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At least 721 records · Page 40

Visions of our Planet's Atmosphere, Land and Oceans: NASA/NOAA Electronic Theater 2002

The NASA/NOAA Electronic Theater presents Earth science observations and visualizations in a historical perspective. Fly in from outer space to the Olympic Medals Plaza, the new Gateway Center, and the University of Utah Stadium Site of the Olympic Opening and Closing Ceremonies in Salt Lake City. Fly in and through the Park City, and Snow Basin sites of the 2002 Winter Olympic Alpine Venues using 1 m IKONOS "Spy Satellite" data. See the four seasons of the Wasatch Front as observed by Landsat 7 at 15m resolution and watch the trees turn color in the Fall, snow come and go in the mountains and the reservoirs freeze and melt. Go back to the early weather satellite images from the 1960s and see them contrasted with the latest US and international global satellite weather movies including hurricanes & "tornadoes". See the latest visualizations of spectacular images from NASA/NOAA remote sensing missions like Terra, GOES, TRMM, SeaWiFS, Landsat 7 including new 1 - min GOES rapid scan image sequences of Nov 9th 2001 Midwest tornadic thunderstorms and have them explained. See how High-Definition Television (HDTV) is revolutionizing the way we communicate science. (In cooperation with the American Museum of Natural History in NYC) See dust storms in Africa and smoke plumes from fires in Mexico. See visualizations featured on the covers of Newsweek, TIME, National Geographic, Popular Science & on National & International Network TV. New computer software tools allow us to roam & zoom through massive global images e.g. Landsat tours of the US, and Africa, showing desert and mountain geology as well as seasonal changes in vegetation. See animations of the polar ice packs and the motion of gigantic Antarctic Icebergs from SeaWinds data. Spectacular new visualizations of the global atmosphere & oceans are shown. See vortexes and currents in the global oceans that bring up the nutrients to feed tiny algae and draw the fish, whales and fisherman. See the how the ocean blooms in response to these currents and El Nino/La Nina climate changes. See the city lights, fishing fleets, gas flares and bio-mass burning of the Earth at night observed by the "night-vision" DMSP military satellite. The demonstration is interactively driven by a SGI Octane Graphics Supercomputer with two CPUs, 4 Gigabytes of RAM and 0.5 Terabyte of disk using two projectors across a super sized panoramic 48 foot screen. In addition new HDTV technology will be demonstrated from a portable computer server.

Hasler, A. F.↗

Mapping Ungulate Habitats in Yellowstone National Park with Airborne Hyperspectral Data

Mapping vegetation habitats of ungulates (e.g., bison, elk, and deer) is critical to the development of efficient wildlife management and monitoring practices in Yellowstone National Park. Image endmembers were chosen using the ENVI minimum noise fraction, pixel purity index, N-dimensional visualizer approach. The spectral angle mapper algorithm was used to classify the image. This process was applied to low altitude AVIRIS and Probe-1 hyperspectral imagery of the Lamar River/Soda Butte Creek confluence to map several ungulate habitats (e.g., grasses, sedge, sage, aspen, willow, and cottonwood. The results are being compared to field measurements and large-scale color infrared aerial photography to assess mapping accuracy. The use of AVIRIS and Probe-1 data enabled the examination of hyperspectral data collected at different spatial and spectral resolutions.

Terrie, Gregory↗

Comparison of AIS Versus TMS Data Collected over the Virginia Piedmont

The Airborne Imaging Spectrometer (AIS, NS001 Thematic Mapper Simlulator (TMS), and Zeiss camera collected remotely sensed data simultaneously on October 27, 1983, at an altitude of 6860 meters (22,500 feet). AIS data were collected in 32 channels covering 1200 to 1500 nm. A simple atmospheric correction was applied to the AIS data, after which spectra for four cover types were plotted. Spectra for these ground cover classes showed a telescoping effect for the wavelength endpoints. Principal components were extracted from the shortwave region of the AIS (1200 to 1280 nm), full spectrum AIS (1200 to 1500 nm) and TMS (450 to 12,500 nm) to create three separate three-component color image composites. A comparison of the TMS band 5 (1000 to 1300 nm) to the six principal components from the shortwave AIS region (1200 to 1280 nm) showed improved visual discrimination of ground cover types. Contrast of color image composites created from principal components showed the AIS composites to exhibit a clearer demarcation between certain ground cover types but subtle differences within other regions of the imagery were not as readily seen.

