Comparison of turbulence measurements by a CSAT3B sonic anemometer and a high-resolution bistatic Doppler lidar

Accurate measurements of turbulence statistics in the atmosphere are important for eddy-covariance measurements, wind energy research, and the validation of atmospheric numerical models. Sonic anemometers are widely used for these applications. However, these instruments are prone to probe-induced flow distortion effects, and the magnitude of the resulting errors has been debated due to the lack of an absolute reference instrument under field conditions. Here, we present the results of an intercomparison experiment between a CSAT3B sonic anemometer and a highresolution bistatic Doppler lidar, which is inherently free of any flow distortion. This novel remote sensing instrument has otherwise very similar spatial and temporal sampling characteristics to the sonic anemometer and hence served as a reference for this comparison. The presented measurements were carried out over flat homogeneous terrain at a measurement height of 30 m. We provide a comparative statistical analysis of the resulting mean wind velocities, the standard deviations of the vertical wind speed and the friction velocity and investigate the reasons for the observed deviations based on the turbulence spectra and co-spectra. Our results show an agreement of the mean wind velocity measurements and the standard deviations of the vertical wind speed with a comparability of 0.082 and 0.020ms$^{-1}$, respectively. Biases for these two quantities were 0.003 and 0.012ms$^{-1}$, respectively. Slightly larger differences were observed for friction velocity. Analysis of the corresponding co-spectra showed that the CSAT3B underestimates this quantity systematically by about 3%on average as a result of co-spectral losses in the frequency range between 0.1 and 5 s$^{-1}$. We also found that an angle-of-attack-dependent transducer-shadowing correction does not improve the agreement between the CSAT3B and the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) lidar effectively

Hemiboreaalsete metsade kaardistamine interferomeetrilise tehisava-radari andmetelt

Väitekirja elektrooniline versioon ei sisalda publikatsioone.Käesolev doktoritöö uurib tehisavaradari (SAR) kasutusvõimalusi metsa kõrguse hindamiseks hemiboreaalsete metsade vööndis. Uurimistöö viidi läbi Tartu Üli¬kooli, Tartu Observatooriumi, Aalto Ülikooli, Euroopa Kosmoseagentuuri (ESA) kaugseire keskuse ESRIN ja Reach-U koostöös. Uurimistöös kasutatud satelliidi¬andmed on pärit Saksa Kosmosekeskuse (DLR) kõrglahutusega bistaatilise X-laineala tehisavaradari TanDEM-X satelliidipaarilt. Sagedasti uuenevad satelliidiandmed, nende globaalne katvus ja kõrge ruumi¬line lahutus võimaldavad tehisavaradari abil kaardistada metsi ning nendes toimu¬vaid muutusi suurtel maa-aladel. Radari abil on võimalik saada kõrge lahutusvõimega pilte, mis on tundlikud taimestikule, maapinna karedusele ja dielektrilistele omadustele. Sünkroonis lendava radaripaari samaaegselt tehtud pildid elimineerivad võimalikud ajalised muutused taimestikus ning tänu sellele on radariandmetest võimalik tuletada metsade vertikaalset struktuuri ja kõrgust. Uurimistöös käsitletakse tehisavaradari interferomeetrilise koherentsuse tund¬likkust metsa kõrguse suhtes ning analüüsitakse, millised keskkonna ja klimaati¬lised tingimused ning satelliidi orbiidiga seotud parameetrid mõjutavad radari¬piltidelt erinevate puuliikide kõrguse hindamise täpsust. Lisaks keskendub väitekiri interferomeetrilisele koherentsusele tuginevate mudelite analüüsi¬misele ning nende täpsuse hindamisele operatiivse metsa kõrguse kaardistamise raken-duseks. Vaatluse alla on võetud kolm testala, mis asuvad Soomaa rahvuspargis, Võrtsjärve idakaldal Rannus ja Peipsiveere looduskaitsealal ning katavad kokku 2291 hektarit metsa. 23 TanDEM-X satelliidipildi koherentsuspilte võrreldakse samadel testaladel aerolaserskaneerimise (LiDAR) abil mõõdetud puistute kõrgu¬sega, mis on omakorda jagatud kolme rühma (kuused, männid ja laia¬lehised segametsad). RVoG (Random Volume over Ground) taimekatte mudel ning sellest tule¬tatud lihtsamad pooleempiirilised mudelid sobituvad olemasolevate TanDEM-X koherentsuse ning LiDARi metsa puistute kõrgusandmetega hästi. Töö tule¬mused kinnitavad, et tulevikus on suurte ja erinevatest metsatüüpidest koosne¬vate metsade kõrguse kosmosest kaardistamisel otstarbekas kasutusele võtta esmalt just soovitatud lihtsamad ja universaalsemad mudelid.This thesis presents research in the field of radar remote sensing and contributes to the forest monitoring application development using space-borne synthetic aperture radar (SAR). Satellite data is particularly useful for large-scale forestry applications making high revisit monitoring of the state of forests worldwide possible. The sensitivity of SAR to the dielectric and geometrical properties of the targets, penetration capacity and coherent imaging properties make it a unique tool for mapping and monitoring forest biomes. SAR satellites are also capable of retrieving additional information about the structure of the forest, tree height and biomass estimates as an essential input for monitoring the changes in the carbon stocks. Interferometric SAR (InSAR) is an advanced SAR imaging technique that allows the retrieval of forest parameters while working in nearly all weather conditions, independently of daylight and cloud cover. This research concen¬trates on assessing the impact of different variables affecting hemiboreal forest height estimation from space-borne X-band interferometric SAR coherence data. In particular, the research analyses the changes in coherence dynamics related to seasonal conditions, tree species and imaging properties using a large collection of interferometric SAR images from different seasons over a four-year period. The study is carried out over three test sites in Estonia using the extensive multi-temporal dataset of 23 TanDEM-X images, covering 2291 hectares of forests to describe the relation between the interferometric SAR coherence mag¬nitude and forest parameters. The work demonstrates how the correlation of interferometric coherence and Airborne LiDAR Scanning (ALS)-derived forest height varies for pine and deciduous tree species, for summer (leaf-on) and winter (leaf-off) conditions and for flooded forest floor. A simple semi-empirical modelling approach is proposed as being suitable for wide area forest mapping with limited a priori information under a range of seasonal and environ¬¬mental conditions. A Random Volume over Ground (RVoG) model and three semi-empirical models are compared and validated against a large dataset of coherence magnitude and ALS-measured data over hemiboreal forests in Estonia. The results show that all proposed models perform well in describing the relationship between hemiboreal forest height and interferometric coherence, allowing in future to derive forest stand height with an accuracy suitable for a wide range of applications

