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NASA NTRS2011

Analysis of the Dryden Wet Bulb GLobe Temperature Algorithm for White Sands Missile Range

In locations where workforce is exposed to high relative humidity and light winds, heat stress is a significant concern. Such is the case at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. Heat stress is depicted by the wet bulb globe temperature, which is the official measurement used by the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists. The wet bulb globe temperature is measured by an instrument which was designed to be portable and needing routine maintenance. As an alternative form for measuring the wet bulb globe temperature, algorithms have been created to calculate the wet bulb globe temperature from basic meteorological observations. The algorithms are location dependent; therefore a specific algorithm is usually not suitable for multiple locations. Due to climatology similarities, the algorithm developed for use at the Dryden Flight Research Center was applied to data from the White Sands Missile Range. A study was performed that compared a wet bulb globe instrument to data from two Surface Atmospheric Measurement Systems that was applied to the Dryden wet bulb globe temperature algorithm. The period of study was from June to September of2009, with focus being applied from 0900 to 1800, local time. Analysis showed that the algorithm worked well, with a few exceptions. The algorithm becomes less accurate to the measurement when the dew point temperature is over 10 Celsius. Cloud cover also has a significant effect on the measured wet bulb globe temperature. The algorithm does not show red and black heat stress flags well due to shorter time scales of such events. The results of this study show that it is plausible that the Dryden Flight Research wet bulb globe temperature algorithm is compatible with the White Sands Missile Range, except for when there are increased dew point temperatures and cloud cover or precipitation. During such occasions, the wet bulb globe temperature instrument would be the preferred method of measurement. Out of the 30 dates examined, 23 fell under the category of having good accuracy.

LaQuay, Ryan Matthew↗

NASA NTRS2011

NASA SPoRT Initialization Datasets for Local Model Runs in the Environmental Modeling System

The NASA Short-term Prediction Research and Transition (SPoRT) Center has developed several products for its National Weather Service (NWS) partners that can be used to initialize local model runs within the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Environmental Modeling System (EMS). These real-time datasets consist of surface-based information updated at least once per day, and produced in a composite or gridded product that is easily incorporated into the WRF EMS. The primary goal for making these NASA datasets available to the WRF EMS community is to provide timely and high-quality information at a spatial resolution comparable to that used in the local model configurations (i.e., convection-allowing scales). The current suite of SPoRT products supported in the WRF EMS include a Sea Surface Temperature (SST) composite, a Great Lakes sea-ice extent, a Greenness Vegetation Fraction (GVF) composite, and Land Information System (LIS) gridded output. The SPoRT SST composite is a blend of primarily the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) infrared and Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for Earth Observing System data for non-precipitation coverage over the oceans at 2-km resolution. The composite includes a special lake surface temperature analysis over the Great Lakes using contributions from the Remote Sensing Systems temperature data. The Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory Ice Percentage product is used to create a sea-ice mask in the SPoRT SST composite. The sea-ice mask is produced daily (in-season) at 1.8-km resolution and identifies ice percentage from 0 100% in 10% increments, with values above 90% flagged as ice.

