Present and Future Remote Sensing Methods for Observing and Monitoring Volcanoes
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Landsat Thematic Mapper fumaroles lava flows domes↗
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The Multispectral Microscopic Imager: Integrating Microimaging with Spectroscopy for the In-Situ Exploration of the Moon
To maximize the scientific return, future robotic and human missions to the Moon will need to have in-situ capabilities to enable the selection of the highest value samples for returning to Earth, or a lunar base for analysis. In order to accomplish this task efficiently, samples will need to be characterized using a suite of robotic instruments that can provide crucial information about elemental composition, mineralogy, volatiles and ices. Such spatially-correlated data sets, which place mineralogy into a microtextural context, are considered crucial for correct petrogenetic interpretations. . Combining microscopic imaging with visible= nearinfrared reflectance spectroscopy, provides a powerful in-situ approach for obtaining mineralogy within a microtextural context. The approach is non-destructive and requires minimal mechanical sample preparation. This approach provides data sets that are comparable to what geologists routinely acquire in the field, using a hand lens and in the lab using thin section petrography, and provide essential information for interpreting the primary formational processes in rocks and soils as well as the effects of secondary (diagenetic) alteration processes. Such observations lay a foundation for inferring geologic histories and provide "ground truth" for similar instruments on orbiting satellites; they support astronaut EVA activities and provide basic information about the physical properties of soils required for assessing associated health risks, and are basic tools in the exploration for in-situ resources to support human exploration of the Moon.
Nunez, J. I.↗
Monitoring Coastal Marshes for Persistent Flooding and Salinity Stress
Our objective is to provide NASA remote sensing products that provide inundation and salinity information on an ecosystem level to support habitat switching models. Project born out of need by the Coastal Restoration Monitoring System (CRMS), joint effort by Louisiana Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Geological Survey, for information on persistence of flooding by storm surge and other flood waters. The results of the this work support the habitat-switching modules in the Coastal Louisiana Ecosystem Assessment and Restoration (CLEAR) model, which provides scientific evaluation for restoration management. CLEAR is a collaborative effort between the Louisiana Board of Regents, the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources (LDNR), the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). Anticipated results will use: a) Resolution enhanced time series data combining spatial resolution of Landsat with temporal resolution of MODIS for inundation estimates. b) Potential salinity products from radar and multispectral modeling. c) Combined inundation and salinity inputs to habitat switching module to produce habitat switching maps (shown at left)
Kalcic, Maria↗
Split-remerge method for eliminating processing window artifacts in recursive hierarchical segmentation
A method, computer readable storage, and apparatus for implementing recursive segmentation of data with spatial characteristics into regions including splitting-remerging of pixels with contagious region designations and a user controlled parameter for providing a preference for merging adjacent regions to eliminate window artifacts.
Tilton, James C.↗
Sensitivity of Aerosol Multi-Sensor Daily Data Intercomparison to the Level 3 Dataday Definition
Topics include: why people use Level 3 products, why someone might go wrong with Level 3 products, differences in L3 from different sensors, Level 3 data day definition, MODIS vs. MODIS, AOD MODIS Terra vs. Aqua in Pacific, AOD Aqua MODIS vs. MISR correlation map, MODIS vs MISR on Terra, MODIS atmospheric data day definition, orbit time difference for Terra and Aqua 2009-01-06, maximum time difference for Terra (Calendar day), artifact explains, data day definitions, local time distribution, spatial (local time) data day definition, maximum time difference between Terra and Aqua, Removing the artifact in 16-day AOD correlation, MODIS cloud top pressure, and MODIS Terra and Aqua vs. AIRS cloud top pressure.
Leptoukh, Gregory↗
Centralized Alert-Processing and Asset Planning for Sensorwebs
A software program provides a Sensorweb architecture for alert-processing, event detection, asset allocation and planning, and visualization. It automatically tasks and re-tasks various types of assets such as satellites and robotic vehicles in response to alerts (fire, weather) extracted from various data sources, including low-level Webcam data. JPL has adapted cons iderable Sensorweb infrastructure that had been previously applied to NASA Earth Science applications. This NASA Earth Science Sensorweb has been in operational use since 2003, and has proven reliability of the Sensorweb technologies for robust event detection and autonomous response using space and ground assets. Unique features of the software include flexibility to a range of detection and tasking methods including those that require aggregation of data over spatial and temporal ranges, generality of the response structure to represent and implement a range of response campaigns, and the ability to respond rapidly.
