Engineering topics
Publications and source records attributed to Diner, D. J..
The top-of-atmosphere (TOA) path radiance generated by an aerosol mixture can be synthesized by linearly adding the contributions of the individual aerosol components, weighted by their fractional optical depths. The method, known as linear mixing, is exact in the single-scattering limit.
The Multi-Angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) instrument is being developed at JPL for the EOS AM1 spacecraft, scheduled for launch in June 1998. The development status and strategy for observing atmospheric aerosols are described.
The Multi-Angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) is being developed at JPL for the AM1 spacecraft in the Earth Observing System (EOS) series. This paper reports on the progress of instrument fabrication and testing, and it discusses the strategy to use the instrument for studying tropospheric aerosols.
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This paper discusses the concept of extrasolar planet detection using a large-aperture infared imaging telescope. Coronagraphic stellar apodization techniques are less efficient at infrared wavelengths compared to the visible, as a result of practical limitations on aperture dimensions, thus necessitating additional starlight suppression to make planet detection feasible in this spectral domain. We have been investigating the use of rotational shearing interferometry to provide up to three orders of magnitude of starlight suppression over broad spectral bandwidths. We present a theoretical analysis of the system performance requirements needed to make this a viable instrument for planet detection, including specifications on the interferometer design and telescope aperture characteristics. The concept of using rotational shearing interferometry as a wavefront error detector, thus providing a signal that can be used to adaptively correct the wavefront, will be discussed. We also present the status of laboratory studies of on-axis source suppression using a recently constructed rotational shearing interferometer that currently operates in the visible.
The first spacecraft in the NASA Earth Observing System (EOS) series, EOS-AMI, is scheculed for launch in June 1998. The Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) instrument is currently under development for flight on this platform.
The MISR provides a unique opportunity for studying the ecology and climate of the earth through the acquisition of systematic, global multiangle imagery in reflected sunlight. MISR uses nine cameras: a nadir camera and two banks of four cameras each pointed forward and aftward along the spacecraft ground track to image the earth at +/-30.7, +/-45.6, +/-60.0, and +/-72.5 deg. Radiometrically calibrated images at each angle will be obtained in four spectral bands centered at 440, 550, 670, and 860 nm. MISR will take image data in two different spatial resolution modes: local mode, in which selected targets are observed with 240-m spatial sampling, and global mode, where the entire sunlit eEarth is observed continuously with 1.92-km sampling. The instrument is capable of acquiring global coverage every nine days.
Algorithms to correct for atmospheric-scattering effects in high-spatial resolution land-surface images require the ability to perform rapid and accurate computations of the top-of-atmosphere diffuse radiance field for arbitrarily general surface reflectance distributions (which may be both heterogeneous and non-Lambertian) and atmospheric models. Using three-dimensional radiative transfer (3DRT) theory algorithms are being developed. The methodology used to perform the 3DRT calculations is described. It is shown how these calculations are used to perform atmospheric corrections, and the sensitivity of the retrieved surface reflectances to atmospheric structural parameters is illustrated.
Distributions of temperature dust, vapors, and condensates measured. Report describes design and intended uses of developmental pressure-modulator infrared readimeter, PMIRR, carried aboard Mars Observer spacecraft. Applies remote-sensing techniques used to study atmosphere of Earth. Takes similar measurements from polar orbit around Mars. Nine-channel atmospheric sounder that employs filter and pressure-modulation gas-correlation infrared radiometry.
Three dimensional radiative transfer theory was applied to computation of atmospheric effects on remotely sensed imagery. The atmospheric correction algorithm derived is used to estimate aerosol opacity.
This paper discusses functional requirements of space-based observational systems with sufficient sensitivity, resolution, and dynamic range to image earth-like extrasolar planets within a search radius of 10 parsecs from the sun. Both direct and interferometric systems operating at visible and infrared wavelengths are evaluated, and the methods used to establish the system tolerances are presented. Due to the more favorable star/planet contrast ratio in the infrared, optical tolerance requirements are less stringent than in the visible. However, reduction of thermal radiation from the telescope requires cooling of the primary optics. Other tradeoffs between various approaches are enumerated.
