Professor Stephen Hobbs

FRMetS, FHEA, CPhys

Reader in Space Systems and Sensors

Centre for Autonomous and Cyberphysical Systems

Contact Professor Stephen Hobbs

Tel: +44 (0) 1234 754658
Email: S.E.Hobbs@quinbrowne.com
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Areas of expertise

Instrumentation, Sensors and Measurement Science
Space Systems
Systems Engineering

Background

Steve's academic training is in mathematics and experimental physics (Cambridge University, 1st class), then ecological physics (instrumentation and atmospheric physics; Cranfield Institute of Technology).

His research covers space systems and radar Earth observation. He recently led the European Space Agency study Hydroterra, a geosynchronous radar mission proposal to address science needs for the water cycle. Hydroterra was one of three candidates for ESA's 10th Earth Explorer mission. Research projects have included international field campaigns in US and Europe, involving ground-based and airborne measurement systems to study insect migration, land-surface / atmosphere interactions, and measurement physics for remote sensing. Another research area concerns the sustainability of space systems. He led the Cranfield University development of deorbit devices based on drag augmentation, which resulted in three successful payloads in orbit, including the first operational deployment of a drag-augmentation device in orbit. He has extensive practical experience including software development, electronics, signal processing, field experiments, and satellite payload design.

Steve has been involved in teaching space engineering subjects at postgraduate level for over 30 years, with experience running the MSc in Astronautics and Space Engineering as well as doctoral research student supervision. He is a fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Qualifications include membership of professional societies in physics, meteorology and remote sensing.

He was funded by the Royal Academy of Engineering for an Industry Secondment to Airbus, works as the UK representative for design engineering to the ISO committee for Space Systems and Operations (ISO TC20/SC14), and is chair of the Space Academic Network's working group on Space Engineering and Technology.

Current activities

Academic interests / expertise include:

Space system engineering
Measurement physics and signal processing - especially for space sensor systems such as radar
Radar and Earth observation applications
Environmental applications - land surface and atmosphere in particular.

Current research projects:

Geosynchronous synthetic aperture radar (GEO SAR), Hydroterra mission development
Sustainable space - space debris mitigation and remediation
Low-cost de-orbit systems for small satellites (e.g. TechDemoSat-1 and ESA's ESEO mission).

Clients

His research sponsors include:

UK research councils
European Union
European Space Agency
BNSC / UK Space Agency
UK Centre for Earth Observation Instrumentation
Royal Society
US Department of Agriculture
UK space industry: SSTL, NPA Fugro, EADS Astrium

