ARETE ASSOCIATES — Department of Commerce SBIR Phase I: 9.1

Description

The surface of the ocean is a dynamic and challenging work environment. Many operations are limited by sea state and surface currents. Knowledge of ocean wave conditions is critical for maritime safety and operations. We propose to develop a new Infrared Polarimetric Wave Imaging (I-PWI) sea state sensor. IPWI will be deployed on offshore structures such as oil platforms and wind turbines. The technology complements existing monitoring capabilities including a real-time, NOAA maintained data buoy array, numerical models, and regional ocean observation systems. I-PWI leverages new camera technology and recent advances in the physical understanding of Structure from Polarization (SfP) to capture surface slope fields used to derive sea state (wave height, period, and directional wave spectra). I-PWI also uses wellestablished space-time processing techniques to provide estimates of surface currents from image sequences. The system (camera and processing module) is mounted well above the sea surface, and looks down and away from the platform. This configuration reduces installation and maintenance cost relative to in situ instruments and buoys, and avoids wake contamination from the platform. We anticipate that this Phase I study will demonstrate the feasibility of I-PWI to provide a compelling commercial solution.