A radiative transfer model is used to investigate how the error of spectral hemispherical reflectance data obtained from nadir reflectance values varies with wavelength, solar zenith angle, leaf area index, and leaf orientation distribution. Several techniques employing multiple off-nadir view angles taken in azimuth planes are found to accurately infer spectral hemispherical reflectances, and to be well suited to sensor systems that scan in a known azimuth plane or view fore and aft in a known azimuth plane. The effects of errors in hemispherical reflectance on terrestrial energy budget and productivity calculations is also considered.
IRAS and near-IR coronographic data for the A5V star Beta Pic are analyzed for evidence of planetary formation. The light scattered from the central star in the system is integrated along the distance to the star to determine the disk magnitude at various distances from the star. A modified gamma distribution is applied to evaluate the scattering coefficient to test a hypothesis that the inner 30 AU of the disk has been swept out by planets. The scattering from the region around Beta Pic is compared with scattering around other A5V stars. Finally, the IR data at 0.89 micron is compared with scattering at the coronograph wavelengths. No evidence is found to support the hypothesis of clearing in the inner disk, although large particle densities can be found very close to Beta Pic. The study illustrates the effectiveness of using scattered light and IR data to discover and characterize matter distributions circumstellar disks.
Progress made toward interpretation of radiometric observations. Paper discusses equation of radiative transfer in three-dimensional, inhomogeneous, scattering medium illuminated from above and bounded below by laterallyinhomogeneous, reflective plane. Representation of radiation field with full three-dimensional variability derived by use of spatial Fourier transform and matrix-operator techniques developed previously for one-dimensional version of problem. Equations useful for radiometric measurements from aircraft and spacecraft. Although derivations and resulting equations complicated, use of Fourier-transform, matrix-operator approach to solve practical problems simpler than direct solution of complete three-dimensional, linear wave equations.
Report presents detailed analysis of atmospheric blurring inherent in photographs or other observations of Earth from satellites or aircraft. Blurring result of scattering of radiation, which diffuses sharp image features by causing light from one part of scene to fall on image of adjacent part. In contrast with earlier approaches to atmospheric optics, one presented in report more accurate and versatile and designed for use on minicomputers.
A procedure for determining atmospheric transmittance using surface images acquired at several view angles from space is presented. Fourier filtering of the image data is used to mitigate the effects of atmospheric path radiance and instrument noise. Although it is essential for some contrast to be present in the images, knowledge of the atmospheric scattering phase function or the surface bidirectional reflectance function is not required. The method appears to provide absolute transmittances with an accuracy of better than 10 percent, which is useful in some applications.
The influence of the shape of atmospheric scattering phase functions on blurring of surface detail in images acquired from space is investigated. The effects are characterized by computing atmospheric transfer functions and by solving the multidimensional equation of radiative transfer using a Fourier transform method. It is predicted that increased forward scattering enhances the detectability of atmospheric blurring near reflectance boundaries. Results for off-nadir viewing are also presented.
Among the tools used in passive remote sensing of Earth resources in the visible and near-infrared spectral regions are measurements of spectral signature and bidirectional reflectance functions (BDRFs). Determination of surface properties using these observables is complicated by a number of factors, including: (1) mixing of surface components, such as soil and vegetation, (2) multiple reflections of radiation due to complex geometry, such as in crop canopies, and (3) atmospheric effects. In order to bridge the diversity in these different approaches, there is a need for a fundamental physical understanding of the influence of the various effects and a quantiative measure of their relative importance. In particular, we consider scene complexity effects using the example of reflection by vegetative surfaces. The interaction of sunlight with a crop canopy and interpretation of the spectral and angular dependence of the emergent radiation is basically a multidimensional radiative transfer problem. The complex canopy geometry, underlying soil cover, and presence of diffuse as well as collimated illumination will modify the reflectance characteristics of the canopy relative to those of the individual elements.