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The TICFIRE mission concept developed with the support of the Canadian Space Agency aims: 1) to improve measurements of water-vapour concentration in the low limit, where cold regions are most sensitive and 2) to determine the contribution of Thin Ice Clouds (TIC) to the energy balance and the role of their microphysical properties on atmospheric cooling. TICFIRE is a process-oriented mission on a micro-satellite platform dedicated to observe key parameters of TIC forming in the cold regions of the Poles and globally, in the upper troposphere. It locates cloud top profiles at the limb and measures at nadir the corresponding upwelling radiance of the atmosphere directly in the thermal window and in the Far Infrared (FIR) spectrum over cold geographical regions, precisely where most of the atmospheric thermal cooling takes place. Due to technological limitations, the FIR spectrum (17 to 50 μm) is not regularly monitored by conventional sensors despite its major importance. This deficiency in key data also impacts operational weather forecasting. TICFIRE will provide on a global scale a needed contribution in calibrated radiance assimilation near the IR maximum emission to improve weather forecast. TICFIRE is therefore a science-driven mission with a strong operational component. The TICFIRE payload consists of two instruments; the main one being a Nadir-looking multiband radiometer based on uncooled microbolometer technology and covering a large spectral range from 7.9 μm to 50 μm. The secondary one is an imager that performs Limb measurements and provides cloud vertical structure information. This paper presents the key payload requirements, the conceptual design, and the estimated performance of the TICFIRE payload. Current technology developments in support to the mission are also presented.

The Platform for the Observation of the Earth and for in-orbit Technology Experiments (POETE) mission concept has been developed to help overcome the scientific and socio-economic issues associated with forest fires. The proposed mission is based on a series of two highly autonomous and agile microsatellites, allowing for 3 to 7 visits per day. Each satellite payload includs a VIS-NIR instrument and a MWIR-TIR instrument. The two instruments combined provide for 6 spectral channels spanning from the visible to the thermal infrared for fire monitoring, retrieval of quantitative fire parameters (such as effective fire temperature, area and radiative energy release), and land surface temperature measurement. The MWIR-TIR instrument concept is a pushbroom scanner filter radiometer with on-board radiometric calibration capabilities. Its all-reflective three-mirror input optics delivers a 400-m GSD at an altitude of 700 km, relaying the scene signal to detectors based on INO's microbolometer technology for detection in four spectral channels centered at 3.8 μm, 8.8 μm, 10.5 μm and 12.0 μm. This paper presents an overview of the key mission requirements and derived sensor level requirements. A description of the conceptual design of the MWIR-TIR payload of POETE is given along with estimates of key performance parameters.