Michelangelo L'Abbate

Bio: Michelangelo L'Abbate is an academic researcher from Alenia Aeronautica. The author has contributed to research in topics: Satellite & Earth observation. The author has an hindex of 5, co-authored 17 publications receiving 958 citations.

The COSMO-SkyMed Dual Use Earth Observation Program: Development, Qualification, and Results of the Commissioning of the Overall Constellation

Abstract: COSMO-SkyMed (CSK) is the largest Italian investment in Space Systems for Earth Observation, commissioned and funded by the Italian Space Agency (ASI) and the Italian Ministry of Defense (It-MoD). The CSK constellation has been completely qualified in orbit since 2010 and it is still operating at full performance with a constellation of four mid-sized satellites placed in Low Earth Orbit, each carrying a high-resolution X-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), and a full-featured Ground Segment to exploit observation capabilities and providing SAR imaging servicing worldwide. The primary mission objective of CSK is the provision of services able to quickly answer to the user needs in the domains of Monitoring of land and environmental resources, Strategic Surveillance for Defense and Intelligence, Maritime Control, Topography, and Commercial applications as well. CSK fulfills civilian and defense needs, enhancing international partnerships through its interoperability, expandability, and multisensor (IEM) features and practices. Thanks to these features, CSK is an asset for international partnership such as the Italian-Argentinean Satellite System for Emergency Management (SIASGE). This paper intends to delineate how those fundamental characteristics of CSK have been qualified and commissioned from the launch of the first CSK satellite in 2007 through its progressive deployment until the system in-flight final acceptance (S-IFAR) event in 2010 that has completed the orbiting four-satellite qualified configuration. Nowadays, CSK is operating at full performance, constituting an asset for its firstclass radar observation capabilities, state-of-the-art technology aimed at improving security of countries, safety, and life quality of their citizens.

Copernicus Sentinel-1 Satellite and C-SAR instrument

Abstract: The Copernicus Sentinel-1 Earth Radar Observatory, a mission funded by the European Union and developed by ESA, is a constellation of two C-band radar satellites. The satellites have been conceived to be a continuous and reliable source of C-band SAR imagery for operational applications such as mapping of global landmasses, coastal zones and monitoring of shipping routes. The Sentinel-1 satellites are built by an industrial consortium led by Thales Alenia Space Italia as Prime Contractor and with AIRBUS Defence and Space as SAR Instrument Contractor. The paper describes the general satellite architecture, AIT flow and the satellite key performances. It provides also an overview on the CSAR Instrument, its development status and prelaunch SAR performance prediction.

Analysis of Sentinel-1 mission capabilities

Abstract: The Sentinel-1 mission is designed to be a source of continuous and reliable collection of C-band SAR imagery. Requirements for Sentinel-1 end to end system, as part of the complete family of GMES Sentinels, guarantee continuity of C-band SAR data and products availability to operational entities who exploit satellite radar imagery since ERS 1 operations [1]. Typical drivers for current- and future-generation Remote Sensing LEO satellite missions are fast target access capabilities and short on-board data latency in order to speed up the operations of data download and products' delivery to the end-users. On the other hand complete or almost complete Earth surface coverage is also required from the system. Satellite orbit and sensor swath determine the access capability so that the mission timeliness performance can only improve at the cost of increasing the number of satellites (constellation concept). SAR power demand limits the satellite operational duty cycle implying the need for trade-off between frequent acquisition of the same targets and extension of acquisition surface coverage. A balance between fast access/response to (or frequent revisit of) a few regions of interest and maximization of geographical coverage within the satellite orbit repeat cycle is thus needed when none of the above goals prevail as the main mission driver. Sentinel-1 applies a new operational mission concept; SAR acquisitions by Sentinel-1A (and Sentinel-1B when the constellation will be deployed) are designed according to pre-defined operational sequences to ensure: 1. continuous and systematic acquisition of data all along the mission time (to maximize mission return and system exploitation efficiency) 2. a growing archive of “world-wide extended” data 3. maximum extension of coverage after any orbit repeat cycle (175 orbits in 12 days) 4. minimum possible revisit time on few selected regions (North Atlantic Maritime Transport zones, Europe and Canada) but also 5. possibility to include and perform, as an additional mission capability, sporadic data acquisitions coming from asynchronous user orders submitted to the system following for example requests for specific imagery during emergency occurrences. The mission analysis process performed to define in detail the above operational concept is outlined in this paper and results are presented.

