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Barnes, J. C.

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ERT DOC. P-412-9 f -  I !,I i, I , _ 
\ & '  September 1974 
( E 7 4 -  10792)  STUDY TO D E V E L O P  T?!PROVF9 N74-34749 
SPACECRAFT SNOW SITKVFY HETEODS ilSlh'G 
SKYLAS/ERE? C A T X  Q u a r t e r l y  P rog re s s  
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STUDY TO DEVELOP IMPROVED SPACECRAFT SNOW 
SURVEY NETHODS USING SKYLAB/EREP DATA 
(EREP Invest igat ion No. 420) 
James C .  Barnes, Pr incipal  Inves t iga tor  
Environmental Research & Technology, Inc . 
Concord, Massachusetts 01742 
Sixth Q ~ a r t e r l y  Progress Report 
Covering the  Perioc? 15 June 1974 t~ 15 September 1974 
Contract No. NAS 9-13305 
Prepared fo r :  
Pr incipal  Invest igat ions Management Off ice 
National Aeronautics and Space Administration 
Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center 
Houston, Texas 77958 
Technical Monitor: Larry B. York Code TF6 
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=19740026636 2020-03-23T02:23:51+00:00Z
Pumose of i,lvestirration 
The purpose of t h i s  inves t iga t ion  i s  t o  compare and evaluate Skylab da t a  
f o r  mapping of snow cover. Visual i n t e rp re t a t ion  of the  S190 photographs 
w i l l  be pe~formed t o  map areas  t h a t  a r e  snow-covered. The S192 imagery and 
d i g i t a l  p r in tou t s ,  Si93  data ,  and S194 da t a  w i i l  then be compared t o  t he  S190 
phatographs t o  determine how much addi t icna l  information on a rea l  extent  of 
snow can be obtained from various spec t r a l  bands, tnermal data ,  and micro- 
wave data .  Snow-depth and area measurements taken rout inely by various 
Government agencies i n  t h e  S ie r r a  Nevada, Cascades, and Great Plains  s h a l l  
provide ground t ru th .  7 l e  r e l a t i v e l y  high-resolut ion EREP data  w i l l  be 
compared with t e l ev i s ion  and radiometric measurements from other  s a t e l l i t e s ,  
and ava i lab le  a i r c r a f t  imagery, t o  determine t h e  optimum fea ture  system f o r  
mapping the  a rea l  extent  of  snow. The r e s u l t s  of  t h i s  invest igat ion w i l l  
enable a more accurate  assessment of  t h e  ex ten t  o f  snow cover i n  t h e  United 
S ta t e s  and a id  i n  predict ion of  runoff and b e t t e r  management of the  country 's  
water resources. 
Accomplishments During Reporting Period 
In Ju ly ,  James C.  Barnes, Pr incipal  Inves t iga tor ,  and James H. Willand, 
Chief of Data Processing Systems a t  ERT, attended the  EREP Data Meeting he ld  
a t  Johnson Space Center. A t  t h a t  time a meeting was held with the Technical 
Monitcr t o  discuss  the  progress of  t he  study t o  da t e  and the schedule f o r  
completion based on the  revised JSC da ta  processing schedule. 
In connection with the  irlformation provided a t  t h e  EREP Data Meeting 
and the l e t t e r  of 2 August from the  Contracting Off icer ,  a proposal f o r  
contract  zxtension was submitted tu the  Technical Support Procurement Branch 
on 14 August. The proposal r e f l e c t s  t h e  addi t iona l  cos ts  incurred t o  main- 
t a i n  the ion t r ac t  f o r  the  five-month extension i n  time specif ied i n  t he  
l e t t e r  ( t o  31 May 1975), and includes c o s t s  f o r  addi t ional  processing and 
analysis  of computer tapes.  A subs t an t i a l  amount of e f fo r t  and computer 
time has been l o s t  i n  t he  processing of t h e  e a r l i e r  computer tapes,  which 
subsequen:ly were found t o  contain incor rec t  da ta .  Moreover, t he  r e s u l t s  
of the ctnr;l)'sis of a l imited snnple of S-192 screening film a re  p a r t i c u l a r l y  
promising (see interim repor t ,  LRT Doc. P-312-7, June, 1974). I t  i s  e s s e n t i a l ,  
therefore,  t ha t  the corrected S-192 tapes f o r  a number of cases be processed 
under the  contract  extension. 
During t h i s  report ing period, S190A ant& S190B da ta  from the  SL-4 
mission were received. The data  a r e  f o r  Test  S i t e s  318208, 318592, and 
518107. The spec i f i c  €REP passes and da tes  f o r  which data  were co l lec ted  on 
the  SL-4 mission f o r  t h i s  inves t ige t ion  a r e  given i n  a previous progress 
