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At least 253 records · Page 14

Compositional and textural information from the dual inversion of visible, near and thermal infrared remotely sensed data

A technique is presented that allows extraction of compositional and textural information from visible, near and thermal infrared remotely sensed data. Using a library of both emissivity and reflectance spectra, endmember abundances and endmember thermal inertias are extracted from AVIRIS (Airborne Visible and Infrared Imaging Spectrometer) and TIMS (Thermal Infrared Mapping Spectrometer) data over Lunar Crater Volcanic Field, Nevada, using a dual inversion. The inversion technique is motivated by upcoming Mars Observer data and the need for separation of composition and texture parameters from sub pixel mixtures of bedrock and dust. The model employed offers the opportunity to extract compositional and textural information for a variety of endmembers within a given pixel. Geologic inferences concerning grain size, abundance, and source of endmembers can be made directly from the inverted data. These parameters are of direct relevance to Mars exploration, both for Mars Observer and for follow-on missions.

Brackett, Robert A.↗

Thermal-infrared emission spectroscopy of natural surfaces: Application to coated surfaces

Thermal-infrared vibrational spectroscopy has great potential for remotely determining the composition of planetary surface materials by taking advantage of fundamental molecular vibrational modes that produce spectral features in the range from approximately 3 to greater than 50 microns. Much of the current interest in the thermal infrared wavelength region stems from the deployment of multispectral scanners, such as the Thermal Infrared Multispectral Scanner (TIMS) and the Mars Observer Thermal Emission Spectrometer (TES). In order to support these missions, it is necessary to develop an appropriate library of laboratory measurements. The purpose of this work was to develop a technique which, with a very limited set of assumptions, can be used to determine the emissivity of natural surfaces directly by using emitted energy.

Christensen, Philip R.↗

Ground truth spectrometry and imagery of eruption clouds to maximize utility of satellite imagery

Field experiments with thermal imaging infrared radiometers were performed and a laboratory system was designed for controlled study of simulated ash clouds. Using AVHRR (Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer) thermal infrared bands 4 and 5, a radiative transfer method was developed to retrieve particle sizes, optical depth and particle mass involcanic clouds. A model was developed for measuring the same parameters using TIMS (Thermal Infrared Multispectral Scanner), MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer), and ASTER (Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer). Related publications are attached.

Rose, William I.↗

Sensitivity of blackbody reference panels to wind blast

As part of the effort at Stennis and JPL to discover the root causes of Thermal Infrared Multispectral Scanner's (TIMS') temperature calibration errors, a series of experiments were performed to measure the sensitivity of a heated plate to cooling by wind blast. A powerful blower which was capable of generating a jet of wind in excess of 200 miles per hour was set up. In the jet, an electrically heated copper plate, one quarter of an inch thick and six inches square, was mounted. The electrical heaters were capable of delivering a total power of 800 watts. The power to the heaters was feedback controlled with reference to a thermistor mounted on the back of the copper plate. The plate was mounted about 2.5 feet from the blower nozzle, at about 45 deg to the direction of the jet. The jet was wide enough to wash the whole surface and its temperature at the plate was about 28 C.

Hoover, Gordon↗

An algorithm for the estimation of bounds on the emissivity and temperatures from thermal multispectral airborne remotely sensed data

