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At least 1,099 records · Page 61
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2016

The Chandra Deep Field-South Survey: 7 Ms Source Catalogs

We present X-ray source catalogs for the approx. 7 Ms exposure of the Chandra Deep Field-South (CDF-S), which covers a total area of 484.2 arcmin2. Utilizing WAVDETECT for initial source detection and ACIS Extract for photometric extraction and significance assessment, we create a main source catalog containing 1008 sources that are detected in up to three X-ray bands: 0.5-7.0 keV, 0.5-2.0 keV, and 2-7 keV. A supplementary source catalog is also provided, including 47 lower-significance sources that have bright (Ks < or = 23) near-infrared counterparts. We identify multiwavelength counterparts for 992 (98.4%) of the main-catalog sources, and we collect redshifts for 986 of these sources, including 653 spectroscopic redshifts and 333 photometric redshifts. Based on the X-ray and multiwavelength properties, we identify 711 active galactic nuclei (AGNs) from the main-catalog sources. Compared to the previous approx. 4 Ms CDF-S catalogs, 291 of the main-catalog sources are new detections. We have achieved unprecedented X-ray sensitivity with average flux limits over the central approx. 1 arcmin2 region of 1.9 x 10(exp -17), 6.4 x 10(exp -18), and 2.7 x 10(exp -17) erg/sq cm/s in the three X-ray bands, respectively. We provide cumulative number-count measurements observing, for the first time, that normal galaxies start to dominate the X-ray source population at the faintest 0.5-2.0 keV flux levels. The highest X-ray source density reaches approx. 50,500/sq deg, and 47% +/- 4 of these sources are AGNs (approx. 23,900/sq deg).

cosmology: observations – diffuse radiation – ↗
NASA NTRS2019

Continuous Electrode Inertial Electrostatic Confinement Fusion

The NIAC Phase I project on Inertial Electrostatic Confinement was a continuation of early stage research that was funded by an NSTRF. The student on the project, Andrew Chap, was funded by the NSTRF from Fall 2013 through the Summer of 2017, and then was funded on the NIAC through the completion of his PhD. A significant amount of work targeting the plasma confinement physics was the focus of his NSTRF, and over the course of that effort he developed a number of analyses and computational tools that leveraged GPU parallelization. A detailed discussion of these models can be found in his dissertation, which has been included as Appendix D in this report. As a requirement for the NSTRF, Andrew's full dissertation was submitted at the end of the program.Having developed the computational tools, a substantial amount of simulation and analyses leveraging those tools were conducted during the Fall of 2017, under the auspices of the NIAC funded research. Much of this work targeted optimization of the confinement fields, investigating their structure and the possible advantages of having them be time-varying. The results of these simulations can also be found in Appendix D.One of the main results from this research is that the density of ions electrostatically confined within the system can indeed be increased by several orders of magnitude by optimizing the radial potential distribution, and by dynamically varying these fields to maintain compressed ion bunches. An electron population can also be confined within the core by a static radial cusped magnetic field,which helps to support a greater ion density within the core. The issue with the confinement mechanism is that as the ion densities are increased toward fusion-relevant levels, the electrostatic forces generated by the confined electron population become so great that the ions are no longer energetic enough to leave the device core. As their excursions into the outer channels are diminished, the mechanism that is used to maintain their non-thermal velocity distributions becomes ineffective, and eventually the ions become fully confined within the core, where they thermalize. A possible fix to the problem comes by discarding the active ion control (a main pillar of the concept)but retaining the structure of the permanent magnet confinement of the electron population. Such cusped field confinement has been the focus of other IEC approaches (e.g. Polywell), but the high transparency of the permanent magnet structure lends itself to better ion extraction and power conversion (a second pillar of the concept). The question then becomes whether any influence on the ion evolution within the core can be achieved to slow the thermalization of the ions. Such approaches have been studied in highly idealized analytic models, but face major criticisms within the literature. While this is a possible path forward, the uncertainty in the approach did not warrant committing NIAC Phase II resources to investigating the concept at this time.

