A technology path to distributed remote sensing

The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) has been enga ged for over 40 years in Earth science missions spanning geodesy to atmosph eric science. In parallel, APL's Advanced Technology Program is supporting research in autonomy, scalable architectures, miniaturization, and instrume nt innovation. These are key technologies for the development of affordable observation programs that could benefit from distributed remote sensing. T his paper brings these applications and technology themes together in the f orm of an innovative, three-satellite remote sensing scenario. This pathfin ding mission fills an important scientific niche, and relies on state-of-th e-art small-satellite technology, (C) 2000 Published by Elsevier Science Lt d. All rights reserved.