Eyes In The Skies: Using Optical Filters To Observe And Measure Earth From A Different Perspective

The modern world has become increasingly dependent on the ability to control or at the very least understand, for purposes of commerce, safety and security, and science, our environment and our impact/interaction with it. An improved ability to manage or understand the natural or influenced phenomena is critical to ensuring that we maintain a healthy planet capable of sustaining humanity as part of its diverse bio-mass.  But understanding these phenomena and how they are changing over time requires measurement. The view from outside often provides unique insights into an environment as it can be extraordinarily difficult to objectively observe a system from within. Optical filters of different designs and formats are key contributors to the  solutions for challenges within observations from orbit through photonics based EO instruments, serving as “the eyes of the instruments”.