HICO and RAIDS Experiment Payload - Hyperspectral Imager for the Coastal Ocean (HREP-HICO)
Research Area: Earth Remote Sensing
Expedition(s): 19-ongoing
Principal Investigator(s): ● Mike Corson, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington,
DC
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
The HICO and RAIDS Experiment Payload - Hyperspectral Imager for
the Coastal Ocean (HREP- HICO) uses a special camera that
separates light into hundreds of wavelength channels, which reveals
information about the composition of water and land along the
coasts. Each scene covers an area of about 30 miles by 125 miles,
which captures features like river outflow plumes or algae blooms,
and lets scientists do environmental characterization of coastal
regions.
EARTH BENEFITS
The HICO camera can study the ocean’s depth, shallow sea floor,
water visibility and chlorophyll content, which indicates the
presence of microscopic species of plankton. Improved
understanding of these ocean characteristics is important for the
U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps, which may need to move ships
quickly in shallow or murky waters. HICO data can also be used to
monitor water quality, which could help the Environmental
Protection Agency and other civilian researchers studying coastal
ecosystems.
SPACE BENEFITS
HICO is part of a larger experiment called HICO and RAIDS
Experiment Payload (HREP) that combines HICO and the Remote
Atmospheric and Ionospheric Detection System (RAIDS). Imagery captured during the
experiment’s long duration will provide new data about how sunlight, cloud cover, and
different viewing angles can affect images taken in low-Earth orbit.
RESULTS
HICO has been operating since September 25, 2009 aboard the ISS. Over 1 700 pictures were
collected from HICO in the first year of operation. These images have been used to characterize
a variety of optical conditions of ocean waters, such as chlorophyll concentrations, colored
dissolved organic matter concentrations, suspended sediment concentrations, and water
depth. Image targets have included the Yellow Sea near South Korea, to determine the depth of
shallow mud flats and channels, and the Florida Keys, to demonstrate chlorophyll
concentrations, dissolved organic matter and suspended sediment concentrations, water
A HICO image taken
over the mouth of the
Chesapeake Bay on
October 7, 2009. NASA
image.