ScanEagle
InSitu ScanEagle

The Air-Deployed Microbuoy (ADMB) is an in situ buoy sensor deployed from uncrewed aerial systems (UAS). It contains three thermistors that measure sea surface temperature and subsurface water temperature at depths of 1 m and 2 m. The UAS retrieves the data as it flies over the buoy using the ADMB's 900 MHz radio receiver. The ADMB samples at 1 Hz and has an operational lifetime of about 10 days, depending on conditions.

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.

ATOM is a thermal imager manufactured by LYNRED USA. It captures high-resolution thermal imagery across the 8-14 μm spectral range. It is compact, making it easy to integrate into vehicle and airborne platforms. ATOM has a 17 μm pixel pitch and a 1024x768-pixel array. It captures an image in about two seconds at 30 Hz.

The Bobcat 29MP Visible Camera is an airborne visible camera developed by Imperx, Inc. It is part of the IcePod instrument suite operated by Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (LDEO) of the Earth Institute at Columbia University. It captures visible imagery at a resolution of 6576 x 4384 pixels, a swath width of 1.2 km, and a maximum frame rate of 20 Hz. These images can be used to determine ice concentration, topography, and ice melt.

The Ball Experimental Sea Surface Temperature Radiometer (BESST) is an airborne pushbroom imaging radiometer developed by Ball Aerospace. It is a thermal infrared (8-12 μm) radiometer that measures sea surface temperature. BESST has a spatial resolution of 1 meter and a swath width of 200 meters at a flight altitude of 600 meters. It collects 130 frames per data frame, which takes about 53 seconds to complete. BESST was designed for deployment on uncrewed aerial systems (UAS) and small aircraft.

Video cameras capture footage of various phenomena for research. They are used on aircraft to provide continuous views of weather and terrain below the flight path. Video cameras are also employed to verify the aircraft's flight track. Additionally, they are deployed at field sites to monitor changes in vegetation, land cover, clouds, air quality, glaciers, and other Earth science phenomena.