Uncertainty analysis for characterization small GEO belt debris population

Remote sensing techniques offer the only viable opportunity to learn more about the estimated thousands of small pieces of debris that orbit the Earth near the GEO belt. In previous work, multispectral optical and infrared sensing techniques have been employed to characterize debris and the population of small GEO belt debris. This paper examines an infrared remote sensing model for GEO belt debris and the uncertainty in the remote sensing techniques, with the aim of suggesting a way to improve upon previous attempts to characterize the population of GEO belt debris by either reducing uncertainty or improving radiometric sensitivity. Analytical methods applied to measurements of GEO belt debris data, in addition to detailed modeling of notional sensors in infrared wavebands are presented.