Improving Flood Detection and Monitoring through Remote Sensing

As climate-change- and human-induced floods inflict increasing costs upon the planet, both in terms of lives and environmental damage, flood monitoring tools derived from remote sensing platforms have undergone improvements in their performance and capabilities in terms of spectral, spatial and temporal extents and resolutions. Such improvements raise new challenges connected to data analysis and interpretation, in terms of, e.g., effectively discerning the presence of floodwaters in different land-cover types and environmental conditions or refining the accuracy of detection algorithms. In this sense, high expectations are placed on new methods that integrate information obtained from multiple techniques, platforms, sensors, bands and acquisition times. Moreover, the assessment of such techniques strongly benefits from collaboration with hydrological and/or hydraulic modeling of the evolution of flood events. The aim of this Special Issue is to provide an overview of recent advancements in the state of the art of flood monitoring methods and techniques derived from remotely sensed data

Reflection of radar waves by soils, crops and forest: a review of some recent Dutch work.

Reviews the principles of measurement of radar reflection and some studies on three landscape types in the Netherlands. Measurements on forest (several stand types) were made from a television tower near Eindhoven in winter 1972/73 and compared with ground-survey data. Radar reflection increased gradually with increasing stem numbers/ha, being influenced largely by the canopy (owing to its high water content) and very little by tree height or stem diameter. At greater distances, the taller trees acted as a screen preventing further measurement. The technique is regarded as promising. ADDITIONAL ABSTRACT: The use of radar reflection as a classifier for agricultural purposes is discussed and demonstrated. The results of some series of measurements being performed by a Dutch working group in collaboration with the Agricultural University is mentioned, together with the problems of data handling. (Abstract retrieved from CAB Abstracts by CABI’s permission

L-Band Multi-Polarization Radar Scatterometry over Global Forests: Modelling, Analysis, and Applications

Spaceborne L-band radars have the ability to penetrate vegetation canopies over forested areas, suggesting a potential for regular and frequent global monitoring of both the vegetation state and the subcanopy soil moisture. However, L-band radar’s sensitivity to both vegetation and ground also complicates the relationship between the radar observations and the ecological and geophysical parameters. Accurate yet parsimonious forward models of the radar backscatter are valuable to building an understanding of these relationships. In the first part of this thesis, a model of L-band multi-polarization radar backscatter from forests, intended for use at regional to global spatial scales, is presented. Novel developments in the model include the consideration of multiple scattering within the dense vegetation canopy, and the application of a general model of plant allometry to mitigate the need for much intensive field data for training or over-tuning towards specific sites and tree species. Aided by our model, in the remainder and majority of the thesis, a detailed analysis and interpretation of L-band backscatter over global forests is performed, using data from the Aquarius and SMAP missions. Quantitative differences in backscatter predicted by our model due to freeze/thaw states, branch orientation, and flooding are partially verified against the data, and fitted values of aboveground-biomass and microwave vegetation optical depths are comparable to independent estimates in the literature. Polarization information is used to help distinguish vegetation and ground effects on spatial and temporal variations. We show that neither vegetation nor ground effects alone can explain spatial variations within the same land cover class. For temporal variations during unfrozen periods, soil moisture is found to often be an important factor at timescales of a week to several months, although vegetation changes remain a non-negligible factor. We report the observation of significant differences in backscatter depending on beam azimuthal angle, possibly due to plant phototropism. We also investigated diurnal variations, which have the potential to reveal signals related to plant transpiration. SMAP data from May-July 2015 showed that globally, co-polarized backscatter was generally higher at 6PM compared to 6AM over boreal forests, which is not what one might expect based on previous studies. Based on our modelling, increased canopy extinction at 6AM is a possible cause, but this is unproven and its true underlying physical cause undetermined. Finally, by making simplifying approximations on our forward model, we propose and explore algorithms for soil moisture retrieval under forest canopies using L-band scatterometry, with preliminary evaluations suggesting improved performance over existing algorithms.</p

