NASA's Earth Science Roadmaps (Section 2.2) provide much insight into a variety of potential NASA applications for the LOLUX radiometers developed in this project. As satellite technology advances and capabilities to observe the ocean at challenging locations (e.g., coastal areas) improve, ever more sophisticated ground-based instrumentation is required to validate measurements from space. There is increased interest by NASA to study Arctic oceans early and late in the year, when the solar irradiance is small, and LOLUX could provide the required validation data. Furthermore, observations with moon light become accessible, potentially allowing to measure variations in ocean properties over a complete 24 hour cycle, using the same instrument during the night and the day. Thus, LOLUX radiometers can potentially support many NASA spaceborne and sub-orbital missions (e.g., AVIRIS, MODIS, VIIRS, ACE/PACE, GEO-CAPE, and HyspIRI) and associated cal/val activities.
Non-NASA benefits to this technology parallel the direct benefit to NASA, with the extension to in-creased opportunity for multidisciplinary airborne studies in the field. International and domestic potential customers for this technology include government, university, and privately funded re-searchers interested in ocean color, phytoplankton ecology, fisheries, or photodegradation.
More »