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At least 127 records · Page 7

NASA IKONOS Radiometric Characterization

NASA acquired imagery from the IKONOS satellite as part of its Scientific Data Purchase (SDP) program, which purchases scientific data sets from commercial sources. This viewgraph presentation describes the IKONOS satellite and its sensors, and then gives an overview of characterization efforts undertaken by NASA in cooperation with other government agencies. The characterization included relative radiometric correction, absolute radiometric characterization of data from Lunar Lake Playa, Nevada, and calibration of data from Stennis Space Center, Mississippi.

Pagnutti, Mary↗

Measurement of suspended solids in lakes and oceans using satellite remote sensing data

Using satellite remote sensing data to measure low concentrations of suspended solids in lakes and oceans requires careful evaluation of background signals from the atmosphere and the water surface. Typical background corrections for Lake Superior are presented and the spectral distribution of the residual radiance from three major categories of turbidity in the lake are determined. The results indicate that for large bodies of water, some general information on atmospheric scattering, water clarity, and the optical properties of suspended solids allows estimates of concentrations of suspended solids to within + or - 0.5 mg/L without using real time ground truth data. Under calibrated conditions the threshold detection level is 0.3 mg/L for the fine particulates dispersed throughout the lake and 1 mg/L for the highly light absorbing effluent from rivers. Comparisons of the minimum reflectance over the open lake areas with reflection from the highly absorbing tannin water from rivers provides a check on the clarity of the atmosphere and the excessive background scatter from the water surface.

Sydor, M.↗

Application of LANDSAT system for improving methodology for inventory and classification of wetlands

The author has identified the following significant results. Processing of LANDSAT MSS data for detection of prairie ponds and lakes was completed. Data coverage included a 36,876 sq km area in southeastern North Dakota during May and July. Cloud coverage limited the May coverage to 87% of the total area. Data analysis was accomplished using three software programs. Wetland identification by MSS sensors were compared to visual counts obtained by observers in low flying aircraft. Pond numbers identified by LANDSAT averaged about 20% of those counted visually. The discrepancy was attributed to the fact that approximately 75% of the ponds in the glaciated prairie region are less than 0.4 ha in size. It is significant, however, that LANDSAT counts accurately reflect trends.

Gilmer, D. S.↗

Evaluation of Global Surface Water Temperature Data Sets for use in Passive Remote Sensing of Soil Moisture

Inland open water bodies often pose a systematic error source in the passive remote sensing retrievals of soil moisture. Water temperature is a necessary variable used to compute water emissions that is required to be subtracted from satellite observation to yield actual emissions from the land portion, which in turn generates accurate soil moisture retrievals. Therefore, overestimation of soil moisture can often be corrected using concurrent water temperature data in the overall mitigation procedure. In recent years, several data sets of lake water temperature have become available, but their specifications and accuracy have rarely been investigated in the context of passive soil moisture remote sensing on a global scale. For this reason, three lake temperature products were evaluated against in-situ measurements from 2007 to 2011. The data sets include the lake surface water temperature (LSWT) from Global Observatory of Lake Responses to Environmental Change (GloboLakes), the Copernicus Global Land Operations Cryosphere and Water (C-GLOPS), as well as the lake mix-layer temperature (LMLT) from the European Centers for Medium-Range Weather Forecast (ECMWF) ERA5 Land Reanalysis. GloboLakes, C-GLOPS, and ERA5 Land have overall comparable performance with Pearson correlations (R) of 0.87, 0.92 and 0.88 in comparison with in-situ measurements. LSWT products exhibit negative median biases of −0.27 K (GloboLakes) and −0.31 K (C-GLOPS), whereas the median bias of LMLT is 1.56 K. When mapped from their respective native resolutions to a common 9 km Equal-Area Scalable Earth (EASE) Grid 2.0 projection, similar relative performance was observed. LMLT and LSWT data are closer in performance over the 9 km grid cells that exhibit a small range of lake cover fractions (0.05–0.5). Despite comparable relative performance, ERA5 Land shows great advantages in spatial coverage and temporal resolution. In summary, an integrated evaluation on data accuracy, long-term availability, global coverage, temporal resolution, and regular forward processing with modest data latency led us to conclude that LMLT from the ERA5 Land Reanalysis product represents the most optimal path for use in the development of a long-term soil moisture product.

Runze Zhang↗

Data use investigations for applications Explorer Mission A (Heat Capacity Mapping Mission): HCMM's role in studies of the urban heat island, Great Lakes thermal phenomena and radiometric calibration of satellite data

The utility of data from NASA'a heat capacity mapping mission satellite for studies of the urban heat island, thermal phenomena in large lakes and radiometric calibration of satellite sensors was assessed. The data were found to be of significant value in all cases. Using HCMM data, the existence and microstructure of the heat island can be observed and associated with land cover within the urban complex. The formation and development of the thermal bar in the Great Lakes can be observed and quantitatively mapped using HCMM data. In addition, the thermal patterns observed can be associated with water quality variations observed both from other remote sensing platforms and in situ. The imaging radiometer on-board the HCMM satellite is shown to be calibratible to within about 1.1 C of actual surface temperatures. These findings, as well as the analytical procedures used in studying the HCMM data, are included.

