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At least 73 records · Page 4
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1980

Abundances of energy spectra of individual iron-secondary elements

Relative abundances of individual Iron-secondary elements have been measured using a balloon-borne 6.6 m ster ionization/Cerenkov detector system. The unusually large geometry factor and single-charge resolution yield empirical atmospheric attenuation curves for individual elements which combine with high statistics at float altitude to yield individual element abundances, extrapolated to the top of the atmosphere, with high precision. Results are presented for top-of-the-atmosphere abundances (relative to iron) of individual elements in the Z range 13-30.

Israel, M. H.↗
NASA NTRS2006

Exo-atmospheric telescopes for Deep Space Optical Communications

For deep space optical communications, optical telescopes located above the Earth's atmosphere would have significant performance advantages over telescopes mounted on the Earth's surface. Link outages due to cloud cover would be eliminated, atmospheric attenuation would be eliminated, and signal degradation due to stray light would be reduced. A study has been conducted to compare various exo-atmospheric platforms for the Earth end of the optical link.

orbiting optical terminal↗
NASA NTRS1974

Investigation of transient earth resources phenomena: Continuation study

Calculated sensitivity requirements for an earth resource satellite in a geostationary orbit are reported. Radiance levels at the satellite sensor were computed for twenty top-priority Synchronous Earth Observatory Satellite (SEOS) applications. The observation requirements were reviewed and re-evaluated in terms of spectral band definition, spectral signatures of targets and backgrounds, observation time, and site location. With these data and an atmospheric attenuation and scattering model, the total radiances observed by the SEOS sensor were calculated as were the individual components contributed by the target, target variations, and the atmosphere.

Goldman, G. C.↗
NASA NTRS1983

The thermal structure of the atmospheric surface boundary layer on Mars as modified by the radiative effect of aeolian dust

A computational simulation, based on Mariner 9 data, was performed for the thermal characteristics of the Martian atmospheric surface boundary layer in clear and dust-filled conditions. A radiative transfer model consisting of the atmospheric enthalpy rate equation, the radiative flux integrated over the 0.2-50 microns, the solid angle interval, and 0.50 km altitudes, broken into 52 levels. Mariner 9 IR data for CO2 absorption lines were included in the form of a temperture-dependent equation, while the line-widths were interpreted in terms of the pressure dependene as well as temperature. The lines covered the regions from 1-50 microns and varying conditions of dust content in the atmosphere. Attention was given to the thermal coupling between the ground and the atmosphere. It was found that convective heat exchange develops quickly due to radiative heating of the Martian desert surface, but does not cool the surface because of the attenuated atmosphere. The model predictd the 100 K temperature variations in the dusty atmosphere, as observed by the Viking thermal mapper. It is suggested that radiative flux convergence is as important as convection at equivalent efficiencies.

Pallmann, A. J.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Sea Surface Air Pressure Retrieval with MBARS

Global meteorological observations are essential in initialization and assimilation of numerical weather prediction (NWP) models. Many key weather variables such as temperature, humidity, and wind can be relatively well observed by in-situ and remote techniques from surface, suborbital and orbital platforms. However, sea surface air pressure cannot be well-sampled. Over open oceans, the pressure can only be observed by very limited buoys, ships, and oceanic platforms. There is no operational remote sensing method available for the crucial dynamic variable of the Earth’s climate and weather systems. Advanced techniques for global sea level pressure (SLP) observations are urgently needed for improving NWP models, particularly for improvement of severe weather forecasts. Recent studies on the space and airborne Microwave BArometric Radar and Sounder (MBARS) systems provide a great potential to fill the SLP observational gap. The systems studied have three channels with center frequencies at 65.5, 67.76 and 70 GHz. These channels are designed to operate at atmospheric oxygen (O2) absorption bands for column O2 mass measurements. When sea surface returns of spectrally closely-spaced paired channels are measured, surface reflection and atmospheric attenuation other than O2 are very similar, but the difference in O2 absorption is substantial. Thus, the differential absorption loss of this frequency pair leads to measures of atmospheric O2 amount. For the residual absorption loss caused by other agents, a third frequency having the same spectral space to the weak absorption frequency of the first pair can be used, which forms the second pair and produces the same residual as the first pair. Removal of the residual of this second pair from the first pair can further mitigate environmental impacts. Thus, this 3-channel approach will provide precise O2 amount retrievals. Since oxygen is well mixed in the atmosphere, the column air mass or SLP can be obtained. Currently, MBARS is rapidly maturing its advanced technology. An upcoming airborne field flight campaign is planned in late 2024. The 3-channel approach will be use in SLP retrievals. This MBARS team will discuss the physics-based SLP retrieval technique and report latest progresses in this upcoming AGU annual meeting.

