HIRIS (High-Resolution Imaging Spectrometer: Science opportunities for the 1990s. Earth observing system. Volume 2C: Instrument panel report

The high-resolution imaging spectrometer (HIRIS) is an Earth Observing System (EOS) sensor developed for high spatial and spectral resolution. It can acquire more information in the 0.4 to 2.5 micrometer spectral region than any other sensor yet envisioned. Its capability for critical sampling at high spatial resolution makes it an ideal complement to the MODIS (moderate-resolution imaging spectrometer) and HMMR (high-resolution multifrequency microwave radiometer), lower resolution sensors designed for repetitive coverage. With HIRIS it is possible to observe transient processes in a multistage remote sensing strategy for Earth observations on a global scale. The objectives, science requirements, and current sensor design of the HIRIS are discussed along with the synergism of the sensor with other EOS instruments and data handling and processing requirements

Agricultural scene understanding and supporting field research, volume 1

There are no author-identified significant results in this report

Mapping three-dimensional geological features from remotely-sensed images and digital elevation models.

Accurate mapping of geological structures is important in numerous applications, ranging from mineral exploration through to hydrogeological modelling. Remotely sensed data can provide synoptic views of study areas enabling mapping of geological units within the area. Structural information may be derived from such data using standard manual photo-geologic interpretation techniques, although these are often inaccurate and incomplete. The aim of this thesis is, therefore, to compile a suite of automated and interactive computer-based analysis routines, designed to help a the user map geological structure. These are examined and integrated in the context of an expert system. The data used in this study include Digital Elevation Model (DEM) and Airborne Thematic Mapper images, both with a spatial resolution of 5m, for a 5 x 5 km area surrounding Llyn Cow lyd, Snowdonia, North Wales. The geology of this area comprises folded and faulted Ordo vician sediments intruded throughout by dolerite sills, providing a stringent test for the automated and semi-automated procedures. The DEM is used to highlight geomorphological features which may represent surface expressions of the sub-surface geology. The DEM is created from digitized contours, for which kriging is found to provide the best interpolation routine, based on a number of quantitative measures. Lambertian shading and the creation of slope and change of slope datasets are shown to provide the most successful enhancement of DEMs, in terms of highlighting a range of key geomorphological features. The digital image data are used to identify rock outcrops as well as lithologically controlled features in the land cover. To this end, a series of standard spectral enhancements of the images is examined. In this respect, the least correlated 3 band composite and a principal component composite are shown to give the best visual discrimination of geological and vegetation cover types. Automatic edge detection (followed by line thinning and extraction) and manual interpretation techniques are used to identify a set of 'geological primitives' (linear or arc features representing lithological boundaries) within these data. Inclusion of the DEM data provides the three-dimensional co-ordinates of these primitives enabling a least-squares fit to be employed to calculate dip and strike values, based, initially, on the assumption of a simple, linearly dipping structural model. A very large number of scene 'primitives' is identified using these procedures, only some of which have geological significance. Knowledge-based rules are therefore used to identify the relevant. For example, rules are developed to identify lake edges, forest boundaries, forest tracks, rock-vegetation boundaries, and areas of geomorphological interest. Confidence in the geological significance of some of the geological primitives is increased where they are found independently in both the DEM and remotely sensed data. The dip and strike values derived in this way are compared to information taken from the published geological map for this area, as well as measurements taken in the field. Many results are shown to correspond closely to those taken from the map and in the field, with an error of < 1°. These data and rules are incorporated into an expert system which, initially, produces a simple model of the geological structure. The system also provides a graphical user interface for manual control and interpretation, where necessary. Although the system currently only allows a relatively simple structural model (linearly dipping with faulting), in the future it will be possible to extend the system to model more complex features, such as anticlines, synclines, thrusts, nappes, and igneous intrusions

Earth Survey Applications Division

Accomplishments of research and data analysis conducted to study physical parameters and processes inside the Earth and on the Earth's surface, to define techniques and systems for remotely sensing the processes and measuring the parameters of scientific and applications interest, and the transfer of promising operational applications techniques to the user community of Earth resources monitors, managers, and decision makers are described. Research areas covered include: geobotany, magnetic field modeling, crustal studies, crustal dynamics, sea surface topography, land resources, remote sensing of vegetation and soils, and hydrological sciences. Major accomplishments include: production of global maps of magnetic anomalies using Magsat data; computation of the global mean sea surface using GEOS-3 and Seasat altimetry data; delineation of the effects of topography on the interpretation of remotely-sensed data; application of snowmelt runoff models to water resources management; and mapping of snow depth over wheat growing areas using Nimbus microwave data

