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At least 307 records · Page 17

The application of remote sensing technology to the solution of problems in the management of resources in Indiana

In an effort to bridge the gap between the research community and the user agencies, this investigation was designed to take the remote sensing technology and products of that technology to the user agencies and to assist them in the use of this technology. The first semi-annual report summarizes the progress which has been made in the following specific projects: (1) pilot study for land use inventory of the Great Lakes Watershed; (2) resource inventory of Marion County (Indianapolis), Indiana; (3) resource inventory of 8 central Indiana counties for the Indiana Heartland Coordinating Commission; (4) applications within the Indiana Department of Natural Resources; (5) applications within the Indiana Department of Commerce; and (6) applications within the USDA Soil Conservation Service.

Landgrebe, D. A.↗

USL NASA/RECON project presentations at the 1985 ACM Computer Science Conference: Abstracts and visuals

This Working Paper Series entry represents the abstracts and visuals associated with presentations delivered by six USL NASA/RECON research team members at the above named conference. The presentations highlight various aspects of NASA contract activities pursued by the participants as they relate to individual research projects. The titles of the six presentations are as follows: (1) The Specification and Design of a Distributed Workstation; (2) An Innovative, Multidisciplinary Educational Program in Interactive Information Storage and Retrieval; (3) Critical Comparative Analysis of the Major Commercial IS and R Systems; (4) Design Criteria for a PC-Based Common User Interface to Remote Information Systems; (5) The Design of an Object-Oriented Graphics Interface; and (6) Knowledge-Based Information Retrieval: Techniques and Applications.

Dominick, Wayne D.↗

Design and Development of the SMAP Microwave Radiometer Electronics

The SMAP microwave radiometer will measure land surface brightness temperature at L-band (1413 MHz) in the presence of radio frequency interference (RFI) for soil moisture remote sensing. The radiometer design was driven by the requirements to incorporate internal calibration, to operate synchronously with the SMAP radar, and to mitigate the deleterious effects of RFI. The system design includes a highly linear super-heterodyne microwave receiver with internal reference loads and noise sources for calibration and an innovative digital signal processor and detection system. The front-end comprises a coaxial cable-based feed network, with a pair of diplexers and a coupled noise source, and radiometer front-end (RFE) box. Internal calibration is provided by reference switches and a common noise source inside the RFE. The RF back-end (RBE) downconverts the 1413 MHz channel to an intermediate frequency (IF) of 120 MHz. The IF signals are then sampled and quantized by high-speed analog-to-digital converters in the radiometer digital electronics (RDE) box. The RBE local oscillator and RDE sampling clocks are phase-locked to a common reference to ensure coherency between the signals. The RDE performs additional filtering, sub-band channelization, cross-correlation for measuring third and fourth Stokes parameters, and detection and integration of the first four raw moments of the signals. These data are packetized and sent to the ground for calibration and further processing. Here we discuss the novel features of the radiometer hardware particularly those influenced by the need to mitigate RFI.

radio frequency interference↗

Contribution of remote sensing to understand the Bay as a system

The natural resource management information system concept designed specifically for use with remote sensing is discussed in terms of understanding and studying the Chesapeake Bay as a total system. The Bay is defined as a system comprising the lithosphere, the hydrosphere, and the biosphere, that is the vertical profile encompassed by the systems and a two dimensional plane defining the total watershed of the Bay from the headwaters of its tributaries to a distance in the ocean defined by ten tidal cycles. The Chesapeake Bay system is assumed to be the ecosystem in the largest sense. Ecological partitioning, a methodology resulting from studies of land systems for partitioning the land into geobotanical landscape units, is included along with a breakdown of LANDSAT investigations according to subject area.

Park, A. B.↗

Civil mini-RPA's for the 1980's: Avionics design considerations

A number of remote sensing or surveillance tasks (e.g., fire fighting, crop monitoring) in the civilian sector of our society may be performed in a cost effective manner by use of small remotely piloted aircraft (RPA). This study was conducted to determine equipment (and the associated technology) that is available, and that could be applied to the mini-RPA and to examine the potential applications of the mini-RPA with special emphasis on the wild fire surveillance mission. The operational considerations of using the mini-RPA as affected by government regulatory agencies were investigated. These led to equipment requirements (e.g., infra-red sensors) over and above those for the performance of the mission. A computer technology survey and forecast was performed. Key subsystems were identified, and a distributed microcomputer configuration, that was functionally modular, was recommended. Areas for further NASA research and development activity were also identified.

