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1st Ghana CanSat/Rocketry Championship GCRC-2022-001
2022, Accra, Ghana
Observing the Earth from Low-Earth Orbit Using Modified
Commercial Off-the-Shelf Digital Cameras
Lazar Jeftic1, Solomon Appekey 2, Selorm Appekey 3
Xavier Space Solutions, Water Works - Accra, Ghana
ABSTRACT
Throughout the history of Earth observations from space, there have been several different types
of cameras that astronauts have used to take photographs of the Earth. Color-infrared cameras
were also used on board the International Space Station (ISS in further text). Preceding the digital
era of photography, cameras on board the ISS used camera film for all photography. For the color-
infrared film they used mainly Kodak Aerochrome Infrared film. The digital color-infrared camera
on board the ISS was Astro-Converted Camera modified/converted by Spencer's Camera & Photo
for NASA (Figure 1.).
In this short paper, the main intention is to present the modified commercial off-the-shelf digital
cameras for the Earth observations. Three camera types are chosen with their applications and
imagery examples: NIR-Green-Blue (NGB), UV reflected and Color-infrared NRG (NIR-Red-Green).
Hyperspectral camera type can also be used, but it will not be presented in this paper because it
is still in research and development phase. The idea is based on remote sensing of planet Earth
using modified commercial cameras to develop and support with this type of cameras continuity
of future Earth observations with hand-held cameras (like Astronaut Photography of Earth from
ISS) and the research and development of the future Earth Observations from unmanned space
missions and space stations which will be build in the near future. The Commercial Off-the-Shelf
Digital Cameras are already integrated and used on Earth observation satellites like the CE-SAT-I
(RGB Canon S110) and CE-SAT-IIB (RGB EOS M100) by Canon Space Development.
1Independent Research and Development Engineer - RSE Develop Environment, jefticlr@gmail.com
2Founder - Xavier Space Solutions, MSc (Res) in Astronomy and Astrophysics - University of Leeds,
appekeysolomon@gmail.com
3Office Manager - Xavier Space Solutions, selormbenjamin10@gmail.com
Figure 1. Color-infrared image taken with Astro-Converted Camera modified/converted by
Spencer's Camera & Photo for NASA (https://www.spencerscamera.com/customer-images.cfm?
id=15)
1. Introduction
Some examples of human observations of the Earth:
1.1 The SKYLAB 4 Visual Observations Project
Various hand-held infrared color and black and white cameras and aerial color high resolution
Hasselblad and Nikon cameras. The objectives of the visual observations experiment were as
follows:
1. To determine the types of surface, air, and water phenomena the crew could visually identify
from the Skylab orbit;
2. To determine what visual observations, supplemented by photography, could be accomplished
to support scientific investigations;
3. To explore the use of several data parameters in the study of multidisciplinary areas; and
4. To determine the type of crew training necessary to perform the visual observations desired by
scientists.
Earth Resources Experiment Packages:
S190A Multispectral Photographic Cameras, S190B Earth Terrain Camera, S190 Infrared
Spectrometer, S192 Multispectral Scanner, S193 Microvawe Radiometer/Scatterometer and
Altimeter and S194 L-Band Radiometer. The results of this project we can see in NASA publication
“SKYLAB Explores the Earth” and this project push forward the launching of Landsat 1 Earth
observation satellite and all following EO satellites [1].
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1.2 Earth Observations from the ISS
The ISS is a unique remote sensing platform from several perspectives. Unlike automated remote
sensing platforms, it has a human crew, a low-orbit altitude, and orbital parameters that provide
variable views and lighting. The ISS provides: New method and equipment for remote sensing,
Monitoring of the atmosphere, land and oceans, which contributes to the study of natural
resources and environmental phenomena, Space weather effects, Improving the forecasts of
natural disasters.
Most orbiting satellites collect data at the same place and about the same time of day for set
intervals of time. The space station’s inclined equatorial orbit takes its cameras over different
parts of the planet at different times, and the station revisits sites at variable intervals, making it
possible to collect images from many areas at varying times of day and night [2].
Figure 2. Image of the Nile river delta, taken with small Canon Digital IXUS 700 camera. NASA
Photo ID:ISS012-E-25589. https://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/SearchPhotos/photo.pl?
mission=ISS012&roll=E&frame=25589
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2. Type of cameras and their applications
There are various camera types that can be used in Earth observations, depending on what type
of data is needed and satisfactory.
- NIR-Green-Blue (NGB)
- UV reflected
- Color-infrared NRG (NIR-Red-Green)
NIR-Green-Blue (NGB). NGB camera uses the red channel of the digital camera for recording an
infrared spectrum. This channel can be used for flood monitoring as the clear water in infrared
spectrum has no reflection and appears black on images. Also by using the green channel in
combination with the red channel of the camera (near-infrared) we can calculate NDWI
(normalized difference water index), GNDVI (green normalized difference vegetation index) and
BNDVI (blue normalized difference vegetation index) in combination with the blue channel of the
digital camera. Some image examples taken with this camera type can be seen in the following
pages.
