Workshop on Strategies for Calibration and Validation of Global Change Measurements

The Committee on Environment and Natural Resources (CENR) Task Force on Observations and Data Management hosted a Global Change Calibration/Validation Workshop on May 10-12, 1995, in Arlington, Virginia. This Workshop was convened by Robert Schiffer of NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C., for the CENR Secretariat with a view toward assessing and documenting lessons learned in the calibration and validation of large-scale, long-term data sets in land, ocean, and atmospheric research programs. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)/Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) hosted the meeting on behalf of the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS)/Working Group on Calibration/walidation, the Global Change Observing System (GCOS), and the U. S. CENR. A meeting of experts from the international scientific community was brought together to develop recommendations for calibration and validation of global change data sets taken from instrument series and across generations of instruments and technologies. Forty-nine scientists from nine countries participated. The U. S., Canada, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Japan, Switzerland, Russia, and Kenya were represented

Remote Sensing Monitoring of Land Surface Temperature (LST)

This book is a collection of recent developments, methodologies, calibration and validation techniques, and applications of thermal remote sensing data and derived products from UAV-based, aerial, and satellite remote sensing. A set of 15 papers written by a total of 70 authors was selected for this book. The published papers cover a wide range of topics, which can be classified in five groups: algorithms, calibration and validation techniques, improvements in long-term consistency in satellite LST, downscaling of LST, and LST applications and land surface emissivity research

CIRA annual report FY 2014/2015

Reporting period July 1, 2014-March 31, 2015

Hyperspectral Imaging for Fine to Medium Scale Applications in Environmental Sciences

The aim of the Special Issue “Hyperspectral Imaging for Fine to Medium Scale Applications in Environmental Sciences” was to present a selection of innovative studies using hyperspectral imaging (HSI) in different thematic fields. This intention reflects the technical developments in the last three decades, which have brought the capacity of HSI to provide spectrally, spatially and temporally detailed data, favoured by e.g., hyperspectral snapshot technologies, miniaturized hyperspectral sensors and hyperspectral microscopy imaging. The present book comprises a suite of papers in various fields of environmental sciences—geology/mineral exploration, digital soil mapping, mapping and characterization of vegetation, and sensing of water bodies (including under-ice and underwater applications). In addition, there are two rather methodically/technically-oriented contributions dealing with the optimized processing of UAV data and on the design and test of a multi-channel optical receiver for ground-based applications. All in all, this compilation documents that HSI is a multi-faceted research topic and will remain so in the future

CIRA annual report FY 2017/2018

Reporting period April 1, 2017-March 31, 2018

The Multispectral Imaging Science Working Group. Volume 3: Appendices

The status and technology requirements for using multispectral sensor imagery in geographic, hydrologic, and geologic applications are examined. Critical issues in image and information science are identified

Phytoplankton Community Composition in the Surface Ocean: Methods for Detection using Optical Measurements, Pigment Concentrations, and Flow Cytometry

Phytoplankton are microscopic photoautotrophs living in the surface ocean waters and help support all life on earth via photosynthetic production of oxygen. Thousands of species make up the bulk phytoplankton community, and the spatial and temporal distribution of different types of phytoplankton has relevance for many ocean ecosystem questions including marine food web dynamics, and carbon flux and sequestration. Methods to detect phytoplankton community composition (PCC) on the vast scale of the global ocean require estimates of PCC from remote platforms, namely earth-observing satellites. The use of satellite data to observe and interpret PCC in the surface ocean requires significant effort to develop and evaluate algorithms based on measurements made in situ; the work of this thesis contributes to that effort. Information from both global and regional (North Atlantic Ocean) datasets is applied to develop methods to estimate phytoplankton pigment concentrations, phytoplankton size classes, and diatom carbon concentrations. Optical spectra, specifically hyperspectral remote-sensing reflectance, are used in the algorithm for estimating phytoplankton pigments, which resolves the concentrations of three pigments and one pigment group (chlorophylls a, b, c, and photoprotective carotenoids). This result has implications for use with hyperspectral ocean color data measured by satellite. A novel dataset of open-ocean image-in-flow cytometry is used to evaluate and improve a commonly applied phytoplankton size class algorithm, as well as to calculate diatom carbon and develop a model to map diatom carbon using environmental parameters as model input. Biases and uncertainties in the size class algorithm are reduced by our method relative to previously published work for all three size classes (pico-, nano-, and microplankton). Diatom carbon measurements from quantitative cell imagery elucidate the variability of diatom biomass as function of chlorophyll a concentration, and this novel information enables improved methods to detect diatoms from space. The findings of this thesis are relevant to large-scale studies of ocean ecosystems and are critical for algorithm development using both current and upcoming earth-observing satellite data. Additionally, the results presented here provide tools that will benefit oceanographic research on spatial scales relevant to a changing ocean climate

Remote Sensing

This dual conception of remote sensing brought us to the idea of preparing two different books; in addition to the first book which displays recent advances in remote sensing applications, this book is devoted to new techniques for data processing, sensors and platforms. We do not intend this book to cover all aspects of remote sensing techniques and platforms, since it would be an impossible task for a single volume. Instead, we have collected a number of high-quality, original and representative contributions in those areas

COBE's search for structure in the Big Bang

The launch of Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) and the definition of Earth Observing System (EOS) are two of the major events at NASA-Goddard. The three experiments contained in COBE (Differential Microwave Radiometer (DMR), Far Infrared Absolute Spectrophotometer (FIRAS), and Diffuse Infrared Background Experiment (DIRBE)) are very important in measuring the big bang. DMR measures the isotropy of the cosmic background (direction of the radiation). FIRAS looks at the spectrum over the whole sky, searching for deviations, and DIRBE operates in the infrared part of the spectrum gathering evidence of the earliest galaxy formation. By special techniques, the radiation coming from the solar system will be distinguished from that of extragalactic origin. Unique graphics will be used to represent the temperature of the emitting material. A cosmic event will be modeled of such importance that it will affect cosmological theory for generations to come. EOS will monitor changes in the Earth's geophysics during a whole solar color cycle