The effective flux incident upon the detectors of a thermal sensor, after it has been corrected for atmospheric effects, is a function of a non-linear combination of the emissivity of the target for that channel and the temperature of the target. The sensor system cannot separate the contribution from the emissivity and the temperature that constitute the flux value. A method that estimates the bounds on these temperatures and emissivities from thermal data is described. This method is then tested with remotely sensed data obtained from NASA's Thermal Infrared Multispectral Scanner (TIMS) - a 6 channel thermal sensor. Since this is an under-determined set of equations i.e. there are 7 unknowns (6 emissivities and 1 temperature) and 6 equations (corresponding to the 6 channel fluxes), there exist theoretically an infinite combination of values of emissivities and temperature that can satisfy these equations. Using some realistic bounds on the emissivities, bounds on the temperature are calculated. These bounds on the temperature are refined to estimate a tighter bound on the emissivity of the source. An error analysis is also carried out to quantitatively determine the extent of uncertainty introduced in the estimate of these parameters. This method is useful only when a realistic set of bounds can be obtained for the emissivities of the data. In the case of water the lower and upper bounds were set at 0.97 and 1.00 respectively. Five flights were flown in succession at altitudes of 2 km (low), 6 km (mid), 12 km (high), and then back again at 6 km and 2 km. The area selected with the Ross Barnett reservoir near Jackson, Mississippi. The mission was flown during the predawn hours of 1 Feb. 1992. Radiosonde data was collected for that duration to profile the characteristics of the atmosphere. Ground truth temperatures using thermometers and radiometers were also obtained over an area of the reservoir. The results of two independent runs of the radiometer data averaged 7.03 plus or minus .70 for the first run and 7.31 plus or minus .88 for the second run. The results of the algorithm yield a temperature of 7.68 for the low altitude data to 8.73 for the high altitude data.

Jaggi, S.↗

Summaries of the Third Annual JPL Airborne Geoscience Workshop. Volume 1: AVIRIS Workshop

This publication contains the preliminary agenda and summaries for the Third Annual JPL Airborne Geoscience Workshop, held at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, on 1-5 June 1992. This main workshop is divided into three smaller workshops as follows: (1) the Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) workshop, on June 1 and 2; (2) the Thermal Infrared Multispectral Scanner (TIMS) workshop, on June 3; and (3) the Airborne Synthetic Aperture Radar (AIRSAR) workshop, on June 4 and 5. The summaries are contained in Volumes 1, 2, and 3, respectively.

Green, Robert O.↗

Summaries of the Third Annual JPL Airborne Geoscience Workshop. Volume 3: AIRSAR Workshop

This publication contains the preliminary agenda and summaries for the Third Annual JPL Airborne Geoscience Workshop, held at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, on 1-5 June 1992. This main workshop is divided into three smaller workshops as follows: (1) the Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) workshop, on June 1 and 2; the summaries for this workshop appear in Volume 1; (2) the Thermal Infrared Multispectral Scanner (TIMS) workshop, on June 3; the summaries for this workshop appear in Volume 2; and (3) the Airborne Synthetic Aperture Radar (AIRSAR) workshop, on June 4 and 5; the summaries for this workshop appear in Volume 3.

Vanzyl, Jakob↗

Summaries of the 4th Annual JPL Airborne Geoscience Workshop. Volume 3: AIRSAR Workshop

This publication contains the summaries for the Fourth Annual JPL Airborne Geoscience Workshop, held in Washington, D.C. on October 25-29, 1993. The main workshop is divided into three smaller workshops as follows: The Airborne Visible/Infrared Spectrometer (AVIRIS) workshop, on October 25-26, whose summaries appear in Volume 1; The Thermal Infrared Multispectral Scanner (TIMS) workshop, on October 27, whose summaries appear in Volume 2; and The Airborne Synthetic Aperture Radar (AIRSAR) workshop, on October 28-29, whose summaries appear in this volume, Volume 3.

Vanzyl, Jakob↗

Summaries of the Fifth Annual JPL Airborne Earth Science Workshop. Volume 1: AVIRIS Workshop

This publication is the first of three containing summaries for the Fifth Annual JPL Airborne Earth Science Workshop, held in Pasadena, California, on January 23-26, 1995. The main workshop is divided into three smaller workshops as follows: (1) The Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) workshop, on January 23-24. The summaries for this workshop appear in this volume; (2) The Airborne Synthetic Aperture Radar (AIRSAR) workshop, on January 25-26. The summaries for this workshop appear in Volume 3; and (3) The Thermal Infrared Multispectral Scanner (TIMS) workshop, on January 26. The summaries for this workshop appear in Volume 2.

