The Coastal and Ocean Airborne Science Testbed (COAST) Project is a NASA Earth-science flight project that will advance coastal ecosystems research by providing a unique airborne payload optimized for remote sensing in the optically complex coastal zone
The COAST instrument suite combines a customized imaging spectrometer, sunphotometer system, and new bio-optical radiometer instruments to obtain ocean/coastal/atmosphere data simultaneously. The imaging spectrometer is optimized in the blue region of the spectrum to emphasize remote sensing of marine and freshwater ecosystems. Simultaneous measurements for empirical characterization of the atmospheric column will be accomplished using the Ames Airborne Tracking Sunphotometer (AATS-14). The radiometer system, designed and built by Biospherical Instruments, Inc., collects high quality radiance data from the ocean surface. Dr. Liane Guild of NASA Ames Biospheric Science Branch is the principal investigator.
Credit: NASA/Jennifer Dungan
Mission blog: http://blogs.nasa.gov/cm/newui/blog/viewpostlist.jsp?blogname=mission-ames
