Muon Space has published the first thermal infrared pictures, made by their companion of Firesat Protoflight. This is an important step for their specialized constellation satellites, designed to detect forest fires. Image, obtained with a six -channel infrared device, show, that satellite can detect and measure thermal signatures from space.
The satellite was launched 14 March SpaceX as part of the Transporter-13 mission. The first images show urban heat islands and Sydney airport runway activity, Australia; lava fountains on the Kilauea volcano in Hawaii; and gas flares at the Sarir oil field in Libya.
Unlike ordinary cameras, the FireSat sensor detects heat. Each pixel in the image corresponds to the temperature on the ground, which allows detecting various thermal phenomena, from slight changes in water temperature to the intense heat of volcanoes, as well as signs of forest fires.
Source: https://spacenews.com