Schott, J. R.↗

Analysis and Application of Airborne Thermal Data at the Local Level Salt Lake City, Utah

Expanding cities are transforming periurban environments such as agricultural land, natural grasslands, forests, wetlands, and and land, into urban surfaces, such as asphalt and concrete. This transformation is part of a process defined as "urban heat island". The urban surfaces get much hotter during the daylight hours in the summer than the natural or vegetated environment. The heat builds up creating a dome effect over the city making it many degrees hotter than it's surrounding area. The impacts from this, which include higher usage of air conditioners, water, etc., are numerous and costly. As cities expand, this problem is exacerbated. It is necessary to incorporate better quality data into urban analysis and for establishing methods that systematically and objectively monitor growth and change due to increased urbanization. NASA initiated Project Atlanta in 1997 "as an interdisciplinary remote sensing study to observe and measure the growth and development of the urban heat island effect over Atlanta, and its associated impacts". This project has recently included Salt Lake City, among others, in the study of the development and effects of "urban heat islands". NASA has made available to Salt Lake City, high resolution, 10 meter, multispectral thermal data collected in June 1998. The data collection was part of a special NASA over-flight, a mission supported by the U.S. EPA in conjunction with their Urban Heat Island (UHI) Mitigation Initiative. Salt Lake City is one of three pilot cities selected to participate in this unique initiative. Hence, this project constitutes a rare opportunity to capitalize upon state-of-the-art NASA technology and link it to an urban community very concerned about rapid growth and development. This data will enhance existing data and be used for improving technical tools used to plan for Utah's future.

Dudley-Murphy, Elizabeth A.↗

ERTS-B applications to Minnesota resource management

The author has identified the following significant results. The shape, pattern, and extent of surface water (e.g. lakes) can be readily mapped. Comparing detailed maps of several lakes in Itasca County with the areas classified as water by the LANDSAT data shows that some lakes have changed considerably since they were mapped. Due to several droughts this year (1976), the water level in most lakes has dropped. At this time, it seems feasible that LANDSAT digital tape data estimate lake water level change, due to the 1976 drought conditions.

Sizer, J. E.↗

An Initial Analysis of LANDSAT-4 Thematic Mapper Data for the Discrimination of Agricultural, Forested Wetlands, and Urban Land Cover

The capabilities of TM data for discriminating land covers within three particular cultural and ecological realms was assessed. The agricultural investigation in Poinsett County, Arkansas illustrates that TM data can successfully be used to discriminate a variety of crop cover types within the study area. The single-date TM classification produced results that were significantly better than those developed from multitemporal MSS data. For the Reelfoot Lake area of Tennessee TM data, processed using unsupervised signature development techniques, produced a detailed classification of forested wetlands with excellent accuracy. Even in a small city of approximately 15,000 people (Union City, Tennessee). TM data can successfully be used to spectrally distinguish specific urban classes. Furthermore, the principal components analysis evaluation of the data shows that through photointerpretation, it is possible to distinguish individual buildings and roof responses with the TM.

Quattrochi, D. A.↗

Microwave radar and radiometric remote sensing measurements of lake ice

Simultaneous microwave radar and spectral radiometric data were collected over Lake Erie during March 1978. A theoretical development is presented which interprets the data collected at nadir in terms of changes in the ice thickness and the electromagnetic attenuation coefficient. The theory also addresses the failure of the spectral radiometer to determine ice thickness through observations of quarter wavelength excursions in the reflectivity. Radar data collected off-nadir showed a substantially different behavior compared to that collected near nadir. This difference is attributed to a change in propagation characteristics from quasi-specular return from the ice-water interface to scattering from the rough air-ice interface.

Swift, C. T.↗

An evaluation of ERTS data for oceanographic uses through Great Lakes studies

The author has identified the following significant results. Prevailing wind direction on Lake Michigan is southwesterly, although during winter northwesterly stresses are common. Along the western shore the current favors a northward direction. ERTS-1 observations indicate that the southward-flowing current along the Michigan shoreline of the thumb is only reversed by southerly resultant wind stress. Along the Canadian shoreline, a northward current was observed north of Kettle Point. ERTS-1 data also reveal that a preferred southward-flowing current is found along the Detroit shoreline of Lake St. Clair. Eastward flow of surface water from the shallow western basin of Lake Erie into the middle basin is most obvious during northwesterly and northerly wind stresses. The reverse wind direction especially east and southeasterly, appear to hold the effluents from the Detroit and Maumee Rivers in the western basin. Across-lake winds from the north and south induce eddy-like circulation in surface waters of Lake Ontario. Counterclockwise alongshore flow persists in the western basin under most wind conditions.

