We are a group of students in Remote Sensing course at the University of Kansas. At the beginning of the semester we were given a project designed to give us an understanding of the logistics behind designing, constructing, and launching a remote sensing platform while giving us real-world team building and problem solving experience. The blog is designed to document our progress as we attempt to comply with the project guidelines (see below).
The project guidelines, straight from the horse’s mouth (Kevin Dobbs) via the syllabus: ‘Design, build, launch and retrieve an imaging system using a high-altitude balloon platform. High-quality, nadir-looking imagery over a range of altitudes, from ground level to 80,000-100,000 ft, is the goal of the project.’
Minimum system requirements:
· Payload must have imaging device capable of capturing high-quality, RGB and/or CIR data (use the best camera you can within your budget – quality imagery is the most important part of the project). Images should be tagged with x,y,z coordinates.
· Internal/external temperature sensors with data logging tied to x,y,z coordinates
· GPS—with real-time coordinate communication to the ground team
· Any FAA required equipment
Optional Elements:
· Pressure sensor
· Real-time data downlink
The entire project is divided into two major phases:
Phase I- design, build, and launch of the remote sensing platform.
Phase II- Image processing and application of the retrieved imagery to a research project of our choosing.
