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Instrument

MASS
Modular Aerial Sensing System

The Modular Aerial Sensing System (MASS) is a remote sensing airborne instrument suite operated by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego. It comprises an airborne topographic lidar, hyperspectral camera, longwave infrared (LWIR) camera, infrared pyrometer, and video and digital camera systems. The lidar maps ocean and land surface topography at the 1550 nm wavelength at 400 kHz repetition rate with a spatial resolution of 50 cm at an altitude of 915 m. The hyperspectral camera is a pushbroom imager operating in the 400-1000 nm spectral range with a resolution of 66 cm. The LWIR camera operates in the 7.5-9.5 μm spectral range with a resolution of 1.06 m or 1.76 m, depending on the scan angle. Video and digital cameras provide imagery at a resolution of 36 cm and 16 cm, respectively. The pyrometer operates in the 9.6-11.5 μm spectral range and provides temperature measurements at a rate of 30 Hz.

Image of the MASS instrument suite
NASA's DC-8 flying laboratory passes Antarctica's tallest peak, Mount Vinson, on Oct. 22, 2012, during a flight over the continent to measure changes in the massive ice sheet and sea ice. Credit: NASA/Michael Studinger (Photography courtesy NASA Images)

Instrument Details

Multi
Earth Science > Oceans > Sea Surface Topography
Earth Science > Spectral/engineering > Visible Wavelengths > Visible Imagery
Earth Science > Spectral/engineering > Lidar > Lidar Backscatter
Earth Science > Spectral/engineering > Infrared Wavelengths > Thermal Infrared
Earth Science > Spectral/engineering > Lidar
Earth Science > Land Surface > Topography
Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Temperature
Earth Science > Spectral/engineering > Infrared Wavelengths > Infrared Imagery
Full Column Profile, Land Surface
400 kHz, 80 Hz, 125 Hz, 100 Hz, 30 Hz
50 cm, 66 cm, 1.06 m, 1.76 m, 36 cm, 16 cm
193.4 THz, 299.8-749.5 THz, 31.6-40 THz, 26.1-31.2 THz
Currently unavailble

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