SAAZ has received a Phase II award from NASA to develop and demonstrate ALOHA, an Adaptive Large capacity Optical infrared High dynamic range Array built to image active wildfires from orbit.
Fires produce an extreme range of brightness within a single scene: intense flame fronts next to comparatively dark terrain and smoke. Conventional space based imagers saturate or lose detail at one end of that range. ALOHA is designed to capture both extremes in the same frame, giving disaster response teams a clearer read on fire location, intensity, and spread.
The Phase II award builds on an earlier Phase I effort and moves the program toward a demonstrated sensor architecture.
“ALOHA gives us per-pixel gain control and 230 decibels of dynamic range in a single frame. That’s the difference between losing a fire’s edge in glare and tracking it as it moves,” said Atul Joshi, President and CEO of SAAZ. “Programs like FireSense need sensors that hold up under exactly these conditions, and that’s what we built this for.”
SAAZ will provide further updates as the ALOHA program progresses.
About SAAZ
SAAZ Micro Inc. is a deep-tech company that designs and manufactures advanced full spectrum electro-optical and infrared (EO/IR) image sensors from UV to LWIR, detector electronics, and camera systems for space, airborne, defense, and specialty imaging applications. SAAZ produces imagers, avalanche photodiode (APD) detectors, event-based vision sensors, LiDAR receivers, and laser communication (Lasercom) receivers. SAAZ operates AS9100D and ISO 9001 certified facilities.