Bell, R.↗

NASA's Earth Observations of the Global Environment

A birds eye view of the Earth from afar and up close reveals the power and magnificence of the Earth and juxtaposes the simultaneous impacts and powerlessness of humankind. The NASA Electronic Theater presents Earth science observations and visualizations in an historical perspective. Fly in from outer space to Africa and Cape Town. See the latest spectacular images from NASA & NOAA remote sensing missions like Meteosat, TRMM, Landsat 7, and Terra, which will be visualized and explained in the context of global change. See visualizations of global data sets currently available from Earth orbiting satellites, including the Earth at night with its city lights, aerosols from biomass burning in the Middle East and Africa, and retreat of the glaciers on Mt. Kilimanjaro. See the dynamics of vegetation growth and decay over Africa over 17 years. New visualization tools allow us to roam & zoom through massive global mosaic images including Landsat and Terra tours of Africa and South America, showing land use and land cover change from Bolivian highlands. Spectacular new visualizations of the global atmosphere & oceans are shown. See massive dust storms sweeping across Africa and across the Atlantic to the Caribbean and Amazon basin. See ocean vortexes and currents that bring up the nutrients to feed tiny phytoplankton and draw the fish, pant whales and fisher- man. See how the ocean blooms in response to these currents and El Nino/La Nifia. We will illustrate these and other topics with a dynamic theater-style presentation, along with animations of satellite launch deployments and orbital mapping to highlight aspects of Earth observations from space.

King, Michael D.↗

NASA/NOAA: Earth Science Electronic Theater 1999

The Electronic Theater (E-theater) presents visualizations which span the period from the original Suomi/Hasler animations of the first ATS-1 GEO weather satellite images in 1966 to the latest 1999 NASA Earth Science Vision for the next 25 years. Hot off the SGI-Onyx Graphics-Supercomputer are NASA's visualizations of Hurricanes Mitch, Georges, Fran and Linda. These storms have been recently featured on the covers of National Geographic, Time, Newsweek and Popular Science. Highlights will be shown from the NASA hurricane visualization resource video tape that has been used repeatedly this season on National and International network TV. Results will be presented from a new paper on automatic wind measurements in Hurricane Luis from 1-min GOES images that appeared in the November BAMS. The visualizations are produced by the NASA Goddard Visualization and Analysis Laboratory (VAL/912), and Scientific Visualization Studio (SVS/930), as well as other Goddard and NASA groups using NASA, NOAA, ESA, and NASDA Earth science datasets. Visualizations will be shown from the Earth Science E-Theater 1999 recently presented in Tokyo, Paris, Munich, Sydney, Melbourne, Honolulu, Washington, New York, and Dallas. The presentation Jan 11-14 at the AMS meeting in Dallas used a 4-CPU SGI/CRAY Onyx Infinite Reality Super Graphics Workstation with 8 GB RAM and a Terabyte Disk at 3840 X 1024 resolution with triple synchronized BarcoReality 9200 projectors on a 60ft wide screen. Visualizations will also be featured from the new Earth Today Exhibit which was opened by Vice President Gore on July 2, 1998 at the Smithsonian Air & Space museum in Washington, as well as those presented for possible use at the American Museum of Natural History (NYC), Disney EPCOT, and other venues. New methods are demonstrated for visualizing, interpreting, comparing, organizing and analyzing immense HyperImage remote sensing datasets and three dimensional numerical model results. We call the data from many new Earth sensing satellites, HyperImage datasets, because they have such high resolution in the spectral, temporal, spatial, and dynamic range domains. The traditional numerical spreadsheet paradigm has been extended to develop a scientific visualization approach for processing HyperImage datasets and 3D model results interactively. The advantages of extending the powerful spreadsheet style of computation to multiple sets of images and organizing image processing were demonstrated using the Distributed image SpreadSheet (DISS). The DISS is being used as a high performance testbed Next Generation Internet (NGI) VisAnalysis of: 1) El Nino SSTs and NDVI response 2) Latest GOES 10 5-min rapid Scans of 26 day 5000 frame movie of March & April '98 weather and tornadic storms 3) TRMM rainfall and lightning 4)GOES 9 satellite images/winds and NOAA aircraft radar of hurricane Luis, 5) lightning detector data merged with GOES image sequences, 6) Japanese GMS, TRMM, & ADEOS data 7) Chinese FY2 data 8) Meteosat & ERS/ATSR data 9) synchronized manipulation of multiple 3D numerical model views; and others will be illustrated. The Image SpreadSheet has been highly successful in producing Earth science visualizations for public outreach. Many of these visualizations have been widely disseminated through the world wide web pages of the HPCC/LTP/RSD program which can be found at http://rsd.gsfc.nasa.gov/rsd The one min interval animations of Hurricane Luis on ABC Nightline and the color perspective rendering of Hurricane Fran published by TIME, LIFE, Newsweek, Popular Science, National Geographic, Scientific American, and the "Weekly Reader" are some of the examples which will be shown.

