Wide-Swath and High-Resolution Continuous Multistrip Scanning Imaging Technology Based on Satellite-Payload Collaboration

Mirror scanning image mode (MSIM) effectively expands the observation range while maintaining the resolution and has become a prominent research focus in the field of Earth observation; however, it faces the inherent limitation of discontinuous imaging, which poses a major obstacle to achieving seamless multistrip coverage. Additionally, while MSIM expands the imaging range, it also introduces complex time-varying relative motion between the image and focal plane, further increasing the difficulty of image motion compensation. Effectively addressing the limitations of discontinuous imaging and image motion has, therefore, become a critical challenge in the advancement of MSIM. In order to address these difficulties, we introduce a novel image mode, namely deceleration-based MSIM (DMSIM). This mode integrates the satellite’s pitch maneuver with MSIM, effectively expanding the overlap and aiding in image motion compensation. Specifically, DMSIM first constructs a set of parameter constraint equations to define the reasonable range for satellite and payload motion speeds, thereby ensuring seamless coverage of the target area. Subsequently, within the defined speed range, image motion compensation is achieved by designing the satellite’s pitch attitude maneuver; moreover, scaled-down tests and digital simulations are designed to validate our mode. Experiment results indicate that this mode achieves a swath width of <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$600\times 600$ </tex-math></inline-formula> km while the ground sample distance is at the meter level. Meanwhile, the average modulation transfer function (MTF) is 0.088, highlighting its great potential for broad coverage and sharp imaging.