Connected Autonomous Space Environment Sensors (CASES)

We propose to investigate under Phase-I of the STTR Program FY07 the development of space weather sensor networks including the next-generation of GPS space weather monitors, the network interfaces for internet and remote operation, and system-wide analysis algorithms to validate and calibrate the network. This new instrument will also be much more resistant to space weather effects, such as cycle slippage, signal fades, and fast-phase changes, than current technology. We will also design a system infrastructure that includes a sensor-communication system that is modular and will be capable of operating from ocean buoys, in dense networks, or on satellites.. The system proposed here will be called Connected Autonomous Space Environment Sensors (CASES) and will support a variety of applications, from individual site monitors for the FAA, to large assimilative models such as GAIM. The proposing team is composed of a small business, Atmospheric & Space Technology Research Associates (ASTRA), and two universities: Cornell (CU) and Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University (VT). The team combines special talents ranging from large scale ionospheric modeling and 3D ionospheric visualization to award-winning work in GPS software receiver design to national leadership in the understanding of space weather and its impact on GPS.