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Completed TRL 7 (started at 3, targeting 7)
There are three primary Tasks associated with our FY24 IRAD, which was reduced in scope due to partial funding received more than halfway through FY24. We have developed a lightweight nitrogen dioxide sonde prototype that is capable of flying on a standard weather balloon or UAV platform. The end goal beyond FY24 is to collaborate with NASA/WFF to develop a standardized data and power system for their long duration balloon flights, offering our NO2 sonde as a test case, and to demonstrate the value of in-situ NO2 measurements from the ground to the mid-stratosphere. Our work this FY will progress as follows:
1) Refine our existing NO2 sonde prototype and begin design of a novel ozonesonde using the same cavity enhanced absorption spectroscopy (CEAS) technique.
2) Resume testing of the NO2 sonde on a UAV (and perhaps free-flying balloon) platform in Summer 2024.
3) Communicate with NASA/WFF to prescribe the instrument interface requirements for long-duration balloon flight, anticipated for Summer 2025.
To our knowledge, an NO2 sonde has never been flown from the surface to the mid-stratosphere. Our instrument will provide valuable validation data for satellite instruments that measure NO2 including OMI, TROPOMI, TEMPO, SAGE-III/ISS, and potentially STRIVE, which advanced to the Earth System Explorers Phase A. An eventual planned collaboration with NASA/WFF will standardize the way the WFF Balloon Project Office integrates instruments onto their long-duration stratospheric balloon platforms.
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This is a mature technology (TRL 7) — the realistic path in is usually NASA's Technology Transfer Program: licensing an existing NASA patent, or a Space Act Agreement to use NASA facilities/expertise directly. NASA also runs a startup licensing program with no upfront fee for companies formed to commercialize a specific NASA technology.
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