Selection of the key earth observation sensors and platforms focusing on applications for Polar Regions in the scope of Copernicus system 2020-2030

An optimal payload selection conducted in the frame of the H2020 ONION project (id 687490) is presented based on the ability to cover the observation needs of the Copernicus system in the time period 2020–2030. Payload selection is constrained by the variables that can be measured, the power consumption, and weight of the instrument, and the required accuracy and spatial resolution (horizontal or vertical). It involved 20 measurements with observation gaps according to the user requirements that were detected in the top 10 use cases in the scope of Copernicus space infrastructure, 9 potential applied technologies, and 39 available commercial platforms. Additional Earth Observation (EO) infrastructures are proposed to reduce measurements gaps, based on a weighting system that assigned high relevance for measurements associated to Marine for Weather Forecast over Polar Regions. This study concludes with a rank and mapping of the potential technologies and the suitable commercial platforms to cover most of the requirements of the top ten use cases, analyzing the Marine for Weather Forecast, Sea Ice Monitoring, Fishing Pressure, and Agriculture and Forestry: Hydric stress as the priority use cases.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Program for Arctic Regional Climate Assessment (PARCA)

The Program for Arctic Regional Climate Assessment (PARCA) is a NASA-sponsored initiative with the prime objective of understanding the mass balance of the Greenland ice sheet. In October 1998, PARCA investigators met to review activities of the previous year, assess the program's progress, and plan future investigations directed at accomplishing that objective. Some exciting results were presented and discussed, including evidence of dramatic thinning of the ice sheet near the southeastern coast. Details of the investigations and many of the accomplishments are given in this report, but major highlights are given in the Executive Summary of the report

Earth resources: A continuing bibliography with indexes, issue 50

This bibliography lists 523 reports, articles and other documents introduced into the NASA scientific and technical information system between April 1 and June 30, 1986. Emphasis is placed on the use of remote sensing and geophysical instrumentation in spacecraft and aircraft to survey and inventory natural resources and urban areas. Subject matter is grouped according to agriculture and forestry, environmental changes and cultural resources, geodesy and cartography, geology and mineral resources, hydrology and water management, data processing and distribution systems, instrumentation and sensors, and economic analysis

The Holy Grail: A road map for unlocking the climate record stored within Mars' polar layered deposits

In its polar layered deposits (PLD), Mars possesses a record of its recent climate, analogous to terrestrial ice sheets containing climate records on Earth. Each PLD is greater than 2 ​km thick and contains thousands of layers, each containing information on the climatic and atmospheric state during its deposition, creating a climate archive. With detailed measurements of layer composition, it may be possible to extract age, accumulation rates, atmospheric conditions, and surface activity at the time of deposition, among other important parameters; gaining the information would allow us to “read” the climate record. Because Mars has fewer complicating factors than Earth (e.g. oceans, biology, and human-modified climate), the planet offers a unique opportunity to study the history of a terrestrial planet’s climate, which in turn can teach us about our own planet and the thousands of terrestrial exoplanets waiting to be discovered. During a two-part workshop, the Keck Institute for Space Studies (KISS) hosted 38 Mars scientists and engineers who focused on determining the measurements needed to extract the climate record contained in the PLD. The group converged on four fundamental questions that must be answered with the goal of interpreting the climate record and finding its history based on the climate drivers. The group then proposed numerous measurements in order to answer these questions and detailed a sequence of missions and architecture to complete the measurements. In all, several missions are required, including an orbiter that can characterize the present climate and volatile reservoirs; a static reconnaissance lander capable of characterizing near surface atmospheric processes, annual accumulation, surface properties, and layer formation mechanism in the upper 50 ​cm of the PLD; a network of SmallSat landers focused on meteorology for ground truth of the low-altitude orbiter data; and finally, a second landed platform to access ~500 ​m of layers to measure layer variability through time. This mission architecture, with two landers, would meet the science goals and is designed to save costs compared to a single very capable landed mission. The rationale for this plan is presented below. In this paper we discuss numerous aspects, including our motivation, background of polar science, the climate science that drives polar layer formation, modeling of the atmosphere and climate to create hypotheses for what the layers mean, and terrestrial analogs to climatological studies. Finally, we present a list of measurements and missions required to answer the four major questions and read the climate record. 1. What are present and past fluxes of volatiles, dust, and other materials into and out of the polar regions? 2. How do orbital forcing and exchange with other reservoirs affect those fluxes? 3. What chemical and physical processes form and modify layers? 4. What is the timespan, completeness, and temporal resolution of the climate history recorded in the PLD

