TCARTA MARINE LLC — Department of Commerce SBIR Phase II: 9.6.03

Description

A long time ago before GPS, satellites and multibeam sonars one Old Man and the Sea thought, “It is better to be lucky. But I would rather be exact. Then when luck comes you are ready.” There is no room for luck when conducting hydrographic surveying in Arctic coastal waters. Satellites can play a key role in operational efficiency, cost effective use of existing technology and risk reduction. More precise and extensible satellite-based technologies, when leveraged to inform hydrographic surveying operations, allow operators to be more exact in their operations. To fully exploit the precision of Earth observation multispectral satellites for marine applications and specifically for Arctic conditions of short collection timeframes, challenging weather conditions and highly dynamic coastal areas, imagery collection must be exact and optimized to the nuances and unknowns inherent to the region. This research will integrate space-based multispectral, laser and radar sensors in a multi-sensor approach, using one sensor to inform the collection scheme for another, to be exacting and precise when deploying these assets. This research fuses multiple existing space-based technologies and new applications for future satellite constellations through cross-platform systems integration and near real-time interoperability with hydrographic survey operations and routines.