SIERRA
Sensor Integrated Environmental Remote Research Aircraft

Generic-Atmospheric State (Gen-AtmsState) refers to non-specific instruments on a platform that measure atmospheric state parameters. These are typically in situ sensors that measure temperature, pressure, humidity, and wind speed and direction. Types of atmospheric state instruments include thermometers, hygrometers, barometers, and anemometers.

The Micro Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar (MicroASAR) is an airborne radar system developed by Brigham Young University (BYU) and Artemis, Inc. It was designed to operate on uncrewed aerial systems (UAS) and small aircraft. It is a C-band (5428.76 MHz) synthetic aperture radar (SAR) that provides radar imagery with a nominal range resolution of 1 m at a 160 MHz bandwidth. MicroASAR can operate at altitudes from 500 to 3000 ft and has a maximum swath width of 300 to 2500 m.

A pyrometer is a remote-sensing infrared thermometer that measures the temperature of distant objects by detecting their thermal radiation. It can be mounted on aircraft, ground vehicles, or water-based platforms for surface and sea-surface temperature observations. For atmospheric studies, the pyrometer usually operates in the 9.6 to 11.5 µm spectral range and has a temperature range of -25 to 200 degrees Celsius. Pyrometers typically have a response time between 5 milliseconds and 600 seconds.

The CU LIDAR Profilometer and Imaging System (CULPIS) is an airborne lidar mapping system developed at the University of Colorado at Boulder. It is designed to map land and sea ice surface topography and elevation from uncrewed aerial systems (UAS). It consists of a lidar system, an inertial measurement unit (IMU), a global positioning system (GPS), and digital cameras. The lidar system within CULPIS operates at 905 nm and has a measurement rate of 400 Hz. At a flight altitude of 200 m above ground level (AGL) and a flight speed of 30 meters per second, it has a lidar footprint of 60 cm and an along-track spacing of 7.5 cm.

Spectrometers are instruments that separate and analyze the spectral components of a substance. They typically measure electromagnetic radiation that has been reflected, absorbed, or transmitted by a sample. Spectrometers operate across the ultraviolet to infrared spectrum. The most common types include optical, nuclear magnetic resonance, and mass spectrometers. They can be deployed on aircraft, research vessels, vehicles, and other ground-based platforms.

Digital cameras provide imagery for research applications. Cameras are mounted on aircraft to collect aerial imagery for mapping and surveying, environmental monitoring, cloud observations, agriculture, geological studies, and other Earth science applications. They are also deployed at field sites to capture visual observations that monitor changes in land cover, vegetation, clouds, air quality, glaciers, and other phenomena.