Sedwick, Raymond↗
NASA NTRS2011

Coupled Fluids-Radiation Analysis of a High-Mass Mars Vehicle

The NEQAIR line-by-line radiation code has been incorporated into the DPLR Navier-Stokes flow solver such that the NEQAIR subroutines are now callable functions of DPLR. The coupled DPLR-NEQAIR code was applied to compute the convective and radiative heating rates over high-mass Mars entry vehicles. Two vehicle geometries were considered - a 15 m diameter 70-degree sphere cone configuration and a slender, mid-L/D vehicle with a diameter of 5 m called an Ellipsled. The entry masses ranged from 100 to 165 metric tons. Solutions were generated for entry velocities ranging from 6.5 to 9.1 km/s. The coupled fluids-radiation solutions were performed at the peak heating location along trajectories generated by the Traj trajectory analysis code. The impact of fluids-radiation coupling is a function of the level of radiative heating and the freestream density and velocity. For the high-mass Mars vehicles examined in this study, coupling effects were greatest for entry velocities above 8.5 km/s where the surface radiative heating was reduced by up 17%. Generally speaking, the Ellipsled geometry experiences a lower peak radiative heating rate but a higher peak turbulent convective heating rate than the MSL-based vehicle.

Palmer, Grant↗
NASA NTRS2021

Reductions in NO2 Burden Over North Equatorial Africa from Decline in Biomass Burning in Spite of Growing Fossil Fuel Use, 2005 to 2017

Socioeconomic development in low- and middle-income countries has been accompanied by increased emissions of air pollutants, such as nitrogen oxides [NOx: nitrogen dioxide (NO2) + nitric oxide (NO)], which affect human health. In sub-Saharan Africa, fossil fuel combustion has nearly doubled since 2000. At the same time, landscape biomass burning—another important NOx source—has declined in north equatorial Africa, attributed to changes in climate and anthropogenic fire management. Here, we use satellite observations of tropospheric NO2 vertical column densities (VCDs) and burned area to identify NO2 trends and drivers over Africa. Across the northern ecosystems where biomass burning occurs—home to hundreds of millions of people—mean annual tropospheric NO2 VCDs decreased by 4.5% from 2005 through 2017 during the dry season of November through February. Reductions in burned area explained the majority of variation in NO2 VCDs, though changes in fossil fuel emissions also explained some variation. Over Africa’s biomass burning regions, raising mean GDP density (USD·km−2) above its lowest levels is associated with lower NO2 VCDs during the dry season, suggesting that economic development mitigates net NO2 emissions during these highly polluted months. In contrast to the traditional notion that socioeconomic development increases air pollutant concentrations in low- and middle-income nations, our results suggest that countries in Africa’s northern biomass-burning region are following a different pathway during the fire season, resulting in potential air quality benefits. However, these benefits may be lost with increasing fossil fuel use and are absent during the rainy season.

air pollution↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Robust and Mass Efficient Thermal Protection Systems for Future Venus Missions