Case, Jonathan L.↗

NASA NTRS2012

Modeling Programs Increase Aircraft Design Safety

Flutter may sound like a benign word when associated with a flag in a breeze, a butterfly, or seaweed in an ocean current. When used in the context of aerodynamics, however, it describes a highly dangerous, potentially deadly condition. Consider the case of the Lockheed L-188 Electra Turboprop, an airliner that first took to the skies in 1957. Two years later, an Electra plummeted to the ground en route from Houston to Dallas. Within another year, a second Electra crashed. In both cases, all crew and passengers died. Lockheed engineers were at a loss as to why the planes wings were tearing off in midair. For an answer, the company turned to NASA s Transonic Dynamics Tunnel (TDT) at Langley Research Center. At the time, the newly renovated wind tunnel offered engineers the capability of testing aeroelastic qualities in aircraft flying at transonic speeds near or just below the speed of sound. (Aeroelasticity is the interaction between aerodynamic forces and the structural dynamics of an aircraft or other structure.) Through round-the-clock testing in the TDT, NASA and industry researchers discovered the cause: flutter. Flutter occurs when aerodynamic forces acting on a wing cause it to vibrate. As the aircraft moves faster, certain conditions can cause that vibration to multiply and feed off itself, building to greater amplitudes until the flutter causes severe damage or even the destruction of the aircraft. Flutter can impact other structures as well. Famous film footage of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge in Washington in 1940 shows the main span of the bridge collapsing after strong winds generated powerful flutter forces. In the Electra s case, faulty engine mounts allowed a type of flutter known as whirl flutter, generated by the spinning propellers, to transfer to the wings, causing them to vibrate violently enough to tear off. Thanks to the NASA testing, Lockheed was able to correct the Electra s design flaws that led to the flutter conditions and return the aircraft to safe flight. Today, all aircraft must have a flutter boundary 15 percent beyond the aircraft s expected maximum speed to ensure that flutter conditions are not encountered in flight. NASA continues to support research in new aircraft designs to improve knowledge of aeroelasticity and flutter. Through platforms such as Dryden Flight Research Center s Active Aeroelastic Wing (AAW) research aircraft, the Agency researches methods for in-flight validation of predictions and for controlling and taking advantage of aeroelastic conditions to enhance aircraft performance.

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NASA NTRS2011

Informing Aerosol Transport Models With Satellite Multi-Angle Aerosol Measurements

As the aerosol products from the NASA Earth Observing System's Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) mature, we are placing greater focus on ways of using the aerosol amount and type data products, and aerosol plume heights, to constrain aerosol transport models. We have demonstrated the ability to map aerosol air-mass-types regionally, and have identified product upgrades required to apply them globally, including the need for a quality flag indicating the aerosol type information content, that varies depending upon retrieval conditions. We have shown that MISR aerosol type can distinguish smoke from dust, volcanic ash from sulfate and water particles, and can identify qualitative differences in mixtures of smoke, dust, and pollution aerosol components in urban settings. We demonstrated the use of stereo imaging to map smoke, dust, and volcanic effluent plume injection height, and the combination of MISR and MODIS aerosol optical depth maps to constrain wildfire smoke source strength. This talk will briefly highlight where we stand on these application, with emphasis on the steps we are taking toward applying the capabilities toward constraining aerosol transport models, planet-wide.

Limbacher, J.↗

NASA NTRS2012

High-Rate Data-Capture for an Airborne Lidar System

A high-rate data system was required to capture the data for an airborne lidar system. A data system was developed that achieved up to 22 million (64-bit) events per second sustained data rate (1408 million bits per second), as well as short bursts (less than 4 s) at higher rates. All hardware used for the system was off the shelf, but carefully selected to achieve these rates. The system was used to capture laser fire, single-photon detection, and GPS data for the Slope Imaging Multi-polarization Photo-counting Lidar (SIMPL). However, the system has applications for other laser altimeter systems (waveform-recording), mass spectroscopy, xray radiometry imaging, high-background- rate ranging lidar, and other similar areas where very high-speed data capture is needed. The data capture software was used for the SIMPL instrument that employs a micropulse, single-photon ranging measurement approach and has 16 data channels. The detected single photons are from two sources those reflected from the target and solar background photons. The instrument is non-gated, so background photons are acquired for a range window of 13 km and can comprise many times the number of target photons. The highest background rate occurs when the atmosphere is clear, the Sun is high, and the target is a highly reflective surface such as snow. Under these conditions, the total data rate for the 16 channels combined is expected to be approximately 22 million events per second. For each photon detection event, the data capture software reads the relative time of receipt, with respect to a one-per-second absolute time pulse from a GPS receiver, from an event timer card with 0.1-ns precision, and records that information to a RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) storage device. The relative time of laser pulse firings must also be read and recorded with the same precision. Each of the four event timer cards handles the throughput from four of the channels. For each detection event, a flag is recorded that indicates the source channel. To accommodate the expected maximum count rate and also handle the other extreme of very low rates occurring during nighttime operations, the software requests a set amount of data from each of the event timer cards and buffers the data. The software notes if any of the cards did not return all the data requested and then accommodates that lower rate. The data is buffered to minimize the I/O overhead of writing the data to storage. Care was taken to optimize the reads from the cards, the speed of the I/O bus, and RAID configuration.

