Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “LANDING SYSTEM”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 343 records · Page 19

Accurate Inventories Of Irrigated Land

System for taking land-use inventories overcomes two problems in estimating extent of irrigated land: only small portion of large state surveyed in given year, and aerial photographs made on 1 day out of year do not provide adequate picture of areas growing more than one crop per year. Developed for state of California as guide to controlling, protecting, conserving, and distributing water within state. Adapted to any large area in which large amounts of irrigation water needed for agriculture. Combination of satellite images, aerial photography, and ground surveys yields data for computer analysis. Analyst also consults agricultural statistics, current farm reports, weather reports, and maps. These information sources aid in interpreting patterns, colors, textures, and shapes on Landsat-images.

Wall, S.↗

NASA's Pilot Land Data System development program

The NASA Pilot Land Data System (PLDS) project is intended to enhance the effectiveness of data processing capabilities used by researchers applying remote sensing data in land science research. Two sites in the centerminous U.S. have been selected as study areas scanned by Landsat, Nimbus and GOES instruments. The data will be analyzed by teams of researchers representing different fields of expertise. The PLDS program will explore data management, networking and communications, system access capabilities, land analysis software, special processes and overall systems engineerng. The data will be processed by researchers working interactively through remote supermicrocomputer workstations using a variety of operating systems and on-site software capabilities.

Price, R. D.↗

Pilot land data system

The full realization of the potential of satellite remote sensing would require the utilization of information systems which are currently not available. However, technological advances make it now possible to design a data system for meeting the land scientists' most critical information needs. A working group has been assembled to examine the need for a Pilot Data System (PLDS). The pilot program is to establish a limited-scale, distributed information system to explore approaches to satisfy the needs of the land science research community. Aspects and objectives considered by the working group are discussed, taking into account science scenarios, required functions, the characteristics of a land data system, and questions of pilot land data system development.

Estes, J. E.↗

Improved Soil Moisture Estimation and Detection of Irrigation Signal By Incorporating SMAP Soil Moisture Into the Indian Land Data Assimilation System (ILDAS)

Land surface models have facilitated the estimation of soil moisture over a range of spatiotemporal scales. However, limitations in model parameterization and under-representation of anthropogenic processes restrict their ability to estimate local-scale soil moisture variability, especially over irrigated areas. Assimilation of satellite-based soil moisture retrievals into land surface models can be a viable approach to overcome these constraints, specially over highly irrigated countries such as India, where such applications are rare. Additionally, large-scale validation of modeled soil moisture has been limited over India till now due to lack of a representative station network. By assimilating Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP)-based estimates into the state-of-the-art Indian Land Data Assimilation System (ILDAS) and combining with a new soil moisture station network of more than 200 stations, this study demonstrates improved soil moisture estimations and capture of irrigation signals over the region. The Noah-MP land surface model is forced by multiple local and global meteorological datasets and Ensemble Kalman Filter (EnKF) is used for assimilation of soil moisture. Comparison of open-loop and data assimilated soil moisture against station soil moisture data shows relative spatial mean improvement of 0.0178 in correlation and 0.0029 m3/m3 in RMSE. Further statistical comparison with in-situ data has also shown better results over most of the stations, as evident from improved correlations and reduced unbiased RMSE after assimilation. Finally, the climatology of soil moisture over the different irrigation fractions reveals that data assimilated outputs over irrigated grid cells tend to have higher soil moisture during dry winter season, demonstrating the ability to capture irrigation signals. These findings quantify the value of data assimilation in improving soil moisture estimates and the ability to capture unmodeled processes such as irrigation, which lays the science groundwork for upcoming space missions such as NASA ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR).

Soil Moisture↗

Simulation, guidance and navigation of the B-737 for rollout and turnoff using MLS measurements

A simulation program is described for the B-737 aircraft in landing approach, a touchdown, rollout and turnoff for normal and CAT III weather conditions. Preliminary results indicate that microwave landing systems can be used in place of instrument landing systems landing aids and that a single magnetic cable can be used for automated rollout and turnoff. Recommendations are made for further refinement of the model and additional testing to finalize a set of guidance laws for rollout and turnoff.

Pines, S.↗

Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) Land Data Assimilation System (LDAS) and Other Assimilated Hydrological Data at NASA GES DISC

The NASA Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC) provides science support for several data sets relevant to agriculture and food security, including the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) Land Data Assimilation System (LDAS), or FLDAS data set. The GES DISC is one of twelve NASA Earth Observing System (EOS) data centers that process, archive, document, and distribute data from Earth science missions and related projects. The GES DISC hosts a wide range of remote sensing and model data, and provides reliable and robust data access and other services to users worldwide. Beyond data archive and access, the GES DISC offers many services to visualize and analyze the data. This presentation provides a summary of the hydrological data available at the GES DISC, along with an overview of related data services. Specifically, the FLDAS data set has been adapted to work with domains, data streams, and monitoring and forecast requirements associated with food security assessment in data-sparse, developing country settings. The FLDAS global monthly data have a 0.1 x 0.1 degree spatial resolution covering the period from January 1982 to present. Global FLDAS monthly anomaly and monthly climatology data are also available at the GES DISC to evaluate how current conditions compare to averages over the FLDAS 35-year period. Several case studies using the FLDAS soil moisture, evapotranspiration, rainfall, runoff, and surface temperature data will be presented.

