Biospherical OCULLAR Prototype featured in NASA's Cutting Edge
COAST 2011 used a modified UV-18A Twin Otter (from CIRPAS). Shown is the twin otter at 100 ft off the deck, flying over the science team that was deployed in a coastal research vessel in Monterey Bay. The team was tasked with obtaining "sea truth" for the aircraft overflight. The inset photo shows two of the three C-AIR instruments (BSI’s BioAIR series) onboard. (UV-18A photo: Juan Torres; inset photo: BSI)
OSPREy radiometers deployed at Mauna Loa Observatory August-September 2012. At the left are two instruments configured for irradiance, complete with BioShade shadowband accessory, and at the right is an OSPREy radiometer configured for radiance. The radiance instrument is mounted on a tracker and accompanied by a camera specifically used for moon tracking.
The C-OPS™ profiler, deployed by Dr. Stanford Hooker (NASA) in the Arctic as part of the Malina field campaign. The instrument is shown close to the ice edge to emphasize the ability to sample in optically complex waters, wherein a thin layer of melt water (approximately 1 m thick or less in many instances) significantly influences near-surface optical properties.
The OSPREy OR-L mounted on the solar tracker on the left, with the OR-E and BioShade shadowband in back (center) and the OR-E without BioShade to the right. At the left background is a video camera used in testing both solar trackers and solar tracking algorithms.
Summit, Greenland. Biospherical SUV-150B High Resolution Spectroradiometer in foreground with GUV behind. This is part of Biospherical's UV network and, along with Barrow, became part of NSF's Arctic Observing Network in 2009.
C-OPS Class instrument measuring light penetration under floating plastic balls in a Los Angeles Reservior.
Radiance calibration bench. Transfer radiometer seen viewing calibrated plaque illuminated by NIST-traceable FEL Standard.
ICE-Pro, a purpose-built, modified C-OPS for work under the ice, on ICESCAPE 2010. The LuZ/EdZ profiler is the red cylinder on the left. A radiometrically matching Ed0 solar reference is mounted atop the tripod, which also aids in deploying a single-channel reference sensor (QCD-2100) just beneath the ice.
Dr. Karen Frey deploys ICE-Pro, a purpose-built C-OPS for work under the ice on ICESCAPE 2010. The USCGC Healy (background) is fitted with a Biospherical Surface Ocean Reflectance System (BioSORS, S. Hooker/NASA) above-water ocean color monitor on the bow, and a Telescoping Mount for Advanced Solar Technologies (T-MAST) on the bridge, supporting the solar surface reference radiometer.
   
 


Biospherical OCULLAR Prototype featured in NASA's Cutting Edge

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OCULLAR sunset

The prototype Ocean Color Underwater Low Light Advanced Radiometer (OCULLAR) resulted from a collaboration between Biospherical Instruments and NASA/GSFC scientist Dr. Stanford Hooker. OCULLAR is designed to measure light in natural waters under low-light conditions across multiple wavelength regions, from the ultraviolet to the near-infrared, with 14 decades of dynamic range. The instrument pairs a miniature photomultiplier tube (PMT) with a Biospherical microradiometer coupled to a silicon photodetector. A microprocessor embedded in the microradiometer activates the PMT when low-light conditions are detected, and is powered off under higher light conditions where the silicon detector microradiometers take over. The first field campaign using the prototype successfully collected data under moonlit skies, including using a BioSHADE (shadowband) accessory to measure direct and diffuse components of moonlight. In addition to OCULLAR systems supporting ocean color research, versions optimized for studying predation and other nocturnal behaviors are possible.

See the article online at http://gsfctechnology.gsfc.nasa.gov/OCULLAR.html.

 

Biospherical Instruments introduces the GUVis-3511

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GUVis-3511 radiometer configured with BioSHADE and BioGPS.GUVis-3511 radiometer configured with BioSHADE and BioGPS.Biospherical Instruments has just released the GUVis-3511, the latest member of BSI's line of atmospheric radiometers. The GUVis-3511 is based on BSI’s proprietary microradiometer technology and available with up to 19 channels, ranging from 305 to 1,640 nm.  The instrument can also be equipped with a shadowband accessory to determine the direct solar irradiance. Depending on configuration, the GUVis-3511 affords the measurement of the UV Index and the retrieval of aerosol optical depth, cloud optical thickness, and total column ozone. Click here for more information and here for a paper published in Atmospheric Measurement Techniques using the instrument for shipborne measurements of aerosol optical depth.

 

The OSPREy TM Is Here!

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A NASA Technical Memorandum (TM) on BSI's OSPREy system is now available for download. The TM, titled Optical Sensors for Planetary Radiant Energy (OSPREy): Calibration and Validation of Current and Next-Generation NASA Missions, NASA TM# 2012—215872, was written by both NASA and BSI personnel. It is the first of two TMs explaining what OSPREy is and how it works.
 

BSI awarded another NSF grant for UV Monitoring

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Biospherical’s Germar Bernhard was awarded a three year NSF grant titled “Ultraviolet Radiation in the Arctic: 2012-2015”.  This marks the 25th year that Biospherical has been monitoring UV radiation at high latitudes under NSF support.

 

BSI Presented at ASLO Meeting

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BSI presented a poster titled, "State-of-the-Art Optical Dat Collection using the Compact-Propulsion Option for Profiling Systems (C-PrOPS)," at the 2016 ASLO Ocean Sciences Meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana, in February. The poster session, which is based on data obtained with BSI's C-PrOPS, was presented by one of the coauthors who is also BSI staff and assists Dr. Stanford Hooker, of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland on field campaigns.

 

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