Portable Remote Imaging Spectrometer coastal ocean sensor: design, characteristics, and first flight results

Area of Science:

• Oceanography
• Remote Sensing
• Instrument Development

Background:

• Coastal ocean remote sensing presents unique challenges.
• High-performance airborne sensors are crucial for accurate data acquisition.
• Existing technologies may have limitations in uniformity, signal-to-noise ratio, and polarization sensitivity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the design, characteristics, and first test flight results of the Portable Remote Imaging Spectrometer (PRIS).
• To introduce novel technologies for enhanced performance in airborne remote sensing.
• To validate the sensor's capability for coastal oceanographic applications.

Main Methods:

• Development of the Portable Remote Imaging Spectrometer (PRIS) with advanced optical designs.
• Incorporation of technologies for high uniformity, signal-to-noise ratio, low polarization sensitivity, low stray light, and high spatial resolution.
• Testing the instrument's spectral range (350-1050 nm) and spatial resolution (0.88 mrad IFOV) in airborne configurations.

Main Results:

• The PRIS incorporates novel technologies for high-performance remote sensing.
• The instrument achieved high spatial resolution and a wide spectral range.
• First flight results demonstrated good agreement between in situ and remotely sensed data in calibration sites and Monterey Bay.

Conclusions:

• The Portable Remote Imaging Spectrometer (PRIS) is a high-performance sensor for coastal ocean remote sensing.
• The sensor's design and initial results confirm its potential value to the scientific community.
• PRIS successfully addresses key challenges in airborne coastal ocean monitoring.