Loeser, Carlee↗

NASA's Human Lunar Landing Strategy

In early 2020, NASA's Human Landing System Program made awards to a set of American companies to compete for the design, delivery and demonstration of an integrated human landing system to land the next Americans near the South Pole of the Moon by 2024. Awards were made utilizing the NextSTEP Broad Agency Announcement procurement mechanism and kicked off a seven-month Certification Baseline Review, leading up to a Continuation Review and possible down-select by NASA at the end of 2020. This paper discusses the work that has been done thus far for the rapid development of a human landing system to safely carry the first woman and the next man to the lunar surface. It will also provide a preview of the work that remains ahead for the program. Keywords: Artemis, Human Landing System, Mars, Moon, Propulsion

Lisa Watson-Morgan↗

Flight tests of IFR landing approach systems for helicopters

Joint NASA/FAA helicopter flight tests were conducted to investigate airborne radar approaches (ARA) and microwave landing system (MLS) approaches. Flight-test results were utilized to prove NASA with a data base to be used as a performance measure for advanced guidance and navigation concepts, and to provide FAA with data for establishment of TERPS criteria. The first flight-test investigation consisted of helicopter IFR approaches to offshore oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico, using weather/mapping radar, operational pilots, and a Bell 212 helicopter. The second flight-test investigation consisted of IFR MLS approaches at Crows Landing (near Ames Research Center), with a Bell UH-1H helicopter, using NASA, FAA, and operational industry pilots. Tests are described and results discussed.

Bull, J. S.↗

CALIGOLA: A New Multidisciplinary Spaceborne Lidar Mission (Cloud Aerosol Lidar for Global scale Observations of the ocean-Land-Atmosphere system)

Spaceborne lidars provide unique and valuable insight into the vertical structure of clouds and aerosols over the globe as well as insight into their microphysical and optical properties. Over the past two decades, lidar observations from CALIPSO, ICESAT-2 and CATS fundamentally advanced our understanding of the roles of clouds and aerosols play in weather, climate and air quality. The measurement records further served as important references for validating and improving retrieval algorithms of cloud/aerosol properties from operational weather satellites. A more recent development is the emerging awareness on how spaceborne lidar profile observations can also enhance knowledge of Earth’s coupled atmosphere-ocean-land system. Here we report on a new and powerful spaceborne lidar mission concept known as CALIGOLA (Cloud Aerosol Lidar for Global Scale Observations of the Ocean-Land Atmosphere System). The mission is multidisciplinary and will provide new insights into atmospheric processes with advance measurement capabilities beyond CALIPSO and the recently launched EarthCARE mission. CALIGOLA will further provide the first profiling of the world’s oceans to reveal unprecedented observations on the health and productivity of marine biology (phytoplankton and zooplankton) as well as provide unique observations of surface vegetation, ice, and snow. The mission will feature an innovative three-wavelength lidar, that will simultaneously acquire elastic backscatter, Raman, and fluorescence measurements, with polarization sensitivity on the elastic channels. The instrument is further designed with greater sensitivity than CALIOP and with vertical resolution on the order of a few meters near the surface. The mission is planned for launch early next decade and is baselined to fly in a polar orbit that is compatible with the previous A-Train constellation to extend the long-term measurement record. CALIGOLA is being developed through a partnership between Agenzia Spaziale Italiana (ASI) and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

Lidar Aerosols Clouds Ocean Biology↗

NASA Pilot Land Data System

Project development and planning for a Pilot Land Data System (PLDS) are discussed. The PLDS supplies basic information, data management, and data processing capabilities to the land research community. Topics on design and implementation, user requirements, and project management are examined. The scenarios developed thusfar are also included.

Estes, J. E.↗

Application of aircraft navigation sensors to enhanced vision systems

In this presentation, the applicability of various aircraft navigation sensors to enhanced vision system design is discussed. First, the accuracy requirements of the FAA for precision landing systems are presented, followed by the current navigation systems and their characteristics. These systems include Instrument Landing System (ILS), Microwave Landing System (MLS), Inertial Navigation, Altimetry, and Global Positioning System (GPS). Finally, the use of navigation system data to improve enhanced vision systems is discussed. These applications include radar image rectification, motion compensation, and image registration.

Sweet, Barbara T.↗