Hasler, A. Fritz↗

NASA/NOAA: Earth Science Electronic Theater 1999. Earth Science Observations, Analysis and Visualization: Roots in the 60s - Vision for the Next Millennium

The Etheater presents visualizations which span the period from the original Suomi/Hasler animations of the first ATS-1 GEO weather satellite images in 1966, to the latest 1999 NASA Earth Science Vision for the next 25 years. Hot off the SGI-Onyx Graphics-Supercomputer are NASA''s visualizations of Hurricanes Mitch, Georges, Fran and Linda. These storms have been recently featured on the covers of National Geographic, Time, Newsweek and Popular Science. Highlights will be shown from the NASA hurricane visualization resource video tape that has been used repeatedly this season on National and International network TV. Results will be presented from a new paper on automatic wind measurements in Hurricane Luis from 1-min GOES images that appeared in the November BAMS. The visualizations are produced by the NASA Goddard Visualization & Analysis Laboratory, and Scientific Visualization Studio, as well as other Goddard and NASA groups using NASA, NOAA, ESA, and NASDA Earth science datasets. Visualizations will be shown from the Earth Science ETheater 1999 recently presented in Tokyo, Paris, Munich, Sydney, Melbourne, Honolulu, Washington, New York, and Dallas. The presentation Jan 11-14 at the AMS meeting in Dallas used a 4-CPU SGI/CRAY Onyx Infinite Reality Super Graphics Workstation with 8 GB RAM and a Terabyte Disk at 3840 X 1024 resolution with triple synchronized BarcoReality 9200 projectors on a 60ft wide screen. Visualizations will also be featured from the new Earth Today Exhibit which was opened by Vice President Gore on July 2, 1998 at the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum in Washington, as well as those presented for possible use at the American Museum of Natural History (NYC), Disney EPCOT, and other venues. New methods are demonstrated for visualizing, interpreting, comparing, organizing and analyzing immense HyperImage remote sensing datasets and three dimensional numerical model results. We call the data from many new Earth sensing satellites, HyperImage datasets, because they have such high resolution in the spectral, temporal, spatial, and dynamic range domains. The traditional numerical spreadsheet paradigm has been extended to develop a scientific visualization approach for processing HyperImage datasets and 3D model results interactively. The advantages of extending the powerful spreadsheet style of computation to multiple sets of images and organizing image processing were demonstrated using the Distributed Image SpreadSheet (DISS). The DISS is being used as a high performance testbed Next Generation Internet (NGI) VisAnalysis of: 1) El Nino SSTs and NDVI response 2) Latest GOES 10 5-min rapid Scans of 26 day 5000 frame movie of March & April 198 weather and tornadic storms 3) TRMM rainfall and lightning 4)GOES 9 satellite images/winds and NOAA aircraft radar of hurricane Luis, 5) lightning detector data merged with GOES image sequences, 6) Japanese GMS, TRMM, & ADEOS data 7) Chinese FY2 data 8) Meteosat & ERS/ATSR data 9) synchronized manipulation of multiple 3D numerical model views; etc. will be illustrated. The Image SpreadSheet has been highly successful in producing Earth science visualizations for public outreach.

Hasler, A. Fritz↗

Transfer Learning to Generate True Color Images from GOES-16

Along with scientific applications, Geostationary imagery is often used to learn about weather patterns through true color visualizations. NOAA/NASA's GOES-R series of satellites uses the advanced baseline imager with 16-bands which, unlike previous generations, does not include the green wavelength (500-565 nm) and hence cannot directly generate true color images. However, Himawari, Japan's geostationary satellite, uses a similar 16-band advanced Himawari imager that does include a green band (but missing cirrus). In this work, we show how transfer learning with convolutional neural networks can be applied across satellites to generate "virtual sensors". We apply this approach to generate a green band for GOES-16 and present near true color images.