Figure 3. The NGB image of forest and swamp area taken with modified Canon SX230HS from the
above ground level AGL of 500 meters.
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Figure 4. The NGB image of vegetation, crops and water bodies taken with modified Canon
SX230HS from the above ground level AGL of 500 meters.
Figure 5. Infrared channel of NGB image. Healthy vegetation appears bright and clear water
appears black on the image with floating vegetation in bright colors. Water with more sediments
will be brighter in the infrared image.
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Figure 6. The NGB image of vegetation, crops and water bodies taken with modified Canon 500D
from the above ground level AGL of 500 meters.
Figure 7. Generated BNDVI vegetation index with an assigned color palette.
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UV reflected modified camera for testing possibilities of this type of camera in remote sensing of
planet Earth and other various fields. There are two possible applications with this type of
camera: detecting the artificial objects in snow cover (animal species and pollution) and in
coastal ecosystems monitoring.
Figure 8. White paper in snow in the visible (left image) and UV reflected (right image) spectrum.
Figure 9. Various land features (crops, man-made objects, roads and water bodies) seen from the
air with experimental UV reflected Canon A495.
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Color-infrared NRG (NIR-Red-Green) camera. This type of camera can be achieved using
modified camera with a filter which blocks blue light in front of the lens and by using a specially
designed filter which have strictly defined transmission in all three channels of modified
commercial digital camera. This type of camera simulates the Kodak AEROCHROME Infrared film.
Proved application for remote sensing of vegetation and natural disasters [3].
Figure 10. The picture above compares images taken with our Nikon D7000 infrared camera from
the air (left picture) and NASA Nikon D3S infrared camera from the International Space Station
(right picture). Vegetation is presented in blue and purple colors.
Figure 11. Infrared Nikon D7000 camera processed image which simulates the Kodak
AEROCHROME Infrared film.
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2.1 Example of NASA Nikon D3S near infrared images processing and application
Near infrared collections link: https://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/Collections/NearIR/NearInfrared.pl
Bahamas near infrared image link: https://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/SearchPhotos/photo.pl?
mission=ISS030&roll=E&frame=42020
The raw infrared image of Bahamas was georeferenced in QGIS and converted into the NRG Near-
Red-Green or standard CIR color-infrared image look which simulate the Kodak AEROCHROME
Infrared film.
Figure 12. Georeferenced Nikon D3S infrared image of Bahamas overlapped on Bing layer map in
QGIS.
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Figure 13. CIR color-infrared processed image which simulates the Kodak AEROCHROME Infrared
film.
Figure 14. Zoom in of CIR color-infrared processed image which simulates the Kodak
AEROCHROME Infrared film.
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Figure 15. Enhanced CIR color-infrared processed image which simulates the Kodak
AEROCHROME Infrared film.
Figure 16. Red-infrared channel of CIR color-infrared processed image which simulates the Kodak
AEROCHROME Infrared film.
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Figure 17. Green channel of CIR color-infrared processed image which simulates the Kodak
AEROCHROME Infrared film.
Figure 18. Blue channel of CIR color-infrared processed image which simulates the Kodak
AEROCHROME Infrared film.
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3. Conclusion
The main purpose of this short paper is raising awareness to develop and support with this type
of cameras continuity of future Earth observations with hand-held cameras (Astronaut
Photography of Earth from ISS) and the research and development of the future Earth
Observations from unmanned space missions and space stations which will be build in the near
future.
This type of Earth observations will improve the following fields of remote sensing: crops, forest
health protection, wildfires, floods, storms, night-time Earth imagery, snow, glacier and volcano
monitoring, atmospheric processes-lightning, airglow, man-made disasters and coastal
ecosystems monitoring.
Through research and development, it is important to continue to support the Earth observations
by building various camera types that can be used in both manned and unmanned space
missions.
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4. References
1. SKYLAB Explores The Earth. NASA Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center 1977.
2. Lisa A. Vanderbloemen, Ph.D., William L. Stefanov, Ph.D., Cynthia A. Evans, Ph.D. A Researcher's
Guide to: International Space Station Earth Observations. NASA ISS Program Science Office.
3. Zigaldo et al. Electronic Color Infrared Camera, United States Patent 2001.
4. Science Around the Planet Uses Images of Earth from the Space Station
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/news/science-uses-images-of-earth-
from-space-station-ceo-results
5. Astronaut Photography
https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/features/HumanSpaceflight/human_spaceflight4.php
6. NASA Near Infrared Collection https://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/Collections/NearIR/NearInfrared.pl
7. Canon Space Development EOS and PowerShot Image Gallery
https://en.canon-elec.co.jp/space/
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