Green, Robert O.↗

The JPL Field Emission Spectrometer

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) Field Emission Spectrometer (FES) was built by Designs and Prototypes based on a set of functional requirements supplied by JPL. The instrument has a spectral resolution of 6 wavenumbers (wn) and can acquire spectra from either the Mid Infrared (3-5 mu m) or the Thermal Infrared (8-12 pm) depending on whether the InSb or HgCdTe detector is installed respectively. The instrument consists of an optical head system unit and battery. The optical head which is tripod mounted includes the interferometer and detector dewar assembly. Wavelength calibration of the interferometer is achieved using a Helium-Neon laser diode. The dewar needs replenishing with liquid Nitrogen approximately every four hours. The system unit includes the controls for operation and the computer used for acquiring viewing and processing spectra. Radiometric calibration is achieved with an external temperature-controlled blackbody that mounts on the fore-optics of the instrument. The blackbody can be set at 5 C increments between 10 and 55 C. The instrument is compact and weighs about 33 kg. Both the wavelength calibration and radiometric calibration of the instrument have been evaluated. The wavelength calibration was checked by comparison of the position of water features in a spectrum of the sky with their position in the output from a high resolution atmospheric model. The results indicatethat the features in the sky spectrum are within 6-8 wn of their position ill the model spectrum. The radiometric calibration was checked by first calibrating the instrument using the external blackbody supplied with the instrument and then measuring the radiance from another external blackbody at a series of temperatures. The temperatures of these radiance spectra were then recovered by inventing Planck's law and the recovered temperatures compared lo the measured blackbody temperature. These results indicate that radiometric calibration is good to 0.5 C over the range of temperatures 10 to 55 C. The results also indicate that the instrument drifts slowly over time and should be recalibrated every 20 to 30 minutes in the field to ensure good radiometric fidelity. The instrument has now been extensively tested in the field in the United States and Australia. These in situ field measurements are being used to validate emissivity spectra recovered from the Thermal Infrared Multispectral Scanner (TIMS) and also the Australian CO2 Laser. The availability of in situ measurements is proving crucial to validation of the spectra derived from the airborne instruments since many natural surfaces cannot be easily transported back to the laboratory.

Hook, Simon J.↗

Summaries of the Fifth Annual JPL Airborne Earth Science Workshop. Volume 3: AIRSAR Workshop

This publication is the third containing summaries for the Fifth Annual JPL Airborne Earth Science Workshop, held in Pasadena, California, on January 23-26, 1995. The main workshop is divided into three smaller workshops as follows: (1) The Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) workshop, on January 23-24. The summaries for this workshop appear in Volume 1; (2) The Airborne synthetic Aperture Radar (AIRSAR) workshop, on January 25-26. The summaries for this workshop appear in this volume; and (3) The Thermal Infrared Multispectral Scanner (TIMS) workshop, on January 26. The summaries for this workshop appear in Volume 2.

Vanzyl, Jakob↗

Naval Research Laboratory's programs in advanced indium phosphide solar cell development

The Naval Research Laboratory has been involved in developing InP solar cell technology since 1988. The purpose of these programs was to produce advanced cells for use in very high radiation environments, either as a result of operating satellites in the Van Allen belts or for very long duration missions in other orbits. Richard Statler was technical representative on the first program, with Spire Corporation as the contractor, which eventually produced several hundred, high efficiency 2 x 2 sq cm single crystal InP cells. The shallow homojunction technology which was developed in this program enabled cells to be made with AMO, one sun efficiencies greater than 19%. Many of these cells have been flown on space experiments, including PASP Plus, which have confirmed the high radiation resistance of InP cells. NRL has also published widely on the radiation response of these cells and also on radiation-induced defect levels detected by DLTS, especially the work of Rob Walters and Scott Messenger. In 1990 NRL began another Navy-sponsored program with Tim Coutts and Mark Wanlass at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), to develop a one sun, two terminal space version of the InP-InGaAs tandem junction cell being investigated at NREL for terrestrial applications. These cells were grown on InP substrates. Several cells with AM0, one sun efficiencies greater than 22% were produced. Two 2 x 2 sq cm cells were incorporated on the STRV lA/B solar cell experiment. These were the only two junction, tandem cells on the STRV experiment. The high cost and relative brittleness of InP wafers meant that if InP cell technology were to become a viable space power source, the superior radiation resistance of InP would have to be combined with a cheaper and more robust substrate. The main technical challenge was to overcome the effect of the dislocations produced by the lattice mismatch at the interface of the two materials. Over the last few years, NRL and Steve Wojtczuk at Spire have been developing a single junction InP on Si cell, in an ONR-sponsored SBIR program. Both cell polarities were investigated and the best efficiencies to date (approximately 13% on a 2 x 4 sq cm cell) were achieved with n/p cells. Earlier this year NRL began a program with ASEC to develop a two terminal InP-InGaAs tandem cell on a Ge substrate. RTI and NREL are subcontractors on this program. The results of an ONR-sponsored study of the potential market for InP/Si cells will be discussed. Also the technical status of both the InP/Si and the InP-InGaAs/Ge programs will be given. The technical challenges still remaining will be briefly described.

