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At least 55 records · Page 3
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1974

Census Cities experiment in urban change detection

The author has identified the following significant results. Mapping of 1970 and 1972 land use from high-flight photography has been completed for all test sites: San Francisco, Washington, Phoenix, Tucson, Boston, New Haven, Cedar Rapids, and Pontiac. Area analysis of 1970 and 1972 land use has been completed for each of the mandatory urban areas. All 44 sections of the 1970 land use maps of the San Francisco test site have been officially released through USGS Open File at 1:62,500. Five thousand copies of the Washington one-sheet color 1970 land use map, census tract map, and point line identification map are being printed by USGS Publication Division. ERTS-1 imagery for each of the eight test sites is being received and analyzed. Color infrared photo enlargements at 1:100,000 of ERTS-1 MSS images of Phoenix taken on October 16, 1972 and May 2, 1973 are being analyzed to determine to what level land use and land use changes can be identified and to what extent the ERTS-1 imagery can be used in updating the 1970 aircraft photo-derived land use data base. Work is proceeding on the analysis of ERTS-1 imagery by computer manipulation of ERTS-1 MSS data in digital format. ERTS-1 CCT maps at 1:24,000 are being analyzed for two dates over Washington and Phoenix. Anniversary tape sets have been received at Purdue LARS for some additional urban test sites.

Wray, J. R.↗
NASA NTRS1975

USDI DCS technical support: Mississippi Test Facility

The objective of the technical support effort is to provide hardware and data processing support to DCS users so that application of the system may be simply and effectively implemented. Technical support at Mississippi Test Facility (MTF) is concerned primarily with on-site hardware. The first objective of the DCP hardware support was to assure that standard measuring apparatus and techniques used by the USGS could be adapted to the DCS. The second objective was to try to standardize the miscellaneous variety of parameters into a standard instrument set. The third objective was to provide the necessary accessories to simplify the use and complement the capabilities of the DCP. The standard USGS sites have been interfaced and are presently operating. These sites are stream gauge, ground water level and line operated quality of water. Evapotranspiration, meteorological and battery operated quality of water sites are planned for near future DCP operation. Three accessories which are under test or development are the Chu antenna, solar power supply and add-on memory. The DCP has proven to be relatively easy to interface with many monitors. The large antenna is awkward to install and transport. The DCS has met the original requirements well; it has and is proving that an operation, satellite-based data collection system is feasible.

Preble, D. M.↗
NASA NTRS1977

The use of the LANDSAT data collection system and imagery in reservoir management and operation

The author has identified the following significant results. An increase in the data collection system's (DCS) ability to function in the flood control mission with no additional manpower was demonstrated during the storms which struck New England during April and May of 1975 and August 1976. It was found that for this watershed, creditable flood hydrographs could be generated from DCS data. It was concluded that an ideal DCS for reservoir regulation would draw features from LANDSAT and GOES. MSS grayscale computer printout and a USGS topographic map were compared, yielding an optimum computer classification map of the wetland areas of the Merrimack River estuary. A classification accuracy of 75% was obtained for the wetlands unit, taking into account the misclassified and the unclassified pixels. The MSS band 7 grayscale printouts of the Franklin Falls reservoir showed good agreement to USGS topographic maps in total area of water depicted at the low water reservoir stage and at the maximum inundation level. Preliminary analysis of the LANDSAT digital data using the GISS computer algorithms showed that the radiance of snow cover/vegetation varied from approximately 20 mW/sq cm sr in nonvegetated areas to less than 4 mW/sq cm sr for densely covered forested area.

Cooper, S.↗
NASA NTRS1980

Application of digital terrain data to quantify and reduce the topographic effect on LANDSAT data

Integration of LANDSAT multispectral scanner (MSS) data with 30 m U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) digital terrain data was undertaken to quantify and reduce the topographic effect on imagery of a forested mountain ridge test site in central Pennsylvania. High Sun angle imagery revealed variation of as much as 21 pixel values in data for slopes of different angles and aspects with uniform surface cover. Large topographic effects were apparent in MSS 4 and 5 was due to a combination of high absorption by the forest cover and the MSS quantization. Four methods for reducing the topographic effect were compared. Band ratioing of MSS 6/5 and MSS 7/5 did not eliminate the topographic effect because of the lack of variation in MSS 4 and 5 radiances. The three radiance models examined to reduce the topographic effect required integration of the digital terrain data. Two Lambertian models increased the variation in the LANDSAT radiances. The nonLambertian model considerably reduced (86 per cent) the topographic effect in the LANDSAT data. The study demonstrates that high quality digital terrain data, as provided by the USGS digital elevation model data, can be used to enhance the utility of multispectral satellite data.