Valett, Susan↗

NASA NTRS2011

Aerosol Properties over the Indo-Gangetic Plain: A Mesoscale Perspective from the TIGERZ Experiment

High aerosol loading over the northern Indian subcontinent can result in poor air quality leading to human health consequences and climate perturbations. The international 2008 TIGERZ experiment intensive operational period (IOP) was conducted in the Indo \Gangetic Plain (IGP) around the industrial city of Kanpur (26.51degN, 80.23deg E), India, during the premonsoon (April-June). Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) Sun photometers performed frequent measurements of aerosol properties at temporary sites distributed within an area covering 50 sq km around Kanpur to characterize pollution and dust in a region where complex aerosol mixtures and semi \bright surface effects complicate satellite retrieval algorithms. TIGERZ IOP Sun photometers quantified aerosol optical depth (AOD) increases up to 0.10 within and downwind of the city, with urban emissions accounting for 10 C20% of the IGP aerosol loading on deployment days. TIGERZ IOP area \averaged volume size distribution and single scattering albedo retrievals indicated spatially homogeneous, uniformly sized, spectrally absorbing pollution and dust particles. Aerosol absorption and size relationships were used to categorize black carbon and dust as dominant absorbers and to identify a third category in which both black carbon and dust dominate absorption.Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) AOD retrievals with the lowest quality assurance (QA > or = 0) flags were biased high with respect to TIGERZ IOP area \averaged measurements. MODIS AOD retrievals with QA 0 had moderate correlation (R(sup 2) = 0.52-69) with the Kanpur AERONET site, whereas retrievals with QA > 0 were limited in number. Mesoscale \distributed Sun photometers quantified temporal and spatial variability of aerosol properties, and these results were used to validate satellite retrievals.

Giles, David M.↗

NASA NTRS2012

Global and Regional Evaluation of Over-Land Spectral Aerosol Optical Depth Retrievals from SeaWiFS

This study evaluates a new spectral aerosol optical depth (AOD) dataset derived from Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (Sea WiFS) measurements over land. First, the data are validated against Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) direct-sun AOD measurements, and found to compare well on a global basis. If only data with the highest quality flag are used, the correlation is 0.86 and 72% of matchups fall within an expected absolute uncertainty of 0.05 + 20% (for the wavelength of 550 nm). The quality is similar at other wavelengths and stable over the 13-year (1997-2010) mission length. Performance tends to be better over vegetated, low-lying terrain with typical AOD of 0.3 or less, such as found over much of North America and Eurasia. Performance tends to be poorer for low-AOD conditions near backscattering geometries, where Sea WiFS overestimates AOD, or optically-thick cases of absorbing aerosol, where SeaWiFS tends to underestimate AOD. Second, the SeaWiFS data are compared with midvisible AOD derived from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS) and Multiangle Imaging Spectroradiometer (MISR). All instruments show similar spatial and seasonal distributions of AOD, although there are regional and seasonal offsets between them. At locations where AERONET data are available, these offsets are largely consistent with the known validation characteristics of each dataset. With the results of this study in mind, the SeaWiFS over-land AOD record should be suitable for quantitative scientific use.

