Fourth Annual Earth Resources Program Review. Volume 4: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration programs and US Naval Research Laboratory programs

Conference of Earth Resources Program with emphasis on analysis of data obtained by aircraf

Radar systems for a polar mission, volume 3, appendices A-D, S, T

Success is reported in the radar monitoring of such features of sea ice as concentration, floe size, leads and other water openings, drift, topographic features such as pressure ridges and hummocks, fractures, and a qualitative indication of age and thickness. Scatterometer measurements made north of Alaska show a good correlation with a scattering coefficient with apparent thickness as deduced from ice type analysis of stereo aerial photography. Indications are that frequencies from 9 GHz upward seem to be better for sea ice radar purposes than the information gathered at 0.4 GHz by a scatterometer. Some information indicates that 1 GHz is useful, but not as useful as higher frequencies. Either form of like-polarization can be used and it appears that cross-polarization may be more useful for thickness measurement. Resolution requirements have not been fully established, but most of the systems in use have had poorer resolution than 20 meters. The radar return from sea ice is found to be much different than that from lake ice. Methods to decrease side lobe levels of the Fresnel zone-plate processor and to decrease the memory requirements of a synthetic radar processor are discussed

Literature review of the remote sensing of natural resources

Abstracts of 596 documents related to remote sensors or the remote sensing of natural resources by satellite, aircraft, or ground-based stations are presented. Topics covered include general theory, geology and hydrology, agriculture and forestry, marine sciences, urban land use, and instrumentation. Recent documents not yet cited in any of the seven information sources used for the compilation are summarized. An author/key word index is provided

Shuttle imaging radar-C science plan

The Shuttle Imaging Radar-C (SIR-C) mission will yield new and advanced scientific studies of the Earth. SIR-C will be the first instrument to simultaneously acquire images at L-band and C-band with HH, VV, HV, or VH polarizations, as well as images of the phase difference between HH and VV polarizations. These data will be digitally encoded and recorded using onboard high-density digital tape recorders and will later be digitally processed into images using the JPL Advanced Digital SAR Processor. SIR-C geologic studies include cold-region geomorphology, fluvial geomorphology, rock weathering and erosional processes, tectonics and geologic boundaries, geobotany, and radar stereogrammetry. Hydrology investigations cover arid, humid, wetland, snow-covered, and high-latitude regions. Additionally, SIR-C will provide the data to identify and map vegetation types, interpret landscape patterns and processes, assess the biophysical properties of plant canopies, and determine the degree of radar penetration of plant canopies. In oceanography, SIR-C will provide the information necessary to: forecast ocean directional wave spectra; better understand internal wave-current interactions; study the relationship of ocean-bottom features to surface expressions and the correlation of wind signatures to radar backscatter; and detect current-system boundaries, oceanic fronts, and mesoscale eddies. And, as the first spaceborne SAR with multi-frequency, multipolarization imaging capabilities, whole new areas of glaciology will be opened for study when SIR-C is flown in a polar orbit

Radar systems for the water resources mission, volume 1

The state of the art determination was made for radar measurement of: soil moisture, snow, standing and flowing water, lake and river ice, determination of required spacecraft radar parameters, study of synthetic-aperture radar systems to meet these parametric requirements, and study of techniques for on-board processing of the radar data. Significant new concepts developed include the following: scanning synthetic-aperture radar to achieve wide-swath coverage; single-sideband radar; and comb-filter range-sequential, range-offset SAR processing. The state of the art in radar measurement of water resources parameters is outlined. The feasibility for immediate development of a spacecraft water resources SAR was established. Numerous candidates for the on-board processor were examined

Earth resources: A continuing bibliography with indexes (issue 58)

This bibliography lists 500 reports, articles, and other documents introduced into the NASA scientific and technical information system between April 1 and June 30, 1988. 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

Polarimetric Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Application for Geological Mapping and Resource Exploration in the Canadian Arctic

