Daniel Cremons
(Rsch AST, Earth Sciences Remote Sens)
| Email: | daniel.cremons@nasa.gov |
| Phone: | 301.614.6722 |
| Org Code: | 698 |
| Address: |
NASA/GSFC Mail Code 698 Greenbelt, MD 20771 |
| Employer: |
Missions & Projects
Brief Bio
Dr. Cremons designs and builds remote sensing instruments for planetary science applications. He is currently developing spectroscopic lidars for lunar volatiles as well as maturing a doppler lidar system for measuring aerosols and winds on Mars. Dr. Cremons also works to develop new techniques and methods that support science and exploration goals in the fields of infrared spectroscopy, optics, and laser physics.
He recently led the optical testing and flight qualification of laser retroreflector arrays for the Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program. These arrays have flown on international (ISRO, JAXA) and CLPS missions (Peregrine Mission 1, IM-1 Odysseus, PRIME-1). These retroreflector arrays will create a permanent fiducial network of beacons that can be tracked with centimeter precision from lunar orbit with a laser altimeter.
In addition to instrument development, Dr. Cremons is passionate about all aspects of mission design, and has taken part in studies for New Frontiers-class missions to Uranus (JPL Planetary Science Summer School Participant) and Mars (MARLI instrument scientist).
Current Projects
Tunable Mid-infrared Spectropscopic Imaging Lidar for 4D Volatile Mapping
Technology & Missions
Our objective of this selected ROSES PICASSO project is to develop a widely tunable mid-infrared spectroscopic lidar to perform 4D reflectance experiments regardless of illumination, with the sensitivity to map the abundances of critical lunar volatiles including H2O, CO2, NH3, and H2S at kilometer ranges from the observation site. Each measurement will include a position (X,Y) in the field of view, a time of flight (range), and a reflectance value. The goal of this work is to increase the TRL of the instrument from TRL 2 to TRL 4. Proposed specific tasks include building the spectrometric receiver, performing gated imaging at a range of 1.5 km, and performing system tests over the entire wavelength range of icy lunar simulants under cryogenic vacuum conditions.
Our tunable lidar design is based on two complementary technologies: an optical parametric oscillator (OPO) laser and a gated imaging HgCdTe APD camera. The pulsed laser can be continuously tuned between 2 and 4 microns in wavelength. The HgCdTe APD camera is single photon sensitive and operates with high quantum efficiency over the spectral range from the visible to 4.3 microns. By gating the camera, signals are integrated only when the laser pulses illuminate the scene, which greatly improves the measurement signal to noise ratio. Moving the gate time away from the laser pulses enables passive reflectance measurements using the same system.
This instrument will provide new measurements informing the extent and origin of polar volatile deposits as well their composition and meter-scale distribution. Our technology would provide valuable surface spectroscopic measurements in other planetary applications with challenging illumination conditions. These include diurnal and seasonal cycles of cometary surfaces, where solar insolation drives volatile ice deposition, sublimation, and redistribution as well as generation of the gaseous coma and tail.
MARLI: Mars Lidar for Wind and Aerosol Measurements from Mars Orbit
Mars
Dr. Cremons has worked on both the PICASSO and MatiSSE efforts to mature a direct detection Doppler lidar for global Mars wind retrievals from orbit. Under PICASSO, he co-led the build and testing of the breadboard Doppler lidar in the laboratory at GSFC and the test field campaign at the Goddard Geophysical and Astronomical Observatory to measure wind from aerosol backscattering Earth's atmosphere. He also developed the wind retrieval algorithm for the PICASSO and MatISSE programs. Under MatISSE, Dr. Cremons led the optical and mechanical design of the brassboard/prototype instrument and is currently leading the prototype testing.