Justice, C. O.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Map projections for larger-scale mapping

For the U.S. Geological Survey maps at 1:1,000,000-scale and larger, the most common projections are conformal, such as the Transverse Mercator and Lambert Conformal Conic. Projections for these scales should treat the Earth as an ellipsoid. In addition, the USGS has conceived and designed some new projections, including the Space Oblique Mercator, the first map projection designed to permit low-distortion mapping of the Earth from satellite imagery, continuously following the groundtrack. The USGS has programmed nearly all pertinent projection equations for inverse and forward calculations. These are used to plot maps or to transform coordinates from one projection to another. The projections in current use are described.

Snyder, J. P.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Comparison of candidate IGRF models

Three candidate models for the International Geomagnetic Reference Field (IGRF) for the years 1965, 1970, 1975, and 1980 are evaluated using magnetic observatory and satellite data. The models were submitted by the USGS, the IGS, and NASA. Comparison based on annual means data shows the differences between models to be small, although the NASA model appears slightly more accurate in 1965 and 1975 and the IGS model in 1970. Evaluation with Magsat scalar and vector satellite data at 1980 shows the USGS and NASA models to be of comparable accuracy, while the IGS model displays larger residuals. The NASA model best represents the scalar POGO data at 1965 and 1970. Contoured differences between the models in components X, Y, Z, and F at the earth's surface at 1965, 1970, 1975 and 1980 are displayed and discussed.

Langel, R. A.↗
NASA NTRS1984

An automated land-use mapping comparison of the Bayesian maximum likelihood and linear discriminant analysis algorithms

The Bayesian maximum likelihood parametric classifier has been tested against the data-based formulation designated 'linear discrimination analysis', using the 'GLIKE' decision and "CLASSIFY' classification algorithms in the Landsat Mapping System. Identical supervised training sets, USGS land use/land cover classes, and various combinations of Landsat image and ancilliary geodata variables, were used to compare the algorithms' thematic mapping accuracy on a single-date summer subscene, with a cellularized USGS land use map of the same time frame furnishing the ground truth reference. CLASSIFY, which accepts a priori class probabilities, is found to be more accurate than GLIKE, which assumes equal class occurrences, for all three mapping variable sets and both levels of detail. These results may be generalized to direct accuracy, time, cost, and flexibility advantages of linear discriminant analysis over Bayesian methods.

Tom, C. H.↗
NASA NTRS1991

A new catalog of planetary maps

A single, concise reference to all existing planetary maps, including lunar ones, is being prepared that will allow map users to identify and locate maps of their areas of interest. This will be the first such comprehensive listing of planetary maps. Although the USGS shows index maps on the collar of each map sheet, periodically publishes index maps of Mars, and provides informal listings of the USGS map database, no tabulation exists that identifies all planetary maps, including those published by DMA and other organizations. The catalog will consist of a booklet containing small-scale image maps with superimposed quadrangle boundaries and map data tabulations.

Batson, R. M.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Topography of Apollinaris Patera and Ma'adim Vallis

Digital elevation models of the northern part of Ma'adim Vallis (603a41 607m/pix, 639a91 721m/pix), and Apollinaris Patera (603a42 612m/pix, 639a92 717m/pix), covering the area between 180 degrees to 190 degrees long and -2 degrees to -20 degrees lat. were obtained using a method described here. The results for the Ma'adim Vallis area show broad agreement with the United States Geological Survey (USGS) topographic map of the area with a channel depth of 1 to 2 km. A detailed study of the variations in the channel depth along its course and calculations of its discharge rate from channel cross section and slope are currently being undertaken. Results for Apollinaris Patera have been obtained, although the absolute heights relative to the Mars datum are not well constrained. However, the relative heights are sufficient for some analysis. Again, the topographic map is in reasonable agreement with the USGS map of the area, although there are significant differences.

Thornhill, G. D.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Global Magellan-image map of Venus at full resolution

