SPECTRAL SCIENCES, INC — Department of Defense SBIR Phase II: A17-045

Description

The development of tactical IR imaging equipment requires calibrated night sky spectral radiance measurements from the visible (VIS) through the shortwave infrared (SWIR). Measuring the dark moonless night sky spectra at the required resolution is challenging due to the background noise produced from external thermal emissions. Spectral Sciences, Inc. has designed a low noise spectrometer with multiple sensors to eliminate out-of-band thermal noise. We propose building the Sky Spectrometer and Radiometer (SkySR), a rugged and compact optical instrument for measuring spectral radiance and atmospheric temperature. SkySR combines an extremely low noise spectrometer with high dynamic range, enabling both daytime and nighttime spectral measurements with 8 nm or greater resolution in the VIS to SWIR wavebands. This instrument will be ruggedized for field use and will use forced air to keep the upward facing apertures clear of precipitation and debris. A lightweight fieldable instrument for characterizing spectral sky backgrounds is well suited to support the development of tactical equipment and other military and commercial needs in remote sensing and field measurement campaigns.