and 30 m;
- obtaining images with the imaging system wherein the images are obtained from a portion of the earth along a flight path;
- analyzing the obtained images from the spectrometer and focal plane array for the detection of atmospheric gas plumes;
- and
- utilizing the analyzed images in determining the point source location of the atmospheric gas plumes.
7 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.