Strong, A. E.↗

Oxygen budget of a perennially ice-covered Antarctic lake

A bulk O2 budget for Lake Hoare, Antarctica, is presented. Five years of seasonal data show the lake to be persistently supersaturated with O2. Oxygen is carried into the lake in glacial meltstreams and is left behind when this water is removed as ice by ablation and sublimation. A diffusive loss of O2 from the lake through the summer moat is suggested. Measured values of the total O2 in the water column indicate that the time scale of O2 turnover is much longer than a year. Based on these results, it is suggested that the amount of O2 in the water does not change significantly throughout the year and that the lake is also supersaturated with N2.

Wharton, R. A., Jr.↗

Utilization of ERTS-1 data to monitor and classify eutrophication of inland lakes

The author has identified the following significant results. Significant findings are: (1) one acre lakes and one acre islands are detectable; (2) circular lakes of 7.5 acres and greater reach full density; (3) long channels 100 ft wide are detectable; (4) orientation of lakes is independent of scan direction; (5) lake features are observable in enlargements of CCT imagery produced in the Bendix Earth Resources Data Center; and (6) a decision surface water outline map is presented that was produced from ERTS-1 CCT. A water color literature review, baseline water quality data of the test lakes, and a discussion of geometric corrections of the CCT decision water surface outline map are also presented.

Chase, P. E.↗

Application of digital image processing techniques and information systems to water quality monitoring of Lake Tahoe

The Tahoe basin occupies over 500 square miles of territory located in a graben straddling the boundary between California and Nevada. Lake Tahoe contains 126 million acre-feet of water. Since the 1950's the basin has experienced an ever increasing demand for land development at the expense of the natural watershed. Discharge of sediment to the lake has greatly increased owing to accelerated human interference, and alterations to the natural drainage patterns are evident in some areas. In connection with an investigation of the utility of a comprehensive system that takes into account the causes as well as the effects of lake eutrophication, it has been attempted to construct an integrated and workable data base, comprised of currently available data sources for the Lake Tahoe region. Attention is given to the image based information system (IBIS), the construction of the Lake Tahoe basin data base, and the application of the IBIS concept to the Lake Tahoe basin.

Smith, A. Y.↗

Scattering behavior of Lunar Lake playa determined from parabola bidirectional reflectance data

Bidirectional reflectance data obtained with the Portable Apparatus for Rapid Acquisition of Bidirectional Observations of Land and Atmosphere instrument at Lunar Lake, Nevada, were analyzed to determine the scattering properties of playas. The data are approximated by a Lambertian function, except at high phase angles in the solar principal plane, where Fresnel reflectance appears to dominate. The data also depart slightly (15 percent) from a Lambertian function at high emission angles in all azimuthal planes. No published photometric model accounts for the observed data. It is hypothesized that the observed scattering behavior is the superposition of volume and surface (Fresnel) scattering mechanisms.

Shepard, Michael K.↗

Evaluation of NCAR Icing/SLD Forecasts, Tools and Techniques Used During The 1998 NASA SLD Flight Season

Supercooled Large Droplet (SLD) icing conditions were implicated in at least one recent aircraft crash, and have been associated with other aircraft incidents. Inflight encounters with SLD can result in ice accreting on unprotected areas of the wing where it can not be removed. Because this ice can adversely affect flight characteristics of some aircraft, there has been concern about flight safety in these conditions. The FAA held a conference on in-flight icing in 1996 where the state of knowledge concerning SLD was explored. One outcome of these meetings was an identified need to acquire SLD flight research data, particularly in the Great Lakes Region. The flight research data was needed by the FAA to develop a better understanding of the meteorological characteristics associated with SLD and facilitate an assessment of existing aircraft icing certification regulations with respect to SLD. In response to this need, NASA, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) conducted a cooperative icing flight research program to acquire SLD flight research data. The NASA Glenn Research Center's Twin Otter icing research aircraft was flown throughout the Great Lakes region during the winters of 1996-97 and 1997-98 to acquire SLD icing and meteorological data. The NASA Twin Otter was instrumented to measure cloud microphysical properties (particle size, LWC (Liquid Water Content), temperature, etc.), capture images of wing and tail ice accretion, and then record the resultant effect on aircraft performance due to the ice accretion. A satellite telephone link enabled the researchers onboard the Twin Otter to communicate with NCAR meteorologists. who provided real-time guidance into SLD icing conditions. NCAR meteorologists also provided preflight SLD weather forecasts that were used to plan the research flights, and served as on-board researchers. This document contains an evaluation of the tools and techniques NCAR forecasters used to predict the location of SLD icing conditions during the winter of 1997-1998. The objectives of this report are to: (1) assess the tools used to forecast in-flight icing. (2) assess the success/failure rate of the forecasts, and (3) discuss suggested changes to forecast techniques.

Bernstein, Ben C.↗