Several international Venus missions, both orbiter, and in-situ probe are in the works after a prolonged absence. Future missions are expected to be long-duration lander missions and balloon missions to investigate the cloud layer. The entry mass for these in-situ missions will be significantly higher, and the aeroshell will be larger, than previous missions. Two cardinal requirements govern the selection and use of thermal protection systems (TPS), namely, robustness to assure mission safety during entry and mass efficiency so that the useful mass for science is maximized. One cannot trade mission safety for mass when it comes to TPS. The robustness of the TPS is a paramount requirement as it is a single point of system failure. At the same time, TPS mass is carried for the entire mission duration prior to entry, and any excess TPS mass is at the cost of science payload. Future missions will benefit enormously from TPS options with mass and performance benefits far beyond advanced carbon-carbon (ACC) that is currently proposed for the DAVINCI mission. NASA STMD, and SMD jointly invested in the development of 3-D woven thermal protection systems in the last decade, and as a result, the Heat-shield for Extreme Entry Environment Technology (HEEET) TPS has been matured to TRL 6. It is ready for future mission use including Venus. The HEEET project focused on developing a broad technology base, applicable for missions not only to Venus, but also to Saturn, the Ice Giants, and higher speed sample return missions such as Mars Sample Return requiring extreme robustness due to bio-hazards. The dual-layer HEEET (DL-HEEET) is proven to be extremely robust. DL-HEEET performed well in arc jet and laser testing conditions where heritage carbon-phenolic failed. HEEET also proved to be more mass efficient compared to Carbon-Phenolic. Recently, the principal author was invited to present his perspectives to the 2023-2032 Planetary Sciences Decadal Venus subcommittee on the current state of TPS for future Venus missions [1]. In addition to pointing out successful TPS and other developments in the last decade in support of entry systems, the principal author made two findings: 1) importance of and need to sustain TPS capabilities that took nearly a decade to develop and 2) the opportunity to further optimize TPS mass without sacrificing robustness to further enable future in-situ missions. This talk will focus on the above two recommendations and provide the rationale for them. The intent of the talk is to seek advocacy from the VEXAG community for the criticality of TPS sustainment and the benefits of 3D woven TPS optimization. TPS Capability Sustainment: HEEET development was necessitated by the atrophy of heritage carbon-phenolic. Atrophy has impacted other TPS materials as well. Avcoat, the TPS that successfully allowed astronauts to explore the Moon in the 1960s and 70s, took nearly a decade and $10’sM to recover in support of Orion/Artemis. One of the most used TPS materials, SLA 561V, had to be recovered prior to its use on Mars Pathfinder. Phenolic Impregnated Carbon Ablator (PICA), the TPS that replaced SLA 561V on MSL, has undergone multiple replacements and recovery due to constituent rayon changes. Recently, NASA invested in a domestic rayon replacement program and also invested in FMI to consolidate PICA capability for NASA missions, as a result of FMI’s decision to discontinue commercial FiberForm, which is needed for PICA. TPS used for planetary missions are unique and have no other commercial or defense use. In addition, low mission cadence is also a driver for TPS atrophy. Hence, NASA, as the steward, must take steps to ensure and sustain TPS capabilities. In this talk, we outline steps NASA can take to keep abreast of emerging risks and target risk mitigation steps to ensure TPS capability sustainment for Venus and other extreme environment missions. Next Generation of Mass efficient and Robust TPS: NASA invested in an alternate TPS to PICA based on felt-technology called Conformal-PICA which has the potential to save 30% - 50% mass over PICA. The development was discontinued at a Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of ~ 5. 3D Mid-Density Carbon Phenolic (3MDCP) is a single layer variant of HEEET, based on the insulating layer only (SL-HEEET) and currently baselined for the Mars Sample Return Mission Earth Entry System due to its mass efficiency (30% more mass efficient than DL- HEEET). Currently, SL-HEEET is limited to aeroshell diameters of < 1.3m. The SL-HEEET was compared to DL-HEEET in the recent ADVENT flag-ship class mission study in support of the Planetary Science Decadal. SL HEEET was the recommended TPS based on 30% mass savings for both the balloon and lander missions. Given C-PICA and SL-HEEET have superior reliability and mass efficiency, advocacy from VEXAG is sought for completing their further development to TRL 5/6 in this decade so as to enable TPS readiness for future missions.

Thermal Protection Systems↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Responsible AI Framework for Air Traffic Management

Future system will require increased levels of automation to address increased diversity, density, environmental considerations resulting in higher complexity. Will automation be able to manage off-nominal, non-normal, unexpected, contingency situations?

artificial intelligence↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Responsible AI Framework for Air Traffic Management

Future system will require increased levels of automation to address increased diversity, density, environmental considerations resulting in higher complexity. Will automation be able to manage off-nominal, non-normal, unexpected, contingency situations?

artificial intelligence↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Consistent Pixel Resolution Characterization of Deep Convective Clouds for Calibration

The NASA CERES project provides global TOA shortwave and longwave fluxes for climate monitoring and validation that spans over 20 years. CERES utilizes broadband fluxes derived from geostationary (GEO) imagers to estimate broadband fluxes between the CERES observations. In order for these fluxes to be viable, the GEO imager calibration must be stable over time. One such calibration method used by CERES is to evaluate ensemble sets of deep convective clouds (DCC) as invariant targets (IT) over time. DCC targets can also provide radiometric scaling between sensors. An international collaboration through GSICS is also evaluating the DCC-IT calibration methodology to provide consistent calibration coefficients across geostationary sensors. Tropical DCC are the coldest, brightest, and most Lambertian TOA Earth targets identified using a window channel brightness temperature threshold. The DCC-IT technique involves a large ensemble of TOA pixel-level reflectances, which are binned into probability density functions (PDF). The PDF structure dependency on sensor pixel resolution, which can vary greatly among sensors, is not well known. This study will identify the impact of pixel resolution on the DCC PDFs by aggregating VIIRS and Landsat OLI/TIRS pixel resolutions into various coarser pixel resolutions and comparing the shape and statistics of the resulting PDFs. This study should assist in mitigating the pixel resolution dependency in the DCC-IT approach for providing scaling factors between sensors.

