Near-space Passive Remote Sensing for Homeland Security: Potential and Challenges

Inspired by recent technical advances in near-space defined as the space region between 20km and 100km, which is above the storms and jet stream, and not constrained by the orbital mechanics of the satellite platforms or the high fuel consumptions of the airborne platforms, they can stay at a specific site almost indefinitely to provide a persistent coverage, this paper proposed the system concept of near-space remote sensing for homeland security applications. To the author’s knowledge, I am the first author that proposes the concept of near-space remote sensing. This concept involves a passive radar receiver placed inside a near-space platform is in conjunction with the illuminator of opportunistic signals, so as to provide persistent mapping and monitoring of homeland. This paper deals with conceptual analysis, as opposed technological implementation. It is shown that the novel use of near-space platforms can provide the solutions that were thought to be out of reach for remote sensing scientists. The techniques and concepts discussed may be regarded as the Phase I work towards promising near-space remote sensing for homeland security applications.