CHAPS: A sustainable approach to targeted air pollution observation from small satellites

Adverse air quality impacts human health and climate and has implications for environmental equity. The Compact Hyperspectral Air Pollution Sensor (CHAPS) is a newly designed small imaging spectrometer for remote sensing of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and other air pollutants from space. It incorporates two emerging technologies, to achieve the miniaturization necessary to fit within a 6U CubeSat. The first is freeform optics, which can be used to reduce the size of an imaging spectrometer without compromising optical performance. We report the science requirements; preliminary, fully freeform and fully reflective optical design of the CHAPS demonstrator, CHAPS-D; and model its performance. The second technology is additive manufacturing, coupled with topology optimization, which has a number of potential advantages over traditional subtractive manufacturing. The instrument mechanical structure, including optical mounts and integral light baffles, and two of the optical elements will be additively manufactured using a high-strength nextgeneration aluminum alloy. We show preliminary results of additive manufacturing tests. CHAPS-D is currently being developed for ground-based and airborne testing.