Karmarkar, J. S.↗

Remote sensing using solid-state array technology

The paper describes the design features and capabilities of a remote sensor that uses solid-state linear arrays and operates in a 'pushbroom' scan mode to provide the required performance. Pushbroom scanning is a term describing the technique of using the forward motion of a satellite platform to sweep a linear array of detectors oriented perpendicular to the ground track across a scene being imaged. One array is typically used for each spectral channel. Satellite motion provides one direction of scan and electronic sampling of the detectors in the crosstrack dimension provides the orthogonal scan component to form an image. The detector array is sampled at the appropriate rate so that contiguous lines are produced. The performance of a pushbroom system is discussed relative to radiometric sensitivity, detector array geometric fidelity, and radiometric correction. System advantages are precision geometric positioning of the detectors, very high sensitivity and favorable SNR, low power consumption, and no moving optics.

Thompson, L. L.↗

A laser system to remotely sense bird movements

The design and operation of a laser detection system for migrating birds are presented. A battery-powered class-III laser (operating at 904 nm, pulse-repetition rate 5 kHz, pulse duration 100 nsec, and peak power 25 W) and a photodiode receiver are mounted on poles at height 10 m and distance 850 m and equipped with 135-mm f/2.8 collimating lenses; beam diameter at the receiver is 1.7 m. The microprocessor-controlled system is found to detect the passing of an object as small as 30 sq cm in cross section at a distance of 425 m.

Korschgen, C. E.↗

Advanced Microwave Precipitation Radiometer (AMPR) for remote observation of precipitation

The design, development, and tests of the Advanced Microwave Precipitation Radiometer (AMPR) operating in the 10 to 85 GHz range specifically for precipitation retrieval and mesoscale storm system studies from a high altitude aircraft platform (i.e., ER-2) are described. The primary goals of AMPR are the exploitation of the scattering signal of precipitation at frequencies near 10, 19, 37, and 85 GHz together to unambiguously retrieve precipitation and storm structure and intensity information in support of proposed and planned space sensors in geostationary and low earth orbit, as well as storm-related field experiments. The development of AMPR will have an important impact on the interpretation of microwave radiances for rain retrievals over both land and ocean for the following reasons: (1) A scanning instrument, such as AMPR, will allow the unambiguous detection and analysis of features in two dimensional space, allowing an improved interpretation of signals in terms of cloud features, and microphysical and radiative processes; (2) AMPR will offer more accurate comparisons with ground-based radar data by feature matching since the navigation of the ER-2 platform can be expected to drift 3 to 4 km per hour of flight time; and (3) AMPR will allow underflights of the SSM/I satellite instrument with enough spatial coverage at the same frequencies to make meaningful comparisons of the data for precipitation studies.

Galliano, J. A.↗

Direct Global Measurements of Tropspheric Winds Employing a Simplified Coherent Laser Radar using Fully Scalable Technology and Technique

Innovative designs of a space-based laser remote sensing 'wind machine' are presented. These designs seek compatibility with the traditionally conflicting constraints of high scientific value and low total mission cost. Mission cost is reduced by moving to smaller, lighter, more off-the-shelf instrument designs which can be accommodated on smaller launch vehicles.

Kavaya, Michael J.↗

Project Dawdler: a Proposal in Response to a Low Reynolds Number Station Keeping Mission

In direct response to Request for Proposals: Flight at very low Reynolds numbers - a station keeping mission, the members of Design Squad E present Project Dawdler: a remotely-piloted airplane supported by an independently controlled take-off cart. A brief introduction to Project Dawdler's overall mission and design, is given. The Dawdler is a remotely-piloted airplane designed to fly in an environmentally-controlled closed course at a Reynolds number of 10(exp 5) and at a cruise velocity of 25 ft/s. The two primary goals were to minimize the flight Reynolds number and to maximize the loiter time. With this in mind, the general design of the airplane was guided by the belief that a relatively light aircraft producing a fairly large amount of lift would be the best approach. For this reason the Dawdler utilizes a canard rather than a conventional tail for longitudinal control, primarily because the canard contributes a positive lift component. The Dawdler also has a single vertical tail mounted behind the wing for lateral stability, half of which is used as a rudder for yaw control. Due to the fact that the power required to take-off and climb to altitude is much greater than that required for cruise flight and simple turning maneuvers, it was decided that a take-off cart be used. Based on the current design, there are two unknowns which could possibly threaten the success of Project Dawdler. First, the effect of the fully-movable canard with its large appropriation of total lift on the performance of the plane, and secondly, the ability of the take-off procedure to go as planned are examined. These are questions which can only be answered by a prototype.

