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12 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1976

The use of remote sensing imagery for environmental land use and flood hazard mapping

Flood hazard maps have been constructed for Graham, Yuma, and Yavapai Counties in Arizona using remote sensing techniques. Watershed maps of priority areas were selected on the basis of their interest to the county planning staff and represented areas of imminent or ongoing development and those known to be subject to inundation by storm runoff. Landsat color infrared imagery at scales of 1:1,000,000, 1:500,000, and 1:250,000 was used together with high-altitude aerial photography at scales of 1:120,000 and 1:60,000 to determine drainage patterns and erosional features, soil type, and the extent and type of ground cover. The satellite imagery was used in the form of 70 mm chips for enhancement in a color additive viewer and in all available enlargement modes. Field checking served as the main backup to the interpretations. Areas with high susceptibility to flooding were determined with a high level of confidence from the remotely sensed imagery.

Mouat, D. A.↗
NASA NTRS1974

ERTS-1 flood hazard studies in the Mississippi River Basin

The Spring 1973 Mississippi River flood was investigated using remotely sensed data from ERTS-1. Both manual and automatic analyses of the data indicate that ERTS-1 is extremely useful as a regional tool for flood and floodplain management. The maximum error of such flood area measurements is conservatively estimated to be less than five percent. Change detection analysis indicates that the flood had major impacts on soil moisture, land pattern stability, and vegetation stress. Flood hazard identification was conducted using photointerpretation techniques in three study areas along the Mississippi River using pre-flood ERTS-1 imagery down to 1:100,000 scale. Flood prone area boundaries obtained from ERTS-1 were generally in agreement with flood hazard maps produced by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Geological Survey although the latter are somewhat more detailed because of their larger scale. Initial results indicate that ERTS-1 digital mapping of the flood-prone areas can be performed at least 1:62,500 which is comparable to conventional flood hazard map scales.

Rango, A.↗
NASA NTRS1974

Flood hazards studies in the Mississippi River basin using remote sensing

The Spring 1973 Mississippi River flood was investigated using remotely sensed data from ERTS-1. Both manual and automatic analyses of the data indicated that ERTS-1 is extremely useful as a regional tool for flood mamagement. Quantitative estimates of area flooded were made in St. Charles County, Missouri and Arkansas. Flood hazard mapping was conducted in three study areas along the Mississippi River using pre-flood ERTS-1 imagery enlarged to 1:250,000 and 1:100,000 scale. Initial results indicate that ERTS-1 digital mapping of flood prone areas can be performed at 1:62,500 which is comparable to some conventional flood hazard map scales.

Rango, A.↗
NASA NTRS1975

Stream network analysis and geomorphic flood plain mapping from orbital and suborbital remote sensing imagery application to flood hazard studies in central Texas

The author has identified the following significant results. Development of a quantitative hydrogeomorphic approach to flood hazard evaluation was hindered by (1) problems of resolution and definition of the morphometric parameters which have hydrologic significance, and (2) mechanical difficulties in creating the necessary volume of data for meaningful analysis. Measures of network resolution such as drainage density and basin Shreve magnitude indicated that large scale topographic maps offered greater resolution than small scale suborbital imagery and orbital imagery. The disparity in network resolution capabilities between orbital and suborbital imagery formats depends on factors such as rock type, vegetation, and land use. The problem of morphometric data analysis was approached by developing a computer-assisted method for network analysis. The system allows rapid identification of network properties which can then be related to measures of flood response.

Baker, V. R.↗
NASA NTRS1975

Flood hazard studies in Central Texas using orbital and suborbital remote sensing machinery

Central Texas is subject to infrequent, unusually intense rainstorms which cause extremely rapid runoff from drainage basins developed on the deeply dissected limestone and marl bedrock of the Edwards Plateau. One approach to flood hazard evaluation in this area is a parametric model relating flood hydrograph characteristics to quantitative geomorphic properties of the drainage basins. The preliminary model uses multiple regression techniques to predict potential peak flood discharge from basin magnitude, drainage density, and ruggedness number. After mapping small catchment networks from remote sensing imagery, input data for the model are generated by network digitization and analysis by a computer assisted routine of watershed analysis. The study evaluated the network resolution capabilities of the following data formats: (1) large-scale (1:24,000) topographic maps, employing Strahler's "method of v's," (2) standard low altitude black and white aerial photography (1:13,000 and 1:20,000 scales), (3) NASA - generated aerial infrared photography at scales ranging from 1:48,000 to 1:123,000, and (4) Skylab Earth Resources Experiment Package S-190A and S-190B sensors (1:750,000 and 1:500,000 respectively).