Conor Haney↗
DOE OSTI2020

CP-DSSS: An OFDM Compatible Variable Rate Modulation for 5G and Beyond

Cyclic prefix direct sequence spread spectrum (CPDSSS) is a recently proposed waveform that has been designed for coexistence with OFDM (orthogonal frequency division multiplexing) in the same or a pair of parallel networks. The first contribution of this paper is to present equations that reveal similarities and differences of CP-DSSS and OFDM. Furthermore, we show that the channel model of CP-DSSS reduces to that of a cyclic prefixed block-wise single carrier modulation (CP-SCM). However, unlike CP-SCM whose symbol rate is always equal to the transmission bandwidth, CP-DSSS can be adopted to any symbol rate equal to or smaller than the transmission bandwidth. This reduction in symbol rate allows CP-DSSS power spectral density to drop to an arbitrarily low level, hence, facilitates it coexistence as a secondary waveform in a network of primary users. The peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) of CP-DSSS is also explored and a method for reducing it is proposed.

5G↗
DOE OSTI2020

Valley magnetism, nematicity, and density wave orders in twisted bilayer graphene

We analyze density wave and Pomeranchuk orders in twisted bilayer graphene. This complements our earlier analysis of the pairing instabilities. We assume that near half filling of either conduction or valence band, the Fermi level is close to Van Hove points, where the density of states diverges, and study potential instabilities in the particle-hole channel within a patch model with two valley degrees of freedom. The hexagonal symmetry of twisted bilayer graphene allows for either six or twelve Van Hove points. We consider both cases and find the same two leading candidates for particle-hole order. One is an SU(2)-breaking spin state with ferromagnetism within a valley. A subleading intervalley hopping induces antiferromagnetism between the valleys. The same state has also been obtained in strong-coupling approaches, indicating that this order is robust. Here, the other is a mixed state with 120° complex spin order and orthogonal complex charge order. In addition, we find a weaker but still attractive interaction in nematic channels, and discuss the type of a nematic order.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2026

Precise 2D electric field density simulations for superconducting quantum devices

Dielectric loss due to two-level systems is a limiting factor for superconducting qubit relaxation times. These losses arise mostly from nanometer-scale interfacial defect regions in superconducting devices with planar dimensions of microns to millimeters, thus making it resource intensive to accurately simulate the electric field density in these regions with traditional electromagnetic solvers. In this work, we demonstrate a fast boundary integral equation solver that allows precise simulation of electric field density in these thin regions, showing a speedup of around two orders of magnitude over traditional solvers, with relative errors around $10^{-7}$ for a ten-minute solution runtime. By computing participation ratios through Green's first identity without squaring the electric field, our approach is less susceptible to the field singularities near conductor corners. We apply this solver to a basic untrenched coplanar waveguide cross-section, showing that the common assumption of participation ratio linearity with dielectric constant holds well for some interfaces and not others; in particular, while the metal-air (MA) top and corner follow this linear relationship strongly, the MA sidewall does not. We then compare isotropic and anisotropic etching, showing that the MA sidewall and the metal-air-substrate triple junction are the most strongly affected. We are currently leveraging this solver to explore geometries that will uniquely isolate the participation ratios of the different dielectrics. Finally, we are working to combine this solver framework with a full 3D microwave solver to accurately calculate participation ratios for the thin dielectrics that are known sources of loss in superconducting qubits.

Gimbutas, Z. [NIST, Boulder] (ORCID:00000003320982↗
DOE OSTI2024

Accurate field-level weak lensing inference for precision cosmology

We present miko, a catalog-to-cosmology pipeline for general flat-sky field-level inference, which provides access to cosmological information beyond the two-point statistics. In the context of weak lensing, we identify several new field-level analysis systematics (such as aliasing, Fourier mode-coupling, and density-induced shape noise), quantify their impact on cosmological constraints, and correct the biases to a percent level. Next, we find that model misspecification can lead to both absolute bias and incorrect uncertainty quantification for the inferred cosmological parameters in realistic simulations. The Gaussian map prior infers unbiased cosmological parameters, regardless of the true data distribution, but it yields overconfident uncertainties. The log-normal map prior quantifies the uncertainties accurately, although it requires careful calibration of the shift parameters for unbiased cosmological parameters. Here, we demonstrate systematics control down to the 2% level for both models, making them suitable for ongoing weak lensing surveys.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Pseudospin-doublet bands and Gallagher Moszkowski doublet bands in 100 Y

