Description: The overall objective of the project is the development of a sensor which we have named the Thermal Mapping and Measurement System (TMMS). TMMS is a small, high performance, inexpensive, multi-band thermal infrared camera system, suitable for deployment in a variety of observational platforms. This imaging system will be capable of mapping and measuring thermal features on the surface of the earth with a high revisit rate and high spatial resolution. The proposed prototype will deliver high spatial resolution, wide field of view, high signal to noise performance, and three or more infrared spectral bands. The system includes near real-time onboard processing, using artificial intelligence and machine learning, to extract the information of greatest value, orthorectify the imagery, and reduce the size of the data for transmission. This sensor system is designed to fit within the size, weight, and power (SWaP) envelopes of typical remote sensing aircraft and 6U CubeSats. The small size and low cost combined with near real time processing supports deployment of a constellation of sensors working together to provide high revisit rates, cross calibration, enhanced measurement and detection of thermal anomalies including wildfires, and coordination of observational assets. The flexibility of the design supports a multi-layered earth observation network including sensors in Polar Orbit (mapping the entire planet including polar regions), sensors in elliptical orbits (providing higher resolution and shorter revisit times over highly populated regions), sensors in High Altitude Long Endurance aircraft operating in the stratosphere (providing persistent observation over large wildfire incidents), as well as sensors in low flying aircraft (manned or unmanned) providing extremely high resolution imagery under the cloud layer.

Benefits: NASA’s Science Mission Directorate’s (SMD) Earth Science Division (ESD) goals to rapidly advance and implement a science instrument packages into a range of vehicles, including UAVs but also other airborne, suborbital, and orbital platforms, to perform near-term studies of wildfires and climate change factors. Specifically, the goal for this technology is to be able to conduct thermal imaging on UAV and other platforms to support a range of studies including, but not limited to, active fire studies and fire front detection.

We believe there are three major markets for the TMMS technology, 1) NASA Earth Science small satellite programs, 2) Commercial remote sensing, and 3) Military and intelligence missions. While our focus at this stage is infusion with NASA programs, we are in discussion with some commercial remote sensing companies as well as other US government agencies.