The University, Electrical Engineering and Space Travel

In this paper, my purpose is three-fold: First, to tell some of the story of the development of the Engineering College at Utah State University; second, to present selected concepts and applications in the evolution of electrical engineering; third, to relate these concepts and developments to our space venture and to the twenty-first century_ My perspective is that of a school teacher, engineer, scientist and historian; superimposed upon this is my imbedment in the system as an administrator of teachers and researchers. I intend to strike a balance between generality and depth, between technology and philosophy, and between perception and speculation

Large Field-of-View Interferometers for Environmental Sensing

The interferometer -spectrometer is an exceptionally powerful instrument for remotely sensing optical emission spectra associated with the environment. However, when a conventional Michelson interferometer is operated at high spectral resolution, a very narrow viewing field results. For the sensing of emissions which have a significant spatial distribution, which is often the case for environmental species, optical compensation can be employed to open up the field of view. The resulting reduction in observation time for the compensated relative to the uncompensated interferometer is R284/4. For a practical instrument using prism -type compensator elements, the viewing field can be extended to more than ten degrees full angle. Consequently, the observation time required to obtain a spectrum is reduced by more than two orders of magnitude

Feature Extraction Using the Hough Transform

This paper contains a brief literature survey of applications and improvements of the Hough transform, a description of the Hough transform and a few of its algorithms, and simulation examples of line and curve detection using the Hough transform

Spectral Estimates of the Troposhere Using Least Squares and Maximum Likelihood

Given the significant cost and effort required to field infrared sensors capable of cutting-edge performance, each step of the development process, from experiment concept to calibrated sensor, must be optimized to insure maximum quality in the final processed data. This is particularly important if the final data is to be used as a basis for decisions about the properties of future sensors or for claims about the characteristics of the Troposphere. The spectra estimation process depends critically on how well the technique anticipates and models the operational properties of the system, how well the optical and electrical characterizes of the system are characterized, how closely the temporal properties of the system approximate a linear, time-invariant system, and how well system noise characterization are factored into the process that ends with quality spectra. To this end an alternate spectrum estimation algorithm, Expectation Maximum inversion (EM), is investigated and compared against the standard Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) operating on data collected during the flight of the spectrometer developed for the Far Infrared Spectroscopy of the Troposphere (FIRST) program. A discussion of the characteristics of the FFT and EM transform is given along with some preliminary results

Satellite-Based Correlation Studies of Mesospheric O2 and OH Infrared Emissions

The Mesosphere and Lower Thermosphere/Ionosphere (MLTI) plays an important role in the energy balance of the Earth-Sun planetary system. The SABER (Sounding of the Atmosphere using Broadband Emission Radiometry) instrument on NASAs TIMED (Thermosphere Ionosphere Mesosphere Energetics and Dynamics) satellite is a spatially scanning 10-channel infrared radiometer. To aid in the modeling of the photo-chemical dynamics that take place in the MLTI region, a series of correlations concerning three radiometric airglow bands of SABER are explored. The three bands of interest are O2(14g), OH(9-7;8-6) and OH(5-3), centered at wavelengths of 1.27, 2.06 and 1.64 μm, respectively. It was found that both the O2(14g) and OH(4v = 2) nighttime airglow volume emission rates have consistently brighter values and lower altitudes at near equatorial latitudes compared with values at midlatitudes. Two correlations are presented herein: (1) latitudinal and (2) global. The correlations performed showed consistent results. The more reliable results come from the global correlation using a binning technique that allowed for more data. The binning technique also made it possible to view the correlations over the entire globe. The dual OH airglow bands exhibited a strong correlation (0.85 to 1.0). The O2 1.27 μm airglow band showed a strong correlation (0.8 to 1.0) with the OH 2.06 μm airglow band. The O2 1.27 μm airglow band is less correlated (0.6 to 0.8) with the OH 1.64 μm airglow band

Space and Atmospheric Research in Utah: 1949 to Present

Space and atmospheric research have been carried out in Utah since Dr. Leon B. Linford and his team of researchers from the University of Utah participated in the launching ofV-2 rockets in 1949. This paper describes the work that has been done since that time and situates it in the broader context of space and military technology. Several specific projects are described, including aurora research, the EXCEED missions, CIRRIS missions, SABER, SPIRIT III, and the RAMOS project. Sources of funding and trends in research are also considered. These patterns demonstrate that military and defense needs have shaped space and atmospheric research in Utah

Visualization and Processing of Mesospheric Hydroxyl Infrared Emissions from SABER

The SABER (Sounding of the Atmosphere using Broadband Emission Radiometry) instrument on NASA’s TIMED (Thermosphere Ionosphere Mesosphere Energetics and Dynamics) satellite is a 10-channel infrared radiometer that has been collecting data about Earth’s upper atmosphere for over three years. Two radiometric channels of SABER are centered at wavelengths of 1.67 and 2.06 μm, corresponding to OH (Δv = 2) emissions derived from Meinel rotation-vibration emission bands. The purpose of this study is to develop algorithms to accurately process and display SABER data. Various interpolation methods were investigated and tested to precisely interpolate recorded data points globally. Global airglow volume emission rate (VER) maps were developed

Amplifier Design for Aerospike Measurements

Instrumentation amplifiers are needed to amplify thrust signals produced by load cells for accurate measurements in Aerospike testing. Gains are used to increase the resolution thus providing accurate and measurable thrust data. This paper will discuss the design procedure for building a low noise amplifier box along with the results and comparisons from actual measurements

Document Flash Thermography

This paper presents an extension of flash thermography techniques to the analysis of documents. Motivation for this research is to develop the ability to reveal covered writings in archaeological artifacts such as the Codex Selden or Egyptian Cartonnage. An emphasis is placed on evaluating several common existing signal processing techniques for their effectiveness in enhancing subsurface writings found within a set of test documents. These processing techniques include: contrast stretching, histogram equalization, image filters, contrast images, differential absolute contrast (DAC), thermal signal reconstruction (TSR), principal component thermography (PCT), dynamic thermal tomography (DTT), pulse phase thermography (PPT), and fitting-correlation analysis (FCA). The ability of flash thermography and the combined techniques to reveal subsurface writings and document strikeouts will be evaluated. In addition, the differences in flash thermography parameters are evaluated for most effective imaging of the two document subsets

Airborne Electronic Ultra-Fast Scanning Spectrometer

An all- electronic scanning spectrometer is described which is capable of scanning the 0.6 to 1 u spectral region at scan rates of up to 10,200 scans /second at a resolution of better than 15 $. An image dissector photoelectron multiplier tube is used as the detection device. The minimum detectable signal of the system is Zess than 1 x 10 -E w cm-2 2-1 at 0.8 u. The instrument occupies a volume of less than half a cubic foot and is designed for operation in a KC -135 aircraft. Video magnetic tape recording is used, and a digital read -out method has been developed so that the data can be programmed into a computer