6:00 pm, Wednesday
September 5, 2007
UCSB Faculty Club
With Dr. Carl F. Schueler
Chief Scientist (Retired)
Dr. Schueler with Ivan Lorkovic, our Treasurer
Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing
Presenting
Next-generation Polar Satellite Environmental Observation
This talk summarizes a satellite remote sensing system development started in 1993 now nearing completion and launch. Key to this new system was user-defined geophysical measurement requirements to define the specification prior to design. The National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) will replace three current systems: the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) Operational Line Scanner (OLS) providing global tactical weather support since the late 1960’s the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) providing global civilian weather observations for 30 years, and the MODerate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) providing scientific environmental monitoring for ten years. VIIRS will provide global civil and defense operational observation as well as scientific long-term trend assessments including climate.
Dr. Schueler retired from Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing (formerly Hughes SBRC Systems Division) in 2006 as Chief Scientist. He led VIIRS from conceptual studies in the early 1990’s to detail design in 2002, and was the Aerosol Polarimetry Sensor Technical Director to 2006. He is an industry consultant, serves on UCSB Institute of Computational Earth System Science (ICESS) Advisory Committee, the Society of Photo-optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE) Earth Observation Conference Program Committee, and the National Research Council (NRC) committee to ensure the continuation of satellite climate data records. He received his PhD in electrical and computer engineering from UCSB in 1980 under a Hughes Fellowship.
See a short movie of Dr. Schueler’s presentation.