Summers, Geoffrey P.↗

Machine learning for a Toolkit for Image Mining

A prototype user environment is described that enables a user with very limited computer skills to collaborate with a computer algorithm to develop search tools (agents) that can be used for image analysis, creating metadata for tagging images, searching for images in an image database on the basis of image content, or as a component of computer vision algorithms. Agents are learned in an ongoing, two-way dialogue between the user and the algorithm. The user points to mistakes made in classification. The algorithm, in response, attempts to discover which image attributes are discriminating between objects of interest and clutter. It then builds a candidate agent and applies it to an input image, producing an 'interest' image highlighting features that are consistent with the set of objects and clutter indicated by the user. The dialogue repeats until the user is satisfied. The prototype environment, called the Toolkit for Image Mining (TIM) is currently capable of learning spectral and textural patterns. Learning exhibits rapid convergence to reasonable levels of performance and, when thoroughly trained, Fo appears to be competitive in discrimination accuracy with other classification techniques.

Delanoy, Richard L.↗

Mullite fiber reinforced reaction bonded Si3N4 composites

Fracture toughnesses of brittle ceramic materials have been improved by introducing reinforcements and carefully tailored interface layers. Silicon carbide and Si3N4 have been emphasized as matrices of structural composites intended for high temperature service because they combine excellent mechanical, chemical, thermal and physical properties. Both matrices have been successfully toughened with SiC fibers, whiskers and particles for ceramic matrix composite (CMC) parts made by sintering, hot pressing or reaction forming processes. These SiC reinforced CMCs have exhibited significantly improved toughnesses at low and intermediate temperature levels, as well as retention of properties at high temperatures for selected exposures; however, they are vulnerable to attack from elevated temperature dry and wet oxidizing atmospheres after the matrix has cracked. Property degradation results from oxidation of interface layers and/or reinforcements. The problem is particularly acute for small diameter (-20 tim) polymer derived SiC fibers used for weavable toes. This research explored opportunities for reinforcing Si3N4 matrices with fibers having improved environmental stability; the findings should also be applicable to SiC matrix CMCs.

Saleh, T.↗

Research in Computational Aeroscience Applications Implemented on Advanced Parallel Computing Systems

Improving the numerical linear algebra routines for use in new Navier-Stokes codes, specifically Tim Barth's unstructured grid code, with spin-offs to TRANAIR is reported. A fast distance calculation routine for Navier-Stokes codes using the new one-equation turbulence models is written. The primary focus of this work was devoted to improving matrix-iterative methods. New algorithms have been developed which activate the full potential of classical Cray-class computers as well as distributed-memory parallel computers.