Small All-range Lidar (SALi) for Small Body Exploration
Asteroids
Under the ROSES MatISSE program, this effort will mature to TRL 6 a combination science and navigation swath-mapping lidar for small body missions. Dr. Cremons leads the algorithm development portion of this program and acts as the instrument systems engineer. This instrument represents a new class of planetary lidar by combining three technologies (RZPN code modulation, fiber laser, HgCdTe APD) to create a system that is sensitive over six orders of magnitude, allowing it to operate from hundreds of kilometers in range down to the surface. This enables the instrument to provide survey science on approach (spin, body shape), provide sub-meter scale mapping of the body (topography, reflectance, slope, roughness), and act as a guidance and navigation sensor during landing or surface sampling (range, velocity).
Small Lidar for Profiling Wind and Water Vapor from Planetary Landers
Remote Sensing
Under the ROSES PICASSO program, this effort is to build and test a breadboard lidar system for Doppler wind and water vapor profile retrieval. The system is design for a lander or rover on Mars with an off-zenith, dual-transceiver design to obtain vector winds to the top of the planetary boundary layer. In addition, water vapor absorption lines near 1910 nm will be used to profile water vapor absorption as a function of altitude at all times of day and over the course of a Mars year. Field testing of the breadboard instrument will be done at Mauna Kea Observatory where dry conditions and low atmospheric pressure will be used to simulate Mars surface conditions.
Laser Retroreflector Array
Technology & Missions
Dr. Cremons has worked on a small team to design, build, and flight-qualify miniature lunar retroreflector arrays (LRAs) for Lunar Landers under the CLPS program. His work included leading the thermal vacuum, optical, and vibration testing of the arrays including developing an automated optical test system and thermal vacuum test setup. He also designed and fabricated vacuum-compatible optical housings to prevent optics contamination between integration and launch. To date, five LRA units have flown, with three deployed on the surface.
PGDA - NASA GSFC Miniature Laser Retroreflector Arrays
Lunar Flashlight
Technology & Missions
Science Co-I and lead of instrument model lead.
Selected Publications
Refereed
2026. "Operational Mass Measurement for Flyby Reconnaissance Missions of Potentially Hazardous Asteroids.", The Journal of the Astronautical Sciences, 73 (2): 29 [10.1007/s40295-026-00574-2] [Journal Article/Letter]
2026. "Instrument design and test results of a small all-range LiDAR for altimetric mapping and navigation.", Optical Engineering, 65 (02): [10.1117/1.oe.65.2.024105] [Journal Article/Letter]
2025. "First Use of Laser Ranging to Surface Retroreflectors for Orbit Determination: LRO-LOLA at the Moon.", The Planetary Science Journal, 6 (10): 247 [10.3847/psj/ae0e0b] [Journal Article/Letter]
2024. "Lunar Flashlight science ground and flight measurements and operations using a multi-band laser reflectometer.", Icarus, 413 116013 [10.1016/j.icarus.2024.116013] [Journal Article/Letter]
2024. "Speckle Noise Reduction via Linewidth Broadening for Planetary Laser Reflectance Spectrometers.", Remote Sensing, 16 (9): 1515 [10.3390/rs16091515] [Journal Article/Letter]
2022. "The future of lidar in planetary science.", Frontiers in Remote Sensing, 3 [10.3389/frsen.2022.1042460] [Journal Article/Letter]
2022. "Simulated Lunar Surface Hydration Measurements using Multispectral Lidar at 3 µm.", Earth and Space Science, 9 (8): e2022EA002277 [10.1029/2022ea002277] [Journal Article/Letter]