Bartilotti, Rich↗

The Lunar Orbital Prospector

The Moon is a body rich in natural resources and full of intriguing scientific questions, and it will most certainly play a central role in the growth of near-Earth and deep space ventures of the twenty-first century. The LOP mission is an example of one way to catalog the Moon's natural resources and to answer lunar science questions in parallel. In a realistic planetary exploration program, this mission must compete with other interesting planetary missions and therefore the LOP must be as low cost and adaptable as possible. This flexibility is reflected in the LOP's heavy design emphasis on modularity. The LOP mission can easily be expanded to include new technologies, and additional orbiters could be launched into lunar orbit to provide a constellation of remote-sensing platforms. This design thus projects a broad range of possibilities for continued lunar exploration in the next century.

Source record↗

Design and performance of the halogen occultation experiment (HALOE) remote sensor

HALOE is an optical remote sensor that measures extinction of solar radiation caused by the earth's atmosphere in eight channels, ranging in wavelength from 2.5 to 10.1 microns. These measurements, which occur twice each satellite orbit during solar occultation, are inverted to yield vertical distributions of middle atmosphere ozone (O3), water vapor, nitrogen dioxide, nitric oxide, hydrogen fluoride, hydrogen chloride, and methane. A channel located in the 2.7 region is used to infer the tangent point pressure by measuring carbon dioxide absorption. The HALOE instrument consists of a two-axis gimbal system, telescope, spectral discrimination optics and a 12-bit data system. The gimbal system tracks the solar radiometric centroid in the azimuthal plane and tracks the solar limb in the elevation plane, placing the instrument's instantaneous field-of-view 4 arcmin down from the solar top edge. The instrument gathers data for tangent altitudes ranging from 150 km to the earth's horizon. Prior to an orbital sunset and after an orbital sunrise, HALOE automatically performs calibration sequences to enhance data interpretation. The instrument is presently being tested at the NASA Langley Research Center in preparation for launch on the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite near the end of this decade. This paper describes the instrumenmt design, operation, and functional performance.

Baker, R. L.↗

Design of high-voltage, high-power, solid state remote power controllers for aerospace applications

Two general types of remote power controllers (RPC's), which combine the functions of a circuit breaker and a switch, were developed for use in dc aerospace systems. Power-switching devices used in the designs are the gate-turnoff thyristor (GTO) and MOSFET. The RPC's can switch dc voltages to 1200 V and currents to 1000 A. Seven different units were constructed and subjected to laboratory and thermal vacuum testing. Two of these were dual units that switch both positive and negative voltages simultaneously. The RPC's using MOSFET's have slow turnon and turnoff times which limit surge currents and voltage spiking from high di/dt. The GTO's have much faster transition times. All RPC's have programmable overload tripout proportional to I sq T and microsecond tripout for large overloads.

Sturman, J. C.↗

Solid state d.c. power controller design philosophies and their evaluation.

Evaluation of remote power controllers (RPC), which has enhanced knowledge of the capabilities of various design philosophies and has indicated certain limitations that RPC's exhibit. Additionally, this activity has clearly emphasized that certain RPC design parameters merit further consideration in development. The major design parameters to be analyzed in more detail are the rates of change of the rise and fall times of the output current. The major reason why transient voltages and currents should be reduced is the minimization of the reverse collector-to-emitter voltage. The requirement for higher bus voltage coupled with the present problem of improving the efficiency of power control points out the urgent need for improvement and advancement of higher current, voltage, and gain power semiconductors.

