NASA’s Coastal and Ocean Airborne Science Testbed (COAST)

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). Based on optical detectors called microradiometers, the NASA Ocean Biology and Biogeochemistry Calibration and Validation Office team has deployed advanced commercial off-the-shelf instrumentation that provides in situ measurements of the apparent optical properties at the land/ocean boundary including optically shallow aquatic ecosystems (e.g., lakes, estuaries, coral reefs). A replicate microradiometer instrument package, optimized for use above water will be deployed for the first time with the airborne instrument suite. This new capability will be tested using the airborne instrument suite in an airborne campaign over Monterey Bay planned for late 2011.