A Low-Cost Airborne EO Oceanographic Measurement System

"The objective of this SBIR program is the development of an electro-optical imaging system for acquiring time-series imagery of the ocean surface suitable for scientific research, which can be mounted and flown in an aerial photography airplane. Thesystem will be designed for low-cost production, through the use of commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) components, and low-cost operation, through the use of commercial aerial photography airplanes. Cost will be further reduced through the successfultransfer of previously developed technology from the Airborne Remote Optical Spotlight System (AROSS) to the new system. AROSS is a field-tested and robust electro-optical system producing time-series imagery with sufficient resolution and spatialcoverage for Navy METOC requirements. The approximate cost of $2000 per hour to fly AROSS, while not expensive by military standards, restricts it non-warfare or commercial use and its participation in ongoing scientific research. The development of asystem similar to AROSS, which can utilize commercial aircraft, would cost less to build and reduce operating cost by a factor of 4 to 5.BENEFITS: The successful transfer of AROSS technology to a system capable of being mounted in a commercial aircraftwill be an inexpensive oceanographic research asset. This asset will directly benefit the Navy wave modeling community who require wide-area measurements of METOC parameters, including directional wave spe