New transitions in neutron-rich 100 Y have been identified in a 9 Be + 238 U experiment with mass and Z gates to provide full fragment identification. These transitions and high spin levels of 100 Y have been investigated by analyzing the high statistics γ–γ–γ and γ–γ–γ–γ coincidence data from the spontaneous fission of 252 Cf at the Gammasphere detector array. Two new bands, 14 new levels, and 23 new transitions have been identified. The K π = 4 + new band decaying to a 1s isomeric state is assigned to be the high-K Gallagher-Moszkowski (GM) partner of the known K π = 1 + band, with the π5/2[522]Ⓧν3/2[411] configuration. This 4 + band is also proposed to be the pseudospin partner of the new K π = 5 + band with a 5 + π5/2[422] Ⓧ ν5/2[413] configuration, to form a π5/2[422] Ⓧ ν[3125/2,3/2] neutron pseudospin doublet. Here, constrained triaxial covariant density-functional theory and quantal particle rotor model calculations have been applied to interpret the band structure and available electromagnetic transition probabilities and are found to be in good agreement with experimental values.

100Y↗
NASA NTRS1994

Excitation of the low lying vibrational levels of H2O by O(3P) as measured on Spacelab 2

The data from the infrared telescope (IRT), which was flown on space shuttle Challenger Spacelab 2 mission (July 1985), were originally reported by Koch et al. (1987) as originating from near orbital emissions, primarily H2O. In this study, analysis of this data was extended to determine the collisional cross sections for the excitation of the low lying vibrational levels of H2O, present in the orbiter cloud, by atmospheric O(3P). The evaluation of the contribution to the measured signal from solar excitation and ram O excitation of outgassing H2O permits the determination of the H2O column density and the excitation cross section of the (101) level at an O(3P) velocity of approximately 7.75 km/s. Contributions to the radiation in the 1.7-3.0 micron band by transitions from the (100), (001), and multiquantum excited levels are discussed. The findings of the study are (1) the IRT data for the 4.5-9.5 micron and the nighttime data for the 1.7-3.0 micron sensors are consistent with being explained by collision excitation of H2O by O(3P), (2) diurnal variations of 4.5-9.5 micron intensities follow the model predicted O density for a full orbit, (3) daytime increases in the H2O cloud density were not evident, (4) the cross sections for the collisional excitation process are derived and compared to values computated by Johnson (1986) and Redmon et al. (1986), (5) theoretical investigation suggests greater than 60% of the radiation from H2O is a result of multiphoton emission resulting from collisional multiquanta excitation, and (6) the large daytime increase in the 1.7-3.0 micron intensity data suggests that O(+) may likely be instrumental in producing excited H2O(+) through charge exchange.

Meyerott, R. E.↗
NASA NTRS2016

Analysis of Terrestrial Interference Protection from UAS CNPC Satellite Transmitters

Unmanned aircraft (UA) are projected to have a major impact on future aviation. Larger UA operating at altitudes above 3000 feet will require at least occasional access to non-segregated, that is, controlled airspace. In order for unmanned aircraft to be integrated into the airspace and operate with other commercial aircraft, a very reliable command and control (a. k. a. control and non-payload communications, (CNPC)) link is required. For operations covering large distances or over remote locations, a beyond-line-of-sight (BLOS) CNPC link implemented through a satellite will almost always be required. Protected aviation spectrum (aeronautical mobile satellite (route) service, or AMS(R)S) would normally be used for such a safety-critical link, however studies have shown that currently available aviation safety satellite spectrum is inadequate to support the projected BLOS CNPC link bandwidth requirements. To address this inadequacy, the 2015 World Radio communication Conference studied the possible use of the Fixed Satellite Service (FSS) to provide CNPC, including possible allocations in Ku-Band and Ka-Band, under Agenda Item (AI) 1.5. Although UA CNPC satellite links in these bands were shown to meet operational availability and continuity requirements, a serious complication exists in that there are also terrestrial service allocations in these bands, in particular, Fixed Service (FS) point-to-point and point-to-multipoint microwave digital links. During the WRC-15 study cycle, much opposition to AI 1.5 was generated based on fears that UA CNPC satellite transmitters in these bands would impose unacceptable levels of interference to the FS receivers. NASA analyzed the possible interference from the UA transmitters based on probable UA transmission and FS receiver characteristics, and UA traffic distributions and densities to determine conditions under which UA could operate without imposing unacceptable interference levels to the FS. Ultimately, UA power flux density transmission limits were proposed as a way to insure protection of FS receivers and further studies were prepared on the various proposals. This paper presents the results of these studies and discusses possible implications on future UA BLOS operations.

