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At least 1,675 records · Page 93
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1991

Topography estimation with interferometric synthetic aperture radar using fringe detection

Methods are presented for using Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) interferometry data to estimate surface topography. An expression is given to relate the elevation of a ground point to the phase difference of SAR images received from two spatially separated antennas. An iterative algorithm which solves for the position and elevation of each point in the image simultaneously is developed. One of the critical issues that determines the accuracy of the terrain mapping is the phase unwrapping. An approach to the problem by fringe line detection is proposed. The algorithms are tested with two Seasat SAR images of terrain near Yellowstone National Park. The resultant elevation map is compared with a USGS terrain elevation model. The error of the SAR elevation with respect to the digital terrain map is about 8.2 percent of the total terrain variation.

Lin, Qian↗
NASA NTRS1992

Wave attenuation in the marginal ice zone during LIMEX

The effect of ice cover on ocean-wave attenuation is investigated for waves under flexure in the marginal ice zone (MIZ) with SAR image spectra and the results of models. Directional wavenumber spectra are taken from the SAR image data, and the wave-attenuation rate is evaluated with SAR image spectra and by means of the model by Liu and Mollo-Christensen (1988). Eddy viscosity is described by means of dimensional analysis as a function of ice roughness and wave-induced velocity, and comparisons are made with the remotely sensed data. The model corrects the open-water model by introducing the effects of a continuous ice sheet, and turbulent eddy viscosity is shown to depend on ice thickness, floe sizes, significant wave height, and wave period. SAR and wave-buoy data support the trends described in the model results, and a characteristic rollover is noted in the model and experimental wave-attenuation rates at high wavenumbers.

Liu, Antony K.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Imaging radar investigations of the Sudbury structure

This paper reports preliminary results of airborne imaging radar studies of the Sudbury structure carried out in preparation for a CCRS European Remote Sensing Satellite (ERS-1) investigation. The data used were synthetic aperture radar (SAR) C-band (5.66 cm) images acquired from about 6 km altitude in 1987. They cover the Sudbury area in both wide and narrow swath modes, with east-west flight paths and north-south illumination directions. Narrow swath resolution is 6 m in range and azimuth; wide swath resolution is 20 m in range and 10 m in azimuth. The STAR imagery has proven highly effective for field use, providing excellent rendition of topography and topographically expressed structure. Reasons for this include the illumination geometry, notably the look azimuth normal to the long axis of the Sudbury structure and Penokean fold axes, the good spatial resolution, and the short wavelength. Forested areas in the Sudbury area tend to be uniformly rough at C-band wavelength, with backscatter dominated by local incidence angle (i.e., topography). Field work using the SAR imagery has to date been concentrated in the North Range and Superior Province as far north as the Benny greenstone belt. This area was chosen for initial investigation of the original size and shape of the Sudbury structure because the effects of the Penokean Orogeny were minimal there. Field work using SAR indicates that there has been little postimpact deformation of the North Range or adjacent Superior Province rock. There appears to be no evidence for an outer ring concentric with the North Range as indicated by early Landsat imagery. The apparent ring shown by Landsat is visible on the SAR imagery as the intersection of two regional fracture patterns not related to the Sudbury structure. There is no outer ring visible southwest of the structure. This can reasonably be explained by Penokean deformation, but there is no outer ring to the northeast cutting the relatively undeformed Huronian sediments of the Cobalt Embayment.

Lowman, P. D.↗
NASA NTRS1993

The role of ring current nose events in producing stable auroral red arc intensifications during the main phase - Observations during the September 19-24, 1984, equinox transition study

A set of observations describing ionospheric conditions, magnetospheric populations, and 6300-A emission intensities on stable auroral red (SAR) arc field lines during the solar minimum 19-24 Sept. 1984 magnetic storm period prompted a study of solar cycle and magnetic storm phase variations in SAR arc emissions and their magnetospheric energy source. It was found that medium-energy H(+) was significantly enhanced during the main phase compared to the late recovery phase of the 19-20 Sept. 1984 storm. Enhanced heating of the thermal electron plasma caused by this population resulted in more than an order of magnitude greater SAR arc emissions in the main phase compared to the recovery phase. O(+) was found to be the dominant energy source for SAR arcs in the late recovery phases of storms in the 19-24 Sept. period.