A 2D ray-tracing based model for wave propagation through forests at micro-and millimeter wave frequencies

This paper proposes the extension of a 2-D ray-tracing-based model for radiowave propagation in the presence of trees and vegetation areas to include real-sized trees and outdoor forest scenarios. The original propagation model proved to be suitable to characterize the electromagnetic behavior in the presence of indoor tree formation scenarios, despite some limitations found when applied to real-sized trees. In addition, the original propagation model requires the prior knowledge of the trees’ re-radiation function to extract the relevant propagation input parameters, which is not always possible to obtain in outdoor scenarios. Therefore, an empirical method to extract the relevant input propagation parameters based on simple measurements is proposed. The performance of the proposed propagation model extension is extensively assessed in both the line-of-trees and tree formation scenarios, including various (and mixed) species, both in- and out-of-leaf foliation states, and at three signal frequencies. Finally, depending on the type of scenario, a benchmark between the proposed propagation model and both the radiative energy transfer (RET) and discrete RET (dRET) models, for line-of-trees and tree formation, respectively, is presented.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

NASA/JPL Aircraft SAR Workshop Proceedings

Speaker-supplied summaries of the talks given at the NASA/JPL Aircraft SAR Workshop on February 4 and 5, 1985, are provided. These talks dealt mostly with composite quadpolarization imagery from a geologic or ecologic prespective. An overview and summary of the system characteristics of the L-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) flown on the NASA CV-990 aircraft are included as supplementary information. Other topics ranging from phase imagery and interferometric techniques classifications of specific areas, and the potentials and limitations of SAR imagery in various applications are discussed

Acoustic Measurement of Snow

Instrumentation commonly used to measure snowpack stratigraphy, snow density, Snow Water Equivalent (SWE), temperature and liquid water content is usually invasive and requires disruption of the snowpack. Most measurement techniques modify the snow medium and more than one sample cannot be taken at the same location. This does not permit continuous monitoring of these parameters using a single measurement instrument. An acoustic wave sent into the snowpack was used to measure snow. To provide the theory required to make acoustic measurements, the Biot-Stoll model of sound wave propagation in porous media was modified using a mixture theory so that it was applicable to a multiphase porous medium. The combined model is called the Unified Thermoacoustic Model (UTAM) for snow. An acoustic measurement device, the System for the Acoustic Sensing of Snow (SAS2), was designed to send sound waves into snow and to receive the reflected sound waves using a loudspeaker and a microphone array. A stationary version of the SAS2 was deployed on a met station and a portable version of the SAS2 was placed on a roving ski-based platform. The systems were deployed at field sites in the Canadian Rocky Mountains, Alberta. The results showed that the SAS2 was able to measure snow density, temperature, and liquid water content and serve as a replacement technology for snowtube and snowpit measurements. Snow density was estimated more accurately by the SAS2 than from commonly-used snow tube techniques

Goddard Visiting Scientist Program for the Space and Earth Sciences Directorate

Progress reports of the Visiting Scientist Program covering the period from 1 Jul. - 30 Sep. 1992 are included. Topics covered include space science and earth science. Other topics covered include cosmic rays, magnetic clouds, solar wind, satellite data, high resolution radiometer, and microwave scattering

CHANNEL MODELING FOR FIFTH GENERATION CELLULAR NETWORKS AND WIRELESS SENSOR NETWORKS

In view of exponential growth in data traffic demand, the wireless communications industry has aimed to increase the capacity of existing networks by 1000 times over the next 20 years. A combination of extreme cell densification, more bandwidth, and higher spectral efficiency is needed to support the data traffic requirements for fifth generation (5G) cellular communications. In this research, the potential improvements achieved by using three major 5G enabling technologies (i.e., small cells, millimeter-wave spectrum, and massive MIMO) in rural and urban environments are investigated. This work develops SPM and KA-based ray models to investigate the impact of geometrical parameters on terrain-based multiuser MIMO channel characteristic. Moreover, a new directional 3D channel model is developed for urban millimeter-wave (mmW) small cells. Path-loss, spatial correlation, coverage distance, and coherence length are studied in urban areas. Exploiting physical optics (PO) and geometric optics (GO) solutions, closed form expressions are derived for spatial correlation. Achievable spatial diversity is evaluated using horizontal and vertical linear arrays as well as planar 2D arrays. In another study, a versatile near-ground field prediction model is proposed to facilitate accurate wireless sensor network (WSN) simulations. Monte Carlo simulations are used to investigate the effects of antenna height, frequency of operation, polarization, and terrain dielectric and roughness properties on WSNs performance