During its first 243-day mapping cycle, the Magellan spacecraft succeeded in imaging 84 percent of the surface of Venus at resolutions on the order of 100 meters; subsequent cycles have increased the total coverage to over 97 percent and provided redundant coverage of much of the planet with differing viewing geometries. Unfortunately, this full-resolution global dataset is in the form of thousands of individual orbit tracks (F-BIDR's) whose length-to-width ratio of nearly 1000:1 makes them minimally useful unless mosaicked. The Magellan project produced full-resolution mosaics (F-MIDR's) only for selected regions on the planet, whereas a global set of mosaics was made only at threefold degraded resolution (C1-MIDR's). Furthermore, although the F-MIDR's, which are approximately equidimensional, are much better suited for scientific interpretation than the F-BIDR's, they are still an unwieldy dataset: over 1500 quadrangles, each showing a region only about 600 km on a side, would be required to cover the entire planet. The USGS has therefore undertaken to produce and distribute a global, full resolution set of mosaics of the Magellan image data in a format that will be efficient for both hardcopy and digital use. The initial motivation was that it would provide an efficient means of verifying the integrity of the F-BIDR's to be archived on computer-compatible tape at the USGS Flagstaff facility. However, the resulting product, known as the FMAP, should also serve as an important resource for future scientific interpretation. It will offer several advantages beyond global coverage at full resolution. The first, alluded to above, is its division of the planet's surface to minimize the number of quadrangles and maximize their area, subject to the limits on the number of pixels imposed by state-of-the-art digital recording media and hardcopy output devices. The second, the use of improved 'cosmetic' processing techniques, will greatly reduce tonal discontinuities between component F-BIDR's in the FMAP compared to the standard Magellan mosaic products. Finally, wherever possible, the FMAP will incorporate data that were unavailable (e.g., because of processing delays) when the standard MIDR products were created, as well as data that were reprocessed to improve their radiometric or geometric quality.

Kirk, R. L.↗
NASA NTRS1993

The AGRHYMET data communications project

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) are providing technical assistance to the AGRHYMET program in West Africa. AGRHYMET staff use remote sensing technology to produce satellite image maps of the Sahel region of West Africa. These image maps may show vegetation greenness, sea surface temperatures, or processed weather satellite imagery. The image maps must be distributed from the AGRHYMET Regional Center in Niger to national AGRHYMET centers in the member countries of Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Chad, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, and Senegal. After consideration of a number of land- and space-based solutions for image map distribution, the best solution was determined to be use of International Maritime Satellite Organization (INMARSAT) land-based terminals. In April 1992, a field test and proof-of-concept demonstration using land-mobile terminals produced favorable results. The USGS and USAID are setting up a wide area network using INMARSAT terminals to link the AGRHYMET sites for image data transfer. The system is in the procurement and installation phase and initial opening capability may be operational for the 1993 growing season, starting in May 1993.

Mah, G. R.↗
NASA NTRS1993

The national geomagnetic initiative

The Earth's magnetic field, through its variability over a spectrum of spatial and temporal scales, contains fundamental information on the solid Earth and geospace environment (the latter comprising the atmosphere, ionosphere, and magnetosphere). Integrated studies of the geomagnetic field have the potential to address a wide range of important processes in the deep mantle and core, asthenosphere, lithosphere, oceans, and the solar-terrestrial environment. These studies have direct applications to important societal problems, including resource assessment and exploration, natural hazard mitigation, safe navigation, and the maintenance and survivability of communications and power systems on the ground and in space. Studies of the Earth's magnetic field are supported by a variety of federal and state agencies as well as by private industry. Both basic and applied research is presently supported by several federal agencies, including the National Science Foundation (NSF), U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) (through the Navy, Air Force, and Defense Mapping Agency). Although each agency has a unique, well-defined mission in geomagnetic studies, many areas of interest overlap. For example, NASA, the Navy, and USGS collaborate closely in the development of main field reference models. NASA, NSF, and the Air Force collaborate in space physics. These interagency linkages need to be strengthened. Over the past decade, new opportunities for fundamental advances in geomagnetic research have emerged as a result of three factors: well-posed, first-order scientific questions; increased interrelation of research activities dealing with geomagnetic phenomena; and recent developments in technology. These new opportunities can be exploited through a national geomagnetic initiative to define objectives and encourage coordination of efforts among federal and state agencies, academic institutions, and industry to systematically characterize the spatial and temporal behavior of the Earth's magnetic field on local, regional, and global scales in order to understand the physical processes in the solid earth and geospace environment, and to apply this understanding to a variety of scientific problems and to technical and societal needs.

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NASA NTRS2000

Fault Scarp Detection Beneath Dense Vegetation Cover: Airborne Lidar Mapping of the Seattle Fault Zone, Bainbridge Island, Washington State