Castano, Rebecca↗
Progress in Laser Based Carbon Nanotube Production and In-Situ Diagnostics at NASA/JSC
This paper focuses on the improvement of carbon nanotube production with the upgraded laser system operating at 60 Hz. The yield has increased by about five times with the new system, while the quality of the single wall nanotube (SWNT) is unchanged. Recent diagnostic data of spatial and temporal evolution of C2 in the laser ablation plume are obtained by imaging the plume area on a gated change coupled device. A three-laser setup is used to monitor nickel atoms in different parts of the plume by laser induced fluorescence (LIF). Measurements are made at different times after the ablating lasers. These results, along with the previous measurements of emission and LIF of C2 will be discussed. Our ultimate goal is to use these measurements to model the nanotube growth mechanism.
Arepalli, Sivaram↗
Prominence Dynamics
Fine structure prominence dynamics are visible in the majority of high-spatial resolution data from Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) and Hinode Solar Optical Telescope (SOT). We present the results of a study investigating the nature of these horizontal and vertical flows and discuss them in the context of ion-neutral coupling in a partially ionized prominence plasma. We also discuss how models can help in the interpretation of these observations.
Gilbert, Holly↗
Isotopic Evidence for the Source and Fate of Phosphorus in Everglades Wetland Ecosystems
Phosphorus has historically been a limiting nutrient in the Florida Everglades. Increased P loading to the Everglades over the past several decades has led to significant changes in water quality and plant communities. Stormwater runoff that drains agricultural lands and enters the Water Conservation Areas (WCAs) are known to contain elevated levels of P, but the exact source of this P has not been fully determined. Here the results of an O isotope study of dissolved inorganic phosphate (DIP) in both polluted and relatively pristine (or reference) areas of the Everglades are reported. The data reveal spatial and temporal variations in the delta 18O signature of DIP, reflecting the source and the degree of cycling of P. The delta 18O values of DIP collected from the Everglades National Park were close or equal to the predicted delta 18O values of DIP formed in situ in equilibrium with ambient water, indicating that P is quickly cycled in the water column in oligotrophic ecosystems with very low P concentrations. However, most DIP samples collected from areas impacted by agricultural runoff yielded delta 18O values that deviated from the predicted equilibrium DIP delta 18O values based on the delta 18O of water and water temperature, suggesting that biological cycling of P was not rapid enough to remove the fertilizer ?18O signature in the DIP pool from areas receiving high P loading. The delta 18O signature of DIP in impacted areas reflects a mixing of fertilizer P and biologically cycled P, where the relative proportions of biologically cycled vs. fertilizer DIP are controlled by both biological (microbial activities and plant uptake) and hydrologic factors (loading rate and residence time). Using a two-end-member (i.e., fertilizer P and biologically cycled P) mixing model, fertilizers were estimated to contribute about 15 100% of the DIP pool in the highly impacted areas of the northern Everglades, whereas the DIP pool in the reference (i.e., relatively pristine) wetlands in the Everglades National Park was dominated by biologically cycled P. The study shows that O isotopic measurements of dissolved PO(exp 3-, sub 4) can be a useful tool for tracing the fertilizer P inputs to freshwater ecosystems.
