# Small Satellite Tools for High-Resolution Infrared Fire Monitoring
## 10 Conclusions and Recommendations  
The FireBIRD multi-spectral camera systems scan the Earth in the \"push-broom\" mode using semiconductor linear array detectors corresponding to the technological state of the art of micro-optoelectronics of the 1990s, when BIRD's development started. Nevertheless, BIRD and FireBIRD allowed for previously not possible fire dynamic measurements and they provided more detailed, locally based information on fire occurrences than the operational IR sensors currently used for fire applications. As also concluded in the paper \"BIRD and FireBIRD--Pioneering Small Satellite Missions for Infrared Monitoring of Climate Change from Space\" prepared for this Special Issue of the _Journal of Imaging_ on \"Infrared Image Processing for Climate Change Monitoring from Space\", there will be a need for FireBIRD-type IR instruments that operate in a small satellite constellation and provide the following features:  
* higher spatial resolution data acquisition without signal saturation from major fires;
* the capacity to augment and validate the more frequent but lower spatial resolution active fire datasets provided by the operational systems, especially for the purpose of detecting smaller and weaker fires, including the derivation of their FRP values; and
* the delivery of active fire data (also with a higher spatial resolution) acquired (i) at different local times and (ii) at local times in the afternoon when fires are at their most severe. Furthermore, it is recommended that the great progress that took place in micro-optoelectronic technology during the last \(\sim\)20 years be taken into consideration, especially in the field of the detector development. There are now available so-called commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) megapixel matrix detector arrays used for High Definition (HD) and Ultra-High-Definition (UHD) military and civil applications, such as:  
* Integrated Detector Cooler Assemblies (IDCAs) of Cadmium Mercury Telluride (CMT) photovoltaic matrix arrays for the MIR and TIR wavelength regions with, for example, 1280 \(\times\) 1024 detector elements; and
* C-MOS and CCD Si semiconductor matrix detector arrays with, for instance, 9000 \(\times\) 6000 detector elements. A satellite bus of BIROS-type with a clear segment structure and a payload segment with a volume of approximately 60 \(\times\) 60 \(\times\) 60 cm\({}^{3}\) will allow for the accommodation  
Figure 26: Illustration of the across-track scan of a push-whisk-broom sensor by the STMS. of (i) a multi-spectral VIS-NIR and MIR/TIR sensor based on mega-pixel matrix arrays, including cryo-cooler(s), together with a Scan/Tilt Mirror System mounted in front of the sensor heads and (ii) three High-Torque Wheels (see Figure 18) as a supplement to the four Reaction Wheels installed in the service segment of the satellite bus. Table 6 compares and summarizes the TET-1 and BIROS satellites and, for prospective Innovative Infrared Micro-Satellites, some essential design features, such as:  
* MIR/TIR sensor arrangements, including the Integrated Detector Cooler Assembly (IDCA),
* on-board data handling and processing; and
* satellite agility. * _[PERSON] et al. (2005)_ [PERSON]; [PERSON]; [PERSON]; [PERSON]; [PERSON] [PERSON]; [PERSON] [PERSON]; [PERSON] [PERSON]; [PERSON]; [PERSON] [PERSON] _ECOFIRE--Study on Scientific Assessment of Space-Borne High Temperature Event Observing Mission Concepts_; (ESA/ESTEC Contract 17690/30/NL/FF); Final Report; + Report on Work Task 350; German Aerospace Center (DLR): Berlin, Germany, 2005. * GEC Marconi INRA-RED (1996) GEC Marconi INRA-RED. BIRD IR DETECTOR PROPOSAL Types E3437 AND E3438, Prog. Doc. No. Q3032, Issue 1. 4 October 1996; (Internal Report from GEC). * _[PERSON] (1998)_ [PERSON]; [PERSON] [PERSON] HSRS--An Infrared Sensor for Hot Spot Detection. In Proceedings of the SPIE's 43 rd Annual Meeting, San Diego, USA, CA, 19-24 July 1998. * _[PERSON] et al. (2020)_ [PERSON]; [PERSON]; [PERSON]; [PERSON]; [PERSON] Infrared-Image Processing for the DLR FireBIRD Mission.