2021. "Small PN-Code Lidar for Asteroid and Comet Missions – Receiver Processing and Performance Simulations.", Remote Sensing, 13 (12): 2282 [Full Text] [10.3390/rs13122282] [Journal Article/Letter]
2021. "Small All-range Lidar for Asteroid and Comet Core Missions .", Sensors, 21 (9): 3081 [Full Text] [10.3390/s21093081] [Journal Article/Letter]
2020. "First Two-way Laser Ranging to a Lunar Orbiter: infrared observations from the Grasse station to LRO’s retro-reflector array .", Earth, Planets and Space, [Full Text] [10.1186/s40623-020-01243-w] [Journal Article/Letter]
2020. "Optical Characterization of Laser Retroreflector Arrays for Lunar Landers.", Applied Optics, 59 (16): 5020-5031 [https://doi.org/10.1364/AO.388371] [Journal Article/Letter]
2020. "QUEST: A New Frontiers Uranus orbiter mission concept study.", Acta Astronautica, 170 6-26 [10.1016/j.actaastro.2020.01.030] [Journal Article/Letter]
2020. "Design of a direct-detection wind and aerosol lidar for mars orbit.", CEAS Space Journal, 12 (2): 149-162 [10.1007/s12567-020-00301-z] [Journal Article/Letter]
2019. "Small and Lightweight Laser Retro-Reflector Arrays for Lunar Landers.", Applied Optics, 58 (33): 9259-9266 [10.1364/AO.58.009259] [Journal Article/Letter]
2017. "Picosecond phase-velocity dispersion of hypersonic phonons imaged with ultrafast electron microscopy.", Physical Review Materials, 1 (7): 073801 [10.1103/physrevmaterials.1.073801] [Journal Article/Letter]
2017. "Coating compositions comprising polymerizable non-ionic surfactant exhibiting reduced fingerprint visibility.", U.S. Patent Office, [Other]
2017. "Defect-mediated phonon dynamics in TaS2 and WSe2.", Structural Dynamics, 4 (4): 044019 [10.1063/1.4982817] [Journal Article/Letter]
2017. "Multimodal visualization of the optomechanical response of silicon cantilevers with ultrafast electron microscopy.", Journal of Materials Research, 32 (1): 239-247 [10.1557/jmr.2016.360] [Journal Article/Letter]
2016. "Femtosecond electron imaging of defect-modulated phonon dynamics.", Nature communications, 7 11230 [10.1038/ncomms11230] [Journal Article/Letter]
2016. "Direct in situ thermometry: Variations in reciprocal-lattice vectors and challenges with the Debye--Waller effect.", Ultramicroscopy, 161 10-16 [10.1016/j.ultramic.2015.10.022] [Journal Article/Letter]
2013. "Diffraction contrast as a sensitive indicator of femtosecond sub-nanoscale motion in ultrafast transmission electron microscopy.", Proc. SPIE, 8845 884507 [10.1117/12.2023145] [Proceedings]
Non-Refereed
2025. "A kilometer-range laser hyperspectral imager for lunar exploration and science.", UV/Optical/IR Space Telescopes and Instruments: Innovative Technologies and Concepts XII, 136230 136230T [10.1117/12.3062042] [Proceedings]
2025. "Design of a small lidar for a Mars lander to profile water vapor, aerosols, and winds.", Laser Radar Technology and Applications XXX, 1347209 15 [10.1117/12.3057150] [Proceedings]
2025. "Spectroscopic infrared reflectance lidar (SpIRRL) for planetary volatile measurements.", Laser Radar Technology and Applications XXX, 13472 12 [10.1117/12.3053740] [Proceedings]
2024. "A small all-range LIDAR for topographic mapping from orbit and navigation guidance during descent and touchdown.", SPIE Laser Radar Technology and Applications XXIX, 13049 1304905 [10.1117/12.3012734] [Proceedings]
2021. "Measuring Mars Atmospheric Winds from Orbit.", Vol. 53, Issue 4 (Planetary/Astrobiology Decadal Survey Whitepapers), 53 (4): [10.3847/25c2cfeb.6576a506] [Other]
2021. "The Mars Atmospheric and Polar Science Mission.", Vol. 53, Issue 4 (Planetary/Astrobiology Decadal Survey Whitepapers), 53 (4): [10.3847/25c2cfeb.7e4e0e4d] [Other]