Wigton, Larry↗

Remote Sensing of Surficial Process Responses to Extreme Meteorological Events

Changes in the frequency and magnitude of extreme meteorological events are associated with changing environmental means. Such events are important in human affairs, and can also be investigated by orbital remote sensing. During the course of this project, we applied ERS-1, ERS-2, Radarsat, and an airborne sensor (AIRSAR-TOPSAR) to measure flood extents, flood water surface profiles, and flood depths. We established a World Wide Web site (the Dartmouth Flood Observatory) for publishing remote sensing-based maps of contemporary floods worldwide; this is also an online "active archive" that presently constitutes the only global compilation of extreme flood events. We prepared an article for EOS concerning SAR imaging of the Mississippi Valley flood; an article for the International Journal of Remote Sensing on measurement of a river flood wave using ERS-2, began work on an article (since completed and published) on the Flood Observatory for a Geoscience Information Society Proceedings volume, and presented lectures at several Geol. Soc. of America Natl. Meetings, an Assoc. of Amer. Geographers Natl. Meeting, and a Binghamton Geomorphology Symposium (all on SAR remote sensing of the Mississippi Valley flood). We expanded in-house modeling capabilities by installing the latest version of the Army Corps of Engineers RMA two-dimensional hydraulics software and BYU Engineering Graphics Lab's Surface Water Modeling System (finite elements based pre- and post-processors for RMA work) and also added watershed modeling software. We are presently comparing the results of the 2-d flow models with SAR image data. The grant also supported several important upgrades of pc-based remote sensing infrastructure at Dartmouth. During work on this grant, we collaborated with several workers at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Remote Sensing/GIS laboratory (for flood inundation mapping and modeling; particularly of the Illinois River using the AIRSAR/TOPSAR/ERS-2 combined data), with Dr. Karen Prestegaard at the University of Maryland (geomorphological responses to the extreme 1993 flood along the Raccoon drainage in central Iowa), and with Mr Tim Scrom of the Albany National Weather Service River Forecast Center (initial planning for the use of Radarsat and ERS-2 for flood warning). The work thus initiated with this proposal is continuing.

Brakenridge, G. Robert↗

Virtual Reality Simulation of the International Space Welding Experiment

Virtual Reality (VR) is a set of breakthrough technologies that allow a human being to enter and fully experience a 3-dimensional, computer simulated environment. A true virtual reality experience meets three criteria: (1) It involves 3-dimensional computer graphics; (2) It includes real-time feedback and response to user actions; and (3) It must provide a sense of immersion. Good examples of a virtual reality simulator are the flight simulators used by all branches of the military to train pilots for combat in high performance jet fighters. The fidelity of such simulators is extremely high -- but so is the price tag, typically millions of dollars. Virtual reality teaching and training methods are manifestly effective, and we have therefore implemented a VR trainer for the International Space Welding Experiment. My role in the development of the ISWE trainer consisted of the following: (1) created texture-mapped models of the ISWE's rotating sample drum, technology block, tool stowage assembly, sliding foot restraint, and control panel; (2) developed C code for control panel button selection and rotation of the sample drum; (3) In collaboration with Tim Clark (Antares Virtual Reality Systems), developed a serial interface box for the PC and the SGI Indigo so that external control devices, similar to ones actually used on the ISWE, could be used to control virtual objects in the ISWE simulation; (4) In collaboration with Peter Wang (SFFP) and Mark Blasingame (Boeing), established the interference characteristics of the VIM 1000 head-mounted-display and tested software filters to correct the problem; (5) In collaboration with Peter Wang and Mark Blasingame, established software and procedures for interfacing the VPL DataGlove and the Polhemus 6DOF position sensors to the SGI Indigo serial ports. The majority of the ISWE modeling effort was conducted on a PC-based VR Workstation, described below.

Phillips, James A.↗

STS-26 Preflight Press Briefing: Crew Escape/Crew Equipment

This NASA KSC video release presents part of a press conference held prior to Discovery flight STS-26, the first shuttle mission flown following the 51-L Challenger accident. The five member panel present individual viewgraph discussions followed by a question and answer period for the benefit of scientific journalists. William A. Chandler (Asst. to the Dir. of Engineering and the NSTS program) gives a brief overview of the crew escape system followed by Steven Nagel's (Astronaut) presentation on crew equipment. Robert Rice (Crew Escape System Manager) describes the flight test program and the innovative pyrotechnics system test program. Tim Pelischek (Pole Design Team) gives an assessment of the critical design review and Ricardo Machin reviews aerodynamic flight tests performed at Texas A&M and California. The second part of the video includes Robert Crippen's (Deputy Dir. of Operations, Kennedy Space Center) overview of NASA Management, the organizational changes and actions taken to meet the Roger's Commission recommendations.

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