An innovative undersea monitoring system being developed by Nalu Scientific has received another boost from the federal government.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, working with the Small Business Innovation Research program, awarded the Hawaii-based company a $400,000 Phase II contract to continue its research and development of its OLEAS project: Oceanographic LIDAR for Environmental Assessment.

“We are gratified to see that NOAA has reaffirmed its support of our work with LIDAR (Light Detection And Ranging) as part of its broader mandate to harness technology in addressing our changing climate,” said Nalu Scientific founder and CEO Isar Mostafanezhad. Nalu Scientific is the only Hawaii company to receive a Phase II grant in this latest round of funding, which totaled $8 million across 21 projects.