Baker, V. R.↗
NASA NTRS1975

Water resources, summary

The application of remote sensing products to the development and understanding of water resources problems is considered. Geology and hydrogeology, analysis of watersheds, snow and ice, prediction of runoff from snowmelt, hydrologic land use classifications, soil moisture, evapotranspiration, flood hazards, and water quality surveys are among the topics discussed. Suggestions for further use of remotely sensed data are given along with increased user requirements.

Simons, D. B.↗
NASA NTRS1978

Land Use Planning

Computer technology, aerial photography and space imagery are being combined in a NASA community services program designed to help solve land use and natural resource planning problems. As urban areas grow, so grows the need for comprehensive, up-to-date information on which to base intelligent decisions regarding land use. State and local planners need information such as the nature of urban change, where the changes are occurring, how they affect public safety, transportation, the economy, tax assessment, sewer systems, water quality, flood hazard, noise impact and a great variety of other considerations. Most importantly they need continually updated maps. Preparing timely maps, gathering the essential data and maintaining it in orderly fashion are becoming matters of increasing difficulty. The NASA project, which has nationwide potential for improving efficiency in the planning process, is a pilot program focused on Tacoma, Washington and surrounding Pierce County. Its key element, developed by Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), is a computerized Land Use Management Information System (LUMIS).

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1974

The first earth resources technology satellite nearly two years of operation

A brief status report on the performance of the ERTS-1, and an overview of the applications derived from the images are presented. The ERTS-1 spacecraft, sensor and picture processing systems have continued to perform almost flawlessly since August 1972. Registered, multispectral images of all major land masses of the earth, both polar and some oceanic regions are continuously made, covering daily an area of about 5 million square kilometers. The systematic repetition of these observations, which were made over most parts of the world at least once every season, and the high accuracy of thematic mapping that can be obtained from the images, have resulted in many applications that have immense potential benefits for developing countries. Among these applications are the detection and accurate mensuration of surface water; the identification and mensuration of forests, rangeland, crops and soils; the monitoring and mapping of water quality, wildlife habitats and of the effects of land use practices on food and water resources; the assessment of flooding and earthquake hazards; and the facilitation of mineral exploration.

Nordberg, W.↗
NASA NTRS1975

Surveys of the earth's resources and environment by satellites

The potential and promise of observing the earth from the vantage point of space is discussed. The systematic surveying of processes and phenomena occurring on the surface of the earth by Landsat 1 and Nimbus 5 is considered to be useful in the following areas: assessment of water resources; mineral and petroleum exploration; land use planning; crop, forest, and rangeland inventory; assessment of flood, earthquake, and other environmental hazards; monitoring coastal processes; environmental effects of industrial effluents and of air pollution; mapping the distribution and types of ice covering the earth's polar caps and global soil moisture distributions.

Nordberg, W.↗
NASA NTRS2010

High-Precision Shape Control of In-Space Deployable Large Membrane/Thin-Shell Reflectors

This innovation has been developed to improve the resolutions of future spacebased active and passive microwave antennas for earth-science remote sensing missions by maintaining surface figure precisions of large membrane/thin-shell reflectors during orbiting. The intention is for these sensing instruments to be deployable at orbit altitudes one or two orders of magnitude higher than Low Earth Orbit (LEO), but still being able to acquire measurements at spatial resolution and sensitivity similar to those of LEO. Because active and passive microwave remote sensors are able to penetrate through clouds to acquire vertical profile measurements of geophysical parameters, it is desirable to elevate them to the higher orbits to obtain orbital geometries that offer large spatial coverage and more frequent observations. This capability is essential for monitoring and for detailed understanding of the life cycles of natural hazards, such as hurricanes, tropical storms, flash floods, and tsunamis. Major components of this high-precision antenna-surface-control system include a membrane/thin shell reflector, a metrology sensor, a controller, actuators, and corresponding power amplifier and signal conditioning electronics (see figure). Actuators are attached to the back of the reflector to produce contraction/ expansion forces to adjust the shape of the thin-material reflector. The wavefront-sensing metrology system continuously measures the surface figure of the reflector, converts the surface figure to digital data and feeds the data to the controller. The controller determines the control parameters and generates commands to the actuator system. The flexible, piezoelectric polymer actuators are thus activated, providing the control forces needed to correct any distortions that exist in the reflector surface. Piezoelectric polymer actuators are very thin and flexible. They can be implemented on the back of the membrane/thin-shell reflector without introducing significant amounts of mass or stiffness to the reflector. They can be rolled up or folded to accommodate the packaging needed for launch. An analytical model of the system, which includes the membrane reflector, actuator, and controller has been developed to investigate the functionality of this control system on a 35-meter-diameter membrane reflector. The performance of this system under external disturbances such as in space thermal loads and W-error due to inflation has been investigated. A subscale breadboard has been developed, and the functionality of this control concept has been demonstrated by this breadboard.

Houfei Fang↗