Kozyra, J. U.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Preliminary results from the ASF/GPS ice classification algorithm

The European Space Agency Remote Sensing Satellite (ERS-1) satellite carried a C-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) to study the earth's polar regions. The radar returns from sea ice can be used to infer properties of ice, including ice type. An algorithm has been developed for the Alaska SAR facility (ASF)/Geophysical Processor System (GPS) to infer ice type from the SAR observations over sea ice and open water. The algorithm utilizes look-up tables containing expected backscatter values from various ice types. An analysis has been made of two overlapping strips with 14 SAR images. The backscatter values of specific ice regions were sampled to study the backscatter characteristics of the ice in time and space. Results show both stability of the backscatter values in time and a good separation of multiyear and first-year ice signals, verifying the approach used in the classification algorithm.

Cunningham, G.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Implementation and performance of the Magellan digital correlator subsystem

The Magellan synthetic aperture radar (SAR) produces Venus surface images from data collected by the SAR carried on board the Magellan spacecraft. The core of the primary Magellan SAR processor is the digital correlator subsystem (DCS). The pipeline DSC architecture enables the Magellan primary SAR processor (PSP) to achieve real-time data processing capability. The implementation and performance of the DSC are described. Hardware (H/W) constraints that influenced the processing algorithm design are highlighted.

Chen, M.↗
NASA NTRS1990

A VLSI implementation for synthetic aperture radar image processing

A simple physical model for the Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) is presented. This model explains the one dimensional and two dimensional nature of the received SAR signal in the range and azimuth directions. A time domain correlator, its algorithm, and features are explained. The correlator is ideally suited for VLSI implementation. A real time SAR architecture using these correlators is proposed. In the proposed architecture, the received SAR data is processed using one dimensional correlators for determining the range while two dimensional correlators are used to determine the azimuth of a target. The architecture uses only three different types of custom VLSI chips and a small amount of memory.

Premkumar, A.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Sea ice motions in the central arctic ice central arctic pack ice as inferred from AVHRR imagery

Synoptic observations of ice motion in the Arctic Basin are currently limited to those acquired by drifting buoys and, more recently, radar data from ERS-1. Buoys are not uniformly distributed throughout the Arctic, and SAR coverage is limited regionally and temporally due to the data volume, swath width, processing requirements, and power needs of the SAR. Additional ice-motion observations that can map ice responses simultaneously over large portions of the Arctic on daily to weekly time intervals are thus needed to augment the SAR and buoy data and to provide an intermediate-scale measure of ice drift suitable for climatological analyses and ice modeling. Merging the remotely-sensed ice motions with SAR, AVHRR, OLS, and SSM/I imagery permits studies of ice processes over a range of space and time scales. A medium-resolution passive microwave sensor might be ideal for this purpose, but no such satellite will be available in the near future. Combinations of existing data types are thus likely to be our best bet for generating motion fields with a coverage and resolution best suited to climate studies. Principal objectives of this project are to: (1) demonstrate whether sufficient ice features and ice motion existed within the consolidated ice pack to permit motion tracking using AVHRR imagery; (2) determine the limits imposed on AVHRR mapping by cloud cover; and (3) test the applicability of AVHRR-derived motions in studies of ice-atmosphere interactions.

Emery, William↗
NASA NTRS1993

RADARSAT program

Work on the RADARSAT system is progressing towards the currently scheduled launch date of early 1995. The spacecraft bus and the Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) payload are at various stages of development. Requirements for the ground segment have been mostly established. The design of the ground elements such as the mission control facility and the SAR data processor is underway. The SAR applications development work is continuing and the chosen distributor, RADARSAT International Inc. (RSI) is making preparations to market RADARSAT data internationally. A plan for the follow-on to RADARSAT 1 is being finalized to ensure continuity of SAR data under the Radarsat program.

Mcnally, J.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Comparison of edges detected at different polarisations in MAESTRO data

Edge detection would appear to be a crucial tool for analyzing multi-polarized, multi-frequency, and multi-temporal Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images. Edge structure provides a simple means for comparing different polarizations and frequencies, and for detecting changes over time. Due to the fact that edges and segments (homogeneous regions) are dual concepts, edge detection has an important role to play in identifying segments within which mean backscatter measurements for use in image classification can be made. As part of a general investigation into edge detection in SAR imagery, an initial investigation was carried out into the detectability and nature of edges in multi-polarized and multi-frequency SAR images. The contrast ratio (CR) operator was used to detect edges. This operator was previously shown to perform well at detecting edges in single-polarized and single-frequency SAR images.

