Ocean Stabilized Ionospheric Remote Imaging Sensor (OSIRIS)

In this Phase II SBIR proposal for Topic S1.12: Remote Sensing Instrument Technologies for Heliophysics, we describe our research plan to build and demonstrate an all-sky imaging system for ionospheric remote sensing from the surface of the ocean. The oceans, which cover 70% of the Earthrsquo;s surface, are currently not instrumented for space weather measurements. The proposed instrument, called Ocean Stabilized Ionospheric Remote Imaging Sensor (OSIRIS), will image the nightglow OI 630.0 nm emission data and will be capable of operating from mobile and moored buoys. The OSIRIS design solution will include a gimballed platform for sensor stabilization. The proposed OSIRIS instrument design concept is novel as ionospheric imaging from ocean platforms has not been demonstrated. The objective of this proposal is to develop a flexible and modular all-sky instrument design so that it could be integrated with different types of buoys without changing the underlying architecture. The OSIRIS design will leverage the teamrsquo;s experience with building terrestrial all-sky imagers for ionospheric remote sensing and use lessons-learned from building instruments and operating them on buoys to address design challenges associated with the ocean environment. This proposed study is a first step toward enabling the proliferation of ionospheric measurements from the ocean surface. It is anticipated that the OSIRIS design solution developed here for ocean buoys could lead to the miniaturization of future ionospheric imagers for CubeSat missions. The development of this new class of observing capability will be a pathfinder for future persistent ionospheric measurements from the ocean surface and addresses a critical gap in our current observational capability from the ocean surface.