Sayer, A. M.↗

NASA NTRS1970

Moonwalk Series: One Small Step - Program 3

This episode (third in a four-part series), opens with various shots of the natural environment of the earth, after which we hear communications with the astronauts on board the Apollo 11 spacecraft, including the news of the day. Views of the approach to the moon, the descent to the lunar surface, and the landing, including the statement, "Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has Landed." are included. This is followed by the descent down the ladder to the surface of the moon by Neil Armstrong and the now famous words, "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." Various shots of crowds watching around the world are shown, followed by the descent down the ladder by Buzz Aldrin, and the planting of the American Flag. There are views of the astronauts moving around the lunar surface which are followed by a series of still shots of this historic occasion.

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NASA NTRS2012

SRT Evaluation of AIRS Version-6.02 and Version-6.02 AIRS Only (6.02 AO) Products

Version-6 contains a number of significant improvements over Version-5. This report compares Version-6 products resulting from the advances listed below to those from Version-5. 1. Improved methodology to determine skin temperature (T(sub s)) and spectral emissivity (Epsilon(sub v)). 2. Use of Neural-net start-up state. 3. Improvements which decrease the spurious negative Version-5 trend in tropospheric temperatures. 4. Improved QC methodology. Version-6 uses separate QC thresholds optimized for Data Assimilation (QC=0) and Climate applications (QC=0,1) respectively. 5. Channel-by-channel clear-column radiances R-hat(sub tau) QC flags. 6. Improved cloud parameter retrieval algorithm. 7. Improved OLR RTA. Our evaluation compared V6.02 and V6.02 AIRS Only (V6.02 AO) Quality Controlled products with those of Version-5.0. In particular we evaluated surface skin temperature T(sub s), surface spectral emissivity Epsilon(sub v), temperature profile T(p), water vapor profile q(p), OLR, OLR(sub CLR), effective cloud fraction alpha-Epsilon, and cloud cleared radiances R-hat(sub tau) . We conducted two types of evaluations. The first compared results on 7 focus days to collocated ECMWF truth. The seven focus days are: September 6, 2002; January 25, 2003; September 29, 2004; August 5, 2005; February 24, 2007; August 10, 2007; and May 30, 2010. In these evaluations, we show results for T(sub s), Epsilon(sub v), T(p), and q(p) in terms of yields, and RMS differences and biases with regard to ECMWF. We also show yield trends as well as bias trends of these quantities relative to ECMWF truth. We also show yields and accuracy of channel by channel QC d values of R-hat(sub tau) for V6.02 and V6.02 AO. Version-5 did not contain channel by channel QC d values of R-hat(sub tau). In the second type of evaluation, we compared V6.03 monthly mean Level-3 products to those of Version-5.0, for four different months: January, April, July, and October; in 3 different years 2003, 2007, and 2011. In particular, we compared V6.03 and V5.0 trends of T(p), q(p), alpha-Epsilon, OLR, and OLR(sub CLR) computed based on results for these 12 time periods

Susskind, Joel↗

NASA NTRS2012

Plug-in Plan Tool v3.0.3.1

The role of PLUTO (Plug-in Port UTilization Officer) and the growth of the International Space Station (ISS) have exceeded the capabilities of the current tool PiP (Plug-in Plan). Its users (crew and flight controllers) have expressed an interest in a new, easy-to-use tool with a higher level of interactivity and functionality that is not bound by the limitations of Excel. The PiP Tool assists crewmembers and ground controllers in making real-time decisions concerning the safety and compatibility of hardware plugged into the UOPs (Utility Outlet Panels) onboard the ISS. The PiP Tool also provides a reference to the current configuration of the hardware plugged in to the UOPs, and enables the PLUTO and crew to test Plug-in locations for constraint violations (such as cable connector mismatches or amp limit violations), to see the amps and volts for an end item, to see whether or not the end item uses 1553 data, and the cable length between the outlet and the end item. As new equipment is flown or returned, the database can be updated appropriately as needed. The current tool is a macroheavy Excel spreadsheet with its own database and reporting functionality. The new tool captures the capabilities of the original tool, ports them to new software, defines a new dataset, and compensates for ever-growing unique constraints associated with the Plug-in Plan. New constraints were designed into the tool, and updates to existing constraints were added to provide more flexibility and customizability. In addition, there is an option to associate a "Flag" with each device that will let the user know there is a unique constraint associated with it when they use it. This helps improve the safety and efficiency of real-time calls by limiting the amount of "corporate knowledge" overhead that has to be trained and learned through use. The tool helps save time by automating previous manual processes, such as calculating connector types and deciding which cables are required and in what order.