Caves, Ronald G.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Ice-atmosphere interactions in the central Arctic: Remotely-sensed and simulated ice concentration and motion

The response of the Beaufort Sea ice pack to the passage of strong low pressure systems is studied using SAR (synthetic aperture radar), AVHRR (advanced very high resolution radiometer), and SSM/I (special sensor microwave/imager) data combined with model simulations. The SAR, AVHRR, and modeled concentrations concur generally in showing a 1 to 5 percent decrease in ice fraction during the passage of the lows. SSM/I derived concentrations appear to underestimate overall concentration and overestimate the opening of the pack relative to the other data sets. Ice motion derived from SAR and AVHRR and model simulations using two ice rheologies agree reasonably well in direction and magnitude, although the cavitating fluid approximation tends to overestimate ice motion compared to a viscous plastic rheology. Ice motions from SAR, AVHRR, and buoy observations can be merged to yield uniform grids particularly well suited to synoptic scale studies and model validation.

Maslanik, J. A.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Synthetic aperture radar observations of the Greenland ice sheet

Results of preliminary analyses of aircraft polarimetric SAR data acquired over the Greenland Ice Sheet are presented. Data were collected in August 1989 by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) multifrequency, polarimetric SAR using the NASA DC-8 aircraft over southern Greenland. Data of this kind are the first to be acquired over an ice sheet. They are complementary to the limited coverage provided by the SEASAT satellite SAR in 1978, and more recent aircraft X-band SAR image coverage. Frequency and polarization dependencies observed in the P-, L-, and C-band image products are attributed to large-scale variations in the snow and ice surface characteristics. At this time of year, during the ablation season, ice topography exerts a strong influence upon drainage and other hydrological features on the ice sheet surface. Systematic trends in backscatter strength observed across regions of changing snow facies are suggestive of a capability to map areas of snow wetness. Trends observed at C-band indicate that algorithms could possibly be developed which have the ability to delineate areas of significant melt.

Jezek, K.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Interferometric synthetic aperture radar imagery of the Gulf Stream

The advent of interferometric synthetic aperture radar (INSAR) imagery brought to the ocean remote sensing field techniques used in radio astronomy. Whilst details of the interferometry differ between the two fields, the basic idea is the same: Use the phase information arising from positional differences of the radar receivers and/or transmitters to probe remote structures. The interferometric image is formed from two complex synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images. These two images are of the same area but separated in time. Typically the time between these images is very short -- approximately 50 msec for the L-band AIRSAR (Airborne SAR). During this short period the radar scatterers on the ocean surface do not have time to significantly decorrelate. Hence the two SAR images will have the same amplitude, since both obtain the radar backscatter from essentially the same object. Although the ocean surface structure does not significantly decorrelate in 50 msec, surface features do have time to move. It is precisely the translation of scattering features across the ocean surface which gives rise to phase differences between the two SAR images. This phase difference is directly proportional to the range velocity of surface scatterers. The constant of proportionality is dependent upon the interferometric mode of operation.

Ainsworth, T. L.↗
NASA NTRS1994

The evolution of convective storms from their footprints on the sea as viewed by synthetic aperture radar from space

SEASAT synthetic aperture radar (SAR) echoes from the sea have previously been shown to be the result of rain and winds produced by convective stroms; rain damps the surface waves and causes ech-free holes, while the diverging winds associated with downdraft generate waves and associated echoes surrounding the holes. Gust fronts are also evident. Such a snapshot from 8 July 1978 has been examined in conjunction with ground-based radar. This leads to the conclusion that the SAR storm footprints resulted from storm processes that occurred up to an hour or more prior to the snapshot. A sequence of events is discerned from the SAR imagery in which new cell growth is triggered in between the converging outflows of two preexisting cells. In turn, the new cell generates a mini-squall line along its expanding gust front. While such phenomena are well known over land, the spaceborne SAR now allows important inferences to be made about the nature and frequency of convective storms over the oceans. The storm effects on the sea have significant implications for spaceborne wind scatterometry and rainfall measurements. Some of the findings herein remain speculative because of the great distance to the Miami weather radar-the only source of corroborative data.

