A need exists for a new environmental situational awareness sensor with multi-spectrum camouflage that is extremely small (90g) and capable of measuring with aviation-grade accuracy: wind speed/direction, horizontal visibility, sky condition, cloud heights, temperature, dewpoint, barometric pressure, precipitation and CBRN contamination. There exists a strong desire to support a variety of communications options for data dissemination and C2. This sensor will be used in Unmanned Aircraft Systems and in ground deployments. A unit with the capabilities described above would address an unmet requirement for remote expendable weather sensors from the AF OS-21 ORD. ADSS proposes to utilize a variety of novel sensor technologies coupled with various meteorological rules and data fusion techniques to address this unmet need. ADSS proposes to develop both the 90g sensor and an optional ground-based augmentation sensor. Phase I will focus on the selection, evaluation, and demonstration of the most difficult measurements (visibility, cloud height, sky coverage, wind speed/direction) to perform with high accuracy in the cell phone size package. These new measurement approaches will be evaluated in Phase I in ADSSÂ’ unique and highly instrumented test facility for weather sensors. Phase I will result in a down-selection of technologies for full development in Phase II.
Benefits: The precision weather measurement market has been relatively stagnate in the development of new technologies for the last 20 years and has chosen to simply refine the existing measurement techniques. This is due to costs associated with gaining acceptance of a new technology and that size, weight and power for the typical installation are immaterial. Under this three-Phased SBIR program, ADSS has proposed several revolutionary technologies which when proven will address the stated DoD need (AF OS-21 ORD) and create new applications in other markets. ADSS is the incumbent technology company for addressing this DoD need for remote expendable aviation-grade weather measurement systems. As such, ADSS has developed manufacturing and calibration facilities for this market. In addition, ADSS has established sales, marketing and customer support for this market. ADSS routinely exhibits at the American Meteorological Society annual show and has a solid reputation within the weather community. Given successful demonstration of the proposed technology, ADSS is extremely well-poised to immediately commercialize this technology within its existing customer base. Beyond the existing customers, the markets requiring the proposed technology include 1) battlefield DSNs or Unattended Ground Sensors (UGS), 2) intelligence gathering by the military and other government organizations, 3) installation Homeland Defense, 4) Homeland Security monitoring applications and 6) wildlife/forest monitoring. ADSS envisions significant penetration into these markets because the proposed system would create new methods to address unmet needs in these areas.
Keywords: Weather Sensor, Environmental Sensor, Cloud Height, Sky Coverage, Horizontal Visibility, Anemometer
