Development of a CMOS Snapshot Active Pixel Sensor for Spaceborne Earth Observation Applications

Abstract : For metric resolutions earth observation missions - in the visible spectrum - CMOS Active Pixel Sensors (APS) may be a competitive alternative to 2D array CCD thanks to the high readout frequencies and to the shutter capability offered by the snapshot mode. In order to evaluate the interest of CMOS APS for those missions, CNES has launched the development of a CMOS snapshot APS demonstrator. Although a multi-mission capability is targeted, the requirement specification has been mainly built on the basis of a typical low Earth orbit microsatellite mission scenario aiming at capturing images at 1 meter spatial resolution for a 8 km x 8 km minimum FOV, in the visible spectral band. Main driving requirements are presented together with the expected trade-off to be solved during architecture and design phases.