DEVELOPMENT OF A PORTABLE MULTISPECTRAL THERMAL INFRARED CAMERA

THE PROPOSED RESEARCH WILL INVESTIGATE THE FEASIBILITY FOR DEVELOPING A FIELD PORTABLE MULTISPECTRAL THERMAL INFRARED CAMERA FOR USE IN THE NASA GEOLOGY PROGRAM TO CHARACTERIZE THE COMPOSITIONAL AND TEXTURAL HETEROGENEITY OF UNDISTURBED SURFACES. THE RESEARCH EFFORT WILL INCLUDE THE INVESTIGATION OF ALTERNATIVE TECHNIQUES FOR DISPERSION AND DETECTION OF THE THERMAL INFRARED SPECTRUM, VALUABLE FIELD OF VIEW OPTICS, FIELD DISPLAY TECHNIQUES, AND DIGITAL DATA RECORDING. MOREOVER, A SIGNIFICANT PORTION OF THE EFFORT WILL ADDRESS PACKAGING DESIGN AND POWER LIMITATIONS NECESSARY TO PROVIDE A RUGGED FIELD PORTABLE INSTRUMENT. INNOVATIONS IN CONFIGURATION, MATERIAL SELECTION, AND PACKAGING ARE REQUIRED TO PRODUCE A FIELD PORTABLE INSTRUMENT. SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION OF THE PROPOSED RESEARCH WILL RESULT IN THE PRELIMINARY DESIGN AND PERFORMANCE SPECIFICATIONS FORAN INSTRUMENT THAT WILL PROVIDE DATA WITH WHICH TO GREATLY EXPAND THE KNOWLEDGE OF SPECTRAL PROPERTIES OF HETEROGENEOUS NATURAL SURFACES. THIS INFORMATION WILL GREATLY AID EFFORTS TO PERFORM GEOLOGIC MAPPING AND MINERAL EXPLORATION THROUGH THE USE OF AIRBORNE AND SPACE BASED MULTISPECTRAL THERMAL INFRARED INSTRUMENTS.