2018. "A spectrographic receiver for laser spectrometers.", Multispectral, Hyperspectral, and Ultraspectral Remote Sensing Technology, Techniques and Applications VII, 10780 [10.1117/12.2324818] [Proceedings]
2018. "Development of a Mars lidar (MARLI) for measuring wind and aerosol profiles from orbit.", Lidar Technologies, Techniques, and Measurements for Atmospheric Remote Sensing XIV, [10.1117/12.2325408] [Proceedings]
Education
2017 - PhD, Materials Science - Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN
2011 - BA, Chemistry, cum laude - Department of Chemistry, Carleton College, Northfield, MN
Talks, Presentations and Posters
Invited
Tunable Infrared Spectroscopic Imaging Lidar (TINSIL): A Comprehensive Lunar Volatile Mapping Experiment
December 13, 2023
Cremons, D. R.; Sun, X.; Honniball, C. I.; Numata, K.; Lucey, P. G., Fall AGU Meeting
Testing of Lunar Retroreflector Array for SpaceIL Lunar Spacecraft
November 28, 2018
Cremons, D. R.; Sun, X. S.; Hoffman, E.; Wake, S.; Denny, Z.; Dogoda, P.; Aaron, P.; Cristopolous, P., SpaceIL Headquarters, Tel Aviv, Israel.
MARLI: MARs Lidar for global wind and aerosol profiles from orbit
September 13, 2018
Abshire, J.; Cremons, D. R.; Riris, H.; Sun, X.; Allan, G.; Smith, M. D.; Guzewich, S.; Yu, A.; Hovis, F.; Gentry, B., International Workshop on Instrumentation for Planetary Missions, Berlin, Germany.
Development of a Mars lidar (MARLI) for measuring wind and aerosol profiles from Orbit
September 11, 2018
Cremons, D. R.; Abshire, J.; Allan, G.; Sun, X.; Riris, H.; Smith, M. D.; Guzewich, S.; Yu, A.; Hovis, F., SPIE Remote Sensing 2018, Berlin, Germany.
Other
Mini-MARLI : A small lidar for measuring of atmospheric wind and aerosol profiles from Mars Orbit
December 18, 2025
Abshire, J. B.; Cremons, D. R.; Guzewich, S. D.; Numata, K.; Sun, X.; Smith, M. D., AGU Fall Meeting
A kilometer-range laser hyperspectral imager for lunar exploration and science
August 5, 2025
Cremons D., X. Sun, K. Numata, K. Yamamoto, C. Honniball and P. Lucey, SPIE Optics and Photonics
Remote Laser Spectroscopy and Ranging for Volatile Science, Minerology, and Topographic Mapping Around the Pressurized Rover
April 9, 2025
Cremons, D. R.; Sun, X.; Honniball, C. I.; Numata, K.; Lucey, P. G.; Yamamoto, K., Lunar Surface Science Workshop: Uncrewed Science with the Pressurized Rover
Small All-Range Lidar (SALI) for Topographic Mapping and Altimetry Across the Solar System
December 12, 2024
Cremons, D. R.; Sun, X.; Mazarico, E.; Smith, D. E.; Abshire, J. B. AGU Fall Meeting
Measuring Volatile Contamination from Landing and Ascent Plumes with Active Illumination Spectrometers
September 18, 2024
Cremons, D. R.; Lucey, P. G.; Honniball, C. I.; Sun, X. Lunar Surface Science Workshop Plume Surface Interactions
A Spectroscopic Navigation Lidar for the Endurance Rover
August 9, 2023
Cremons, D. R.; Abshire, J. B.; Stubbs, T. J.; Honniball, C. I.; Moriarty, D. P.; Numata, K. Endurance Science Workshop
Passive Retroreflector Arrays for Polar Navigation in the Dark
December 6, 2022
Cremons, D. R., Smith, D. E., Sun, X., Mazarico, E, and Head, J, CLPS Survive the Night Workshop
Mars Lander Lidar for Profiling Winds, Water Vapor, and Aerosols
June 29, 2022
Cremons, D. R., Abshire, J. B., Numata, K., Guzewich, S. D., Smith, M. D., Sun, X. Optimizing Planetary-In Situ Atmosphere Interactions Workshop
Small Lidar for Profiling Water Vapor, Aerosols and Winds from a Mars Lander
June 15, 2022
Abshire, J. B., Cremons, D. R., Numata, K., Guzewich, S. D., Smith, M. D., Sun, X. 7th Workshop on Mars Atmospheric Modelling and Observations
Simulating Multispectral Lidar Measurements of Lunar Surface Hydration
March 8, 2022
Cremons, D. R.; Honniball, C. I., Lunar and Planetary Science Conference 52.