O2 differential absorption↗
NASA NTRS2000

Evaluation of the Applicability of Solar and Lamp Radiometric Calibrations of a Precision Sun Photometer Operating Between 300 and 1025 nm

Over a period of 3 year a precision Sun photometer (SPM) operating between 300 and 1025 nm was calibrated four times at three different high-mountain sites in Switzerland, Germany, and the United States by means of the Langley-plot technique. We found that for atmospheric window wavelengths the total error (2 sigma-statistical plus systematic errors) of the calibration constants V(sub 0)(lambda), the SPM voltage in the absence of any attenuating atmosphere, can be kept below 1.60% in the UV-A and blue, 0.9% in the mid-visible, and 0.6% in the near-infra red spectral region. For SPM channels within strong water-vapor or ozone absorption bands a modified Langley-plot technique was used to determine V(sub 0)(lambda) with a lower accuracy. Within the same period of time, we calibrated the SPM five times using irradiance standard lamps in the optical labs of the Physikalisch-Meteorologisches Observatorium Davos and World Radiation Center, Switzerland, and of the Remote Sensing Group of the Optical Sciences Center, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona. The lab calibration method requires knowledge of the extraterrestrial spectral irradiance. When we refer the standard lamp results to the World Radiation Center extraterrestrial solar irradiance spectrum, they agree with the Langley results within 2% at 6 or 13 SPM wavelengths. The largest disagreement (4.4%) is found for the channel centered at 610 nm. The results of these intercomparisons change significantly when the lamp results are referred to two different extraterrestrial solar irradiance spectra that have become recently available.

Schmid, Beat↗
NASA NTRS2016

Processing Near-Infrared Imagery of the Orion Heatshield During EFT-1 Hypersonic Reentry

The Scientifically Calibrated In-Flight Imagery (SCIFLI) team captured high-resolution, calibrated, near-infrared imagery of the Orion capsule during atmospheric reentry of the EFT-1 mission. A US Navy NP-3D aircraft equipped with a multi-band optical sensor package, referred to as Cast Glance, acquired imagery of the Orion capsule's heatshield during a period when Orion was slowing from approximately Mach 10 to Mach 7. The line-of-sight distance ranged from approximately 65 to 40 nmi. Global surface temperatures of the capsule's thermal heatshield derived from the near-infrared intensity measurements complemented the in-depth (embedded) thermocouple measurements. Moreover, these derived surface temperatures are essential to the assessment of the thermocouples' reliance on inverse heat transfer methods and material response codes to infer the surface temperature from the in-depth measurements. The paper describes the image processing challenges associated with a manually-tracked, high-angular rate air-to-air observation. Issues included management of significant frame-to-frame motions due to both tracking jerk and jitter as well as distortions due to atmospheric effects. Corrections for changing sky backgrounds (including some cirrus clouds), atmospheric attenuation, and target orientations and ranges also had to be made. The image processing goal is to reduce the detrimental effects due to motion (both sensor and capsule), vibration (jitter), and atmospherics for image quality improvement, without compromising the quantitative integrity of the data, especially local intensity (temperature) variations. The paper will detail the approach of selecting and utilizing only the highest quality images, registering several co-temporal image frames to a single image frame to the extent frame-to-frame distortions would allow, and then co-adding the registered frames to improve image quality and reduce noise. Using preflight calibration data, the registered and averaged infrared intensity images were converted to surface temperatures on the Orion capsule's heatshield. Temperature uncertainties will be discussed relative to uncertainties of surface emissivity and atmospheric transmission loss. Comparison of limited onboard surface thermocouple data to the image derived surface temperature will be presented.

Spisz, Thomas S.↗
NASA NTRS1976

ATS-6 mm-wave propagation experiment

Attenuation on a Space-to-Earth path was measured at 20 GHz for a ground terminal at approximately 1 km elevation in an arid (16 cm annual precipitation) region of eastern Washington state. Precipitation intensity and radiometric sky temperature at 20 GHz were also measured. Attenuation greater than 1 dB was observed only in the presence of wet snow on antenna surfaces. Ten thousand (10,000) hours of radiometric sky temperature data recorded over an 18-month period indicated atmospheric attenuation of 5 to 7 dB during two instances of rain intensity of approximately 1 inch per hour.

