Jan. 27, 2012
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ALEXANDRIA, Va. — ERDC Topographic Engineering Center (TEC) scientists have recently taken delivery of a mobile van that will house and transport various remote sensing and processing systems in support of field experiment campaigns. TEC's Mobile EO (electro-optics) Laboratory will serve as a staging platform for sensor collections involving a suite of hyperspectral imagers, spectrometers and a future terrestrial Light Detection And Ranging) LiDAR scanner. The Mobile Lab satisfies several research objectives for the group including a fast, adaptable configuration, on-site collection, processing and analysis of data and the flexibility to transport sensitive equipment without having to ship and re-configure instruments.
This new mobile lab is a six-passenger 2011 Sprinter Crew Van with a 3.0 liter V6 diesel engine. The van is capable of towing up to 5,000 and contains approximately 220 cubic feet of workspace. The vehicle also contains separate workspace environmental controls for heating and air conditioning. The work and cargo compartment has been modified with drop-down laboratory tables, storage cabinets and shelving to accommodate instruments, computers and large monitors. Instruments and computers in the van can be powered exclusively by using external generators and/or inverters adapted to on-board internal 12 volt sources.
The Mobile Lab was recently initiated during testing of the Department of the Defense's newest LiDAR, TACOP (Tactical Operating LiDAR). The van supported the acquisition of target data by use of the LiDAR capability at the Patuxent River Naval Air Station's Webster Field using a mounted short-wave infrared imager to capture the laser pattern of the sensor. The lab served as both data capture and processing facility for the characterization of the sensor beam. This year, the lab is scheduled to support major collections as part of ERDC's Enhanced Sensor Performance Program lead by ERDC Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, as well as supporting sensing efforts by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration.