Patent Document ID: 9488630
Application ID: 14535118
Patent Status: 1

Claim One:
1. An aerial positioning system comprising: a balloon; a balloon positioning system coupled to the balloon and configured to position the balloon at a desired balloon elevation, a desired balloon latitude, and a desired balloon longitude, the balloon positioning system including a plurality of winches supported on the ground, and a plurality of tethers extending between the winches and the balloon; a sensor system supported by the balloon, the sensor system including a location system which determines a balloon elevation, a balloon latitude, and a balloon longitude, at least one sensor directed to a ground based region of interest, and at least one gimbal configured to orient the at least one sensor; and a controller in communication with the balloon positioning system and the sensor system, wherein the at least one sensor provides to the controller a first set of data at a first time related to the region of interest, and a second set of data at a second time related to the region of interest, and the balloon positioning system positions the balloon at the desired balloon elevation, the desired balloon latitude, and the desired balloon longitude in response to input from the location system at both the first time and the second time.