SOIM User Manual v6.0

This document will describe the Simulator for Operation of Imaging Missions (SOIM) software used to simulate any Imaging System on board of Missions which take advantage of the Spice Kernels (technology). The document will provide documentation and a description of the input and output files. The experience accumulated by INAF in International Space Missions has demonstrated the impact and the scientific return of Imaging tools. In all mission phases, these instruments have required the development of tools to simulate acquisitions, to verify and optimize the observation strategy, and to define the essential parameters for Operations. The Simulator for Operation of Imaging Missions (SOIM) will be a generic software tool for simulating such payloads. It was developed thanks to the contribution of INAF-OAPD; INAF-IAPS; CNR-IFN and will represent a transversal activity to different research lines favoring the optimization of performances and, with the collaboration of the scientific group, the validation of scientific requirements. At the current date the simulator was applied to 5 instruments: -the three Monitor Cameras (MCAM) on board of BepiColombo Mission -the CaSSIS camera onboard of ExoMars 2016 -the instrument Spectrometers and Imagers for MPO BepiColombo Integrated Observatory SYStem (SIMBIO-SYS) onboard of BepiColombo mission

BC-SIM-IAPSUPA-TR-001 HRIC NECP report

The present document has been issued with the aim of describing the NECP (Near Earth Commissioning Phase) Tests results of HRIC channel part of the SIMBIO-SYS instrument suite on board the BepiColombo ESA mission

BepiColombo MCAM Channels Spice Kernels Optimization

The aim of this document is to define the correction to be implemented on the Spice Kernels (SK) of the BepiColombo Monitoring-CAMera (MCAM) to improve the geometric definition of the pinhole models (intrinsic parameters of the cameras) and their pointing (extrinsic parameters) with respect to the BepiColombo Space Craft reference frame

BC-SIM-TR-032 HRIC ICO4 REPORT

The present document has been issued to describe the Instrument Check Out Phase (ICO#4) Tests of HRIC, channel of the Spectrometers and Imagers for MPO BepiColombo Integrated Observatory SYStem (SIMBIO-SYS)

The Test Planning for the SIMBIO-SYS Near Earth Commissioning Phase

In this document we describe all the tests to be performed during the Near Earth Commissioning Phase (NECP) for the Spectrometers and Imagers for MPO BepiColombo Integrated Observatory SYStem (SIMBIO-SYS)

Simulation of Europa's water plume

Plumes on Europa would be extremely interesting science and mission targets, particularly due to the unique opportunity to obtain direct information on the subsurface composition, thereby addressing Europa's potential habitability. The existence of water plume on the Jupiter's moon Europa has been long speculated until the recent discover. HST imaged surpluses of hydrogen Lyman alpha and oxygen emissions above the southern hemisphere in December 2012 that are consistent with two 200 km high plumes of water vapor (Roth et al. 2013). In previous works ballistic cryovolcanism has been considered and modeled as a possible mechanism for the formation of low-albedo features on Europa's surface (Fagents et al. 2000). Our simulation agrees with the model of Fagents et al. (2000) and consists of icy particles that follow ballistic trajectories. The goal of such an analysis is to define the height, the distribution and the extension of the icy particles falling on the moon's surface as well as the thickness of the deposited layer. We expect to observe high albedo regions in contrast with the background albedo of Europa surface since we consider that material falling after a cryovolcanic plume consists of snow. In order to understand if this phenomenon is detectable we convert the particles deposit in a pixel image of albedo data. We consider also the limb view of the plume because, even if this detection requires optimal viewing geometry, it is easier detectable in principle against sky. Furthermore, we are studying the loss rates due to impact electron dissociation and ionization to understand how these reactions decrease the intensity of the phenomenon. We expect to obtain constraints on imaging requirements necessary to detect potential plumes that could be useful for ESA's JUICE mission, and in particular for the JANUS camera (Palumbo et al. 2014)

Calibration activities on the BepiColombo High-Resolution Channel (HRIC) of SIMBIO-SYS instrument

HRIC (High Resolution Imaging Channel) is the high resolution channel of the SIMBIO-SYS instrument on- board the ESA BepiColombo Mission. Calibration activities were performed at SelexES premises in spring- summer 2014 in order to check for Channel performances (radiometric performances, quality image and geometrical performances) and to obtain data necessary to setup a calibration pipeline necessary to process the raw images acquired by the channel when in operative scenario

BC-SIM-TR-001 - SIMBIO-SYS NECP Data Produced Analysis

In this document we will describe all the tests performed during the Near Earth Commissioning Phase (NECP) for the Spectrometers and Imagers for MPO BepiColombo Integrated Observatory SYStem (SIMBIO-SYS). For each test will be reported a sheet with the pipeline report and a discussion eventually on the detected anomalies

Planning the HRIC (High Resolution Imaging Channel) observations of Mercury surface

The High Resolution Imaging Channel (HRIC) of SIMBIOSYS [1]onboard the BepiColombo mission to Mercury, is the visible imaging camera devoted to the detailed characterization of the Hermean surface. The potential huge amount of data that HRIC can produce must cope with the allocated (and shared) mission resources in terms of power, data volume,and pointing maneuvers. For this reason , well before the mission launch, it is extremely important the definition of an operative plan compatible with both the available resources and the scientific objectives accomplishment