Maus, L. G.↗

Slow Solar Wind Connection Science during Solar Orbiter's First Close Perihelion Passage

The Slow Solar Wind Connection Solar Orbiter Observing Plan (Slow Wind SOOP) was developed to utilize the extensive suite of remote-sensing and in situ instruments on board the ESA/NASA Solar Orbiter mission to answer significant outstanding questions regarding the origin and formation of the slow solar wind. The Slow Wind SOOP was designed to link remote-sensing and in situ measurements of slow wind originating at open–closed magnetic field boundaries. The SOOP ran just prior to Solar Orbiter's first close perihelion passage during two remote-sensing windows (RSW1 and RSW2) between 2022 March 3–6 and 2022 March 17–22, while Solar Orbiter was at respective heliocentric distances of 0.55–0.51 and 0.38–0.34 au from the Sun. Coordinated observation campaigns were also conducted by Hinode and IRIS. The magnetic connectivity tool was used, along with low-latency in situ data and full-disk remote-sensing observations, to guide the target pointing of Solar Orbiter. Solar Orbiter targeted an active region complex during RSW1, the boundary of a coronal hole, and the periphery of a decayed active region during RSW2. Postobservation analysis using the magnetic connectivity tool, along with in situ measurements from MAG and SWA/PAS, showed that slow solar wind originating from two out of three of the target regions arrived at the spacecraft with velocities between ∼210 and 600 km s −1 . The Slow Wind SOOP, despite presenting many challenges, was very successful, providing a blueprint for planning future observation campaigns that rely on the magnetic connectivity of Solar Orbiter.

Slow solar wind↗

Integrating Indigenous Traditional, Local and Scientific Knowledge for Improved Management, Policy and Decision-Making in Reindeer Husbandry in the Russian Arctic

As scientists and policy-makers from both indigenous and non-indigenous communities begin to build closer partnerships to address common sustainability issues such as the health impacts of climate change and anthropogenic activities, it becomes increasingly important to create shared information management systems which integrate all relevant factors for optimal information sharing and decision-making. This paper describes a new GIs-based system being designed to bring local and indigenous traditional knowledge together with scientific data and information, remote sensing, and information technologies to address health-related environment, weather, climate, pollution and land use change issues for improved decision/policy-making for reindeer husbandry. The system is building an easily-accessible archive of relevant current and historical, traditional, local and remotely-sensed and other data and observations for shared analysis, measuring, and monitoring parameters of interest. Protection of indigenous culturally sensitive information will be respected through appropriate data protocols. A mechanism which enables easy information sharing among all participants, which is real time and geo-referenced and which allows interconnectivity with remote sites is also being designed into the system for maximum communication among partners. A preliminary version of our system will be described for a Russian reindeer test site, which will include a combination of indigenous knowledge about local conditions and issues, remote sensing and ground-based data on such parameters as the vegetation state and distribution, snow cover, temperature, ice condition, and infrastructure.

Maynard, Nancy G.↗

Design and Development of Functionally Operative and Visually Appealing Remote Firing Room Displays

This internship provided an opportunity for an intern to work with NASA's Ground Support Equipment (GSE) for the Spaceport Command and Control System (SCCS) at Kennedy Space Center as a remote display developer, under NASA mentor Kurt Leucht. The main focus was on creating remote displays for the hypergolic and high pressure helium subsystem team to help control the filling of the respective tanks. As a remote display developer for the GSE hypergolic and high pressure helium subsystem team the intern was responsible for creating and testing graphical remote displays to be used in the Launch Control Center (LCC) on the Firing Room's computer monitors. To become more familiar with the subsystem, the individual attended multiple project meetings and acquired their specific requirements regarding what needed to be included in the remote displays. After receiving the requirements, the next step was to create a display that had both visual appeal and logical order using the Display Editor, on the Virtual Machine (VM). In doing so, all Compact Unique Identifiers (CUI), which are associated with specific components within the subsystem, will need to be included in each respective display for the system to run properly. Then, once the display was created it needed to be tested to ensure that the display runs as intended by using the Test Driver, also found on the VM. This Test Driver is a specific application that checks to make sure all the CUIs in the display are running properly and returning the correct form of information. After creating and locally testing the display it will need to go through further testing and evaluation before deemed suitable for actual use. By the end of the semester long experience at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, the individual should have gained great knowledge and experience in various areas of display development and testing. They were able to demonstrate this new knowledge obtained by creating multiple successful remote displays that will one day be used by the hypergolic and high pressure helium subsystem team in one of the LCC's firing rooms to fill the new Orion spacecraft.

Ground Support Systems↗