JRC - Metasensing Coupled Spaceborne & Airborne SAR Campaign in Rotterdam

The European maritime area is one of Europe’s most important assets with regard to resources, security and ultimately prosperity of the Member States. A significant part of Europe’s economy relies directly or indirectly on it. It is not just the shipping or fisheries industries and their related activities. It is also shipbuilding and ports, marine equipment and offshore energy, maritime and coastal tourism, aquaculture, submarine telecommunications, blue biotech and the protection of the marine environment. The European maritime area faces several risks and threats posed by unlawful activities, such as drugs trafficking, smuggling, illegal immigration, organised crime and terrorism. Piracy in international waters also constitutes a threat to Europe since it can disrupt the maritime transport chain. These risks and threats can endanger human lives, marine resources and the environment, as well as significantly disrupt the transport chain and global and local security. It is anticipated that these risks and threats will endure in the mid and long run. In order to keep Europe as a world leader in the global maritime economy, an effective integrated/interoperable, sustainable maritime surveillance system and situational awareness are needed. A significant number of unlawful maritime activities, such as illegal immigration, drugs trafficking, smuggling, piracy and terrorism involve mainly small boats, because small boats are faster and more difficult to detect using conventional means. Hence, it is very important to find out the feasibility of using new sensors and platforms, such as SAR or Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) for small boat detection, tracking, classification and identification, as well as to study the potential of airborne SAR for maritime surveillance. Since 2010 the EC-JRC has carried out a number of coupled UAS and spaceborne SAR maritime surveillance campaigns to assess the potential of UAS for maritime surveillance, in particular for small boat detection. This report presents the results and conclusions of the JRC – Metasensing Coupled Spaceborne SAR and Airborne SAR campaign carried out in Feb. 2011 in Rotterdam, The Netherlands.JRC.G.4-Maritime affair

JRC – Elbit Systems Coupled UAS and Spaceborne SAR Campaign in Israel

The European maritime area is one of Europe’s most important assets with regard to resources, security and ultimately prosperity of the Member States. A significant part of Europe’s economy relies directly or indirectly on it. It is not just the shipping or fisheries industries and their related activities. It is also shipbuilding and ports, marine equipment and offshore energy, maritime and coastal tourism, aquaculture, submarine telecommunications, blue biotech and the protection of the marine environment. The European maritime area faces several risks and threats posed by unlawful activities, such as drugs trafficking, smuggling, illegal immigration, organised crime and terrorism. Piracy in international waters also constitutes a threat to Europe since it can disrupt the maritime transport chain. These risks and threats can endanger human lives, marine resources and the environment, as well as significantly disrupt the transport chain and global and local security. It is anticipated that these risks and threats will endure in the mid and long run. In order to keep Europe as a world leader in the global maritime economy, an effective integrated/interoperable, sustainable maritime surveillance system and situational awareness are needed. A significant number of unlawful maritime activities, such as illegal immigration, drugs trafficking, smuggling, piracy and terrorism involve mainly small boats, because small boats are faster and more difficult to detect using conventional means. Hence, it is very important to find out the feasibility of using Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) for small boat detection, tracking, classification and identification, as well as to study the potential of UAS for maritime surveillance. Since 2010 the EC-JRC has carried out a number of UAS maritime surveillance campaigns to study the potential of UAS for maritime surveillance, in particular for small boat detection. This report presents the results and conclusions of the JRC – Elbit Systems Coupled UAS and Spaceborne SAR campaign carried out in Dec. 2010 in Haifa, Israel.JRC.G.4-Maritime affair

JRC - Alenia Aeronautica Coupled UAS and Spaceborne SAR Campaign in Italy

The European maritime area is one of Europe’s most important assets with regard to resources, security and ultimately prosperity of the Member States. A significant part of Europe’s economy relies directly or indirectly on it. It is not just the shipping or fisheries industries and their related activities. It is also shipbuilding and ports, marine equipment and offshore energy, maritime and coastal tourism, aquaculture, submarine telecommunications, blue biotech and the protection of the marine environment. The European maritime area faces several risks and threats posed by unlawful activities, such as drugs trafficking, smuggling, illegal immigration, organised crime and terrorism. Piracy in international waters also constitutes a threat to Europe since it can disrupt the maritime transport chain. These risks and threats can endanger human lives, marine resources and the environment, as well as significantly disrupt the transport chain and global and local security. It is anticipated that these risks and threats will endure in the mid and long run. In order to keep Europe as a world leader in the global maritime economy, an effective integrated/interoperable, sustainable maritime surveillance system and situational awareness are needed. A significant number of unlawful maritime activities, such as illegal immigration, drugs trafficking, smuggling, piracy and terrorism involve mainly small boats, because small boats are faster and more difficult to detect using conventional means. Hence, it is very important to find out the feasibility of using Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) for small boat detection, tracking, classification and identification, as well as to study the potential of UAS for maritime surveillance. Since 2010 the EC-JRC has carried out a number of UAS maritime surveillance campaigns to study the potential of UAS for maritime surveillance, in particular for small boat detection. This report presents the results and conclusions of the JRC - Alenia Aeronautica Coupled UAS and Spaceborne SAR campaign carried out in Oct. 2010 in Porto Corallo, Sardinia, Italy.JRC.G.4-Maritime affair

