31,066 research outputs found
PhoSim-NIRCam: Photon-by-photon image simulations of the James Webb Space Telescope's Near-Infrared Camera
Recent instrumentation projects have allocated resources to develop codes for
simulating astronomical images. Novel physics-based models are essential for
understanding telescope, instrument, and environmental systematics in
observations. A deep understanding of these systematics is especially important
in the context of weak gravitational lensing, galaxy morphology, and other
sensitive measurements. In this work, we present an adaptation of a
physics-based ab initio image simulator: The Photon Simulator (PhoSim). We
modify PhoSim for use with the Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) -- the primary
imaging instrument aboard the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). This photon
Monte Carlo code replicates the observational catalog, telescope and camera
optics, detector physics, and readout modes/electronics. Importantly,
PhoSim-NIRCam simulates both geometric aberration and diffraction across the
field of view. Full field- and wavelength-dependent point spread functions are
presented. Simulated images of an extragalactic field are presented. Extensive
validation is planned during in-orbit commissioning
Exploration of a Polarized Surface Bidirectional Reflectance Model Using the Ground-Based Multiangle Spectropolarimetric Imager
Accurate characterization of surface reflection is essential for retrieval of aerosols using downward-looking remote sensors. In this paper, observations from the Ground-based Multiangle SpectroPolarimetric Imager (GroundMSPI) are used to evaluate a surface polarized bidirectional reflectance distribution function (PBRDF) model. GroundMSPI is an eight-band spectropolarimetric camera mounted on a rotating gimbal to acquire pushbroom imagery of outdoor landscapes. The camera uses a very accurate photoelastic-modulator-based polarimetric imaging technique to acquire Stokes vector measurements in three of the instrument's bands (470, 660, and 865 nm). A description of the instrument is presented, and observations of selected targets within a scene acquired on 6 January 2010 are analyzed. Data collected during the course of the day as the Sun moved across the sky provided a range of illumination geometries that facilitated evaluation of the surface model, which is comprised of a volumetric reflection term represented by the modified Rahman-Pinty-Verstraete function plus a specular reflection term generated by a randomly oriented array of Fresnel-reflecting microfacets. While the model is fairly successful in predicting the polarized reflection from two grass targets in the scene, it does a poorer job for two manmade targets (a parking lot and a truck roof), possibly due to their greater degree of geometric organization. Several empirical adjustments to the model are explored and lead to improved fits to the data. For all targets, the data support the notion of spectral invariance in the angular shape of the unpolarized and polarized surface reflection. As noted by others, this behavior provides valuable constraints on the aerosol retrieval problem, and highlights the importance of multiangle observations.NASAJPLCenter for Space Researc
A semantic-based platform for the digital analysis of architectural heritage
This essay focuses on the fields of architectural documentation and digital representation. We present a research paper concerning the development of an information system at the scale of architecture, taking into account the relationships that can be established between the representation of buildings (shape, dimension, state of conservation, hypothetical restitution) and heterogeneous information about various fields (such as the technical, the documentary or still the historical one). The proposed approach aims to organize multiple representations (and associated information) around a semantic description model with the goal of defining a system for the multi-field analysis of buildings
Surface diffusion coefficients for room acoustics : free-field measures
A surface diffusion coefficient is needed in room acoustics to enable the quality of diffusing surfaces to be evaluated. It may also facilitate more accurate geometric room acoustic models. This paper concentrates on diffusion coefficients derived from free-field polar responses. An extensive set of two- and three-dimensional measurements and predictions was used to test the worth of different diffusion coefficient definitions. The merits and problems associated with these types of coefficients are discussed, and past parameters reviewed. Two new coefficients are described. The new measure based on the autocorrelation function is forwarded as the best free-field coefficient. The strengths and weaknesses of the coefficient are defined. © 2000 Acoustical Society of America
Lifting GIS Maps into Strong Geometric Context for Scene Understanding
Contextual information can have a substantial impact on the performance of
visual tasks such as semantic segmentation, object detection, and geometric
estimation. Data stored in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) offers a rich
source of contextual information that has been largely untapped by computer
vision. We propose to leverage such information for scene understanding by
combining GIS resources with large sets of unorganized photographs using
Structure from Motion (SfM) techniques. We present a pipeline to quickly
generate strong 3D geometric priors from 2D GIS data using SfM models aligned
with minimal user input. Given an image resectioned against this model, we
generate robust predictions of depth, surface normals, and semantic labels. We
show that the precision of the predicted geometry is substantially more
accurate other single-image depth estimation methods. We then demonstrate the
utility of these contextual constraints for re-scoring pedestrian detections,
and use these GIS contextual features alongside object detection score maps to
improve a CRF-based semantic segmentation framework, boosting accuracy over
baseline models
- …