report  (ERT Report P-412-6, blay 1974). Two reprocessed S194 tapes from the  
SL-2 mission and S194 data  books from the  SL-2 and SL-4 missions were a l so  
received. 
On 30 Ju ly ,  an addi t ional  request was submitted f o r  S192 da t a  f o r  t he  
SL-4 EREP pass over Test S i t e  318107. These d a t a  had not been requested 
e a r l i e r  because lie had been ab le  t o  review only t h e  S192 screening f i lm a t  
t h a t  time. Based on the  review of t h e  l imited number of spec t ra l  bands 
(and r e l a t i v e l y  poor qua l i t y  of t h e  f i lm) ,  it appeared tha t  t h i s  p a r t i c u l a r  
.segment did not contain useful  data .  
Now, however, we have had a chance t o  see t h e  corresponding S190A and 
S190B photographs (not received u n t i l  Ju ly ) .  These photographs show good 
snow cover and some clouds between Walker and Mono Lakes; the S192 da t a ,  
therefore ,  should be extremely useful  fo r  inves t iga t ing  fur ther  t h e  diffcrences 
i n  re f lec tance  between snow and clouds. 
Travel Summary 
The Principal  Invest igator  and M r .  James H. Willand, Chief of Data 
Processing Systems a t  ERT, attended the  €REP Data Meeting a t  JSC i n  J u l y  
(see above). 
Plans f o r  the  Kext Reporting Period 
Analysis of t he  S190A and S190B products from t h e  SL-4 mission w i l l  be 
undertaken during the nexi report ing period,  using the  techniques described 
i n  t he  interim repor t .  I t  w i l l  then be poss ib le  t o  compare the  wintertime 
snow pa t te rn  with the  pa t te rns  from the  l a t e  spr ing of the previous year 
during the SL-2 mission. 
Analysis of the  S19? f i n a l  f i l m  products  &i l l  be c a r r i e d  out  when t h e s e  
d a t a  a r e  received.  The snow ex ten t  v i s i b l e  i n  t h e  various s p e c t r a l  bands k i l l  
be c a r e f u l l y  aspped t o  de te rn ine  more p r e c i s e l y  t h e  magnitude o f  t h e  band- 
to-band v a r i a t i o n s .  I t  is  a n t i c i p a t e d  t h a t  t h e  SL-4 f i lm will be u s e f u l  f o r  
comparing t h e  r e f l e c t a n c e  v a r i a t i o n s  dur ing win te r  with those  observed i n  
t h e  f i i r  f ron  t h e  SL-2 mission; such a conpariscn r i g h t  provide 2n i n d i c a t i o n  
of t h e  e f f e c t s  o f  d i f f e r e n t  snow condi t ions  on t h e  observed r e f l e c t a n c e ,  
s i n c e  t h e  winter  snow would presumably be cold  and dry;  whereas t h e  l a t e  
sp r ing  snow would be i n  a n e l t i n g  cond i t ion .  
Processing o f  t h e  S194 taped d a t a  a l r e a d y  received a t  EXT w i l l  be under- 
taken dur ing t h e  nex t  r e p o r t i n g  per iod .  Process ing of t h e  o t h e r  taped d a t a  
products t h a t  have been requested w i l l  a l s o  be undertaken when t h e  d a t a  a r e  
received.  
Summary Outlook 
- 
We b e l i e v e  t h a t  t h e  d a t a  c o l l e c t e d  dur ing t h e  l a t t e r  p a r t  o f  t h e  SL-4 
mission,  t o g e t h e r  wjth t h a t  from t h e  e a r l i e r  SL-2 mission, w i l l  form a t o t a l  
sample s u f f i c i e n t  t o  enable  t h e  o b j e c t i v e s  o f  t h e  s tudy t o  be met success -  
f u l l y .  I t  is e s s e n t i a l ,  however, t h a t  a l l  d a t a  products t h a t  have been 
requested be provided by JSC, and t h a t  t h e  funds t h a t  have been reques ted  i n  
t h e  c o n t r a c t  extension proposal  be provided,  s o  t h a t  a m e e ~ i n g f u l  d a t a  
sample can be processed and analyzed.  
F inanc ia l  Report 
I n  accordance wi th  Appendix A o f  t h e  Work Statement o f  t h e  s u b j e c t  
c o n t r a c t ,  t h e  F inanc ia l  Management Report i s  being submitted a s  a s e p a r a t e  
document. 
T i t l e :  STlJDY T O  DEVELOP IMPROVED SPiICECIIAFT SSOK SURVEY 
METHODS USING S b L X B / E R E P  DATA 
(EREP Invest igat i ,?n No. 420) 
Principal  
Invest igator :  James C. Barnes 
Environmental Research & Technology, Inc. 
Concord, Massachusetts 01742 
Dis:ussion of S igni f icant  Results 
No s ign i f i can t  results were found during t h i s  repor t ing  period. 


Study to develop improved spacecraft snow survey methods using Skylab/EREP data

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