NASA SBIR 2012 Solicitation

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip, Phone)
Coherent Applications, Inc.
20 Research Drive, Suite 500
Hampton, VA 23666 - 1325
(757) 766-1002

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/Zip, Phone)
Diego Pierrottet
d.f.pierrottet@cailidar.com
20 Research Drive, Suite 500
Hampton, VA 23666 - 1325
(757) 927-5556

CORPORATE/BUSINESS OFFICIAL (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/Zip, Phone)
Diego Pierrottet
d.f.pierrottet@cailidar.com
20 Research Drive, Suite 500
Hampton, VA 23666 - 1325
(757) 927-5556

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 3
End: 4

Technology Available (TAV) Subtopics
Lidar Remote Sensing Technologies is a Technology Available (TAV) subtopic that includes NASA Intellectual Property (IP). Do you plan to use the NASA IP under the award?
No

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (Limit 2000 characters, approximately 200 words)
This proposal addresses NASA's science objectives with innovative lidar architecture for atmospheric CO2 measurements. Specifically, the proposed work can support and potentially enhance the Active Sensing of CO2 Emissions over Nights, Days, and Seasons (ASCENDS) technologies. Using an active laser measurement technique, our system is designed to enhance the capabilities of CO2 remote sensing from high-latitude regions and nighttime observations with sensitivity in the lower atmosphere, and enable investigations of the climate-sensitive southern ocean and permafrost regions, provide insight into the diurnal cycle and plant respiration processes, and provide useful new constraints to global carbon cycle models.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words)
Aside from the many possible commercial spin-off applications of a high sensitivity lidar receiver, successful demonstration of this IPDA Lidar will place CAI in a position to provide additional support services in technology enhancement and potentially in a position to participate in the integration of this capability into NASA's ASCENDS program for space platform earth science missions. Applications for this sensor include the measurement of methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O), which together with CO2 are recognized as the most important greenhouse gases. Concentrations of these gases increase rapidly through human activities, thus a space-borne IPDA Lidar is ideal to better predict the behavior of the climate system and to help constrain political conventions on greenhouse gas avoidance, a more accurate knowledge of the sources and sinks of these gases in terms of location, magnitude, and variability on a global basis.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words)
The potential for non NASA commercialization includes our proprietary waveform modulation technique which can be applied to many different lidar and radar technologies. Applications, include wind measurement, imaging, target tracking, and chemical detection to name a few.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING (NASA's technology taxonomy has been developed by the SBIR-STTR program to disseminate awareness of proposed and awarded R/R&D in the agency. It is a listing of over 100 technologies, sorted into broad categories, of interest to NASA.)

Analytical Instruments (Solid, Liquid, Gas, Plasma, Energy; see also Sensors) Chemical/Environmental (see also Biological Health/Life Support) Detectors (see also Sensors) Fiber (see also Communications, Networking & Signal Transport; Photonics) Filtering Infrared Lasers (Ladar/Lidar) Prototyping