Remote Sensing Analysis of Selected Terrestrial Impact Craters and a Suspected Impact Structure in South Korea using Space Shuttle Photographs

Typical morphological elements for impact craters were detected on all analyzed Shuttle photographs. Features with diameters smaller than 2 km could not be successfully analyzed. The search for suitable Shuttle scenes was successfully performed using on-line Internet databases. Image enhancement and lineament analysis were also performed on the acquired Shuttle, Landsat and SPOT images of a suspected impact feature in South Korea. A fault bounded polygonal rim and a central uplift were identified on all images. A distinct system of annular and radial faults was not detected. The results of the study do not exclude the possibility of a meteoritic origin of this structure

Toward an image compression algorithm for the high-resolution electronic still camera

Taking pictures with a camera that uses a digital recording medium instead of film has the advantage of recording and transmitting images without the use of a darkroom or a courier. However, high-resolution images contain an enormous amount of information and strain data-storage systems. Image compression will allow multiple images to be stored in the High-Resolution Electronic Still Camera. The camera is under development at Johnson Space Center. Fidelity of the reproduced image and compression speed are of tantamount importance. Lossless compression algorithms are fast and faithfully reproduce the image, but their compression ratios will be unacceptably low due to noise in the front end of the camera. Future efforts will include exploring methods that will reduce the noise in the image and increase the compression ratio

Improving Cloud Detection in Satellite Images of Coral Reef Environments Using Space Shuttle Photographs and High-Definition Television

Coral reefs worldwide are suffering from severe and rapid degradation (Bryant et A, 1998; Hoegh-Guldberg, 1999). Quick, consistent, large-scale assessment is required to assess and monitor their status (e.g., USDOC/NOAA NESDIS et al., 1999). On-going systematic collection of high resolution digital satellite data will exhaustively complement the relatively small number of SPOT, Landsat 4-5, and IRS scenes acquired for coral reefs the last 20 years. The workhorse for current image acquisition is the Landsat 7 ETM+ Long Term Acquisition Plan (Gasch et al. 2000). Coral reefs are encountered in tropical areas and cloud contamination in satellite images is frequently a problem (Benner and Curry 1998), despite new automated techniques of cloud cover avoidance (Gasch and Campana 2000). Fusion of multidate acquisitions is a classical solution to solve the cloud problems. Though elegant, this solution is costly since multiple images must be purchased for one location; the cost may be prohibitive for institutions in developing countries. There are other difficulties associated with fusing multidate images as well. For example, water quality or surface state can significantly change through time in coral reef areas making the bathymetric processing of a mosaiced image strenuous. Therefore, another strategy must be selected to detect clouds and improve coral reefs mapping. Other supplemental data could be helpful and cost-effective for distinguishing clouds and generating the best possible reef maps in the shortest amount of time. Photographs taken from the 1960s to the present from the Space Shuttle and other human-occupied spacecraft are one under-used source of alternative multitemporal data (Lulla et al. 1996). Nearly 400,000 photographs have been acquired during this period, an estimated 28,000 of these taken to date are of potential value for reef remote sensing (Robinson et al. 2000a). The photographic images can be digitized into three bands (red, green and blue) and processed for various applications (e.g., Benner and Curry 1998, Nedeltchev 1999, Glasser and Lulla 2000, Robinson et al. 2000c, Webb et al, in press)

Statistics of nonlinear internal waves during the Shallow Water 2006 Experiment

Author Posting. © American Meteorological Society, 2016. This article is posted here by permission of American Meteorological Society for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology 33 (2016): 839-846, doi:10.1175/JTECH-D-15-0221.1.During the Shallow Water Acoustic Experiment 2006 (SW06) conducted on the New Jersey continental shelf in the summer of 2006, detailed measurements of the ocean environment were made along a fixed reference track that was parallel to the continental shelf. The time-varying environment induced by nonlinear internal waves (NLIWs) was recorded by an array of moored thermistor chains and by X-band radars from the attending research vessels. Using a mapping technique, the three-dimensional (3D) temperature field for over a month of NLIW events is reconstructed and analyzed to provide a statistical summary of important NLIW parameters, such as the NLIW propagation speed, direction, and amplitude. The results in this paper can be used as a database for studying the NLIW generation, propagation, and fidelity of nonlinear internal wave models.This research was supported by the Office of Naval Research Ocean Acoustics Program (322OA) through Grants N00014-10-1-0396 and N00014-11-1-0701.2016-10-1