Andrea-Liner, Kathleen E.↗

NASA NTRS2012

Characterization of NPP Visible/Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) Reflective Solar Bands Dual Gain Anomaly

The Visible/Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) contains six dual gain bands in the reflective solar spectrum. The dual gain bands are designed to switch gain mode at pre-defined thresholds to achieve high resolution at low radiances while maintaining the required dynamic range for science. During pre-launch testing, an anomaly in the electronic response before transitioning from high to low gain was discovered and characterized. On-orbit, the anomaly was confirmed using MODIS data collected during Simultaneous Nadir Overpasses (SNOs). The analysis of the Earth scene data shows that dual gain anomaly can be determined at the orbital basis. To characterize the dual gain anomaly, the anomaly region and electronic offsets were tracked per week during the first 8 month of VIIRS operation. The temporal analysis shows the anomaly region can drift ~20 DN and is impacted by detectors DC Restore. The estimated anomaly flagging regions cover ~2.5 % of the high gain dynamic range and are consistent with prelaunch and on-orbit LUT. The prelaunch results had a smaller anomaly range (30-50 DN) and are likely the results of more stable electronics from the shorter data collection time. Finally, this study suggests future calibration efforts to focus on the anomaly's impact on science products and possible correction method to reduce uncertainties.

Lee, Shihyan↗

NASA NTRS2012

Steps Toward an EOS-Era Aerosol Type Climatology

We still have a way to go to develop a global climatology of aerosol type from the EOS-era satellite data record that currently spans more than 12 years of observations. We have demonstrated the ability to retrieve aerosol type regionally, providing a classification based on the combined constraints on particle size, shape, and single-scattering albedo (SSA) from the MISR instrument. Under good but not necessarily ideal conditions, the MISR data can distinguish three-to-five size bins, two-to-four bins in SSA, and spherical vs. non-spherical particles. However, retrieval sensitivity varies enormously with scene conditions. So, for example, there is less information about aerosol type when the mid-visible aerosol optical depth (AOD) is less that about 0.15 or 0.2, or when the range of scattering angles observed is reduced by solar geometry, even though the quality of the AOD retrieval itself is much less sensitive to these factors. This presentation will review a series of studies aimed at assessing the capabilities, as well as the limitations, of MISR aerosol type retrievals involving wildfire smoke, desert dust, volcanic ash, and urban pollution, in specific cases where suborbital validation data are available. A synthesis of results, planned upgrades to the MISR Standard aerosol algorithm to improve aerosol type retrievals, and steps toward the development of an aerosol type quality flag for the Standard product, will also be covered.

