STTR Phase I:Constellation of Nanosatellite Radars for Near-Hourly, Global Ocean Surface Vector Winds

STTR 第一阶段：近每小时全球海洋表面矢量风的纳米卫星雷达星座

• 批准号: 2304609
• 负责人: Michael Walton
• 金额: $ 27.49万
• 依托单位: CARE WEATHER TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-03-01 至 2024-10-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2304609&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: STTR; Phase; Constellation; Nanosatellite; Radars

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I project is a significant improvement in the accuracy of weather forecasts by increasing the refresh rate of sea wind measurements ten-fold. This forecast improvement will increase the economic competitiveness of the United States by improving efficiency in maritime, agriculture, and logistics industries. Improved weather forecasts will advance the health and welfare of the American public by enabling earlier storm warnings that save thousands of lives. Improved weather forecasts will support national defense, while also saving hundreds of millions of dollars in false-alarm hurricane evacuations. Sea wind data will also directly benefit maritime operators, including recreational sailors, ocean carriers and fishers. Wind map and forecast subscriptions from maritime customers represent a $3 billion commercial opportunity.This STTR Phase I project proposes to study the feasibility of increasing the refresh rate of sea wind measurements ten-fold using a constellation of nanosatellite radars (scatterometers). Current satellites for measuring sea winds are prohibitively expensive and performance has not substantially improved since they were introduced decades ago. The objective of this research is to evaluate the measurement accuracy, cost, and refresh rate of the proposed nanosatellite scatterometers. Additional objectives study the regulatory feasibility, post-processing feasibility, and commercial feasibility. The research includes calculations of the radar signal, heat, data geolocation, cost, mass, data rate, latency, radio interference, and license feasibility. The research also includes simulations of the radar measurement geometry, the post-processing, the wind maps that will be generated by the scatterometer, as well as the constellation, its operations, and its replenishment requirements. The studies in this project answer key feasibility and performance questions posed by potential users. The results, such as data quality, availability, and simulated sample data, will be used in customer discovery to ensure the needs of potential users are met.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

这个小企业技术转让（STTR）第一阶段项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力是通过将海风测量的刷新率提高十倍来显着提高天气预报的准确性。这一预测改善将通过提高海事、农业和物流行业的效率来提高美国的经济竞争力。改进的天气预报将通过提前发布风暴警报来改善美国公众的健康和福利，从而挽救数千人的生命。 改进的天气预报将支持国防，同时也节省了数亿美元的虚假警报飓风撤离。海风数据还将直接使海上运营商受益，包括休闲水手、远洋运输公司和渔民。来自海事客户的风图和预报订阅代表了30亿美元的商业机会。该STTR第一阶段项目提议研究使用纳卫星雷达（散射仪）星座将海风测量的刷新率提高十倍的可行性。目前用于测量海风的卫星过于昂贵，自几十年前推出以来，性能没有实质性改善。本研究的目的是评估测量精度，成本和更新率的建议纳卫星散射计。其他目标研究监管可行性、后处理可行性和商业可行性。该研究包括雷达信号，热量，数据地理位置，成本，质量，数据速率，延迟，无线电干扰和许可证可行性的计算。该研究还包括雷达测量几何形状的模拟，后处理，散射计生成的风图，以及星座，其操作和补给要求。该项目的研究回答了潜在用户提出的关键可行性和性能问题。结果，如数据质量，可用性和模拟样本数据，将用于客户发现，以确保潜在用户的需求得到满足。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估的支持。