2008 Annual Report - NASA Airborne Science Program

Airborne
Sensor
Technology
Lab
This element of the Airborne
Science Program encompasses
the development and operation
of facility instrumentation and
ancillary systems for community
use by NASA investigators, as well as
general instrument engineering and payload
integration support for the program. The
ASTL operates the MODIS and ASTER
Airborne Simulators (MAS and MASTER) in
conjunction with the EOS Project Science
Office and JPL. Other facility systems
include the Autonomous Modular Sensor
(AMS) for UAS platforms, and various
tracking cameras and precision navigation
systems for mission documentation. This
group is also leading the development
effort for the next-generation of airborne
science data networks for the Program, and
the associated internet-based “sensor web”
environment, which is intended to increase
the measurement potential of the various
platforms. In addition, the lab operates a
NIST-traceable calibration facility, which
supports a variety of NASA airborne sensors
and radiometers with measurements in
the visible through thermal infrared region.
Additional tasks include data processing, and
sensor flight planning services for approved
remote sensing flight requests. The ASTL
is staffed by the Univ. of California, Santa
Cruz, and is part of the NASA Ames UARC
(University Affiliated Research Center.) It is
jointly supported by the EOS PSO and the
Airborne Science Program. A summary of
2008 engineering and data collection activities
follows.
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