Sequoia Scientific, Inc. has been awarded a Phase I Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to develop a new in-situ hyperspectral transmissometer. The grant is for a 6-month project focused on designing, assembling, and testing an instrument breadboard for measuring optical transmission in marine and freshwater environments from ultraviolet (UV) to the near-infrared (NIR) wavelengths. Sequoia’s Science & Technology Lead, Mr. Kirby Simon, will serve as principal investigator and lead the research and development (R&D) efforts.
The objective of this Phase I effort is to assess the feasibility of an instrument to perform in-situ, open-path transmission measurements from UV to NIR wavelengths using a broadband source with discrete spectral scanning and a wavelength-discriminating detector to mitigate contamination from scattering and fluorescence. Phase I will focus on designing and testing an instrument prototype, including performing trade studies based on different detector architectures. We will explore the potential to simultaneously measure inelastic scattering and fluorescence that can complement the transmission measurement and improve the instrument calibration. At the conclusion of Phase I we will benchmark the instrument performance against our commercially-available LISST-Tau transmissometer, laying the foundation for developing a submersible instrument prototype in Phase II.
The proposed hyperspectral transmissometer directly complements Sequoia’s two hyperspectral instruments for measuring absorption (Hyper-a) and backscattering (Hyper-bb), which are important inherent optical properties (IOPs) of water. These instruments were also developed under NASA SBIR awards and are currently used in support of remote sensing validation and biogeochemistry research.
About the award, Sequoia’s Mr. Simon says: “We are delighted to receive this award and expand our suite of hyperspectral instrument offerings for in-situ IOP measurements. Through this grant, we hope to build upon Sequoia’s longstanding history of optical sensor development in support of oceanographic research. Importantly, we are excited about the potential for this instrument to support the development and validation of data products from current and future hyperspectral remote sensing missions.”
For further information, contact Sequoia at www.sequoiasci.com.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the United States Government, or any agency thereof.
See also:
NASA 2024 SBIR/STTR Phase I Press Release, June 11, 2024 (RELEASE: 24-085)
NASA Selects 2024 Small Business, Research Teams for Tech Development – NASA
Sequoia will develop a transmissometer – Hyper-c – to measure hyperspectral beam attenuation coefficients, an important IOP, in-situ in aquatic environments. The Hyper-c instrument (right) complements the hyperspectral absorption (left) and backscattering (middle) sensors developed and commercialized by Sequoia under prior NASA SBIR awards and supports current (PACE) and future (GLIMR, SBG) ocean sensing satellite missions by validating ocean color models with ground-truth data.