Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Tech Transfer
Gimbal Integration to Small Format, Airborne, MWIR and LWIR Imaging Sensors, Phase I
Project Description
The proposed innovation is for enhanced sensor performance and high resolution imaging for Long Wave InfraRed (LWIR) and Medium Wave IR (MWIR) camera systems used in aerial imaging applications through integration with KeyW's advanced EO/IR Imaging eGimbal™ (IeG) system. Increases in pixel densities with the advent of large format monolithic focal plane arrays (FPAs), as well as new detector materials, has led to the development of faster frame rate cameras in these long-wave spectral bands. These next generation systems have enabled the transition of applications and operational CONOPs more traditionally used with high resolution Electro-Optical (EO) camera systems to long wave sensors. Specifically, the SBIR team of GIA and KeyW propose to 1) design an integration plan for a more robust version of IeG, three-axis gimbal system developed from a previous SBIR with NASA Goddard, to small format, high-sensitivity, MWIR/LWIR cameras, including the development of a sensor model to perform the coordinate transformations to geo-register the long-wave imagery; 2) design a geometric and radiometric calibration approach to ensure accurate projection and image quality of the MWIR/LWIR data; 3) design the command and control software to ensure accurate targeting of the proposed MWIR/LWIR sensors; and 4) study/design techniques and operational parameters that will allow the MWIR/LWIR sensors to meet the requirements of selected target applications and products.
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Anticipated Benefits
The SBIR team sees multiple potential NASA applications for the proposed technology. Specific applications include: ? Ground-truth collection via satellite under-flight. A critical requirement for calibration of space-based instruments is the collection of ground-truth. The collection of calibrated airborne data during satellite over-flight should result in substantially more ground-truth information. ? The proposed system will support any low SWaP MWIR/LWIR framing architecture. This proposed system design will support the testing and evaluation of airborne MWIR and LWIR surrogates for eventual space-based instruments. ? Wide-area coverage to support Earth Science objectives. The system design that will be produced by this effort will allow for the use of small, fuel efficient aircraft, and should result in a cost-effective wide area collection technique to support multiple applications such as mapping of thermal gradients within aquatic systems, assess heat exchanges in urban environments, and pollution discharges from industrial complexes. ? The small form factor of the eGimbal and proposed MWIR/LWIR cameras will support integration to any NASA requirements for long duration, UAV or Airship platforms. The SBIR proposal team has identified multiple customers and applications outside the NASA SBIR community. These customers include the U.S. Forest Service, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and commercial GIS firms. Specific applications include: ? Identification and location of "hotspots" during the fighting of forest fires. The gimbal ability would allow future applications to queue and point the sensor system. ? Detection of water "boils" near levees and impound areas that can be indicative of future failures. ? Identify and locate natural and man-made heat sources from a day/night capable platform. ? Identification of effluents in waterways associated with industrial discharge.
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Project Library
Primary U.S. Work Locations and Key Partners
| Organizations Performing Work | Role | Type | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Geospatial Intelligence and Analysis, Inc. | Lead Organization | Industry | Alexandria, Virginia |
Goddard Space Flight Center
(GSFC)
|
Supporting Organization | NASA Center | Greenbelt, Maryland |
Primary U.S. Work Locations
-
Maryland
-
Virginia
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