From Mbps to Gbps: Evolution of Payload Data Handling and Transmission system for future earth observation missions

Abstract: On-board data handling and transmission for Earth Observation (EO) satellites had been usually implemented, for many years in the past, through a set of devices distributed on the platform, each independently controlled by an on-board computer. In the frame of Rasarsat-2 (a Canadian Space Agency mission - end of the 90's), Thales Alenia Space-Italia (TAS-I) has designed a self-contained system, named PDHT (Payload Data Handling and Transmission) deputed to handling and transmission of scientific data. Starting from this innovation, PDHT performances have been improving in the last years, pushed by an increasing demand for high resolution images with daily availability and thanks to new technologies available on the market. Therefore two reference configurations have been identified according to the Cosmo Sky-Med and GMES Sentinels mission requirements. The market of EO satellites, pushed by the scientific, institutional and commercial requests, is even more increasing the demand of high performance handling and transmission system, so TAS-I is also ready to propose advanced solutions that may support more sophisticated sensing techniques and higher downlink data rates.

Additive manufacturing (3D printing): A review of materials, methods, applications and challenges

Abstract: Freedom of design, mass customisation, waste minimisation and the ability to manufacture complex structures, as well as fast prototyping, are the main benefits of additive manufacturing (AM) or 3D printing. A comprehensive review of the main 3D printing methods, materials and their development in trending applications was carried out. In particular, the revolutionary applications of AM in biomedical, aerospace, buildings and protective structures were discussed. The current state of materials development, including metal alloys, polymer composites, ceramics and concrete, was presented. In addition, this paper discussed the main processing challenges with void formation, anisotropic behaviour, the limitation of computer design and layer-by-layer appearance. Overall, this paper gives an overview of 3D printing, including a survey on its benefits and drawbacks as a benchmark for future research and development.

Deep Learning Classification of Land Cover and Crop Types Using Remote Sensing Data

Abstract: Deep learning (DL) is a powerful state-of-the-art technique for image processing including remote sensing (RS) images. This letter describes a multilevel DL architecture that targets land cover and crop type classification from multitemporal multisource satellite imagery. The pillars of the architecture are unsupervised neural network (NN) that is used for optical imagery segmentation and missing data restoration due to clouds and shadows, and an ensemble of supervised NNs. As basic supervised NN architecture, we use a traditional fully connected multilayer perceptron (MLP) and the most commonly used approach in RS community random forest, and compare them with convolutional NNs (CNNs). Experiments are carried out for the joint experiment of crop assessment and monitoring test site in Ukraine for classification of crops in a heterogeneous environment using nineteen multitemporal scenes acquired by Landsat-8 and Sentinel-1A RS satellites. The architecture with an ensemble of CNNs outperforms the one with MLPs allowing us to better discriminate certain summer crop types, in particular maize and soybeans, and yielding the target accuracies more than 85% for all major crops (wheat, maize, sunflower, soybeans, and sugar beet).

Persistent Scatterer Interferometry: A review

Abstract: Persistent Scatterer Interferometry (PSI) is a powerful remote sensing technique able to measure and monitor displacements of the Earth’s surface over time. Specifically, PSI is a radar-based technique that belongs to the group of differential interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR). This paper provides a review of such PSI technique. It firstly recalls the basic principles of SAR interferometry, differential SAR interferometry and PSI. Then, a review of the main PSI algorithms proposed in the literature is provided, describing the main approaches and the most important works devoted to single aspects of PSI. A central part of this paper is devoted to the discussion of different characteristics and technical aspects of PSI, e.g. SAR data availability, maximum deformation rates, deformation time series, thermal expansion component of PSI observations, etc. The paper then goes through the most important PSI validation activities, which have provided valuable inputs for the PSI development and its acceptability at scientific, technical and commercial level. This is followed by a description of the main PSI applications developed in the last fifteen years. The paper concludes with a discussion of the main open PSI problems and the associated future research lines.

The Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation: High-resolution laser ranging of the Earth’s forests and topography

Abstract: Obtaining accurate and widespread measurements of the vertical structure of the Earth’s forests has been a long-sought goal for the ecological community. Such observations are critical for accurately assessing the existing biomass of forests, and how changes in this biomass caused by human activities or variations in climate may impact atmospheric CO2 concentrations. Additionally, the three-dimensional structure of forests is a key component of habitat quality and biodiversity at local to regional scales. The Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) was launched to the International Space Station in late 2018 to provide high-quality measurements of forest vertical structure in temperate and tropical forests between 51.6° N & S latitude. The GEDI instrument is a geodetic-class laser altimeter/waveform lidar comprised of 3 lasers that produce 8 transects of structural information. Over its two-year nominal lifetime GEDI is anticipated to provide over 10 billion waveforms at a footprint resolution of 25 ​m. These data will be used to derive a variety of footprint and gridded products, including canopy height, canopy foliar profiles, Leaf Area Index (LAI), sub-canopy topography and biomass. Additionally, data from GEDI are used to demonstrate the efficacy of its measurements for prognostic ecosystem modeling, habit and biodiversity studies, and for fusion using radar and other remote sensing instruments. GEDI science and technology are unique: no other space-based mission has been created that is specifically optimized for retrieving vegetation vertical structure. As such, GEDI promises to advance our understanding of the importance of canopy vertical variations within an ecological paradigm based on structure, composition and function.