Guidebook on Detection Technologies and Systems for Humanitarian Demining

The aim of this publication is to provide the mine action community, and those supporting mine action, with a consolidated review and status summary of detection technologies that could be applied to humanitarian demining operations. This Guidebook is meant to provide information to a wide variety of readers. For those not familiar with the spectrum of technologies being considered for the detection of landmines and for area reduction, there is a brief overview of the principle of operation for each technology as well as a summary listing of the strengths, limitations, and potential for use of the technology to humanitarian demining. For those with an intermediate level of understanding for detection technologies, there is information regarding some of the more technical details of the system to give an expanded overview of the principles involved and hardware development that has taken place. Where possible, technical specifications for the systems are provided. For those requiring more information for a particular system, relevant publications lists and contact information are also provided

Assessing spring phenology of a temperate woodland : a multiscale comparison of ground, unmanned aerial vehicle and Landsat satellite observations

PhD ThesisVegetation phenology is the study of plant natural life cycle stages. Plant phenological events are related to carbon, energy and water cycles within terrestrial ecosystems, operating from local to global scales. As plant phenology events are highly sensitive to climate fluctuations, the timing of these events has been used as an independent indicator of climate change. The monitoring of forest phenology in a cost-effective manner, at a fine spatial scale and over relatively large areas remains a significant challenge. To address this issue, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) appear to be a potential new platform for forest phenology monitoring. The aim of this research is to assess the potential of UAV data to track the temporal dynamics of spring phenology, from the individual tree to woodland scale, and to cross-compare UAV results against ground and satellite observations, in order to better understand characteristics of UAV data and assess potential for use in validation of satellite-derived phenology. A time series of UAV data were acquired in tandem with an intensive ground campaign during the spring season of 2015, over Hanging Leaves Wood, Northumberland, UK. The radiometric quality of the UAV imagery acquired by two consumer-grade cameras was assessed, in terms of the ability to retrieve reflectance and Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), and successfully validated against ground (0.84≤R2≥0.96) and Landsat (0.73≤R2≥0.89) measurements, but only NDVI resulted in stable time series. The start (SOS), middle (MOS) and end (EOS) of spring season dates were estimated at an individual tree-level using UAV time series of NDVI and Green Chromatic Coordinate (GCC), with GCC resulting in a clearer and stronger seasonal signal at a tree crown scale. UAV-derived SOS could be predicted more accurately than MOS and EOS, with an accuracy of less than 1 week for deciduous woodland and within 2 weeks for evergreen. The UAV data were used to map phenological events for individual trees across the whole woodland, demonstrating that contrasting canopy phenological events can occur within the extent of a single Landsat pixel. This accounted for the poor relationships found between UAV- and Landsat-derived phenometrics (R2<0.45) in this study. An opportunity is now available to track very fine scale land surface changes over contiguous vegetation communities, information which could improve characterization of vegetation phenology at multiple scales.The Science without Borders program, managed by CAPES-Brazil (Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior)

Differential global positioning system (DGPS) for flight testing

In this volume, the potential of Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS) as a positioning datum for flight test applications is thoroughly discussed. Current technology status and future trends are investigated to identify optimal system architectures for both the on-board and ground station components, and to define optimal strategies for DGPS data gathering during various flight testing tasks. Limitations of DGPS techniques are analyzed, and various possible integration schemes with other sensors are considered. Finally, the optimal architecture of an integrated position reference system suitable for a variety of flight test applications is identified. This volume provides comprehensive guidance on assessing the need for and determining the characteristics of DGPS based position reference systems for flight test activities. The specific goals are to make available to the NATO flight test community the best practices and advice for DGPS based systems architecture definition and equipment selection. A variety of flight test applications are examined and both real-time and post-mission DGPS data requirements are outlined. Particularly, DGPS accuracy, continuity and integrity issues are considered, and possible improvements achievable by means of signal augmentation strategies are identified. Possible architectures for integrating DGPS with other airborne sensors (e.g., Inertial Navigation, Radar Altimeter) are presented, with particular emphasis on current and likely future data fusion algorithms. Particular attention is devoted to simulation analysis in support of flight test activities. Finally, an outline of current research perspectives in the field of DGPS technology is given

Space and Earth Sciences, Computer Systems, and Scientific Data Analysis Support, Volume 1

This Final Progress Report covers the specific technical activities of Hughes STX Corporation for the last contract triannual period of 1 June through 30 Sep. 1993, in support of assigned task activities at Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). It also provides a brief summary of work throughout the contract period of performance on each active task. Technical activity is presented in Volume 1, while financial and level-of-effort data is presented in Volume 2. Technical support was provided to all Division and Laboratories of Goddard's Space Sciences and Earth Sciences Directorates. Types of support include: scientific programming, systems programming, computer management, mission planning, scientific investigation, data analysis, data processing, data base creation and maintenance, instrumentation development, and management services. Mission and instruments supported include: ROSAT, Astro-D, BBXRT, XTE, AXAF, GRO, COBE, WIND, UIT, SMM, STIS, HEIDI, DE, URAP, CRRES, Voyagers, ISEE, San Marco, LAGEOS, TOPEX/Poseidon, Pioneer-Venus, Galileo, Cassini, Nimbus-7/TOMS, Meteor-3/TOMS, FIFE, BOREAS, TRMM, AVHRR, and Landsat. Accomplishments include: development of computing programs for mission science and data analysis, supercomputer applications support, computer network support, computational upgrades for data archival and analysis centers, end-to-end management for mission data flow, scientific modeling and results in the fields of space and Earth physics, planning and design of GSFC VO DAAC and VO IMS, fabrication, assembly, and testing of mission instrumentation, and design of mission operations center

Aerial Vehicles

This book contains 35 chapters written by experts in developing techniques for making aerial vehicles more intelligent, more reliable, more flexible in use, and safer in operation.It will also serve as an inspiration for further improvement of the design and application of aeral vehicles. The advanced techniques and research described here may also be applicable to other high-tech areas such as robotics, avionics, vetronics, and space

NASA Tech Briefs, November 2001

Topics include: special coverage section on data acquisition, and sections on electronic components and systems, software, materials, machinery/automation, physical sciences, book and reports, and a special section of Photonics Tech Briefs

Aeronautical engineering: A continuing bibliography with indexes (supplement 257)

This bibliography lists 560 reports, articles, and other documents introduced into the NASA scientific and technical information system in September 1990. Subject coverage includes: design, construction and testing of aircraft and aircraft engines; aircraft components, equipment and systems; ground support systems; and theoretical and applied aspects of aerodynamics and general fluid dynamics

Aeronautical engineering: A continuing bibliography with indexes (supplement 291)

This bibliography lists 757 reports, articles, and other documents introduced into the NASA scientific and technical information system in May. 1993. Subject coverage includes: design, construction and testing of aircraft and aircraft engines; aircraft components, equipment, and systems; ground support systems; and theoretical and applied aspects of aerodynamics and general fluid dynamics

Aeronautical Engineering: A continuing bibliography with indexes (supplement 205)

This bibliography lists 517 reports, articles and other documents introduced into the NASA scientific and technical information system in September 1986

Aeronautical Engineering: A continuing bibliography with indexes

This bibliography lists 725 reports, articles and other documents introduced into the NASA scientific and technical information system in April 1985