LWIR compact high resolution optical system for MORERA mission

The Cubesat-compatible Morera optical instrument is a very compact, low f/n LWIR camera designed to provide high resolution images at farm level to estimate evapotranspiration data and provide personalized irrigation recommendations directly to final users using a mobile device. A SW-defined system will use Big Data to combine all relevant information (AEMET, Copernicus, S-SEBI algorithms) to optimize water resources. Catadioptric systems are extensively used in very compact systems. However, the more compact the system the more difficult it is to implement baffles to shield any light not coming from the field of view. The search for a compact configuration that meets straylight performance is described in this paper. The selective spectral bandpass filter requires angles of incidence below 0.5 degrees, adding telecentricity to the key requirements. Finally, photogrammetry imposes the need of low distortion, which can be controlled by freeforms while achieving the goal on angle of incidence.