Earth Resources: a continuing bibliography with indexes

This bibliography lists 337 reports, articles, and other documents introduced into the NASA scientific and technical information system between July 31, 1980 and September 30, 1980. Emphasis is placed on the use of remote sensing and geophysical instrumentation in spacecraft and aircraft to survey and inventory natural resources and urban areas. Subject matter is grouped according to agriculture and forestry, environmental changes and cultural resources, geodesy and cartography, geology and mineral resources, hydrology and water management, data processing and distribution systems, instrumentation and sensors, and economic analysis

Remote sensing data handbook

A digest of information on remote sensor data systems is given. It includes characteristics of spaceborne sensors and the supportive systems immediately associated therewith. It also includes end-to-end systems information that will assist the user in appraising total data system impact produced by a sensor. The objective is to provide a tool for anticipating the complexity of systems and potential data system problems as new user needs are generated. Materials in this handbook span sensor systems from the present to those planned for use in the 1990's. Sensor systems on all planned missions are presented in digest form, condensed from data as available at the time of compilation. Projections are made of anticipated systems

Handbook of sensor technical characteristics

Space and terrestrial applications remote sensor systems are described. Each sensor is presented separately. Information is included on its objectives, description, technical characteristics, data products obtained, data archives location, period of operation, and measurement and potential derived parameters. Each sensor is cross indexed

Radio Echo Studies of Glaciers

There is a need for measurements of the thickness of glaciers, ice sheets, and ice shelves. Radio waves propagating in naturally occurring ice masses are attenuated by absorption in the conducting medium, by reflection from discontinuities, and by scattering from inhomogeneities. These scattering centres nay be impurities, free water, or solid ice within less dense firn. A v.h. f. radar system has been designed specifically to produce continuous profiles of ice thickness when used either on the surface of a glacier, or in an aircraft flying over it. The frequency dependence of the attenuation mechanisms influences the choice of radio frequency used by the echo sounder. Electronic control and annotation circuits have been developed for use in the echo sounder and its data recording system, to simplify field operation and avoid errors caused by mistakes in manual recording and annotation. The author has tested the equipment on glaciers in Norway and in the Antarctic, where extensive measurements of ice thickness have been made both in Eastern Antarctica and in the Antarctic Peninsula. Information about glacier temperature and structure, and about the nature of the subglacial media, is also obtained. Measurements of ice thickness made from an aircraft, require navigational data to be used to determine the location of measurements. A digital computer has been used to analyse the available aircraft flight parameters and other navigational information, and to produce position coordinates which are collated with thickness measurements. Consideration has been given to the effect of random and systematic errors in the measurements, on the informtion obtained. Methods of presenting the measurements, which are distributed along flight lines, have been explored. An algorithm has been developed to produce contour naps of such measurements, with particular application to computer methods.Digitisation of this thesis was sponsored by Arcadia Fund, a charitable fund of Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwi

Space-Based Remote Sensing of the Earth: A Report to the Congress

The commercialization of the LANDSAT Satellites, remote sensing research and development as applied to the Earth and its atmosphere as studied by NASA and NOAA is presented. Major gaps in the knowledge of the Earth and its atmosphere are identified and a series of space based measurement objectives are derived. The near-term space observations programs of the United States and other countries are detailed. The start is presented of the planning process to develop an integrated national program for research and development in Earth remote sensing for the remainder of this century and the many existing and proposed satellite and sensor systems that the program may include are described