Brand Name or Equal to: Keo Scientific NORUSCA II imager

Full VIS Spectrum Hyperspectral Imager Acquisition
This instrument should have the ability to record sequential images of changing bandpass in the range of 400 - 1000 nm. The recommended method of changing the instrument's filter bandpass is through the use of 1 - 2 Liquid Crystal Tunable Filters (LCTFs). The required filter bandpass switching time is ≤ 50 ms at wavelengths less than 700 nm and ≤ 200 ms at wavelengths between 700 - 1000 nm. Radiometric sensitivity of the complete imaging system is to be limited by the sensitivity of the LCTFs chosen, not by any other optical component e.g. foreoptics or re-imaging optics.

Two different foreoptics are required: (1) a 180° field-of-view (FOV) "fish-eye" lens at or less than an F-number of F/1.1 and (2) 90° FOV lens at or less than F/1.0. The foreoptics are to be changed manually by the end-user. Telecentric imaging is not required. Efficient conservation of étendue from the foreoptics, through the filtering section, to the reimaging onto the focal plane array, is required at a level commensurate with industry-standard optical design tolerances. Every attempt to minimize commonly occurring aberrations, to industry-standards, must also be made and documented.

The detector should be of a material optimized for imaging in the visible spectral region, and should be, at a minimum, a "1/2-inch" size. An Electron-Multiplying Charge Coupled Device (EMCCD) or Scientific Complementary Metal-oxide-semiconductor (sCMOS) is highly desirable for fast imaging sequences and reduced read noise.

Also, full NIST-traceable radiometric calibration, with full documentation, is required. This requirement holds for every pixel in the detector area. Thus the vendor must provide evidence that the radiometric responsivity takes into account off-axis geometric effects such as those of the filter bandpass and vignetting.

Finally, all required cabling for non-interactive, computerized control and data acquisition is required. Data acquisition software that runs on Linux is required.

 
Imager description from the Keo Scientific Ltd. Website:
THE NORUSCA-II IMAGER
An important component of NORUSCA-II involved designing a compact but sensitive all-sky imager suitable for auroral studies, a component Keo Scientific provided significant input to. More information on the resulting NORUSCA-II Imager is found here.
The imager accepts a 35 mm diameter interference filter (or a Liquid Crystal Tunable Filter) and is eminently suitable for panchromatic or filtered observations of aurora, twilight/dawn phenomena, stratospheric clouds, and meteor observations.
The imager comes complete with a P.I. Acton ProEM 512B EMCCD camera (8.2 mm x 8.2 mm CCD), foreoptic(s) and filter(s) of your choice, calibration and data acquisition software.
NORUSCA-II IMAGER OPTICAL SPECIFICATIONS:
o Paraxial focal length: 3.5 mm
o FOV: dependent on choice of foreoptic(s)
o Linear FOV on CCD: 8.0 mm diameter circle
o F-number: f/1.1 (180 degree FOV lens)
o Spectral range: 430-1000 nm
o Resolution: 100 lp/mm center, 80 lp/mm (edge)
o Lens mount: C-mount
o Optics Dimensions: 320 mm length, 110 mm max diameter

Selected Filters are:

VIS2 400 - 720 nm
NIR1 700 - 1100 nm