Davis, C. C.↗
NASA NTRS1976

Oso 7 measurements of atomic oxygen and molecular nitrogen densities in the earth's upper atmosphere

Densities of molecular nitrogen and monatomic oxygen are presented as a function of altitude for selected intervals of March-May 1972 Oso 7 satellite data. Results on atmospheric attenuation of solar extreme UV radiation at 200-400 A, at heights from 250 to 500 km, are of particular interest. Satellite sunrise measurements above 330 km are not consistent with the Jacchia (1971) atmospheric model, and may constitute evidence for dynamic phenomena occurring in the heated upper levels. Density and temperature variations are considered mainly responsible for the sunrise anomaly observed. Checks were made for possible errors in the satellite pointing system and other instrumental effects.

Modali, S. B.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Use of an Uninhabited Aircraft System (UAS) for Atmospheric Observations During an Acoustic Flight Test

A jet noise test was performed at Niagara Falls International Airport using a Calspan Learjet 25 by acoustics researchers at NASA Glenn Research Center in partnership with Calspan personnel and Uninhabited Aircraft Systems (UAS) pilots and sensor operators from NASA Langley Research Center. To account for atmospheric attenuation in the de-propagation of jet noise from a ground-based microphone array to the source for comparison with model data collected in a facility at NASA GRC, a vertical profile of atmospheric conditions was required. To that end, a sUAS was flown with a weather sensor package measuring atmospheric pressure, humidity, and temperature in a range of altitudes from ground level to 304.8 m (1,000 ft) above ground level (AGL). The sUAS flights were performed concurrently with and adjacent to the Learjet flight path. Data from these UAS flights are presented herein; additionally, comparisons with conventional balloon-borne instrumentation are made with a particular focus on the quality and capability of UAS-based observations for acoustic flight test applications. Furthermore, a ground-based light detection and ranging (LiDAR) system was deployed for collecting wind magnitude and direction for discrete altitudes up to 304.8 m (1,000 ft) AGL. Data from the LiDAR unit will be presented and discussed in the context of aircraft acoustic flight testing. This effort was supported by NASA’s Commercial Supersonic Technology project.

UAS↗
NASA NTRS1983

A quasi-continuous record of atmospheric opacity at lambda = 1.1 mm over 34 days at Mauna Kea Observatory

A quasi-continuous record of atmospheric attenuation is obtained. The data were gathered during a 24-day period in September and October 1982 and a 10-day period in December of that year. The opacity is arrived at by measuring the thermal emission of the atmosphere over a bandwidth of approximately 300 MHz. Using an experimental relationship established by Zammit and Ade (1981), opacity measurements at 1.1 mm are converted to the precipitable water vapor column overhead. With the precipitable water vapor, estimates of opacity due to water vapor can be made for other mm and FIR wavelengths. These estimates require model absorption curves for the atmosphere.

De Zafra, R. L.↗
NASA NTRS1972

An observation of the Gulf Stream surface front structure by ship, aircraft, and satellite.

Evaluation of observations of surface temperature and salinity along the western edge of the Gulf Stream made from a ship and of concurrent temperature observations obtained by instrumented aircraft at six altitudes. The major feature along a five-kilometer line normal to the Stream's edge is a temperature gradient of about 0.75 C/kilometer within which are embedded two abrupt temperature increases of about 1.5 C. Temperature variations were compensated by salinity variations, yielding nearly constant density through the frontal zone; a sharp lateral current shear was associated with the thermohaline mixing region between the steps. The attenuation of surface temperature measured by the airborne radiometer was compared with a theoretical model. The analysis supports the view that a two-part correction technique is required: one part for bulk-skin temperature differences, and another for atmospheric attenuation of sea surface emission due to the mass and temperature of interfering gases.