Astronaut Photography of Coral Reefs

Astronaut photographs of tropical coastal areas may contain information on submerged features, including coral reefs, up to depths of about 15 m in clear waters. Previous research efforts have shown that astronaut photographs can aid in estimating coral reef locations and extent on national, regional and global scales, and allow characterization of major geomorphological rim and lagoon features (Andrefouet et al. 2000, in preparation). They can be combined with traditional satellite data to help distinguish between clouds and lagoon features such as pinnacles (Andrefouet and Robinson, in review). Furthermore, astronaut photographs may provide reef scientists and managers with information on the location and extent of river plumes and sediment run off, or facilitate identification of land cover types, including mangroves (Webb et al., in press). Photographs included in the section were selected based on several criteria. The primary consideration of the editors was that the photographs represent a worldwide distribution of coral reefs, have extremely low visual interference by cloud cover, and display a spatial scale reasonable for examining reef-related features. Once photographs were selected, they were digitized from 2nd generation copies. The color and contrast were hand corrected to an approximation of natural color (required to account for spectral differences between photographs due to the color sensitivities of films used, and differences in sun angle and exposure of the photographs). None of the photographs shown here have been georeferenced to correct them to a map projection and scale. Any distortions in features due to slightly oblique look angles when the photographs were taken through spacecraft windows remain. When feasible, near vertical photographs have been rotated so that north is toward the top. An approximate scale bar and north arrow have added using distinctive features on each photograph with reference to a 1:1,000,000 scale navigation chart. Astronaut photographs provide a unique source of moderate resolution reef remote sensing data because of their global coverage and (immediate) availability in the public domain. The database of photographs can be searched an browsed online and high-resolution digital copies of photographs in this atlas can be accessed via the Website of Earth Science and Image Analysis at NASA's Johnson Space Center

Regional Comparisons of Satellite (AVHRR) and Space Shuttle (MAPS) Derived Estimates of CO and Aerosol Concentrations

Biomass burning is considered to be a major source of trace gas species and aerosol particles which play a vital role in tropospheric chemistry and climate. Anthropogenic biomass burning has largely expanded in the last 15 years, due to increased deforestation practices in the Amazon Basin, as well as to clear land for shifting cultivation in South America, southern Asia, and Africa. Biomass burning produces large amounts of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide (CO), water, hydrocarbons, nitrous oxides, and smoke particles

An intelligent interactive visual database management system for Space Shuttle closeout image management

Status is given of an applications investigation on the potential for using an expert system shell for classification and retrieval of high resolution, digital, color space shuttle closeout photography. This NASA funded activity has focused on the use of integrated information technologies to intelligently classify and retrieve still imagery from a large, electronically stored collection. A space shuttle processing problem is identified, a working prototype system is described, and commercial applications are identified. A conclusion reached is that the developed system has distinct advantages over the present manual system and cost efficiencies will result as the system is implemented. Further, commercial potential exists for this integrated technology

Astronaut-Acquired Photography of Earth: Its History and Continued Applicability in Quantitative Analyses

Aerial and satellite photography has been used extensively in many different research efforts, for example, atmospheric studies, vegetation analysis, and change detection. Archives of historical aerial and satellite photography are a valuable resource to the science community. There is currently an archive of over 450,000 photographs of Earth taken by United States astronauts dating back to the early 1960\u27s. This archive covers the majority of the Earth\u27s surface and offers imagery taken by a variety of camera configurations including film and digital, various lenses, different look angles, and changing solar illuminance. There is extensive repeat coverage over many regions of the world\u27s landscape. These photographs have been increasingly analyzed in order to assess their potential as a remote sensing resource. The objectives of this paper are to give the reader an evolutionary history of astronaut-acquired imagery of Earth, and to discuss the many scientific analyses that have been successfully completed using this underutilized resource

Research and technology: 1986 annual report of the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center

Johnson Space Center accomplishments in new and advanced concepts during 1986 are highlighted. Included are research funded by the Office of Aeronautics and Space Technology; Solar System Exploration and Life Sciences research funded by the Office of Space Sciences and Applications; and Advanced Programs tasks funded by the Office of Space Flight. Summary sections describing the role of the Johnson Space Center in each program are followed by one-page descriptions of significant projects. Descriptions are suitable for external consumption, free of technical jargon, and illustrated to increase ease of comprehension

Application of an airborne hyper-spectral survey system CASI/SASI in the gold-silver-lead-zinc ore district of Huaniushan, Gansu, China

The airborne hyper-spectral survey system CASI/SASI, which has an integrated system for gathering both image an spectral data, is at the cutting edge developments in the remote-sensing field. It can be used to directly identify surface objects based on diagnostic spectral characteristics. In this paper, the CASI/SASI were used in the Huaniushan gold-silver-lead-zinc ore district–Gansu to produce a lithologic map, identify altered minerals, and map the mineralized-alteration zones. Radiometric correction, radiometric calibration, atmospheric correction (spectral reconstruction), and geometric corrections were carried out in ENVI to pre-process the measured data. A FieldSpec ® Pro FR portable spectrometer was used to obtain the spectral signatures of all types of rock samples, ore deposits, and mineralized-alteration zones. We extracted and analyzed the spectral characteristics of typical alteration minerals. On the basis of hyper-spectral data, ground-spectral data processing, and comparative analysis of the measured image spectrum, we used the spectral-angle-mapping (SAM) and mixture-tuned matchedfiltering (MTMF) methods to perform hyperspectral-alteration mineral  mapping of wall rock and mineralized-alteration-zone hyperspectral identification. Hyperspectral- remote- sensing geological- classification maps were produced as well as distribution maps of all kinds of alteration minerals and mineralized-alteration zones. Based on geological comprehensive analysis and field investigations, the range of mineral alteration was proven to be the same as shown by the remote-sensing imagery. Indications are that airborne hyperspectral- remote-sensing -image CASI/SASI offer good application results and show a promising potential as a tool in geological investigations. The results will provide the basis for hyperspectral remote-sensing prospecting in the same or similar unexplored areas.