cosine presented and discussed its advanced ALART product line of Lidar instruments at the European Space Agency (ESA)’s EOTVS Workshop on Earth Observation for Terrestrial Vegetation Structure, held from July 11-12 at ESA ESTEC. This workshop, organized by ESA, serves as a platform to explore cutting-edge topics and share insights on terrestrial vegetation structure models, measurements, and instrumentation.
As one of the key participants to the workshop, cosine showcased the ALART product line, which includes the ALART and ALART-MS (multispectral) time-of-flight lidar instruments. These instruments, developed under ESA contracts, are designed to provide essential technologies for future ESA Earth Observation lidar missions.
cosine is also making the technology available to the commercial market, with cleverly miniaturized versions that fit the size and performance requirements of small satellite platforms. The ALART instruments utilize high repetition rate lasers and single-photon detector arrays, optimized for monitoring vegetation density, height, and bathymetry from space platforms.
Multi-spectral lidar technology, featured in the cosine’s lidars, promises new applications and enhanced performance by simultaneously capturing the vertical structure and topography of scenes in multiple spectral bands. This approach, inspired by the decades-long-standing success of spectral imaging in passive optical remote sensing, provides detailed information on the composition of ground pixels. It enables advanced classification tasks and reduces the need for high spatial resolution when observing heterogeneous targets.
Applications such as;
• Vegetation canopy height and structure
• Vegetation health
• Bathymetry applications: coastal reef mapping, coastal survey, and environmental monitoring
• Archaeology
• Land management and mapping
• Renewable energy
For more information about this instrument, please contact us at sales@cosine.eu, or you can download the flyer on our website.
About the workshop
The primary goal of the workshop was to bring together experts from the scientific and technical communities to push the boundaries of current knowledge and address the challenges of large-scale terrestrial ecosystem mapping with Earth Observation. Discussions focused on the future capabilities of Earth Observation (EO) to close existing gaps in land surface process models, the necessary scientific and technological advancements for monitoring terrestrial vegetation structure, and the significant progress in LiDAR technology and its applications over the past decade.
About cosine
cosine is a leading worldwide company in the development of space instrumentation, such as Silicon Pore Optics for astronomy and remote sensing solutions with onboard analytics for Earth Observation and planetary science. cosine combines physics and technology to bring out-of-the-box solutions to its clients. cosine has been developing and delivering innovative measurement systems for space and industrial applications since 1998. The company operates 1,300 m² of cleanrooms and high-tech assembly facilities to build and test the systems it produces for its customers at its headquarters in Sassenheim, The Netherlands.