Maul, G. A.↗
NASA NTRS2005

Spectral Ratio Imaging with Hyperion Satellite Data for Geological Mapping

Since the advent of LANDSAT I in 1972, many different multispectral satellites have been orbited by the U.S. and other countries. These satellites have varied from 4 spectral bands in LANDSAT I to 14 spectral bands in the ASTER sensor aboard the TERRA space platform. Hyperion is a relatively new hyperspectral sensor with over 220 spectral bands. The huge increase in the number of spectral bands offers a substantial challenge to computers and analysts alike when it comes to the task of mapping features on the basis of chemical composition, especially if little or no ground truth is available beforehand from the area being mapped. One approach is the theoretical approach of the modeler, where all extraneous information (atmospheric attenuation, sensor electronic gain and offset, etc.) is subtracted off and divided out, and laboratory (or field) spectra of materials are used as training sets to map features in the scene of similar composition. This approach is very difficult to keep accurate because of variations in the atmosphere, solar illumination, and sensor electronic gain and offset that are not always perfectly recorded or accounted for. For instance, to apply laboratory or field spectra of materials as data sets from the theoretical approach, the header information of the files must reflect the correct, up-to-date sensor electronic gain and offset and the analyst must pick the exact atmospheric model that is appropriate for the day of data collection in order for classification procedures to accurately match pixels in the scene with the laboratory or field spectrum of a desired target on the basis of the hyperspectral data. The modeling process is so complex that it is difficult to tell when it is operating well or determine how to fix it when it is incorrect. Recently RSI has announced that the latest version of their ENVI software package is not performing atmospheric corrections correctly with the FLAASH atmospheric model. It took a long time to determine that it was wrong, and may take an equally long time (or longer) to fix.

Vincent, Robert K.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Olympus beacon receiver

A medium-size Beacon Receiving System for reception and processing of the B1 (20 GHz) and B2 (30 GHz) beacons from Olympus has been developed. Integration of B1 and B2 receiving equipment into one system using one antenna and a common computer for control and data processing provides the advantages of a compact configuration and synchronization of the two receiver chains. Range for co-polar signal attenuation meaurement is about 30 dB for both beacons, increasing to 40 dB for B2 if the receivers are synchronized to B1. The accuracy is better than 0.5 dB. Cross-polarization discriminations of the order of 10 to 30 dB may be determined with an accuracy of 1 to 2 dB. A number of radiometers for complementary measurements of atmospheric attenuation of 13 to 30 GHz has also been constructed. A small multi-frequency system for operation around 22 GHz and 31 GHz is presently under development.

Ostergaard, Jens↗
NASA NTRS1992

Arctic ice surface temperature retrieval from AVHRR thermal channels

The relationship between AVHRR thermal radiances and the surface (skin) temperature of Arctic snow-covered sea ice is examined through forward calculations of the radiative transfer equation, providing an ice/snow surface temperature retrieval algorithm for the central Arctic Basin. Temperature and humidity profiles with cloud observations collected on an ice island during 1986-1987 are used. Coefficients that correct for atmospheric attenuation are given for three Arctic clear sky 'seasons', as defined through statistical analysis of the daily profiles, for the NOAA 7, 9, and 11 satellites. Modeled directional snow emissivities, different in the two split-window (11 and 12 micron) channels, are used. While the sensor scan angle is included explicitly in the correction equation, its effect in the dry Arctic atmosphere is small, generally less than 0.1 K. Using the split-window channels and scan angle, the rms error in the estimated ice surface temperature is less than 0.1 K in all seasons. Inclusion channel 3(3.7 microns) during the winter decreases the rms error by less than 0.003

Key, J.↗
NASA NTRS1976

Total attenuation measurements of the Intertropical Convergence Zone by satellite altimeter

The 13.9-GHz radar altimeter operating aboard Skylab detected incidences of intense attenuation during a passage over the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). The signal returned to the instrument from the surface was reduced by 4.5 and 6 dB over two distinct meteorological disturbances near 8 deg N, 27.5 deg W. Although it is impossible to deduce the vertical composition of the ITCZ cloud band from these data, the usefulness of the radar altimeter as a meteorological sensor of total atmospheric attenuation is demonstrated.

Parsons, C. L.↗
NASA NTRS2024

High Spectral Resolution Lidar – Generation 2 (HSRL-2) Retrievals of Ocean Surface Wind Speed: Methodology and Evaluation