Kahn, Ralph A.↗

NASA NTRS2012

Onboard Sensor Data Qualification in Human-Rated Launch Vehicles

The avionics system software for human-rated launch vehicles requires an implementation approach that is robust to failures, especially the failure of sensors used to monitor vehicle conditions that might result in an abort determination. Sensor measurements provide the basis for operational decisions on human-rated launch vehicles. This data is often used to assess the health of system or subsystem components, to identify failures, and to take corrective action. An incorrect conclusion and/or response may result if the sensor itself provides faulty data, or if the data provided by the sensor has been corrupted. Operational decisions based on faulty sensor data have the potential to be catastrophic, resulting in loss of mission or loss of crew. To prevent these later situations from occurring, a Modular Architecture and Generalized Methodology for Sensor Data Qualification in Human-rated Launch Vehicles has been developed. Sensor Data Qualification (SDQ) is a set of algorithms that can be implemented in onboard flight software, and can be used to qualify data obtained from flight-critical sensors prior to the data being used by other flight software algorithms. Qualified data has been analyzed by SDQ and is determined to be a true representation of the sensed system state; that is, the sensor data is determined not to be corrupted by sensor faults or signal transmission faults. Sensor data can become corrupted by faults at any point in the signal path between the sensor and the flight computer. Qualifying the sensor data has the benefit of ensuring that erroneous data is identified and flagged before otherwise being used for operational decisions, thus increasing confidence in the response of the other flight software processes using the qualified data, and decreasing the probability of false alarms or missed detections.

Wong, Edmond↗

NASA NTRS2012

Hexavalent Chrome Free Coatings for Electronics Applications: Joint Test Report

Regardless of the corrosivity of the environment, all metals require periodic maintenance activity to guard against the insidious effects of corrosion and thus ensure that alloys meet or exceed design or performance life. The standard practice for protecting metallic substrates is the application of a coating system. Applied coating systems work via a variety of methods (barrier, galvanic, and/or inhibitor) and adhere to the substrate through a combination of chemical and physical bonds. For years hexavalent chromium has been a widely used element within applied coating systems because of its self healing and corrosion resistant properties. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) studies have concluded that hexavalent chromium (hex chrome) is carcinogenic and poses significant risk to human health. On May 5, 2011 amendments to the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) were issued in the Federal Register. Subpart 223.73 prohibits contracts from requiring hexavalent chromium in deliverables unless certain exceptions apply. These exceptions include authorization from a general or flag officer and members of the Senior Executive Service from a Program Executive Office, and unmodified legacy systems. Otherwise, Subpart 252.223-7008 provides the contract clause prohibiting contractors from using or delivering hexavalent chromium in a concentration greater than 0.1 percent by weight for all new contracts and to be included down to subcontractors for supplies, maintenance and repair services, and construction materials. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Department of Defense (DoD), and industry stakeholders continue to search for alternatives to hex chrome in coatings applications that meet their performance requirements in corrosion protection, cost, operability, and health and safety, while typically specifying that performance must be equal to or greater than existing systems.

Kessel, Kurt↗

NASA NTRS2012

Fermi Large Area Telescope Second Source Catalog

We present the second catalog of high-energy gamma-ray sources detected by the Large Area Telescope (LAT), the primary science instrument on the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope (Fermi), derived from data taken during the first 24 months of the science phase of the mission, which began on 2008 August 4. Source detection is based on the average flux over the 24-month period. The Second Fermi-LAT catalog (2FGL) includes source location regions, defined in terms of elliptical fits to the 95% confidence regions and spectral fits in terms of power-law, exponentially cutoff power-law, or log-normal forms. Also included are flux measurements in 5 energy bands and light curves on monthly intervals for each source. Twelve sources in the catalog are modeled as spatially extended. We provide a detailed comparison of the results from this catalog with those from the first Fermi-LAT catalog (1FGL). Although the diffuse Galactic and isotropic models used in the 2FGL analysis are improved compared to the 1FGL catalog, we attach caution flags to 162 of the sources to indicate possible confusion with residual imperfections in the diffuse model. The 2FGL catalog contains 1873 sources detected and characterized in the 100 11eV to 100 GeV range of which we consider 127 as being firmly identified and 1171 as being reliably associated with counterparts of known or likely gamma-ray-producing source classes.