The emergence of a commercial airborne laser mapping industry is paying major dividends in an assessment of earthquake hazards in the Puget Lowland of Washington State. Geophysical observations and historical seismicity indicate the presence of active upper-crustal faults in the Puget Lowland, placing the major population centers of Seattle and Tacoma at significant risk. However, until recently the surface trace of these faults had never been identified, neither on the ground nor from remote sensing, due to cover by the dense vegetation of the Pacific Northwest temperate rainforests and extremely thick Pleistocene glacial deposits. A pilot lidar mapping project of Bainbridge Island in the Puget Sound, contracted by the Kitsap Public Utility District (KPUD) and conducted by Airborne Laser Mapping in late 1996, spectacularly revealed geomorphic features associated with fault strands within the Seattle fault zone. The features include a previously unrecognized fault scarp, an uplifted marine wave-cut platform, and tilted sedimentary strata. The United States Geologic Survey (USGS) is now conducting trenching studies across the fault scarp to establish ages, displacements, and recurrence intervals of recent earthquakes on this active fault. The success of this pilot study has inspired the formation of a consortium of federal and local organizations to extend this work to a 2350 square kilometer (580,000 acre) region of the Puget Lowland, covering nearly the entire extent (approx. 85 km) of the Seattle fault. The consortium includes NASA, the USGS, and four local groups consisting of KPUD, Kitsap County, the City of Seattle, and the Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC). The consortium has selected Terrapoint, a commercial lidar mapping vendor, to acquire the data.

Harding, David J.↗
NASA NTRS1998

Clementine High Resolution Camera Mosaicking Project

This report constitutes the final report for NASA Contract NASW-5054. This project processed Clementine I high resolution images of the Moon, mosaicked these images together, and created a 22-disk set of compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM) volumes. The mosaics were produced through semi-automated registration and calibration of the high resolution (HiRes) camera's data against the geometrically and photometrically controlled Ultraviolet/Visible (UV/Vis) Basemap Mosaic produced by the US Geological Survey (USGS). The HiRes mosaics were compiled from non-uniformity corrected, 750 nanometer ("D") filter high resolution nadir-looking observations. The images were spatially warped using the sinusoidal equal-area projection at a scale of 20 m/pixel for sub-polar mosaics (below 80 deg. latitude) and using the stereographic projection at a scale of 30 m/pixel for polar mosaics. Only images with emission angles less than approximately 50 were used. Images from non-mapping cross-track slews, which tended to have large SPICE errors, were generally omitted. The locations of the resulting image population were found to be offset from the UV/Vis basemap by up to 13 km (0.4 deg.). Geometric control was taken from the 100 m/pixel global and 150 m/pixel polar USGS Clementine Basemap Mosaics compiled from the 750 nm Ultraviolet/Visible Clementine imaging system. Radiometric calibration was achieved by removing the image nonuniformity dominated by the HiRes system's light intensifier. Also provided are offset and scale factors, achieved by a fit of the HiRes data to the corresponding photometrically calibrated UV/Vis basemap, that approximately transform the 8-bit HiRes data to photometric units. The sub-polar mosaics are divided into tiles that cover approximately 1.75 deg. of latitude and span the longitude range of the mosaicked frames. Images from a given orbit are map projected using the orbit's nominal central latitude. Polar mosaics are tiled into squares 2250 pixels on a side, which spans approximately 2.2 deg. Two mosaics are provided for each pole: one corresponding to data acquired while periapsis was in the south, the other while periapsis was in the north. The CD-ROMs also contain ancillary data files that support the HiRes mosaic. These files include browse images with UV/Vis context stored in a Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) format, index files ('imgindx.tab' and 'srcindx.tab') that tabulate the contents of the CD, and documentation files.

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NASA NTRS1999

Candidate-Landing Sites and Backups for the Mars Surveyor Program in the Schiaparelli. Crater Region

Our Survey area comprises the Sinus Sabeus NW quadrangle that includes most of the Schiaparelli crater and part of the Arabia SW region (3 N to 15 S Lat.) and (0 to 337.5 W long.) and covers all regions that show a potential hydrogeological link with the Schiaparelli impact structure. This area is hereafter defined as the Schiaparelli Crater Region. The Schiaparelli crater region is one of the most documented MOC targets. Up to now, MGS MOC camera took two dozen images at an average of 5m/pxl resolution that not only provide an exceptional insight on the local geology and morphology, but give also key-elements to assess landing safety criteria. In addition, the MOLA topographic profile No. 23 passes through part of the crater basin allowing the adjustment of the elevation as previously known from the Viking mission (USGS I-2125, 1991). Beyond the Mars Polar Lander mission that will land next December, the future missions (2001 APEX, 2003, and 2005) are led by a series of science objectives and engineering constraints that must be considered in order to select landing sites that will fulfill the Surveyor Program's objectives. The search for a sound and safe candidate-site (without ending up with the usual "safe but boring" or "fascinating but too risky" site) is usually limited by the data available to the investigator, by the data accuracy (e.g. poor image resolution, poor altimetry), and the lack of crucial information for science and safety that can be derived from them. The Schiaparelli region provides an exception to this recurrent pattern. We listed the preliminary constraints for landing site selection identified for the Surveyor '01 mission, in terms of safety requirements and data needed and compared them against the existing information and/or data already available for the Schiaparelli region. The engineering constraints of '03 and '05 are not designated yet but, since they are also related to atmospheric density and Lander designs, we will assume that these points will be comparable to '01. The main difference will reside in the rover design, the Rocky-7 class rover being bigger than Marie Curie ('01) will be able to overcome bigger obstacles. We listed then the main objectives of the Surveyor Program and compared them with the potential offered by the Schiaparelli Crater Region to document them. Within the survey area, the Schiaparelli impact crater is 2.5 S/343.3 W (USGS 1-1376, MC-20 NW, 1981) and occupies a significant surface area. The crater has been proposed as a potential candidate-site in the past years. The purpose of this study is to show that, not only the Schiaparelli Crater would be a high-priority target, but that the region where it is located offer several very-high potential back-up sites, all within science and engineering constraints, that make this region probably the most promising candidate area so far.