aircraft communications↗
DOE OSTI2020

Spatial BCS-BEC crossover in superconducting $\textit{p–n}$ junctions

Here, we present a theory of superconducting $\textit{p–n}$ junctions. To this end, we consider a two band model of doped bulk semiconductors with attractive interactions between the charge carriers and derive the superconducting order parameter, the quasiparticle density of states, and the chemical potential as a function of the semiconductor gap $Δ_0$ and the doping level ε. We verify previous results for the quantum phase diagram for a system with constant density of states in the conduction and valence band, which show BCS-superconductor to Bose-Einstein-condensation (BEC) and BEC-to-insulator transitions as a function of doping level and the size of the band gap. Then, we extend this formalism to a density of states which is more realistic for 3D systems and derive the corresponding quantum phase diagram, where we find that a BEC phase can only exist for small band gaps $Δ_0 < Δ ^{\ast}_0$. For larger band gaps, we find rather a direct transition from an insulator to a BCS phase. Next, we apply this theory to study the properties of superconducting $\textit{p–n}$ junctions. We derive the spatial variation of the superconducting order parameter along the $\textit{p–n}$ junction. As the potential difference across the junction leads to energy band bending, we find a spatial crossover between a BCS and BEC condensate, as the density of charge carriers changes across the $\textit{p–n}$ junction. For the two-dimensional system, we find two possible regimes, when the bulk is in a BCS phase, a BCS-BEC-BCS junction with a single BEC layer in the space charge region, and a BCS-BEC-I-BEC-BCS junction with two layers of BEC condensates separated by an insulating layer. In three dimensions we find that there can also be a conventional BCS-I-BCS junction for semiconductors with band gaps exceeding $Δ^{\ast}_0$. Thus, we find that there can be BEC layers in the well controlled setting of doped semiconductors, where the doping level can be varied to change and control the thickness of BEC and insulator layers, making Bose-Einstein condensates thereby possibly accessible to experimental transport and optical studies in solid-state materials.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
NASA NTRS2003

Fuel Cells for Space Science Applications

Fuel cell technology has been receiving more attention recently as a possible alternative to the internal combustion engine for our automobile. Improvements in fuel cell designs as well as improvements in lightweight high-pressure gas storage tank technology make fuel cell technology worth a look to see if fuel cells can play a more expanded role in space missions. This study looks at the specific weight density and specific volume density of potential fuel cell systems as an alternative to primary and secondary batteries that have traditionally been used for space missions. This preliminary study indicates that fuel cell systems have the potential for energy densities of greater than 500 W-hr/kg, greater than 500W/kg and greater than 400 W-hr/liter, greater than 200 W/liter. This level of performance makes fuel cells attractive as high-power density, high-energy density sources for space science probes, planetary rovers and other payloads. The power requirements for these space missions are, in general, much lower than the power levels where fuel cells have been used in the past. Adaptation of fuel cells for space science missions will require down-sizing the fuel cell stack and making the fuel cell operate without significant amounts of ancillary equipment.

Burke, Kenneth A.↗
NASA NTRS1977

Landsat-D thematic mapper simulation using aircraft multispectral scanner data

A simulation of imagery from the upcoming Landsat-D Thematic Mapper was accomplished by using selected channels of aircraft 24-channel multispectral scanner data. The purpose was to simulate Thematic Mapper 30-meter resolution imagery, to compare its spectral quality with the original aircraft MSS data, and to determine changes in thematic classification accuracy for the simulated imagery. The original resolution of approximately 7.5 meters IFOV and simulated resolution of 15, 30, and 60 meters were used to indicate the trend of spectral quality and classification accuracy. The study was based in a 6.5 square kilometer area of urban Los Angeles having a diversity of land use. The original imagery was reduced in resolution by two related methods: pixel matrix averaging, and matrix smoothing with a unity box filter, followed by matrix averaging. Thematic land use classification using training sites and a Bayesian maximum-likelihood algorithm was performed at three levels of standard deviation - 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0 sigma. Plots of relative standard deviation showed that for larger training sites with a normal distribution of data, as the resolution decreased, the distribution range of density values decreased. Also, the classification accuracies for three levels of standard deviation increased as resolution decreased. However, the indication is that a point of diminishing returns had been reached, and 30 meters IFOV should be the best for multispectral classification of urban scenes.

Clark, J.↗