A Tale of Two Planet(ary bodie)s: The Origin of Ice on Mercury and the Moon

The low obliquity of Mercury and the Moon causes topographic depressions located near their poles to cast persistent shadows, which may cold-trap volatiles for geologic time periods. Despite their similar thermal environments, telescopic and remote sensing observations have previously detected thick, pure water ice deposits near the poles of Mercury but not the Moon - where ice was found to be superficial or mixed with the regolith. This work attempts to resolve the apparent difference between the two planetary bodies employing physical models and spacecraft observations. We study how topographic roughness affects the temperature distribution and the ensuing prevalence of cold-traps, and constrain the amount, age and origin of polar ice deposits on Mercury and the Moon. Our results suggest that the difference between the amount of cold-trapped volatiles on these planetary bodies may not be as significant as previously thought, and that the presence of heavier carbonaceous volatiles on Mercury may explain the higher purity of its ice deposits relative to the Moon

Optical scattering for security applications

Laser Surface Authentication (LSA) has emerged in recent years as a potentially disruptive tracking and authentication technology. A strong need for such a solution in a variety of industries drove the implementation of the technology faster than the scientific understanding could keep up. The drive to miniaturise and simplify, the need to be robust against real-world problems like damage and misuse, and not least, intellectual curiosity, make it clear that a firmer scientific footing is important as the technology matures. Existing scattering and biometric work are reviewed, and LSA is introduced as a technology. The results of field-work highlight the restrictions which are encountered when the technology is applied. Analysis of the datasets collected in the trial provide, first, an indication of the performance of LSA under real-world conditions and, second, insight into the potential shortcomings of the technique. Using the particulars of the current sensor’s geometry, the LSA signal is characterised. Measurements are made of the decorrelation of the signature with linear and rotational offsets, and it is concluded that while surface microstructure has a strong impact on the rate of decorrelation, this dependency is not driven by the surface’s feature size. A new series of experiments examine that same decorrelation for interference effects with different illumination conditions, and conclude that laser speckle is not an adequate explanation for the phenomenon. The results of this experimental work inform a mathematical description of LSA based on a combination of existing bi-static scattering models used in physics and ray-tracing, which is implemented numerically. The results of the model are found to be a good fit to experimental work, and new predictions are made about LSA

Cryogenic optical refrigeration: Laser cooling of solids below 123 K

This dissertation compiles recent achievements in optical refrigeration, cooling a 10% wt. Ytterbium doped Yttrium Lithium Fluoride (Yb+3:YLF) crystal via anti-Stokes fluorescence to a record low temperature ~114(+\\-1)K (below NIST-defined cryogenic 123 K) from room temperature (ΔT ~185 K) in a single stage with a cooling power of 190mW. The demonstration of the coldest temperature to date, without the use of liquid cryogens or mechanical refrigerators, is achieved by taking advantage of the Stark manifold resonance and high doping concentration available in a crystalline host, outperforming multi-stage Peltier coolers. A novel technique probing local temperature changes experimentally verifies the cooling efficiency model with expected cooling to 93 K with the current crystal. With modest improvements to parasitic background absorption through the reduction of identified impurities, theory predicts cooling that approaches liquid nitrogen temperatures at 77 K. With this accomplishment, implementation of all solid-state cryo-cooling has begun

Automated rapid thermal imaging systems technology

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2012.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (p. 266-276).A major source of energy savings occurs on the thermal envelop of buildings, which amounts to approximately 10% of annual energy usage in the United States. To pursue these savings, energy auditors use closed loop energy auditing processes that include infrared thermography inspection as an important tool to assess deficiencies and identify hot thermal gradients. This process is prohibitively expensive and time consuming. I propose fundamentally changing this approach by designing, developing, and deploying an Automated Rapid Thermal Imaging Systems Technology (ARTIST) which is capable of street level drive-by scanning in real-time. I am doing for thermal imaging what Google Earth did for visual imaging. I am mapping the world's temperature, window by window, house by house, street by street, city by city, and country by country. In doing so, I will be able to provide detailed information on where and how we are wasting energy, providing the information needed for sound economic and environmental energy policies and identifying what corrective measures can and should be taken. The fundamental contributions of this thesis relates to the ARTIST. This thesis will focus on the following topics: * Multi-camera synthetic aperture imaging system * 3D Radiometry * Non-radiometric infrared camera calibration techniques * Image enhancement algorithms - Hyper Resolution o Kinetic Super Resolution - Thermal Signature Identification - Low-Light Signal-to-Noise Enhancement using KSRby Long N. Phan.Ph.D