Optical Characterization of CLPS Miniature Laser Retroreflector Arrays
March 15, 2021
Cremons, D. R.; Sun, X.; Denny, Z.; Wake, S. W.; Hoffman, E. D.; Aaron, E. C.; Mazarico, E.; Smith, D. E., Lunar and Planetary Science Conference 51.
Mapping Lunar Volatiles and Hydration in Light and Shadow via Orbital Lidar Reflectance Measurements from NIR to MWIR
December 2, 2020
Cremons, D. R.; Abshire, J. B.; Lucey, P. G.; Stubbs, T.; Sun, X., American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting 2020, P023-0008.
Small Lidar for Profiling Water Vapor and Winds from the Mars Surface
December 2, 2020
Abshire, J. B.; Guzewich, S. D.; Cremons, D. R.; Smith, M. D.; Numata, K.; Sun, X., American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting 2020, P084.
A Mission Concept for Measuring Changes in Apophis During Earth Encounter
November 8, 2020
Smith, D. E.; Sun, X.; Mazarico, E.; Cremons, D. R.; Zuber, M. T.; Neumann, G. A.; Goossens, S. J.; Barker, M. K.; Mao, D.; Head, J. W., Apophis T-9 Years: Knowledge Opportunities for the Science of Planetary Defense.
Multiwavelength Lidar for Remote Spectroscopic Measurements of the Lunar Surface
March 19, 2020
Cremons, D. R.; Abshire, J. A.; Lucey, P. G.; Stubbs, T. J.; Mazarico, E., Lunar Surface Science Workshop, LPI.
Miniature Laser Retro-Reflector Arrays (LRA) for Lunar Landers
December 11, 2019
Sun, X.; Smith, D. E.; Hoffman, E. D.; Wake, S. W.; Cremons, D. R.; Mazarico, E.; Lauenstein, J. M.; Zuber, M. T.; Aaron, E. C., AGU Fall Meeting 2019, San Francisco, California.
Multiwavelength Lidar for Remote Spectroscopic Surveys of Volatiles on the Lunar Surface
December 13, 2019
Cremons, D. R.; Abshire, J. B.; Lucey, P. G.; Yu, A.; Sun, X.; Stubbs, T. J.; Numata, K., AGU Fall Meeting 2019, San Francisco, California.
2-Way Laser Ranging from the Grasse Station to LRO: Implications for Lunar Laser Ranging
October 29, 2019
Mazarico, E.; Sun, X.; Torre, J.-M.; Courde, C.; Aimar, M.; Chabé, J.; Bouquillon, S.; Lemoine, F. G.; Mao, D.; Barker, M. K.; Viswanathan, V.; Cremons, D. R.; Zuber, M. T.; Smith, D. E., Lunar Exploration Analysis Group, Washington, D. C.
Miniature Laser Retro-Reflector Arrays (LRA) as Fiducial Markers on Lunar Landers
October 29, 2019
Sun, X.; Smith, D. E.; Hoffman, E. D.; Wake, S. W.; Cremons, D. R.; Mazarico, E.; Lauenstein, J. M.; Zuber, M. T.; Aaron, E. C., Lunar Exploration Analysis Group, Washington, D. C.
