PolarCube: An Advanced Radiometer 3U CubeSat

PolarCube Mission Statement

PolarCube will perform tropospheric temperature profiling to complement current weather models applicable to severe mesoscale weather phenomena. The technical applications for PolarCube include; Mesoscale weather research, storm cell observations, hurricane warm core behavior, terrestrial weather detection with 15-20km spatial resolution, and study of sea ice fractions in the Polar Regions. The secondary focus is an educational goal to integrate and fly a passive radiometer while working closely with science and engineering experts.

Approach and Spacecraft Information

The PolarCube project will integrate the MiniRad radiometer and the ALL-STAR bus and provide associated pre-launch testing and algorithm development. The first ALL-STAR bus (ALL-STAR/THEIA) has completed delivery and launched in April of 2014.  A space-qualified, compact version of the payload - the Miniaturized Microwave Radiometer (MiniRad) - has been designed and fabricated to a preliminary level by a senior capstone design project of CU engineering undergraduates. Currenly, the PolarCube team has integrated MiniRad as a critical subsystem of the PolarCube spacecraft. MiniRad is a passive microwave spectrometer with eight channels centered around the 118.7503 GHz diatomic oxygen emission line. Although well studied during many aircraft experiments dating back three decades, a spectrometer operating over this band has never before been flown in space.

PolarCube Spacecraft

Mission Collaborators

PolarCube is being developed in collaboration with the Center for Environmental Technologies (CET), the Colorado Space Grant Consortium (COSGC), and the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC). PolarCube is also a competitor of the University Nanosat Program (UNP) Eigth Cycle and has successfully complete Phase A culminating in additional launch and testing support by the Air Force Research Labs (AFRL).

PolarCube is a collaboration of three University of Colorado at Boulder groups:

• Center for Environmental Technology (CET)
  
• Colorado Space Grant Consortium (COSGC)
  
• National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC)

Mission Applications

PolarCube will be one of the first 3U CubeSats capable of remote sensing from a low Earth orbit platform. An on-board radiometer instrument using the 118.7503 GHz diatomic oxygen resonance will provide measurements of thermal atmosphere emissions within the troposphere (0-20 km). These measurements will extend understanding of the processes that govern estimated weather, global water, and energy fluxes (temperature, moisture, precipitation, cloud water and ice). PolarCube's collaboration with the COSGC ALL-STAR 3U CubeSat allows ~10-20 km spatial resolution of the Earth's surface for approximately 1yr. PolarCube will be capable of providing research data for polar, weather, and heat detection studies with no sensitivity to clouds.

PolarCube Team

PolarCube is a student lead and study design project at the University of Colorado at Boulder. The team is made up of an interdisciplinary team of undergradutes and gradute studetns resonsible for development, testing, integration, and delivery of the complete satellite. PolarCube has leveraged flight herative and satellite fabriaction knowledge from various CubeSat and NanoSat projects at the Colorado Space Grant Consortium including HERMES (1U CubeSat), DANDE (ESPA class NanoSat), and ALL-STAR/THIEA (3U CubeSat). The student team also works closely with mentors and alumni including mentors from JPL, LockHeed, First RF, NSIDC, CET, Ball Aerospace, and many other local companies. 

PolarCube Team 2015 - UN8 Fligth Competition Review

Applicable Mission Arcticles

• Climate Change Deemed Growing Security Threat by Military Researchers (May 2014)
  
• The Future of DoD Space Based Environmental Monitoring (Jaunary 2016)
• In Wake of Cancelled DMSP Launch, Air Force Plans Three New Weather Satellites (February 2016)
• With DMSP-19 Sidelined by Glitch, Air Force Orders Stay of Execution for its Twin (March 2016)
• U.S. Air Force Keeping an Eye on DMSP-17's Sea Ice Sensor (May 2016)

For additional information on the PolarCube mission refer to the following documents below:

• UN8-MGMT_PolarCube_Overview_COSGC-1.pdf
• IAC 2014 - Notification to Authors
• PolarCube Air Force Research Labs Letter of Support - April 2014
• PolarCube Air Force Weather Agency Letter of Support - October 2014
• PolarCube National Ice Center Letter of Support - October 2012

IARU Applicable Documents

• UN8-COM102-3.2-Link-Budget-2.xlsx
• UN8-SYS113.3_PowerBudget.xlsx
• PolarCube_Antenna_Locations.pdf