Long term records of erosional change from marine ferromanganese crusts

Ferromanganese crusts from the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans record the Nd and Pb isotope compositions of the water masses from which they form as hydrogenous precipitates. The10Be/9Be-calibrated time series for crusts are compared to estimates based on Co-contents, from which the equatorial Pacific crusts studied are inferred to have recorded ca. 60 Ma of Pacific deep water history. Time series of ɛNd show that the oceans have maintained a strong provinciality in Nd isotopic composition, determined by terrigenous inputs, over periods of up to 60 Ma. Superimposed on the distinct basin-specific signatures are variations in Nd and Pb isotope time series which have been particularly marked over the last 5 Ma. It is shown that changes in erosional inputs, particularly associated with Himalayan uplift and the northern hemisphere glaciation have influenced Indian and Atlantic Ocean deep water isotopic compositions respectively. There is no evidence so far for an imprint of the final closure of the Panama Isthmus on the Pb and Nd isotopic composition in either Atlantic or Pacific deep water masses

Simulation of Optical Remote-Sensing Scenes With Application to the EnMAP Hyperspectral Mission

The simulation of remote-sensing images is a useful tool for a variety of tasks, such as the definition of future Earth Observation systems, the optimization of instrument specifications, and the development and validation of data processing algorithms. A scene simulator for optical hyperspectral and multispectral data has been implemented in the frame of the Environmental Mapping and Analysis Program (EnMAP) mission. EnMAP is a German-built hyperspectral space sensor scheduled for launch in 2012. EnMAP will measure in the 420-2450-nm spectral range at a varying spectral sampling of 6.510 nm. Images will cover 30 × 30 km areas at an approximate ground sampling distance of 30 m. The EnMAP scene simulator presented in this paper is able to generate realistic EnMAP-like data in an automatic way under a set of user-driven instrumental and scene parameters. Radiance and digital numbers data are generated by five sequential processing modules which are able to produce data over a range of natural environments, acquisition and illumination geometries, cloud covers, and instrument configurations. The latter include the simulation of data nonuniformity in the spatial and spectral domains, spatially coherent and noncoherent instrumental noise, and instrument's modulation transfer function. Realistic surface patterns for the simulated data are provided by existing remote-sensing data in different environments, from dry geological sites to green vegetation areas. A flexible radiative transfer simulation scheme enables the generation of different illumination, observation, and atmospheric conditions. The methodology applied to the complete scene simulation and some sample results are presented and analyzed in this paper. © 2006 IEEE

Spectroradiometric Requirements for the Reflective Module of the Airborne Spectrometer ARES

The Airborne Reflective/Emissive Spectrometer is specified as a whisk-broom imaging spectrometer for remote sensing of land surfaces covering the wavelength regions 0.47–2.45 m and 8–12 m with 160 spectral bands. The instrument is being built by Integrated Spectronics, financed by the German Aerospace Center(DLR) and the GeoResearch Centre Potsdam (GFZ) and will be available to the scientific community from end 2005 on. The spectroradiometric design is based on scientific requirements derived from three main application scenarios comprising vegetation, soil, and mineral sciences. Two of these are described in this letter. Measured or modeled reflectance spectra are input to a simulation model that calculates at-sensor radiance spectra, resamples them with the channel-specific response functions, adds different amounts of noise in the radiance domain, and performs a retrieval to get the corresponding noisy surface reflectance spectra. The retrieval results as a function of the sensor noise level are compared with the accuracy requirements imposed by the different application fields taking into account the technical boundary conditions. The final specifications account for the most demanding requirements of the three application fields: a spectral sampling distance of 13–14 nm in the 470–1800 nm region, and 12 nm in the 2000–2450-nm region. The required noise-equivalent radiances are 5, 3, and 2 nW cm-2 sr-1 nm-1 for the spectral regions 470–1000, 1000–1800, and 2000–2450 nm, respectively

Scene-based spectral calibration assessment of high spectral resolution imaging spectrometers.

An accurate knowledge of the spectral calibration of imaging spectrometers is required for optimum data processing and interpretation. The scene-based spectral characterization of imaging spectrometers is frequently necessary to update or replace the pre-flight laboratory-based spectral characterization supplied by the data provider. An automatic method for the estimation of spectral calibration parameters (channel position and bandwidth) at atmospheric absorption regions from high spectral resolution imaging spectrometers (spectral sampling interval below 5 nm) is presented in this contribution. The method has been tested on two commercial instruments with spectral sampling intervals below 2.5 nm. Optical aberrations such as smile, spectrometer shift and rotation and degradation of channel bandwidth have been detected and are discussed in terms of potential error sources at the instrument level

Methane and organic matter as sources for excess carbon dioxide in intertidal surface sands: Biogeochemical and stable isotope evidence

The tidal areas of the German Wadden Sea form an important transition zone between the terrestrial and marine environment. Tidal areas represent highly productive marine coastal ecosystems that are under additional influence of riverine inputs. The re-mineralization of organic matter is coupled to reductive processes using oxygen, nitrate, Mn,Fe oxy(hydroxi)des and sulfate as final electron acceptors. Sulfate reduction is involved in the oxidation of DOC and methane, and is the most important anaerobic process leading to a re-flux of CO2 into the water column. CH4 and CO2 are important greenhouse gases. Both are produced in marine sediments but methane fluxes from marine sediments to the water column or the atmosphere are often limited by oxidation. Upon oxidation of organic matter and methane, carbon dioxide is added to pore waters, and both, carbon dioxide and methane may be liberated from intertidal surface sediments into the bottom waters or the atmosphere. Sizes and quality of OM pools and methane concentrations, transport properties as well as biogeochemical processs in intertidal sediments differ in different sediment types (sands, mixed and mud flats). Pore waters and surface sediments from the intertidal of the German Wadden Sea, North Sea, have been analyzed on a seasonal base for a number of (bio)geochemical parameters as, for instance, the contents and isotope composition of TOC, DIC, methane, sulphate reduction rates (SRR), sulfate, sulfide, pyrite, AVS. The typical sediments of the tidal area of Spiekeroog Island have been considered, as sands, mixed and mud flats. The C-13/C-12 partitioning was used to identify the major sources of DIC and key reactions in the coupled C-S cycles. SRR showed a control by season (temperature) and organic matter contents. Bulk organic matter in the surface sediments showed stable carbon isotope data between about -19 and -25 per mil with lighter data found in mixed and mud flats, indicating mixtures between marine and terrestrial organic matter. (Biogenic) methane in hypersulfidic surface sands contained isotope signatures down to -65 per mil. Below reduced sandy surfaces, the isotopic composition of enhanced DIC down to -36 per mil indicate methane as a major source for the oxidized carbon pool. In contrast, DIC was less enriched in the lighter isotope below oxidized surface sands or mixed flats where oxidation of organic matter using oxygen and sulfate as electron acceptors dominated. At Sylt Island the effect of bioturbation and bioirrigation by dwelling organisms (lugworms Arenicola marina) on experimental field sites, was considered, too. In the top 10 cmbsf, highest SRR, DIC concentrations, and lightest C-13 signatures in DIC were observed during summer time with no contribution from CH4