About Us
King AirFERI is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit, research and education organization located in Tampa, FL. Founded in 1998, FERI's initial client was the Department of Defense (DoD) Office of Naval Research (ONR). It was ONR's funding that allowed for the development of the tools to rapidly assess the coastal ocean environment utilizing cutting edge environmental mapping and monitoring techniques. Currently, FERI is responsible for a wide range of tasks spanning from the construction and aerial deployment of several digital sensor systems to the analysis of the data generated by these systems to produce informative and functional maps of U.S. coastal regions.

Mission Statement
PHILLS2 and NikonFERI's mission is to develop tools and techniques for the assessment, monitoring, and management of the coastal and near shore environment. Further, we seek to develop these tools and disseminate this high-tech research to the widest possible user community, which includes all stakeholders in the marine and near shore environment.

The philosophy of this research and development is one of quiet accuracy. Our job is to measure, analyze, and present our findings in the fairest possible manner with the highest possible degree of accuracy. Our hope is that this philosophy, and reputation it has engendered, will give our resource managers and Department of Defense (DoD) personnel extreme confidence in our hardware and software tools. This will allow them to make the most qualified decisions in the assessment and management our natural resources, as well as protecting the lives of our military personnel.

Community Involvement
Tampa Bay Watch Oyster Reef ProjectAs a non-profit research institute, our entire existence is based on community involvement, particularly in the field of natural resources research and education. Much of this direct research and education is accomplished at the national and international level. However, we believe our local community may also benefit from the individual skills and education of our highly motivated and trained staff...more >>>



Facilities
FERI specializes in computational ecology and remote sensing. The data management and computational support infrastructure at FERI has been developed to support our intensive research efforts. This includes the development of custom software for serial and parallel computing activities, as well as development of research and GIS applications within commercially available software (e.g. IDL). FERI currently operates out of 3000 square feet of Class A office space, centrally-located in the Tampa Bay area. In 2005, FERI will be moving into its own 6600 square foot building.
FERI has designed and built a custom hardware and software package which enables the delivery of HSI products in near-real time (within 24 hours) of nearly 40 GBs of daily collected raw data... more >>>
Funding Sources
Partners and Collaborators