Li, Xin↗
Cloud Absorption Radiometer Autonomous Navigation System - CANS
CAR (cloud absorption radiometer) acquires spatial reference data from host aircraft navigation systems. This poses various problems during CAR data reduction, including navigation data format, accuracy of position data, accuracy of airframe inertial data, and navigation data rate. Incorporating its own navigation system, which included GPS (Global Positioning System), roll axis inertia and rates, and three axis acceleration, CANS expedites data reduction and increases the accuracy of the CAR end data product. CANS provides a self-contained navigation system for the CAR, using inertial reference and GPS positional information. The intent of the software application was to correct the sensor with respect to aircraft roll in real time based upon inputs from a precision navigation sensor. In addition, the navigation information (including GPS position), attitude data, and sensor position details are all streamed to a remote system for recording and later analysis. CANS comprises a commercially available inertial navigation system with integral GPS capability (Attitude Heading Reference System AHRS) integrated into the CAR support structure and data system. The unit is attached to the bottom of the tripod support structure. The related GPS antenna is located on the P-3 radome immediately above the CAR. The AHRS unit provides a RS-232 data stream containing global position and inertial attitude and velocity data to the CAR, which is recorded concurrently with the CAR data. This independence from aircraft navigation input provides for position and inertial state data that accounts for very small changes in aircraft attitude and position, sensed at the CAR location as opposed to aircraft state sensors typically installed close to the aircraft center of gravity. More accurate positional data enables quicker CAR data reduction with better resolution. The CANS software operates in two modes: initialization/calibration and operational. In the initialization/calibration mode, the software aligns the precision navigation sensors and initializes the communications interfaces with the sensor and the remote computing system. It also monitors the navigation data state for quality and ensures that the system maintains the required fidelity for attitude and positional information. In the operational mode, the software runs at 12.5 Hz and gathers the required navigation/attitude data, computes the required sensor correction values, and then commands the sensor to the required roll correction. In this manner, the sensor will stay very near to vertical at all times, greatly improving the resulting collected data and imagery. CANS greatly improves quality of resulting imagery and data collected. In addition, the software component of the system outputs a concisely formatted, high-speed data stream that can be used for further science data processing. This precision, time-stamped data also can benefit other instruments on the same aircraft platform by providing extra information from the mission flight.
Kahle, Duncan↗
NASA Tech Briefs, November 2013
Topics include: Cryogenic Liquid Sample Acquisition System for Remote Space Applications; 5 Spatial Statistical Data Fusion (SSDF); GPS Estimates of Integrated Precipitable Water Aid Weather Forecasters; Integrating a Microwave Radiometer into Radar Hardware for Simultaneous Data Collection Between the Instruments; Rapid Detection of Herpes Viruses for Clinical Applications; High-Speed Data Recorder for Space, Geodesy, and Other High-Speed Recording Applications; Datacasting V3.0; An All-Solid-State, Room-Temperature, Heterodyne Receiver for Atmospheric Spectroscopy at 1.2 THz; Stacked Transformer for Driver Gain and Receive Signal Splitting; Wireless Integrated Microelectronic Vacuum Sensor System; Fabrication Method for LOBSTER-Eye Optics in <110> Silicon; Compact Focal Plane Assembly for Planetary Science; Fabrication Methods for Adaptive Deformable Mirrors; Visiting Vehicle Ground Trajectory Tool; Workflow-Based Software Development Environment; Mobile Thread Task Manager; A Kinematic Calibration Process for Flight Robotic Arms; Magnetostrictive Alternator; Bulk Metallic Glasses and Composites for Optical and Compliant Mechanisms; Detection of Only Viable Bacterial Spores Using a Live/Dead Indicator in Mixed Populations; and Intravenous Fluid Generation System.
Source record↗
Validation of High Speed Earth Atmospheric Entry Radiative Heating from 9.5 to 15.5 km/s
This paper presents an overview of the analysis and measurements of equilibrium radiation obtained in the NASA Ames Research Center's Electric Arc Shock Tube (EAST) facility as a part of recent testing aimed at reaching shock velocities up to 15.5 km/s. The goal of these experiments was to measure the level of radiation encountered during high speed Earth entry conditions, such as would be relevant for an asteroid, inter-planetary or lunar return mission. These experiments provide the first spectrally and spatially resolved data for high speed Earth entry and cover conditions ranging from 9.5 to 15.5 km/s at 13.3 and 26.6 Pa (0.1 and 0.2 Torr). The present analysis endeavors to provide a validation of shock tube radiation measurements and simulations at high speed conditions. A comprehensive comparison between the spectrally resolved absolute equilibrium radiance measured in EAST and the predictive tools, NEQAIR and HARA, is presented. In order to provide a more accurate representation of the agreement between the experimental and simulation results, the integrated value of radiance has been compared across four spectral regions (VUV, UV/Vis, Vis/NIR and IR) as a function of velocity. Results have generally shown excellent agreement between the two codes and EAST data for the Vis through IR spectral regions, however, discrepancies have been identified in the VUV and parts of the UV spectral regions. As a result of the analysis presented in this paper, an updated parametric uncertainty for high speed radiation in air has been evaluated to be [9.0%, -6.3%]. Furthermore, due to the nature of the radiating environment at these high shock speeds, initial calculations aimed at modeling phenomena that become more significant with increasing shock speed have been performed. These phenomena include analyzing the radiating species emitting ahead of the shock and the increased significance of radiative cooling mechanisms.
