2009 Annual Report - NASA Airborne Science Program
2009 Annual Report - NASA Airborne Science Program
2009 Annual Report - NASA Airborne Science Program
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Instrument Test Flights<br />
In FY <strong>2009</strong>, the <strong>Airborne</strong> <strong>Science</strong> <strong>Program</strong><br />
continued to support technology development,<br />
including projects funded by the Earth <strong>Science</strong><br />
Technology Office (ESTO) Instrument Incubator<br />
<strong>Program</strong> (IIP) and <strong>Airborne</strong> Instrument Technology<br />
Transfer (AITT) program.<br />
These flights include a variety of science<br />
instruments including RADARs, LIDARs, optical<br />
instruments and passive microwave experiments.<br />
By demonstrating these instruments can operate<br />
in an aircraft environment, increased technology<br />
readiness levels can be demonstrated, bringing<br />
the development one step closer to being mission<br />
ready. Since some airborne experiments must be<br />
compact, rugged and semi-autonomous, this forces<br />
the instrument teams to develop technologies<br />
also needed for the rigors of space operation.<br />
<strong>Airborne</strong> instruments also supply data that can be<br />
used to design the operating parameters of space<br />
instruments. They are a vital link in the development<br />
of space-based instruments by providing actual<br />
measurements of real-world phenomena. This<br />
understanding enables space instruments to be<br />
properly designed and to optimize data collection<br />
parameters.<br />
Some of the more significant demonstration flights<br />
conducted this past year include SIMPL, TWiLiTE,<br />
and CO 2 Laser Sounder.<br />
SIMPL<br />
The first science flights of the Slope Imaging Multipolarization<br />
Photon-Counting Lidar (SIMPL) were<br />
conducted in February, <strong>2009</strong>. SIMPL’s development<br />
was sponsored by <strong>NASA</strong>’s Earth <strong>Science</strong><br />
Technology Office (ESTO) Instrument Incubator<br />
<strong>Program</strong> (IIP). The SIMPL project was selected by<br />
the IIP in response to a call for instrumentation that<br />
enabled improved elevation mapping of ice sheets,<br />
glaciers and sea ice. David Harding (Goddard Space<br />
Flight Center, Code 698) is the SIMPL Principal<br />
Investigator.<br />
SIMPL is an advanced technology airborne laser<br />
altimeter. It incorporates beam splitting, micropulse<br />
single-photon ranging and polarimetry technologies<br />
at visible (green, 532 nm) and near-infrared<br />
(NIR, 1064 nm) wavelengths in order to achieve<br />
simultaneous sampling of surface elevation and<br />
the physical state of the surface along four parallel<br />
profiles. The deployment goals were to demonstrate<br />
the instruments measurement capabilities and<br />
document the system performance by collecting data<br />
over snow and ice targets. SIMPL was deployed<br />
on Glenn Research Center’s Lear 25 flown out of<br />
Cleveland, OH. During three flights totaling about<br />
8 hours, data was collected over ice cover on Lake<br />
Erie and snow-covered landscapes in Ohio and<br />
Pennsylvania. Additional instrumentation included<br />
an Applanix POS-AV system provided by the<br />
<strong>NASA</strong> <strong>Airborne</strong> <strong>Science</strong> Office at Ames Research<br />
Center, collecting position and attitude data used to<br />
geolocate SIMPL’s profiles. Also deployed was nadir<br />
video to document the flight lines.<br />
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