A low cost, radio controlled blimp as a platform for remote sensing

The authors propose using a radio-controlled blimp as a new platform for microwave remote sensing. Although blimps have been used for aerial photography, they have not been applied in precision remote sensing. Among the advantages suggested are low cost, low maintenance, ease of deployment, and minimal personnel requirements. Applications are given of typical radar systems for which a remotely controlled blimp is a suitable platform. Among these systems, the authors suggest microwave radar systems such as synthetic aperture radars (SAR), altimeters, and scatterometers. Such radar systems are currently used for archaeological and geological studies typically from aircraft or satellites, but they propose using a blimp as a low cost alternative for these systems. As an example, the authors present an altimeter system designed to support NASAs Jason-1 launch. In support of this launch, testing is scheduled for work on landslide detection and mean sea level measurement. For the altimeter the remote controlled blimp will be used as the platform for these measurements. They acknowledge the funding support of NASA for this study