Equilibrium↗
An Active Learning Framework for Hyperspectral Image Classification Using Hierarchical Segmentation
Augmenting spectral data with spatial information for image classification has recently gained significant attention, as classification accuracy can often be improved by extracting spatial information from neighboring pixels. In this paper, we propose a new framework in which active learning (AL) and hierarchical segmentation (HSeg) are combined for spectral-spatial classification of hyperspectral images. The spatial information is extracted from a best segmentation obtained by pruning the HSeg tree using a new supervised strategy. The best segmentation is updated at each iteration of the AL process, thus taking advantage of informative labeled samples provided by the user. The proposed strategy incorporates spatial information in two ways: 1) concatenating the extracted spatial features and the original spectral features into a stacked vector and 2) extending the training set using a self-learning-based semi-supervised learning (SSL) approach. Finally, the two strategies are combined within an AL framework. The proposed framework is validated with two benchmark hyperspectral datasets. Higher classification accuracies are obtained by the proposed framework with respect to five other state-of-the-art spectral-spatial classification approaches. Moreover, the effectiveness of the proposed pruning strategy is also demonstrated relative to the approaches based on a fixed segmentation.
classification↗
Satellite Monitoring of Cyanobacterial Harmful Algal Bloom Frequency in Recreational Waters and Drinking Water Sources
Cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms (cyanoHAB) cause extensive problems in lakes worldwide, including human and ecological health risks, anoxia and sh kills, and taste and odor problems. CyanoHABs are a particular concern in both recreational waters and drinking water sources because of their dense biomass and the risk of exposure to toxins. Successful cyanoHAB assessment using satellites may provide an indicator for human and ecological health protection. In this study, methods were developed to assess the utility of satellite technology for detecting cyanoHAB frequency of occurrence at locations of potential management interest. The European Space Agency's MEdium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS) was evaluated to prepare for the equivalent series of Sentinel-3 Ocean and Land Colour Imagers (OLCI) launched in 2016 as part of the Copernicus program. Based on the 2012 National Lakes Assessment site evaluation guidelines and National Hydrography Dataset, the continental United States contains 275,897 lakes and reservoirs greater than 1 ha in area. Results from this study show that 5.6% of waterbodies were resolvable by satellites with 300 m single-pixel resolution and 0.7% of waterbodies were resolvable when a three by three pixel (3 x 3-pixel) array was applied based on minimum Euclidian distance from shore. Satellite data were spatially joined to U.S. public water surface intake (PWSI) locations, where single-pixel resolution resolved 57% of the PWSI locations and a 3 x 3-pixel array resolved 33% of the PWSI locations. Recreational and drinking water sources in Florida and Ohio were ranked from 2008 through 2011 by cyanoHAB frequency above the World Health Organizations (WHO) high threshold for risk of 100,000 cells m/L. The ranking identified waterbodies with values above the WHO high threshold, where Lake Apopka, FL (99.1%) and Grand Lake St. Marys, OH (83%) had the highest observed bloom frequencies per region. The method presented here may indicate locations with high exposure to cyanoHABs and therefore can be used to assist in prioritizing management resources and actions for recreational and drinking water sources.
Cyanobacteria↗
Satellite Sea Ice Measurements in the Arctic Ocean
Satellite observations sustained since 1979 have been the primary source of information to reveal Arctic Ocean sea ice extent is diminishing rapidly. Sea ice is also thinning based on historical surface and near-surface records and more recent satellite retrievals. There is a new “normal” environment in the Arctic environment with substantial socio-economic impacts. A key question is: What are the spatial and temporal characteristics of the sea ice thickness distribution throughout the annual cycle, and what is the evolving inter-annual trend? Arctic Ocean sea ice conditions have been determined with passive microwave radiometer, active scatterometer and other satellite instrument measurements recorded by a continuing series of satellites. An important feature of the continuous time series measurements has been the overlap of each new satellite dataset with ongoing measurements so as to provide adequate time intervals for calibration and validation. Satellite instrument diversity has provided both coarse spatial resolution measurements over the entire Arctic Ocean for long-period time series and limited-duration fine spatial resolution data over selected regions for navigation and other applications. Satellite observations of Arctic Ocean sea ice will continue to increase in importance because predictability of sea ice is poor and societal interest is great. Unfortunately, however the sustainability of some critical elements of the current Arctic Ocean satellite measurement suite beyond 2020 remains uncertain, e.g., after the CryoSat-2 and ICESat-2 missions have concluded.