Cabrol, Nathalie A.↗
NASA NTRS2003

Mars Digital Image Model 2.1 Control Network

USGS is currently preparing a new version of its global Mars digital image mosaic, which will be known as MDIM 2.1. As part of this process we are completing a new photogrammetric solution of the global Mars control network. This is an improved version of the network established earlier by RAND and USGS personnel, as partially described previously. MDIM 2.1 will have many improvements over earlier Viking Orbiter (VO) global mosaics. Geometrically, it will be an orthoimage product, draped on Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) derived topography, thus accounting properly for the commonly oblique VO imagery. Through the network being described here it will be tied to the newly defined IAU/IAG 2000 Mars coordinate system via ties to MOLA data. Thus, MDIM 2.1 will provide complete global orthorectified imagery coverage of Mars at the resolution of 1/256 deg of MDIM 2.0, and be compatible with MOLA and other products produced in the current coordinate system.

Archinal, B. A.↗
NASA NTRS2001

NE Ohio Urban Growth Monitoring and Modeling Prototype

At the University of Akron, Dr. Loren Siebert, Dr. Richard Klosterman, and their graduate research assistants (Jung-Wook Kim, Mohammed Hoque, Aziza Parveen, and Ben Stabler) worked on the integration of remote sensing and GIs-based planning support systems. The primary goal of the project was to develop methods that use remote sensing land cover mapping and GIs-based modeling to monitor and project urban growth and farmland loss in northeast Ohio. Another research goal has been to use only GIS data that are accessible via the World Wide Web, to determine whether Ohio's small counties and townships that do not currently have parcel-level GIS systems can apply these techniques. The project was jointly funded by NASA and USGS OhioView grants during the 2000-2001 academic year; the work is now being continued under a USGS grant.

Siebert, Loren↗
NASA NTRS2003

Western Rainier Seismic Zone Airborne Laser Swath Mapping

Airborne laser swath mapping (ALSM) of the Puget Lowland conducted by TerraPoint LLC for the Purget Sound Lidar Concortium (PSLC), has been successful in revealing Holocene fault scarps and lendsliders hidden beneath the dense, temperate rain forest cover and in quantifying shoreline terrace uplift. Expanding the PSLC efforts, NASA-USGS collaboration is now focusing on topographic mapping of seismogenic zones adjacent to volcanois in the western Cascades range in order to assess the presence of active faulting and tectonic deformation, better define the extend of lahars and understand their flow processes, and characterize landslide occurrence. Mapping of the western Rainier zone (WRZ) was conducted by TerraPoint in late 2002, after leaf fall and before snow accumulation. The WRZ is a NNW-trending, approx. 30 km-long zone of seismicity west of Mount Rainier National Park. The Puget Lowland ALSM methods were modified to accommodate challenges posed by the steep, high relief terrian. The laser data, acquired with a density of approx. 2 pulses /sq m, was filtered to identify returns from the ground from which a bare Earth digital elevation model (DEM) was produced with a grid size of 1.8 m. The RMS elevation accuracy of the DEM in flat, unvegetated areas is approx. 10cm based on consistency between overlapping flight swaths and comparisons to ground control points. The resulting DEM substantially improves upon Shuttle Radar Topography Mission and USGS photogrammetric mapping. For example, the DEM defines the size and spatial distribution of flood erratics left by the Electron lahar and of megaclasts within the Round Pass lahar, important for characterizing the lahar hydraulics. A previously unknown lateral levee on the Round Pass lahar is also revealed. In addition, to illustrating geomorfic feature within the WRZ, future plans for laser mapping of the Saint Helens and Darrington seismic zones will be described.

Harding, David J.↗