NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, VA solicits inquiries from companies interested in obtaining license rights to commercialize, manufacture and market the following technology. License rights may be issued on an exclusive or nonexclusive basis and may include specific fields of use. NASA provides no funding in conjunction with these potential licenses. THE TECHNOLOGY: Scientists at NASA Langley Research Center have developed the Ground-to-Space Laser Calibration (GSLC) System concept for calibrating earth-observing sensors measuring reflected radiance. GSLC is capable of calibrating sensitivity to polarization, degradation of optics, and response to stray light of spaceborne reflected solar sensors. The concept is based on using an accurate ground-based laser system pointing at and tracking the instrument on orbit during nighttime and clear atmosphere conditions. The GSLC system will be applicable to instrument calibration in both, low earth and geostationary earth orbits. The quality of earth science data products based on observations from spaceborne radiometric sensors depends on their performance and accuracy on orbit. The accuracy of measuring reflected solar radiance can be affected by multiple factors. First, instruments with complex optics are sensitive to polarization. The response of such instruments is characterized before the launch; however, sensitivity to polarization can change on orbit significantly. Other factors are the degradation of optics, particularly in blue wavelength range below 500 nm, and on-orbit changes in the instrument response to stray light. None of the existing sensors has the ability to monitor all these changes in calibration on orbit. Accurate verification of space born sensors calibration on orbit plays a crucial role in meeting mission accuracy requirements. Onboard verification systems significantly impact mission costs by increasing the mass of instrumentation and required power. Also, onboard verification systems are not accessible for adjustment, maintenance, improvement, or repairs in the case of failure. Accordingly, a need exists for an improved calibration concept that does not suffer from the drawbacks of known calibration systems and methods. The present invention comprises an approach for calibrating the sensitivity to polarization, optics degradation, spectral and stray light response functions of instruments on orbit. The calibration is achieved by transmitting an expanded, uniform laser beam to the instrument in low earth or geo-stationary orbit, during nighttime clear sky conditions. The calibration approach uses varying beam polarization and wavelength within short time intervals. The expanded beam with uniform top-hat profile, generated by ground-based laser system, is aimed at and transmitted to the satellite, whereby the entire aperture of the optical sensor on the satellite is exposed to transmitted light. The optical sensor measures the intensity of incident signal on orbit while operations with beam polarization and wavelength are performed using optics on the ground. NASA is seeking to license this technology commercially. US Patents 8,767,210 and 9,052,236. To express interest in this opportunity, please respond to
[email protected] with the title of this Technology Transfer Opportunity as listed in this FBO notice and your preferred contact information. Please also provide the nature of your interest in the technology along with a brief background of your company. For more information about licensing other NASA-developed technologies, please visit the NASA Technology Transfer Portal at http://technology.nasa.gov/ . These responses are provided to members of NASA Langley’s Office of Strategic Analysis and Business Development “OSACB” for the purpose of promoting public awareness of NASA-developed technology products, and conducting preliminary market research to determine public interest in and potential for future licensing opportunities. If direct licensing interest results from this posting, OSACB will follow the required formal licensing process of posting in the Federal Register. No follow-on procurement is expected to result from responses to this Notice.