Quantum gravimetry, magnetometry, and lidar for earth observation: sensitivity limits and technology maturity.
How cold atom interferometry, optical clocks, and magnetometers work in the space context.
Cold atom interferometers for Earth observation from orbit. Key areas include: Cold atom interferometer principles: Mach-Zehnder configurations for gravity gradient measurement from LEO; GRACE-FO and beyond: how quantum gravimeters could improve on electrostatic accelerometer baselines for ice mass, groundwater, and geoid mapping; Technology readiness: laboratory demonstrations (10^-9 g sensitivity), space qualification challenges (vibration isolation, thermal stability, laser systems).
Optical lattice clocks and cold atom clocks for sovereign PNT. Key areas include: Optical lattice clocks: strontium and ytterbium systems achieving 10^-18 fractional frequency stability in laboratory; Space-qualified atomic clocks: chip-scale cold atom clocks, PHARAO/ACES on ISS results, and the path to operational space optical clocks; PNT applications: GPS/Galileo holdover improvement, deep space navigation, and sovereign PNT resilience against GNSS denial.
Full-day format only. Key areas include: Modelling cold atom interferometer performance in LEO: gravity gradient sensitivity versus orbit altitude, vibration environment, and interrogation time; Comparing quantum gravimeter resolution against classical GRACE-FO accelerometer baselines for a reference geodesy mission; Assessing optical clock holdover capability for PNT applications: how long can a quantum clock maintain position accuracy without GNSS updates.
NV-centre and SERF magnetometers for geomagnetic field mapping. Key areas include: Nitrogen-vacancy (NV) diamond magnetometers: principles, sensitivity (pT/Hz^0.5 range), and space qualification status; SERF (spin-exchange relaxation-free) magnetometers: fT-level sensitivity for geomagnetic field mapping from LEO; Applications: Swarm successor missions, space weather monitoring, magnetic anomaly detection for resource exploration.
Technology readiness, vendor assessment, and sovereign capability. Key areas include: TRL assessment across quantum sensor types: which technologies are flight-ready (TRL 6+) and which remain laboratory demonstrations; Vendor landscape: capability comparison across space-qualified quantum sensor providers for cold atom, NV-centre, and optical clock platforms; National and European programmes: ESA Quantum Technologies programme, UKSA, DLR, CNES investments in quantum sensing for space.
Q&A and Programme Planning: this session covers the core principles and technical underpinnings relevant to the subject area.
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