Near-Space Remote Sensing Potential and Challenges
Near-space is defined as the atmospheric region from about 20 kilometer (km) altitude to 100 km altitude above the Earth’s surface. It has received much attention in recent years and several types of near-space vehicles are currently being studied, develo
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Wen-Qin Wang
Near-Space Remote Sensing Potential and Challenges
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Wen-Qin Wang School of Communication and Information Engineering University of Electronics Science and Technology of China (UESTC) Chengdu People’s Republic of China e-mail: [email protected]
ISSN 2191-8112 ISBN 978-3-642-22187-3 DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-22188-0
e-ISSN 2191-8120 e-ISBN 978-3-642-22188-0
Springer Heidelberg Dordrecht London New York Ó Wen-Qin Wang 2011 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilm or in any other way, and storage in data banks. Duplication of this publication or parts thereof is permitted only under the provisions of the German Copyright Law of September 9, 1965, in its current version, and permission for use must always be obtained from Springer. Violations are liable to prosecution under the German Copyright Law. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. Cover design: eStudio Calamar, Berlin/Figueres Printed on acid-free paper Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com)
Preface
Near-Space Remote Sensing: Potential and Challenges deals with the role of nearspace vehicles in supplying a gap between satellites and airplanes for microwave remote sensing applications from a top-level system description, with an aim for further research. Near-space is defined as the atmospheric region from about 20 to 100 km altitude above the Earth’s surface. Very few sensors are currently operating in near-space, because the atmosphere is too thin to support flying for most aircrafts and yet too thick to sustain orbit for satellites. Nevertheless, potential benefits for vehicles operating in near-space may include possible persistent monitoring and high revisiting frequency (revisit the same site in a short time interval) that are critical to some specific radar and navigation applications, but not accessible for current satellites and airplanes. There is a region in near-space where the average wind is \10 m/s; hence, persistent coverage and high flying speed can be obtained for the vehicles operating in this region. Moreover, near-space vehicles are relatively low cost when compared to satellites and airplanes. Additionally, as near-space is below ionosphere, therefore, there are no ionospheric scintillations that will significantly degrade microwave communication and navigation performance which explains why near-space has received much attention in recent years and why several types of near-space vehicles are being studied, developed, or employed. Near-space vehicles offer the long-term persistence traditionally provided
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