Testing of Miniature Laser Retroreflector Arrays for Commercial Lunar Landers
March 16, 2019
Cremons, D. R.; Sun, X.; Hoffman, E.; Wake, S.; Mazarico, E.; Neumann, G. A.; Barker, M.; Smith, D. E.; Genova, A.; Zuber, M. T.; Denny, Z.; Dogoda, P.; Aaron, E.; Cristopolous, P., Microsymposium 60: Forward to the Moon to Stay: Undertaking Transformative Lunar Science with Commercial Partners, The Woodlands, Texas.
QUEST: A New Frontiers Uranus Orbiter Concept Study from the 30th Annual NASA/JPL Planetary Science Summer Seminar
March 19, 2019
Jarmak, S.; Leonard, E.; Schurmeier, L.; Akins, A.; Cofield, S; Cremons, D. R.; Curtis, A.; Dahl, E.; Dong, C.; Dunham, E. T.; Journaux, B.; Murakami, W.; Ng, M.; Piquette, M.; Pradeepkumar Girija, A.; Rink, N.; Stein, N.; Tallarida, N.; Telus, M.; Lowes, L.; Budney, C.; Mitchell, K. L., Lunar and Planetary Science Conference 50, The Woodlands, Texas.
MARLI: Mars Lidar for Global Wind Measurements from Orbit
December 12, 2018
Cremons, D. R.; Abshire, J.; Allan, G.; Sun, X.; Riris, H.; Smith, M. D.; Guzewich, S.; Yu, A.; Hovis, F., AGU Fall Meeting 2018, Washington, D. C.
Awards
2025 - NASA GSFC IRAD Innovator of the Year Award (Runner Up)
2017 - NASA Postdoctoral Fellowship, Universities Space Research Association
2016 - Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship, University of Minnesota
2016 - Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award, University of Minnesota
2015 - Excellence in Safety Award, University of Minnesota
2011 - Distinction for Senior Integrative Exercise, Carleton College
2006 - Eagle Scout Award, Boy Scouts of America
Professional Societies
American Geophysical Union
2018 - Present
Materials Research Society
2015 - 2016
Professional Service
-GSFC Planetary Science Director's Council Member
-GSFC Lead for NASA ISRU System Capability Leadership Team
-Technical Monitor for NASA STMD LuSTR Program
-Reviewer for internal NASA GSFC R&A programs
-Reviewer for NASA R&A programs
-Session Chair: SPIE Remote Sensing 2018 (Berlin, Germany)
-Science advocate, AGU Congressional Meetings
-Journal reviewer (Robotics, Applied Optics, Earth and Space Science, Sensors, Optics Express, Remote Sensing)
Other Professional Information
Patents
1. Klun, T. P.; Ali, M. B.; Pokorny, R. J.; Cremons, D. R.; Toy, M. L., Additive Comprising Low Surface Energy Group and Hydroxyl Groups and Coating Compositions. Patent No: US 9803042, published: Oct. 31, 2017
2. Pokorny, R. J.; Klun, T. P.; Ali, M. B.; Cremons, D. R.; Toy, M. L, Coating Compositions Comprising Polymerizable Non-Ionic Surfactant Exhibiting Reduced Fingerprint Visibility. Patent No: US 9701850, published: July 11, 2017.
Special Experience
2018 - Planetary Science Summer Seminar 2018 (Jet Propulsion Laboratory)
Selected Public Outreach
Volunteer, Moon Day with the Bowie Baysox
December 2018 - December 2018
Judge, Pennsylvania Junior Science and Humanities Symposium
December 2019 - December 2019
Volunteer, Moon Outreach at the Apollo 50th Festival
July 2019 - July 2019
Maryland Institute College of Art AstroAnimation
January 2022 - December Present
Speaker, Lava Beds National Monument Public Outreach Event
May 2022 - May 2022
Senior Living Community Outreach
September 2025 - September 2025
Mirrors on the Moon: 56 Years of Science and A New Frontier of Exploration