Halpern, David↗
Implementing Polar Projections with OGC Services for the Enhancement of AIRS NRT Visualization in LANCE
The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) NRT product is one important element in the Land, Atmosphere Near real-time Capability for EOS (LANCE). The LANCE processing of AIRS NRT products and the image generation are performed at the NASA Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC). The Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) services are being utilized to access AIRS NRT images. The ongoing AIRS NRT imagery enhancement work includes adding a new set of the images in polar projections. Polar projections are commonly used for mapping Antarctica and Arctic regions. We have implemented more precise south polar (EPSG:3031) projection and north polar (EPSG:3413) projection making our OGC service instances more useful and interoperable. Thus, AIRS NRT data can be easily accessed and integrated with other applications. It greatly increases the impact of our data on researches in polar regions.In this presentation, we will introduce the optimized processing workflow for OGC services from data access with spatial-temporal index to data visualization with different SLD, and demonstrate how to use open source software to provide more precise map images in polar projections.
Zhao, Peisheng↗
Validation of SMAP L2 passive-only soil moisture products using upscaled in situ measurements collected in Twente, the Netherlands
The Twente region in the east of the Netherlands has a network with twenty soil monitoring stations that has been utilized for validation of the Soil Moisture Active/Passive (SMAP) passive-only soil moisture products. Over the period from April 2015 until December 2018, seven stations covered by the SMAP reference pixels 15 have fairly complete data records. Spatially distributed soil moisture simulations with the Dutch national hydrological model have been utilized for the development of upscaling functions to translate the spatial mean of point measurements to the domain of the SMAP reference pixels. The native and upscaled spatial soil moisture means computed using the in-situ measurements have been adopted as references to assess the performance of the SMAP i) Single Channel Algorithm at Horizontal Polarization (SCA-H), ii) Single Channel Algorithm at Vertical Polarization (SCA-V), and iii) Dual Channel Algorithm (DCA) soil moisture estimates. In the case of the Twente network it was found that the SCA-V soil moisture retrieved SMAP observations collected in the afternoon had the best agreement with the native spatial mean leading to an unbiased Root Mean Squared Error (uRMSE) of 0.059 m3 m-3, whereas for the upscaled in-situ references primarily larger biases were found. These error levels are larger than the mission’s target accuracy of 0.04 m3 m-3, which can be attributed to large over- and underestimation errors (>0.08 m3 m-3) in particular at the end of dry spells and during freezing, respectively. The strong vertical dielectric gradients associated with rapid soil freezing and wetting causes the disparity in soil depth characterized by SMAP and in situ that leads to the large mismatches. Once filtered for frozen conditions and antecedent rainfall the uRMSE improves to 0.043 m3 m-3.
Rogier van der Velde↗
The Science Case for Spacecraft Exploration of the Uranian Satellites: Candidate Ocean Worlds in an Ice Giant System
The 27 satellites of Uranus are enigmatic, with dark surfaces coated by material that could be rich in organics. Voyager 2 imaged the southern hemispheres of Uranus’s five largest “classical” moons—Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania, and Oberon, as well as the largest ring moon, Puck—but their northern hemispheres were largely unobservable at the time of the flyby and were not imaged. Additionally, no spatially resolved data sets exist for the other 21 known moons, and their surface properties are essentially unknown. Because Voyager 2 was not equipped with a near-infrared mapping spectrometer, our knowledge of the Uranian moons’ surface compositions, and the processes that modify them, is limited to disk-integrated data sets collected by ground- and space-based telescopes. Nevertheless, images collected by the Imaging Science System on Voyager 2 and reflectance spectra collected by telescope facilities indicate that the five classical moons are candidate ocean worlds that might currently have, or had, liquid subsurface layers beneath their icy surfaces. To determine whether these moons are ocean worlds, and to investigate Uranus’s ring moons and irregular satellites, close-up observations and measurements made by instruments on board a Uranus orbiter are needed.
Richard J. Cartwright↗