Award Data

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to the atmosphere are primary drivers of global climate change and hence there is a crucial need to quantify their sources and sinks. A general technique to constrain source and sink strengths is the analysis of the relative proportions of isotopic variants of GHG's. These measurements must be performed with extremely high precision. The gold standard technique, i ...

There are currently no inexpensive observing systems that detect temperature, salinity and currents under the ocean's surface - all important factors in predicting the intensity of hurricanes. Boston Engineering proposes to develop the Multi-Purpose Above Surface/Below Surface Expendable Dropsondes (MASED). Our design builds on the highly successful air dropsondes already in use, combined with a ...

The objective of the proposed work is to determine whether Dioxide Materials' miniature C02 sensors have the potential to be adapted for autonomous measurement of ocean carbon. The existing sensors have many advantages for measurements of ocean carbon. They are much smaller and less costly than the existing sensors, work with much smaller gas samples, and use much less power. The sensors were d ...

The goal of this project is to develop, implement, and experimentally validate a new Differential Global Navigation Satellite System (DGNSS) capable of providing sub-centimeter positioning accuracy for quasi-static scientific, mapping, and survey applications. The main feature of the proposed DGNSS solution is that it leverages GNSS reference data from existing NOAA's Continuously Operational Ref ...

During the Phase I program, Aurora conducted a comprehensive survey of potential platforms that included government owned and furnished UAVs and manned aircraft as well as Aurora’s Centaur Optionally Piloted Aircraft (OPA). The survey concluded, in part, that UAVs offer a significant improvement in data collection capability when compared to manned aircraft that are currently fielded by NOAA. ...

Multiple major pipeline failures have been caused by seam weld defects not detected by available ILI technology [August 16, 2013 WSJ]. Phase I will demonstrate a game changing capability to deliver internal and external corrosion mapping and seam weld crack detection in a low-cost tool that “encourages more repetitive ILI runs and wider use.” JENTEK’s new through wall imaging method called S ...

What is needed is a lightweight system that can be deployed and used by one person that will measure and compile the track geometry data and compute the MCO for a rail section in real time without reliance on any external reference. Such a device, the Mid-chord Rail Offset Measurement System (McROMS) is the subject of this proposal. But MCO is not the only rail geometry data of interest. If this s ...

Trenchless excavation methods, such as horizontal directional drilling (HDD) operations, offer the potential for significant cost savings on many utility relocation projects; however, these methods require extremely accurate drill head navigation in addition to precise knowledge of existing utility location in order to ensure boring operations do not interfere with existing pipelines or conduits. ...

Scoliosis, a condition where there is lateral curvature of the spine, affects an estimated 6 million people in the United States. There is widespread use of bracing for treatment of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis, and recent studies have begun documenting its efficacy. These studies have indicated that user compliance is a large, yet largely unquantified, factor in successful outcomes. There are ...

The purpose of this project is to develop a device that provides rapid intermittent compression to the residual limb of amputees that do not have good blood flow in their limbs. The device will be built into the prosthetic socket to provide the user with portable therapy throughout the day, which will free the user from being confined to a chair for up to six hours each day to receive the prescrib ...