Accuracy: A Novel Approach to Calibrate Cubesat Radiometer Constellations

Recent advances in space technologies enable science missions using CubeSats equipped with radiometers. Constellations of CubeSats can be used to significant effect, overcoming obstacles in cost, weight, and power. However, these benefits come at a cost, including challenges in calibration due in large part to increased sensitivity of the instrument to ambient conditions. These limitations also mean conventional calibration methods are not always possible. To address this problem, a novel, constellation-level calibration framework called “Adaptive Calibration of CubeSat Radiometer Constellations (ACCURACy)” is being developed. ACCURACy uses instrument-level telemetry data to cluster constellation members into time-adaptive groups of radiometers in similar states and facilitates calibration data sharing within each group for optimum calibration performance. This paper presents a prototype MA TLAB framework using synthetic radiometer data and discusses its calibration performance.