Multiple Digital Camera Mount with FMC

NOAA uses large-format aerial film cameras to collect data for monitoring marine mammal populations protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the U.S. Endangered Species Act.Historically, the major users of these cameras have been the military and government agencies.As these users move to newer technology, manufacturers are ending the production of aerial films and camera parts.Consequently, NOAA requires a digital camera system that will deliver high resolution aerial imagery equivalent to the imagery they currently gather.In Phase I, Aerial Imaging Solutions designed a multiple digital camera, forward motions compensated mount and control system to fill NOAA’s sampling needs.Additionally, we produced a prototype of the design.The prototype was approved for flight by NOAA’s Aircraft Operations Center and test flown by both the National Marine Mammal Laboratory Steller Sea Lion group and the Southwest Fisheries Science Center Photogrammetry group.The results exceeded all expectations, confirming the feasibility of replacing NOAA’s aerial film cameras with the proposed system.For Phase II, we propose to deliver two commercial-quality FMC mount systems to NOAA researchers.