Bridger Photonics, Inc. — National Aeronautics and Space Administration SBIR Phase I: S1

Description

Real-time, high-frequency measurements of atmospheric ozone are becoming increasingly important to understand the impact of ozone towards climate change, to monitor and understand depletion of the ozone layer, to further understand its role in atmospheric chemistry, and to assess its impact on human health and the productivity of agricultural crops. Expansions of tropospheric ozone measurement efforts, such as NASArsquo;s TOLNet program, are critical to improve our understanding these effects. In response to this need, Bridger Photonics Inc proposes developing an autonomous ozone profiler based on a differential absorption lidar (DIAL) measurement.nbsp;nbsp; The proposed instrument would enable widespread deployment of turn-key ozone DIAL systems capable of continuous range-resolved atmospheric ozone measurements from ground-based platforms to advance NASArsquo;s Earth science mission and fill a market need for an integrated ozone monitoring instrument for a non-technical customer base. To achieve this design goal, in this Phase I effort Bridger will integrate its UV lidar transmitter (developed in a previous NASA SBIR process) into a complete lidar system, design and test several additional critical subsystems, and develop mechanical system plans for a prototype unit.nbsp; A Phase II workplan would construct an instrument based on these plans and test it in a laboratory and mission relevant setting.