Visible, diode-array illuminator

The goal of this SBIR proposal is to evaluate the feasibility of transferring technology developed by Arete Associates for a UAV surrogate payload, the Airborne Remote Optical Spotlight System (AROSS), to a system capable of being mounted on an aerialphotography airplane. AROSS is a field-tested and robust electro-optical system producing time-series imagery with sufficient resolution and spatial coverage for Navy METOC requirements. The approximate cost of $2000 per hour to fly AROSS, while notexpensive by military standards, restricts its non-warfare or commercial use and its participation in ongoing scientific research. The development of a system similar to AROSS, which can utilize commercial aircraft, would cost less to build and reduceoperating cost by a factor of 5 to 10. The limitation of the new system will be a restriction in the viewing geometry resulting from using a downward looking viewport instead of a military-based turret. Arete proposes to assess the effects of therestricted viewing geometry, using AROSS data, and determine the engineering requirements to mount such a system on standard, commercial aircraft.The successful transfer of AROSS technology to a system capable of being mounted in a commercial aircraft willbe 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 spectra, in the littoral zone. The lower operating costof the proposed system will be more in-line with the budgets of typical field experiments designed to enhance scientific understanding of coastal processes. Government agencies responsible for coastal waterways, such as USACE, and mapping, such as NIMA,represent potential customers who can utilize the low-cost rapid bathymetric and current survey capability of the proposed system.