The role of remote sensing in geological mapping has been rapidly growing by providing predictive maps in advance of field surveys. Remote predictive maps with broad spatial coverage have been produced for northern Canada and the Canadian Arctic which are typically very difficult to access. Multi and hyperspectral airborne and spaceborne sensors are widely used for geological mapping as spectral characteristics are able to constrain the minerals and rocks that are present in a target region. Rock surfaces in the Canadian Arctic are altered by extensive glacial activity and freeze-thaw weathering, and form different surface roughnesses depending on rock type. Different physical surface properties, such as surface roughness and soil moisture, can be revealed by distinct radar backscattering signatures at different polarizations. This thesis aims to provide a multidisciplinary approach for remote predictive mapping that integrates the lithological and physical surface properties of target rocks. This work investigates the physical surface properties of geological units in the Tunnunik and Haughton impact structures in the Canadian Arctic characterized by polarimetric synthetic aperture radar (SAR). It relates the radar scattering mechanisms of target surfaces to their lithological compositions from multispectral analysis for remote predictive geological mapping in the Canadian Arctic. This work quantitatively estimates the surface roughness relative to the transmitted radar wavelength and volumetric soil moisture by radar scattering model inversion. The SAR polarization signatures of different geological units were also characterized, which showed a significant correlation with their surface roughness. This work presents a modified radar scattering model for weathered rock surfaces. More broadly, it presents an integrative remote predictive mapping algorithm by combining multispectral and polarimetric SAR parameters

Modeling Atmosphere-Ocean Radiative Transfer: A PACE Mission Perspective

The research frontiers of radiative transfer (RT) in coupled atmosphere-ocean systems are explored to enable new science and specifically to support the upcoming Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud ocean Ecosystem (PACE) satellite mission. Given (i) the multitude of atmospheric and oceanic constituents at any given moment that each exhibits a large variety of physical and chemical properties and (ii) the diversity of light-matter interactions (scattering, absorption, and emission), tackling all outstanding RT aspects related to interpreting and/or simulating light reflected by atmosphere-ocean systems becomes impossible. Instead, we focus on both theoretical and experimental studies of RT topics important to the science threshold and goal questions of the PACE mission and the measurement capabilities of its instruments. We differentiate between (a) forward (FWD) RT studies that focus mainly on sensitivity to influencing variables and/or simulating data sets, and (b) inverse (INV) RT studies that also involve the retrieval of atmosphere and ocean parameters. Our topics cover (1) the ocean (i.e., water body): absorption and elastic/inelastic scattering by pure water (FWD RT) and models for scattering and absorption by particulates (FWD RT and INV RT); (2) the air-water interface: variations in ocean surface refractive index (INV RT) and in whitecap reflectance (INV RT); (3) the atmosphere: polarimetric and/or hyperspectral remote sensing of aerosols (INV RT) and of gases (FWD RT); and (4) atmosphere-ocean systems: benchmark comparisons, impact of the Earth's sphericity and adjacency effects on space-borne observations, and scattering in the ultraviolet regime (FWD RT). We provide for each topic a summary of past relevant (heritage) work, followed by a discussion (for unresolved questions) and RT updates

Fundamental remote sensing science research program. Part 1: Scene radiation and atmospheric effects characterization project

Brief articles summarizing the status of research in the scene radiation and atmospheric effect characterization (SRAEC) project are presented. Research conducted within the SRAEC program is focused on the development of empirical characterizations and mathematical process models which relate the electromagnetic energy reflected or emitted from a scene to the biophysical parameters of interest

Modeling atmosphere-ocean radiative transfer: A PACE mission perspective

The research frontiers of radiative transfer (RT) in coupled atmosphere-ocean systems are explored to enable new science and specifically to support the upcoming Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud ocean Ecosystem (PACE) satellite mission. Given (i) the multitude of atmospheric and oceanic constituents at any given moment that each exhibits a large variety of physical and chemical properties and (ii) the diversity of light-matter interactions (scattering, absorption, and emission), tackling all outstanding RT aspects related to interpreting and/or simulating light reflected by atmosphere-ocean systems becomes impossible. Instead, we focus on both theoretical and experimental studies of RT topics important to the science threshold and goal questions of the PACE mission and the measurement capabilities of its instruments. We differentiate between (a) forward (FWD) RT studies that focus mainly on sensitivity to influencing variables and/or simulating data sets, and (b) inverse (INV) RT studies that also involve the retrieval of atmosphere and ocean parameters. Our topics cover (1) the ocean (i.e., water body): absorption and elastic/inelastic scattering by pure water (FWD RT) and models for scattering and absorption by particulates (FWD RT and INV RT); (2) the air-water interface: variations in ocean surface refractive index (INV RT) and in whitecap reflectance (INV RT); (3) the atmosphere: polarimetric and/or hyperspectral remote sensing of aerosols (INV RT) and of gases (FWD RT); and (4) atmosphere-ocean systems: benchmark comparisons, impact of the Earth’s sphericity and adjacency effects on space-borne observations, and scattering in the ultraviolet regime (FWD RT). We provide for each topic a summary of past relevant (heritage) work, followed by a discussion (for unresolved questions) and RT updates