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Hardesty, C. A.

Publications and source records attributed to Hardesty, C. A..

Remote sensing of sediment and chlorophyll with the test-bed aircraft multispectral scanner

An instrument known as the test-bed aircraft multispectral scanner (TBAMS) was used in a research flight over the entrance to the Chesapeake Bay. Upwelled radiances from the TBAMS data were correlated with the water parameters, particularly sediment and chlorophyll a. Several algorithms were demonstrated for monitoring sediment and chlorophyll, with a three-band ratio being the best. The primary advantage of the three-band ratio was found to be its apparent insensitivity to atmospheric and Sun-angle variations.

Bowker, D. E.↗

Test-Bed Aircraft Scanner

Test-bed aircraft multispectral scanner (TBAMS) is line-scanning multispectral imaging system with eight visible/near-infrared channels and one thermal-infrared channel. Key design features of TBAMS are its large size and modular subsystem mounted on horizontal baseplate. This unique layout allows easy access to and replacement of subsystems and their subcomponents. System designed around existing inexpensive parts, sacrifices compactness for ease of modification.

Jobson, D. J.↗

Radiometric performance of the test-bed aircraft multispectral scanner /TBAMS/ system

Laboratory and flight radiometric performance testing of an experimental multispectral scanner system is described. High sensitivity performance is confirmed by test results using noise equivalent spectral radiance as the primary figure of merit. A performance comparison between the test-bed aircraft multispectral scanner (TBAMS) and the Bendix modular multispectral scanner (M2S) is presented. Methods for achieving high sensitivity operation are discussed as well as some of the practical implications of such operation for flight remote sensing experiments.

Jobson, D. J.↗

Analysis of testbed airborne multispectral scanner data from Superflux II

A test bed aircraft multispectral scanner (TBAMS) was flown during the James Shelf, Plume Scan, and Chesapeake Bay missions as part of the Superflux 2 experiment. Excellent correlations were obtained between water sample measurements of chlorophyll and sediment and TBAMS radiance data. The three-band algorithms used were insensitive to aircraft altitude and varying atmospheric conditions. This was particularly fortunate due to the hazy conditions during most of the experiments. A contour map of sediment, and also chlorophyll, was derived for the Chesapeake Bay plume along the southern Virginia-Carolina coastline. A sediment maximum occurs about 5 nautical miles off the Virginia Beach coast with a chlorophyll maximum slightly shoreward of this. During the James Shelf mission, a thermal anomaly (or front) was encountered about 50 miles from the coast. There was a minor variation in chlorophyll and sediment across the boundary. During the Chesapeake Bay mission, the Sun elevation increased from 50 degrees to over 70 degrees, interfering with the generation of data products.

Bowker, D. E.↗