Articles In Journals

Conference Papers

Hobbs S, Felicetti L, Leslie C, Rowling S, Brydon G, Dhesi M, Harris T, Chermak L & Soori U (2023) Towards in-orbit hyperspectral imaging of space debris. In: 2nd Neo and Debris Detection Conference, Darmstadt, 24-26 January 2023.
Kingston J, Felicetti L & Hobbs S (2021) What might sustainability of the GEO region look like?. In: Space, Satellites + Sustainability (S3), Glasgow, 28 September - 1 October 2021.
Quast R, Wagner W, Calvet J-C, Albergel C, Bertrand B, Brocca L, Filippucci P & Hobbs SE (2020) Assessing prospects of sub-daily radar-observations to improve the understanding of soil- and vegetation dynamics. In: EGU General Assembly, 2020, Virtual Event, 4-8 May 2020.
Convenevole C & Hobbs SE (2020) Physics-based clutter model for geosynchronous synthetic aperture radar. In: Mediterranean and Middle-East Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (M2GARSS), Tunis, 9-11 March 2020.
Serfontein Z, Kingston J, Hobbs S, Holbrough IE, Beck JC, Impey SA & Aria AI (2020) Effects of long-term exposure to the low-earth orbit environment on drag augmentation systems. In: 71st International Astronautical Congress (IAC-20): The Cyberspace Edition, Online, 12-14 October 2020.
Serfontein Z, Kingston J, Hobbs S, Holbrough IE & Beck JC (2020) Drag augmentation systems for space debris mitigation. In: 71st International Astronautical Congress (IAC-20): The Cyberspace Edition, Online, 12-14 October 2020.
Convenevole C & Hobbs S (2019) Method for estimating clutter limited geosynchronous synthetic aperture radar performance. In: International Radar Conference: Sensing from Sea to Space, Toulon, 23-27 September 2019.
Wagner W & Hobbs SE (2019) Resolving the daily water cycle over land with a geosynchronous C-band radar satellite. In: EGU General Assembly, Vienna, 7-12 April 2019.
Hobbs SE & Monti-Guarnieri A (2018) Geosynchronous continental land-atmosphere sensing system (G-Class): persistent radar imaging for earth science. In: 2018 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS), Valencia, 22-27 July 2018.
Hobbs S, Sanchez JP, Convenevole C, Gibbings A, Germani C & Monti Guarnieri A (2018) G-CLASS: a geosynchronous radar mission to study the diurnal water cycle. In: 69th International Astronautical Congress (IAC-18), 2018, Bremen, 1-5 October 2018.
Hobbs SE, Convenevole C, Gashinova M, Cherniakov M & Cassidy S (2018) Feasibility of passive bistatic geosynchronous radar using comsat transmissions. In: 2018 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS), Valencia, 22-27 July 2018.
Palla C, Kingston J & Hobbs S (2017) Development of commercial drag-augmentation systems for small satellites. In: 7th European conference on Space Debris, Darmstadt, 18-21 April 2017.
Hobbs S, Convenevole C, Guarnieri AM & Wadge G (2016) Geostare system performance assessment methodology. In: 2016 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS), Beijing, 10-15 July 2016.
Hobbs S, Guarnieri AM, Wadge G & Schulz D (2014) GeoSTARe initial mission design. In: 2014 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS), Quebec, 13-18 July 2014.
Kingston JC, Hobbs SE & Roberts PCE (2008) Satellite in-orbit servicing concepts. In: 59th International Astronautical Congress, Glasgow, 29 September 2009 - 3 October 2008.
Ottavianelli G, Hobbs SE, Smith R & Bruno D (2005) Assessment of SAR data and interferometric products for solid waste landfill management. In: RSPSoc Annual Conference 2005 - Measuring, Mapping and Managing a Hazardous World, Portsmouth, UK, 6-9 September 2005.
Ottavianelli G, Hobbs SE, Smith R & Bruno D (2005) Earth observation for solid waste landfill management. In: 56th International Astronautical Congress, Fukuoka, Japan, 17 October - 21 September 2005.
Roberts Peter C E, Bowling Tom & Hobbs Stephen (2005) MUSTANG: A Technology demonstrator for formation flying and distributed systems technologies in space.
Ottavianelli G, Hobbs SE, Smith R & Bruno D (2005) The application of space-borne remote sensing for landfill management. In: Waste Minimisation & Resource Efficiency: The Role of Physics, Institute of Physics, London, 23 March 2005.
Bruno D, Hobbs SE & Ottavianelli G (2005) Geosynchronous synthetic aperture radar: Concept design, properties and possible applications. In: 56th International Astronautical Congress, Fukuoka, Japan, 17 October - 21 September 2005.
Lecuyot Arnaud, Hobbs Stephen & Honstvet Ian (2004) Simulation of rigidly-linked nanosatellites.
Hobbs Stephen (2004) Dynamics and control issues for future multistatic spaceborne radars.
Bruno D & Hobbs S (2004) Effect of atmospheric noise on SAR interferometry for DEM generation. In: 55th International Astronautical Congress, Vancouver, 4-8 October 2004.
Andrews F, Hobbs SE, Honstvet I & Snelling M (2004) Fundamental physical limits for the size of future planetary surface exploration systems. In: 37th ESLAB Symposium - Tools and Technologies for Future Planetary Exploration, Noordwijk, 2-4 December 2003.

Books

Hobbs S, Stansbery G & Matos de Carvalho T (2019) Space waste. In: Waste: A Handbook for Management, Second edition, Academic Press, p. 567-583.
Hobbs S (eds), (2006) Proceedings of 7th Conference on the Dynamics and Control of Systems and Structures in Space., Greenwich, London, UK: Cranfield University Press.
Ottavianelli G, Hobbs S, Smith R & Bruno D (2005) Assessment of hyperspectral and SAR remote sensing for solid waste landfill management, p. 103-110.
Hobbs S (eds), (2004) Proceedings of 6th Conference on Dynamics and Control of Systems and Structures in Space., Riomaggiore, Italy.: Cranfield University Press, ed. 1st.