MMS instrument

MMS stands for multi-mission sensor, a state-of-the-art satellite earth sensor using custom thermopile arrays. We performed the system level design of the instrument, which required extensive analysis of the earth's radiance in the infrared including weather phenomena, local thermal radiance influences from the surrounding cavity and optics, sub-microvolt outputs due to stray thermocouple junctions, and an understanding of attitude control parameters for satellite orientation. Extensive testing was performed to validate the theoretical analysis.