transfer learning↗

Stimulus-response incompatibility activates cortex proximate to three eye fields

We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate cortical activation during the performance of three oculomotor tasks that impose increasing levels of cognitive demand. (1) In a visually guided saccade (VGS) task, subjects made saccades to flashed targets. (2) In a compatible task, subjects made leftward and rightward saccades in response to foveal presentation of the uppercase words "LEFT" or "RIGHT." (3) In a mixed task, subjects made rightward saccades in response to the lowercase word "left" and leftward saccades in response to the lowercase word "right" on incompatible trials (60%). The remaining 40% of trials required compatible responses to uppercase words. The VGS and compatible tasks, when compared to fixation, activated the three cortical eye fields: the supplementary eye field (SEF), the frontal eye field (FEF), and the parietal eye field (PEF). The mixed task, when compared to the compatible task, activated three additional cortical regions proximate to the three eye fields: (1) rostral to the SEF in medial frontal cortex; (2) rostral to the FEF in dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC); (3) rostral and lateral to the PEF in posterior parietal cortex. These areas may contribute to the suppression of prepotent responses and in holding novel visuomotor associations in working memory. Copyright 2001 Academic Press.

NASA Discipline Neuroscience↗

Intensity dependent spread theory

The Intensity Dependent Spread (IDS) procedure is an image-processing technique based on a model of the processing which occurs in the human visual system. IDS processing is relevant to many aspects of machine vision and image processing. For quantum limited images, it produces an ideal trade-off between spatial resolution and noise averaging, performs edge enhancement thus requiring only mean-crossing detection for the subsequent extraction of scene edges, and yields edge responses whose amplitudes are independent of scene illumination, depending only upon the ratio of the reflectance on the two sides of the edge. These properties suggest that the IDS process may provide significant bandwidth reduction while losing only minimal scene information when used as a preprocessor at or near the image plane.

Holben, Richard↗

A computer program for the localization of small areas in roentgenological images

A method and associated algorithm are presented which allow a simple and accurate determination to be made of the location of small symmetric areas presented in roentgenological images. The method utilizes an operator to visually spot object positions but eliminates the need for critical positioning accuracy on the operator's part. The rapidity of measurement allows results to be evaluated on-line. Parameters associated with the algorithm have been analyzed, and methods to facilitate an optimum choice for any particular experimental setup are presented.

Keller, R. A.↗

Seasat-A opens new phase in earth observations

The data output of the Seasat-A, the first satellite designed specifically for oceanographic observation, is described. Wave height and direction, ice distribution, surface wind speed and direction, ocean-surface temperature, and atmospheric water content will be monitored by the satellite. Imaging radar, microwave scatterometer, microwave radiometer and visual and infrared radiometer experiments are included in the Seasat-A observing program. Two types of orbits have been developed: a near-repeat cycle of three days, and a near-repeat cycle of 25 days. Both orbit types offer fine coverage (18.5 km crossing separations) of the earth. Synthetic aperture radar data on computer-compatible tapes and geophysical data records available through the Seasat-A mission are described.

Cutting, E.↗

Utilizing the dust streak-dryline intersection phenomenon in severe local storm forecasting

Several characteristics of a major dust storm on 20 February 1976 are presented. Four primary areas of discussion are considered: dust storm characteristics; comparisons between the cell detection capabilities of the geosynchronous satellite and radar; the use of the NASA Atmospheric and Oceanographic Information Processing System (an interactive image processing system) for interactive display of visual and IR digital data to obtain qualitative and quantitative results on specific dust cloud and cloud top characteristics; and evidence that the intersection downwind of dust clouds (streaks) with the dryline can be used to forecast the initial storm development on the dryline and that the dust clouds detected on 20 February 1976 are a reflection of upper tropospheric speed maxima, which according to McNulty (1978) and others, are associated with rapid severe convective local storm development.

Anthony, R. W.↗

System description and analysis. Part 1: Feasibility study for helicopter/VTOL wide-angle simulation image generation display system

A preliminary design for a helicopter/VSTOL wide angle simulator image generation display system is studied. The visual system is to become part of a simulator capability to support Army aviation systems research and development within the near term. As required for the Army to simulate a wide range of aircraft characteristics, versatility and ease of changing cockpit configurations were primary considerations of the study. Due to the Army's interest in low altitude flight and descents into and landing in constrained areas, particular emphasis is given to wide field of view, resolution, brightness, contrast, and color. The visual display study includes a preliminary design, demonstrated feasibility of advanced concepts, and a plan for subsequent detail design and development. Analysis and tradeoff considerations for various visual system elements are outlined and discussed.

