Analysis of geologic terrain models for determination of optimum SAR sensor configuration and optimum information extraction for exploration of global non-renewable resources. Pilot study: Arkansas Remote Sensing Laboratory, part 1, part 2, and part 3

Computer-generated radar simulations and mathematical geologic terrain models were used to establish the optimum radar sensor operating parameters for geologic research. An initial set of mathematical geologic terrain models was created for three basic landforms and families of simulated radar images were prepared from these models for numerous interacting sensor, platform, and terrain variables. The tradeoffs between the various sensor parameters and the quantity and quality of the extractable geologic data were investigated as well as the development of automated techniques of digital SAR image analysis. Initial work on a texture analysis of SEASAT SAR imagery is reported. Computer-generated radar simulations are shown for combinations of two geologic models and three SAR angles of incidence

Try Living in the Real World: the importance of experimental radar systems and data collection trials

While simulations of increasingly high fidelity are an important tool in radar science, experimentation is still needed as a source of validation for simulation, to explore complex phenomena which cannot be accurately simulated and ultimately in turning theory and simulation into a real world system with real world applications. Experimental systems can range from laboratory based, installations on the ground with limited fields of view all the way up to flying demonstrators which may be prototypes for radar products. In this paper we will discuss the importance of experimentation in the development of radar science and radar products with examples of systems used by a sub-set of the members of the UK EMSIG

Earth resources: A continuing bibliography with indexes (issue 62)

This bibliography lists 544 reports, articles, and other documents introduced into the NASA scientific and technical information system between April 1 and June 30, 1989. 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

Forest structure from terrestrial laser scanning – in support of remote sensing calibration/validation and operational inventory

Forests are an important part of the natural ecosystem, providing resources such as timber and fuel, performing services such as energy exchange and carbon storage, and presenting risks, such as fire damage and invasive species impacts. Improved characterization of forest structural attributes is desirable, as it could improve our understanding and management of these natural resources. However, the traditional, systematic collection of forest information – dubbed “forest inventory” – is time-consuming, expensive, and coarse when compared to novel 3-D measurement technologies. Remote sensing estimates, on the other hand, provide synoptic coverage, but often fail to capture the fine- scale structural variation of the forest environment. Terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) has demonstrated a potential to address these limitations, but its operational use has remained limited due to unsatisfactory performance characteristics vs. budgetary constraints of many end-users. To address this gap, my dissertation advanced affordable mobile laser scanning capabilities for operational forest structure assessment. We developed geometric reconstruction of forest structure from rapid-scan, low-resolution point cloud data, providing for automatic extraction of standard forest inventory metrics. To augment these results over larger areas, we designed a view-invariant feature descriptor to enable marker-free registration of TLS data pairs, without knowledge of the initial sensor pose. Finally, a graph-theory framework was integrated to perform multi-view registration between a network of disconnected scans, which provided improved assessment of forest inventory variables. This work addresses a major limitation related to the inability of TLS to assess forest structure at an operational scale, and may facilitate improved understanding of the phenomenology of airborne sensing systems, by providing fine-scale reference data with which to interpret the active or passive electromagnetic radiation interactions with forest structure. Outputs are being utilized to provide antecedent science data for NASA’s HyspIRI mission and to support the National Ecological Observatory Network’s (NEON) long-term environmental monitoring initiatives

SSERVI Annual Report: Year 4

The SSERVI Central Office forms the organizational, administrative and collaborative hub for the domestic and international teams, and is responsible for advocacy and ensuring the long-term health and relevance of the Institute. SSERVI has increased the cross-talk between NASAs space and human exploration programs, which is one of our primary goals. We bring multidisciplinary teams together to address fundamental and strategic questions pertinent to future human space exploration, and the results from that research are the primary products of the institute. The team and international partnership reports contain summaries of 2017 research accomplishments. Here we present the 2017 accomplishments by the SSERVI Central Office that focus on: 1) Supporting Our Teams, 2) Community Building, 3) Managing the Solar System Treks Portal (SSTP), and 4) Public Engagement

An end-to-end hyperspectral scene simulator with alternate adjacency effect models and its comparison with cameoSim

In this research, we developed a new rendering-based end to end Hyperspectral scene simulator CHIMES (Cranfield Hyperspectral Image Modelling and Evaluation System), which generates nadir images of passively illuminated 3-D outdoor scenes in Visible, Near Infrared (NIR) and Short-Wave Infrared (SWIR) regions, ranging from 360 nm to 2520 nm. MODTRAN TM (MODerate resolution TRANsmission), is used to generate the sky-dome environment map which includes sun and sky radiance along with the polarisation effect of the sky due to Rayleigh scattering. Moreover, we perform path tracing and implement ray interaction with medium and volumetric backscattering at rendering time to model the adjacency effect. We propose two variants of adjacency models, the first one incorporates a single spectral albedo as the averaged background of the scene, this model is called the Background One-Spectra Adjacency Effect Model (BOAEM), which is a CameoSim like model created for performance comparison. The second model calculates background albedo from a pixel’s neighbourhood, whose size depends on the air volume between sensor and target, and differential air density up to sensor altitude. Average background reflectance of all neighbourhood pixel is computed at rendering time for estimating the total upwelled scattered radiance, by volumetric scattering. This model is termed the Texture-Spectra Incorporated Adjacency Effect Model (TIAEM). Moreover, for estimating the underlying atmospheric condition MODTRAN is run with varying aerosol optical thickness and its total ground reflected radiance (TGRR) is compared with TGRR of known in-scene material. The Goodness of fit is evaluated in each iteration, and MODTRAN’s output with the best fit is selected. We perform a tri-modal validation of simulators on a real hyperspectral scene by varying atmospheric condition, terrain surface models and proposed variants of adjacency models. We compared results of our model with Lockheed Martin’s well-established scene simulator CameoSim and acquired Ground Truth (GT) by Hyspex cameras. In clear-sky conditions, both models of CHIMES and CameoSim are in close agreement, however, in searched overcast conditions CHIMES BOAEM is shown to perform better than CameoSim in terms of ℓ1 -norm error of the whole scene with respect to GT. TIAEM produces better radiance shape and covariance of background statistics with respect to Ground Truth (GT), which is key to good target detection performance. We also report that the results of CameoSim have a many-fold higher error for the same scene when the flat surface terrain is replaced with a Digital Elevation Model (DEM) based rugged one

Earth resources: A continuing bibliography with indexes (issue 51)

This bibliography lists 382 reports, articles and other documents introduced into the NASA scientific and technical information system between July 1 and September 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

Summaries of the Sixth Annual JPL Airborne Earth Science Workshop

This publication contains the summaries for the Sixth Annual JPL Airborne Earth Science Workshop, held in Pasadena, California, on March 4-8, 1996. The main workshop is divided into two smaller workshops as follows: (1) The Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) workshop, on March 4-6. The summaries for this workshop appear in Volume 1; (2) The Airborne Synthetic Aperture Radar (AIRSAR) workshop, on March 6-8. The summaries for this workshop appear in Volume 2