Ocean surface wind speed (i.e., wind speed 10 m above sea level) is a critical parameter used by atmospheric models to estimate the state of the marine atmospheric boundary layer (MABL). Accurate surface wind speed measurements in diverse locations are required to improve characterization of MABL dynamics and assess how models simulate large-scale phenomena related to climate change and global weather patterns. To provide these measurements, this study introduces and evaluates a new surface wind speed data product from the NASA Langley Research Center nadir-viewing High Spectral Resolution Lidar – generation 2 (HSRL-2) using data collected as part of the NASA Aerosol Cloud meTeorology Interactions oVer the western ATlantic Experiment (ACTIVATE) mission. The HSRL-2 can directly measure vertically resolved aerosol backscatter and extinction profiles without additional constraints or assumptions, enabling the instrument to accurately derive atmospheric attenuation and directly determine surface reflectance (i.e., surface backscatter). Also, the high horizontal spatial resolution of the HSRL-2 retrievals (0.5 s or ∼ 75 m along track) allows the instrument to probe the fine-scale spatial variability in surface wind speeds over time along the flight track and over breaks in broken cloud fields. A rigorous evaluation of these retrievals is performed by comparing coincident HSRL-2 and National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Airborne Vertical Atmosphere Profiling System (AVAPS) dropsonde data, owing to the joint deployment of these two instruments on the ACTIVATE King Air aircraft. These comparisons show correlations of 0.89, slopes of 1.04 and 1.17, and y intercepts of −0.13 and −1.05 m s−1 for linear and bisector regressions, respectively, and the overall accuracy is calculated to be 0.15 ± 1.80 m s−1. It is also shown that the dropsonde surface wind speed data most closely follow the HSRL-2 distribution of wave slope variance using the distribution proposed by Hu et al. (2008) rather than the ones proposed by Cox and Munk (1954) and Wu (1990) for surface wind speeds below 7 m s−1, with this category comprising most of the ACTIVATE data set. The retrievals are then evaluated separately for surface wind speeds below 7 m s−1 and between 7 and 13.3 m s−1 and show that the HSRL-2 retrieves surface wind speeds with a bias of ∼ 0.5 m s−1 and an error of ∼ 1.5 m s−1, a finding not apparent in the cumulative comparisons. Also, it is shown that the HSRL-2 retrievals are more accurate in the summer (−0.18 ± 1.52 m s−1) than in the winter (0.63 ± 2.07 m s−1), but the HSRL-2 is still able to make numerous (N=236) accurate retrievals in the winter. Overall, this study highlights the abilities and assesses the performance of the HSRL-2 surface wind speed retrievals, and it is hoped that further evaluation of these retrievals will be performed using other airborne and satellite data sets.

Sanja Dmitrovic↗
NASA NTRS2012

Validation of Aquarius Measurements Using Radiative Transfer Models at L-Band

Aquarius/SAC-D was launched in June 2011 by NASA and CONAE (Argentine space agency). Aquarius includes three L-band (1.4 GHz) radiometers dedicated to measuring sea surface salinity. We report detailed comparisons of Aquarius measurements with radiative transfer model predictions. These comparisons were used as part ofthe initial assessment of Aquarius data. In particular, they were used successfully to estimate the radiometer calibration bias and stability. Further comparisons are being performed to assess the performance of models in the retrieval algorithm for correcting the effect of sources of geophysical "noise" (e.g. the galactic background, atmospheric attenuation and reflected signal from the Sun). Such corrections are critical in bringing the error in retrieved salinity down to the required 0.2 practical salinity unit (psu) on monthly global maps at 150 km by 150 km resolution. The forward models making up the Aquarius simulator have been very useful for preparatory studies in the years leading to Aquarius' launch. The simulator includes various components to compute effects ofthe following processes on the measured signal: 1) emission from Earth surfaces (ocean, land, ice), 2) atmospheric emission and absorption, 3) emission from the Sun, Moon and celestial Sky (directly through the antenna sidelobes or after reflection/scattering at the Earth surface), 4) Faraday rotation, and 5) convolution of the scene by the antenna gain patterns. Since the Aquarius radiometers tum-on in late July 2011, the simulator has been used to perform a first order validation of the data. This included checking the order of magnitude ofthe signal over ocean, land and ice surfaces, checking the relative amplitude of signal at different polarizations, and checking the variation with incidence angle. The comparisons were also used to assess calibration bias and monitor instruments calibration drift. The simulator is also being used in the salinity retrieval. For example, initial assessments of the salinity retrieved from Aquarius data showed degradation in accuracy at locations where glint from the galactic sky background was important. This was traced to an inaccurate correction for the Sky glint. We present comparisons of the simulator prediction to the Aquarius data in order to assess the performances of the models of various physical processes impacting the measurements, such as the effect of sea surface roughness, the impact of the celestial Sky and the Sun emission scattered at the rough ocean surface. We discuss what components of the simulator appear reliable and which ones need improvements. Improved knowledge on the radiative transfer models at L-band will not only lead to better salinity retrieved from Aquarius data, it will also allow be beneficial for SMOS or the upcoming SMAP mission.

Dinnat, E.↗