Signal Level Analysis of a Camera System for Satellite Application

A camera system for the satellite application performs the mission of observation by measuring radiated light energy from the target on the earth. As a development stage of the system, the signal level analysis by estimating the number of electron collected in a pixel of an applied CCD is a basic tool for the performance analysis like SNR as well as the data path design of focal plane electronic. In this paper, two methods are presented for the calculation of the number of electrons for signal level analysis. One method is a quantitative assessment based on the CCD characteristics and design parameters of optical module of the system itself in which optical module works for concentrating the light energy onto the focal plane where CCD is located to convert light energy into electrical signal. The other method compares the design\ parameters of the system such as quantum efficiency, focal length and the aperture size of the optics in comparison with existing camera system in orbit. By this way, relative count of electrons to the existing camera system is estimated. The number of electrons, as signal level of the camera system, calculated by described methods is used to design input circuits of AD converter for interfacing the image signal coming from the CCD module in the focal plane electronics. This number is also used for the analysis of the signal level of the CCD output which is critical parameter to design data path between CCD and A/D converter. The FPE(Focal Plane Electronics) designer should decide whether the dividing-circuit is necessary or not between them from the analysis. If it is necessary, the optimized dividing factor of the level should be implemented. This paper describes the analysis of the electron count of a camera system for a satellite application and then of the signal level for the interface design between CCD and A/D converter using two methods. One is a quantitative assessment based on the design parameters of the camera system, the other method compares the design parameters in comparison with those of the existing camera system in orbit for relative counting of the electrons and the signal level estimation. Chapter 2 describes the radiometry of the camera system of a satellite application to show equations for electron counting, Chapter 3 describes a camera system briefly to explain the data flow of imagery information from CCD and Chapter 4 explains the two methods for the analysis of the number of electrons and the signal level. Then conclusion is made in chapter 5.