Mobile Snow Depth Sensor Utilizes Novelda's Nanoscale Impulse Radar

State-of-the-art Novelda NVA6000 Impulse Radar transceiver finds widespread appeal and application

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Jun 06, 2011, 07:30 ET

OSLO, Norway, June 6, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Flat Earth Incorporated announced today they have developed the first mobile snow depth sensor based on the Novelda AS NVA6000 impulse-based radar chip. The SDS-715 provides a non-contact approach for determining snow depth on the go. Measurement range is 0.15 to 2.0 meters with an accuracy of approximately 3.5 cm, snow condition dependent.

This rugged, low-cost snow depth measurement system is designed for snow grooming operations at Alpine and Nordic ski resorts. Snow depth beneath the snowcat is measured every second, approximately every 3 meters at 8 kph. The SDS-715 is cheaper than current ground penetrating radar systems on the market today. When used with Flat Earth's CatWorks snowcat navigation and information system, depth maps of the resort trails can be created and viewed in Google Earth.

"The Novelda NVA6000 Impulse Radar transceiver is a cutting-edge radar transceiver that incorporates extremely high frame rate and accuracy, in addition to unique penetration capabilities," remarks Flat Earth CEO Doug Roberts "Integrated on a single chip, this radar transceiver transmits pulses of high bandwidth."

In comparison to traditional technology, the Novelda NVA6000 Impulse Radar transceiver offers several improvements and value-added features. It effectively uses even extremely short microwave pulses, which makes it ideal for high-resolution ranging.

ABOUT FLAT EARTH

Flat Earth is a privately held company, based in Bozeman, Montana, USA, and specializes in end-user applications using Novelda's nanoscale wireless low-power technology for ultra-high-resolution impulse radar. Flat Earth has been researching and designing nanoscale radar-based applications since 2008. Flat Earth's mission is to develop applications based on nanoscale radar for environmental monitoring, proximity sensing, navigation and transportation, search and rescue, and other novel applications utilizing radar, GPS and information systems.

Flat Earth was founded in 2004 and specializes in sensors, GPS-based navigation and information system applications.

http://www.flatearthinc.com

Press Release Contact: Mike Zambon, support(at)flatearthinc.com

SDS-715 in Operation at Ski Resort:
http://www.flatearthinc.com/index_files/Page434.htm

ABOUT NOVELDA AS

Founded in 2004 and based in Norway, Novelda is a fabless semiconductor company. As an offshoot of the highly acclaimed University of Oslo, the company boasts of extremely strong research and development (R&D) and technological skills, and continues to leverage R&D partnerships formed with the university. For more information on the company, please visit http://www.novelda.no.

Press Release Contact: Aage Kalsaeg, CMO, Novelda AS, aage(at)novelda.no

High-resolution images:
NVA 6000 and NVA 6100 Impulse Radar Transceiver http://www.novelda.no/sites/default/files/images/products/NVA6x00-Chips-and-Match.jpg

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SOURCE Novelda AS