Atlas, David↗
NASA NTRS2000

Global Boreal Forest Mapping with JERS-1: North America

Collaborative effort is underway to map boreal forests worldwide using L-band, single polarization Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imagery from the Japanese Earth Resources (JERS-1) satellite. Final products of the North American Boreal Forest Mapping Project will include two continental scale radar mosaics and supplementary multitemporal mosaics for Alaska, central Canada, and eastern Canada. For selected sites, we are also producing local scale (100 km x 100 km) and regional scale maps (1000 km x 1000 km). As with the nearly completed Amazon component of the Global Rain Forest Mapping project, SAR imagery, radar image mosaics and SAR-derived texture image products will be available to the scientific community on the World Wide Web. Image acquisition for this project has been completed and processing and image interpretation is underway at the Alaska SAR Facility.

Williams, Cynthia L.↗
NASA NTRS1997

Active Microwave Remote Sensing Observations of Weddell Sea Ice

Since July 1991, the European Space Agency's ERS-1 and ERS-2 satellites have acquired radar data of the Weddell Sea, Antarctica. The Active Microwave Instrument on board ERS has two modes; SAR and Scatterometer. Two receiving stations enable direct downlink and recording of high bit-rate, high resolution SAR image data of this region. When not in an imaging mode, when direct SAR downlink is not possible, or when a receiving station is inoperable, the latter mode allows normalized radar cross-section data to be acquired. These low bit-rate ERS scatterometer data are tape recorded, downlinked and processed off-line. Recent advances in image generation from Scatterometer backscatter measurements enable complementary medium-scale resolution images to be made during periods when SAR images cannot be acquired. Together, these combined C-band microwave image data have for the first time enabled uninterrupted night and day coverage of the Weddell Sea region at both high (25 m) and medium-scale (-20 km) resolutions. C-band ERS-1 radar data are analyzed in conjunction with field data from two simultaneous field experiments in 1992. Satellite radar signature data are compared with shipborne radar data to extract a regional and seasonal signature database for recognition of ice types in the images. Performance of automated sea-ice tracking algorithms is tested on Antarctic data to evaluate their success. Examples demonstrate that both winter and summer ice can be effectively tracked. The kinematics of the main ice zones within the Weddell Sea are illustrated, together with the complementary time-dependencies in their radar signatures. Time-series of satellite images are used to illustrate the development of the Weddell Sea ice cover from its austral summer minimum (February) to its winter maximum (September). The combination of time-dependent microwave signatures and ice dynamics tracking enable various drift regimes to be defined which relate closely to the circulation of the sea ice in response to current and wind forcing and iceberg barriers. These are closely related to continental-shelf or central basin regimes, in which tidal forcing or barotropic circulation patterns appear to influence the sea-ice motion, respectively. These regimes provide valuable information about the regions of most prolific ice growth and influence of ice conditions upon air-sea-ice exchange processes in the Weddell Sea.

Drinkwater, Mark R.↗
NASA NTRS2001

A Geosynchronous Synthetic Aperture Provides for Disaster Management, Measurement of Soil Moisture, and Measurement of Earth-Surface Dynamics

A GEO-based Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) could provide daily coverage of basically all of North and South America with very good temporal coverage within the mapped area. This affords a key capability to disaster management, tectonic mapping and modeling, and vegetation mapping. The fine temporal sampling makes this system particularly useful for disaster management of flooding, hurricanes, and earthquakes. By using a fairly long wavelength, changing water boundaries caused by storms or flooding could be monitored in near real-time. This coverage would also provide revolutionary capabilities in the field of radar interferometry, including the capability to study the interferometric signature immediately before and after an earthquake, thus allowing unprecedented studies of Earth-surface dynamics. Preeruptive volcano dynamics could be studied as well as pre-seismic deformation, one of the most controversial and elusive aspects of earthquakes. Interferometric correlation would similarly allow near real-time mapping of surface changes caused by volcanic eruptions, mud slides, or fires. Finally, a GEO SAR provides an optimum configuration for soil moisture measurement that requires a high temporal sampling rate (1-2 days) with a moderate spatial resolution (1 km or better). From a technological point of view, the largest challenges involved in developing a geosynchronous SAR capability relate to the very large slant range distance from the radar to the mapped area. This leads to requirements for large power or alternatively very large antenna, the ability to steer the mapping area to the left and right of the satellite, and control of the elevation and azimuth angles. The weight of this system is estimated to be 2750 kg and it would require 20 kW of DC-power. Such a system would provide up to a 600 km ground swath in a strip-mapping mode and 4000 km dual-sided mapping in a scan-SAR mode.

Madsen, Soren↗