Raytheon sensor to fly on NASA satellite to monitor Earth's oceans

27 Aug 2019

Geostationary Littoral Imaging and Monitoring Radiometer being built under University of New Hampshire contract.

Aerospace and defense technology giant Raytheon is to build the Geostationary Littoral Imaging and Monitoring Radiometer, or GLIMR, sensor, under a contract from the University of New Hampshire.

GLIMR, NASA's selected Earth Venture Instrument-5 investigation, will be NASA's first hyperspectral imager to be put into geostationary orbit.

Hyperspectral imaging collects and processes information from across the electromagnetic spectrum including visible light, infrared and ultraviolet frequencies to create a highly detailed view of physical and biological conditions in coastal waters.

The instrument will provide high-sensitivity, high-spatial and high-temporal resolution measurements of coastal and ocean ecosystems in the Gulf of Mexico, parts of the southeastern U.S. coastline and the Amazon River plume.

'More rapid responses to disasters'

Decision-makers will then use the GLIMR data to be better able to respond rapidly to natural and manmade coastal water disasters, such as harmful algae blooms and oil spills. It will also help improve the coastal ecosystem's sustainability and resource management.

"GLIMR will collect the sharpest and most colorful view of physical and biological conditions in coastal waters ever seen from GEO," commented Jeff Puschell, GLIMR instrument scientist and principal engineering fellow at Raytheon Space Systems. "A hyperspectral imager is essential technology to capture new insight about our changing coastal ecosystems."

The University of New Hampshire is NASA's lead organization for the GLIMR contract. The instrument will launch aboard its host spacecraft in the 2026-2027 timeframe. Its data will be available to scientists, researchers and educators around the world.