Source record↗

Evaluation of criteria for selecting the spectral attributes of digital LANDSAT MSS imagery for discriminating lithological units in the lower Curaca River Valley, Bahia

The use of spectral attributes criteria was investigated, based on measures of statistical distance of separability between thematic classes in MSS digital LANDSAT imagery, in order to select the best subsets of channels in composite colors for the detection and discrimination of lithological units in the lower valley of Curaca River, State of Bahia, Brazil. Three situations were investigated: (1) selection of the three best channels, considering all of the original bands (channels 4, 5, 6, and 7); (2) selection of the three best bands, considering the six MSS band-ratios (channels 4/5, 4/6. 4/7, 5/6, 5/7, and 6/7); and (3) selection of the three best bands in a hybrid approach (the four original bands and the six ratios). A visual analysis was done on color composite images using the selected sets. Results show that the hybrid product (bands 4, 5/7, and 7 with green, blue, and red respectively) and the Normal Color Composite (bands 4, 5, and 7 with blue, green, and red colors respectively) had the best performance.

Paradella, W. R.↗

Machine vision for real time orbital operations

Machine vision for automation and robotic operation of Space Station era systems has the potential for increasing the efficiency of orbital servicing, repair, assembly and docking tasks. A machine vision research project is described in which a TV camera is used for inputing visual data to a computer so that image processing may be achieved for real time control of these orbital operations. A technique has resulted from this research which reduces computer memory requirements and greatly increases typical computational speed such that it has the potential for development into a real time orbital machine vision system. This technique is called AI BOSS (Analysis of Images by Box Scan and Syntax).

Vinz, Frank L.↗

Star formation and the interstellar medium in two peculiar, nonspiral galaxies - NGC 1569 and NGC 3593

This paper discusses far-IR and optical observations aimed at investigating the far-IR energy distribution of two peculiar galaxies without spiral arms which are actively forming stars: NGC 1569, a Magellanic irregular galaxy, and NGC 3593, a dusty S0/a galaxy. The data are used to determine the characteristic temperatures of the dust and to infer dust and molecular gas masses which are combined with other data to explore the characteristics of the interstellar media. Visual-wavelength continuum and H-alpha images are presented and used to estimate current and past star formation rates and the efficiency of stellar creation.

Hunter, Deidre A.↗

Comparison of GSC photometry in three southern fields

Entries in the Guide Star Catalog (GSC) within three southern declination fields surveyed by Ratnatunga in 1983 are studied. All three fields have high galactic latitude. About 98 percent of the 13,540 GSC entries within the total survey area of 60 deg sq are cross identified. Using over 9000 stars in the magnitude range J between 12.5 and 15.5, the random rms precision in photometric magnitude within these fields is estimated to be 0.1-0.2 mag, much lower than the total rms accuracy of 0.4 mag estimated in GSC. Some of the scanned images of the remaining unmatched entries were visually inspected to identify the cause of discrepancy.

Ratnatunga, Kavan U.↗

Galaxy interactions and star formation: Results of a survey of global H-alpha emission in spiral galaxies in 8 clusters

Kennicutt and Kent (1983) have shown that the global H alpha emission from a spiral galaxy is an indicator of the formation rate of massive stars. Moss, Whittle and Irwin (1988) have surveyed two clusters (Abell 347 and 1367) for galaxies with H alpha emission using a high dispersion objective prism technique. The purpose of the survey is to investigate environmental effects on star formation in spiral galaxies, and in particular to ascertain whether star formation is enhanced in cluster spirals. Approximately 20 percent of CGCG galaxies were detected in emission. Two plates of excellent quality were obtained for each of the two clusters, and galaxies were only identified to have emission if this was detected on both plates of a plate pair. In this way, plate flaws and other spurious identifications of emission could be rejected, and weak emission confirmed. The results of this survey have been discussed by Moss (1987). The detected galaxies are of types SO-a and later. The frequency with which galaxies are detected in emission increases towards later morphological type as expected (cf. Kennicutt and Kent 1983). There is no evidence of any dependence of the frequency of detected emission on the absolute magnitude of the galaxy (cf. Moss and Whittle 1990), but there is a strong correlation between a disturbed morphological appearance of the galaxy and the detection of emission. Furthermore it is found that the emission is more centrally concentrated in those galaxies which show a disturbed morphology. It may be noted that the objective prism plate gives a spectrum of a 400 A region around rest wavelength H alpha, but superposed on this is the H alpha emission from the galaxy which, because the light is essentially monochromatic, results in a true two-dimensional image of the H alpha distribution. The visual appearance of the emission on the prism plates was classified according to its diffuseness on a 5 point scale (very diffuse, diffuse, intermediate, compact, and very compact). In tabular form, the relation is shown between this classification and a morphologically disturbed appearance for the galaxy.

Moss, C.↗