Nolan, P. L.↗

NASA NTRS2012

Desert Dust Satellite Retrieval Intercomparison

This work provides a comparison of satellite retrievals of Saharan desert dust aerosol optical depth (AOD) during a strong dust event through March 2006. In this event, a large dust plume was transported over desert, vegetated, and ocean surfaces. The aim is to identify and understand the differences between current algorithms, and hence improve future retrieval algorithms. The satellite instruments considered are AATSR, AIRS, MERIS, MISR, MODIS, OMI, POLDER, and SEVIRI. An interesting aspect is that the different algorithms make use of different instrument characteristics to obtain retrievals over bright surfaces. These include multi-angle approaches (MISR, AATSR), polarisation measurements (POLDER), single-view approaches using solar wavelengths (OMI, MODIS), and the thermal infrared spectral region (SEVIRI, AIRS). Differences between instruments, together with the comparison of different retrieval algorithms applied to measurements from the same instrument, provide a unique insight into the performance and characteristics of the various techniques employed. As well as the intercomparison between different satellite products, the AODs have also been compared to co-located AERONET data. Despite the fact that the agreement between satellite and AERONET AODs is reasonably good for all of the datasets, there are significant differences between them when compared to each other, especially over land. These differences are partially due to differences in the algorithms, such as as20 sumptions about aerosol model and surface properties. However, in this comparison of spatially and temporally averaged data, at least as significant as these differences are sampling issues related to the actual footprint of each instrument on the heterogeneous aerosol field, cloud identification and the quality control flags of each dataset.

Carboni, E.↗

NASA NTRS2012

Optical Sensors for Planetary Radiant Energy (OSPREy): Calibration and Validation of Current and Next-Generation NASA Missions

A principal objective of the Optical Sensors for Planetary Radiance Energy (OSPREy) activity is to establish an above-water radiometer system as a lower-cost alternative to existing in-water systems for the collection of ground-truth observations. The goal is to be able to make high-quality measurements satisfying the accuracy requirements for the vicarious calibration and algorithm validation of next-generation satellites that make ocean color and atmospheric measurements. This means the measurements will have a documented uncertainty satisfying the established performance metrics for producing climate-quality data records. The OSPREy approach is based on enhancing commercial-off-the-shelf fixed-wavelength and hyperspectral sensors to create hybridspectral instruments with an improved accuracy and spectral resolution, as well as a dynamic range permitting sea, Sun, sky, and Moon observations. Greater spectral diversity in the ultraviolet (UV) will be exploited to separate the living and nonliving components of marine ecosystems; UV bands will also be used to flag and improve atmospheric correction algorithms in the presence of absorbing aerosols. The short-wave infrared (SWIR) is expected to improve atmospheric correction, because the ocean is radiometrically blacker at these wavelengths. This report describes the development of the sensors, including unique capabilities like three-axis polarimetry; the documented uncertainty will be presented in a subsequent report.

Hooker, Stanford B.↗

NASA NTRS2013

Mixture-Tuned, Clutter Matched Filter for Remote Detection of Subpixel Spectral Signals

Mapping localized spectral features in large images demands sensitive and robust detection algorithms. Two aspects of large images that can harm matched-filter detection performance are addressed simultaneously. First, multimodal backgrounds may thwart the typical Gaussian model. Second, outlier features can trigger false detections from large projections onto the target vector. Two state-of-the-art approaches are combined that independently address outlier false positives and multimodal backgrounds. The background clustering models multimodal backgrounds, and the mixture tuned matched filter (MT-MF) addresses outliers. Combining the two methods captures significant additional performance benefits. The resulting mixture tuned clutter matched filter (MT-CMF) shows effective performance on simulated and airborne datasets. The classical MNF transform was applied, followed by k-means clustering. Then, each cluster s mean, covariance, and the corresponding eigenvalues were estimated. This yields a cluster-specific matched filter estimate as well as a cluster- specific feasibility score to flag outlier false positives. The technology described is a proof of concept that may be employed in future target detection and mapping applications for remote imaging spectrometers. It is of most direct relevance to JPL proposals for airborne and orbital hyperspectral instruments. Applications include subpixel target detection in hyperspectral scenes for military surveillance. Earth science applications include mineralogical mapping, species discrimination for ecosystem health monitoring, and land use classification.

Thompson, David R.↗