Greater radiometric accuracy, decreased size and costs, plus the need for multidisciplinary research are all technology-forcing challenges to be addressed by the next generation of optical instruments. To develop a commercially successful marine spectroradiometer, the device must also appeal to the majority of investigators working in this field. This requirement led to the development of a so-called smart photodetector or microradiometer, plus its ancillary interface modules.
EcoSAR is an advanced airborne polarimetric and interferometric P-band (435 MHz) SAR instrument in development at NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center through the 2010 ESTO Instrument Incubator Program (IIP). The aim of EcoSAR is to provide two- and three dimensional fine scale measurements of terrestrial ecosystem structure and biomass.
NASA's Land, Vegetation, and Ice Sensor or "LVIS", is an airborne, wide-swath imaging laser altimeter system that is flown over target areas to collect data on surface topography and 3-d structure.
An Optical Sensors for Planetary Radiance Energy (OSPREy) system consists of radiance radiometers mounted on computer-controlled pointing systems and irradiance radiometers equipped with shadowbands. Synchronous and asynchronous sampling modes measure the sea, Sun, and sky, across a wide spectral range---the ultraviolet (UV), through the visible (VIS) and near-infrared (NIR), and into the short-wave infrared (SWIR)---to derive an unprecedented number of near-simultaneous atmospheric and oceanic parameters.
The Snow Water Equivalent Synthetic Aperture Radar and Radiometer (SWESARR) is a new instrument designed to measure the water content in a snowpack. The instrument, developed at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, uses active and passive microwave sensors to map the radio frequency emissions of the snowpack, which can then be turned into a measurement of snow water equivalent.
Abstract-A design concept for an advanced ocean color radiometer, the Ocean Radiometer for Carbon Assessment (ORCA) has been underway at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) since 2002.