Active microwave users working group program planning

A detailed programmatic and technical development plan for active microwave technology was examined in each of four user activities: (1) vegetation; (2) water resources and geologic applications, and (4) oceanographic applications. Major application areas were identified, and the impact of each application area in terms of social and economic gains were evaluated. The present state of knowledge of the applicability of active microwave remote sensing to each application area was summarized and its role relative to other remote sensing devices was examined. The analysis and data acquisition techniques needed to resolve the effects of interference factors were reviewed to establish an operational capability in each application area. Flow charts of accomplished and required activities in each application area that lead to operational capability were structured

Integration of LIDAR and IFSAR for mapping

LiDAR and IfSAR data is now widely used for a number of applications, particularly those needing a digital elevation model. The data is often complementary to other data such as aerial imagery and high resolution satellite data. This paper will review the current data sources and the products and then look at the ways in which the data can be integrated for particular applications. The main platforms for LiDAR are either helicopter or fixed wing aircraft, often operating at low altitudes, a digital camera is frequently included on the platform, there is an interest in using other sensors such as 3 line cameras of hyperspectral scanners. IfSAR is used from satellite platforms, or from aircraft, the latter are more compatible with LiDAR for integration. The paper will examine the advantages and disadvantages of LiDAR and IfSAR for DEM generation and discuss the issues which still need to be dealt with. Examples of applications will be given and particularly those involving the integration of different types of data. Examples will be given from various sources and future trends examined

Subsurface sounders

Airborne or spaceborne electromagnetic systems used to detect subsurface features are discussed. Data are given as a function of resistivity of ground material, magnetic permeability of free space, and angular frequency. It was noted that resistivities vary with the water content and temperature

A perspective of synthetic aperture radar for remote sensing

The characteristics and capabilities of synthetic aperture radar are discussed so as to identify those features particularly unique to SAR. The SAR and Optical images were compared. The SAR is an example of radar that provides more information about a target than simply its location. It is the spatial resolution and imaging capability of SAR that has made its application of interest, especially from spaceborne platforms. However, for maximum utility to remote sensing, it was proposed that other information be extracted from SAR data, such as the cross section with frequency and polarization

FIREX mission requirements document for nonrenewable resources

The proposed mission requirements and a proposed experimental program for satellite synthetic aperture radar (SAR) system named FIREX (Free-Flying Imaging Radar Experiment) for nonrenewable resources is described. The recommended spacecraft minimum SAR system is a C-band imager operating in four modes: (1) low look angle HH-polarized; (2) intermediate look angle, HH-polarized; (3) intermediate look angle, IIV-polarized; and (4) high look angle HH-polarized. This SAR system is complementary to other future spaceborne imagers such as the Thematic Mapper on LANDSAT-D. A near term aircraft SAR based research program is outlined which addresses specific mission design issues such as preferred incidence angles or polarizations for geologic targets of interest

Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data processing

The available and optimal methods for generating SAR imagery for NASA applications were identified. The SAR image quality and data processing requirements associated with these applications were studied. Mathematical operations and algorithms required to process sensor data into SAR imagery were defined. The architecture of SAR image formation processors was discussed, and technology necessary to implement the SAR data processors used in both general purpose and dedicated imaging systems was addressed

Spaceborne radar observations: A guide for Magellan radar-image analysis

Geologic analyses of spaceborne radar images of Earth are reviewed and summarized with respect to detecting, mapping, and interpreting impact craters, volcanic landforms, eolian and subsurface features, and tectonic landforms. Interpretations are illustrated mostly with Seasat synthetic aperture radar and shuttle-imaging-radar images. Analogies are drawn for the potential interpretation of radar images of Venus, with emphasis on the effects of variation in Magellan look angle with Venusian latitude. In each landform category, differences in feature perception and interpretive capability are related to variations in imaging geometry, spatial resolution, and wavelength of the imaging radar systems. Impact craters and other radially symmetrical features may show apparent bilateral symmetry parallel to the illumination vector at low look angles. The styles of eruption and the emplacement of major and minor volcanic constructs can be interpreted from morphological features observed in images. Radar responses that are governed by small-scale surface roughness may serve to distinguish flow types, but do not provide unambiguous information. Imaging of sand dunes is rigorously constrained by specific angular relations between the illumination vector and the orientation and angle of repose of the dune faces, but is independent of radar wavelength. With a single look angle, conditions that enable shallow subsurface imaging to occur do not provide the information necessary to determine whether the radar has recorded surface or subsurface features. The topographic linearity of many tectonic landforms is enhanced on images at regional and local scales, but the detection of structural detail is a strong function of illumination direction. Nontopographic tectonic lineaments may appear in response to contrasts in small-surface roughness or dielectric constant. The breakpoint for rough surfaces will vary by about 25 percent through the Magellan viewing geometries from low to high Venusian latitudes. Examples of anomalies and system artifacts that can affect image interpretation are described