Abstract:  This presentation explores research questions surrounding the design and operation of complex satellite systems, especially for earth observation. My research contributions are in three areas. The first area is increasing scientific understanding of the design process used by multidisciplinary teams as they develop complex systems. The second research area is proposing and validating computational modeling tools for trade space exploration, risk analysis, and model based systems engineering.

The third research area is proposing and demonstrating novel design concepts for space missions that observe the earth and other sites in our solar system. This research area is motivated by rapid changes in the field of environmental remote sensing. Earth observation measurements from provide valuable information that informs decision makers in areas such as weather forecasting, mapping, disaster response, water resource management and land use planning. Smaller, more affordable satellites and unmanned aerial vehicles are increasingly capable platforms for earth observation. Governments in many developing countries that previously depended on satellite data provided by other countries now seek to develop domestic capability to build and operate satellite earth observation systems. At the same time, we continue to identify promising locations that warrant robotic exploration in our solar system. This presentation will present findings and future work regarding the teams, tools and technology I am enabling in my research.