William H. Smith

Professor Smith's research centers upon development and application of novel sensors to difficult problems of remote sensing. These applications range from the bottom of the oceans to outer space, as illustrated in Figure 1. At the bottom, is the TIMS (Trispectroscopic Interferometric Microscopy Sensor) developed during 2000-2003 for operation at depths exceeding 5 kilometers on the ocean floor. The sensor enables Raman, reflectance, and fluorescence imaging of diverse species found at great depths in our oceans, including biological entities such as found at black smokers, as well as geological components. In future planetary science missions, sensors such as TIMS that are capable of operating robotically under extreme conditions will be required.

An example is the contemplated mission to the putative deep subsurface ocean of Europa, as well as subsurface studies of Titan which has recently been found to be unique in the solar system. In the middle of Figure 1, we illustrate a sensor developed for high altitude unmanned aircraft. This and related sensors developed by Professor Smith have flown aboard manned and unmanned aircraft for diverse missions during the period from 1994 to 2003. This effort includes studies of reefs, agricultural fields, forest and urban environments.

In addition a number of upward looking missions, for example, to study the exciting Leonides meteor showers in 1999, 2001 and 2002, have been successfully conducted. In the top panel of Figure 1, we illustrate the Mars Underground Mole Dual Spectroscopic Sensor, a sensor developed during 2003 to 2005 for laboratory and field studies preparatory to a mission to Mars. Using data acquired with this sensor, we are developing a proposal for a mission to study the subsurface regolith of Mars to a depth of up to 5 meters. This mission has, among its goals, the search for subsurface water, as well as minerals, which may have an origin, related to (former) life on Mars. Clearly such subsurface missions have applications to many bodies in the solar system, including the moon, comets, and various satellites.

Figure 1