MEMS Sensors to help NASA monitor weather

NASA Tech Briefs, Oct 2002

Microelectromechanical (MEMS) sensor probes

ENSCO, Inc.

Cocoa Beach, FL

703-321.405

www.ensco.com

ENSCO is one of 16 companies designing advanced systems and architectures for the NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts' (NIAC) new observing system, the Global Environmental MEMS Sensors (GEMS) system. The company is designing in-situ, micron-scale airborne probes that will monitor weather and environmental conditions. The GEMS concept was inspired by technological advancements in MEMS and nanotechnology.

While existing sensor systems typically measure a few millimeters across, ENSCO's probes would be roughly 100 microns in diameter - the width of a strand of hair. This minute size would allow the probes to be suspended in the atmosphere and carried by wind currents for long periods of time. Once suspended in the atmosphere, the GEMS probes would measure meteorological parameters including temperature, pressure, moisture, and wind speed, and relay that data back to Earth via a wireless communication protocol.

Resulting improvements in forecast accuracy would translate directly into cost benefits for the weather-sensitive space launch and aviation industries, and mitigate the risk factors associated with life-threatening weather phenomena such as hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, and severe storms.

"With GEMS, we're actually working on an application for MEMS sensors," said John Manobianco, GEMS principal investigator and program manager for ENSCO. "GEMS could be used locally regionally, and globally to take better environmental measurements. Once they land on the ground - on Earth or even possibly other planets - they might be able to take surface-level measurements as well."

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