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At least 523 records · Page 29

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NASA NTRS1984

Characterization of surficial geologic units on Venus from Pioneer Venus radar data: A progress report

A classification database using the reflectivity (derived from the altimetry data), rms slope, and the first principal component of altimetry and topographic slope is presented. The resultant clustered data is examined qualitatively as well as quantitatively, to establish the statistical integrity of each cluster by use of an interactive, ternary plotting algorithm. This algorithm plots, for a cluster, the position of each of its pixels within a ternary diagram whose apices represent reflectivity, rms slope, and the first principal component. The digital values in these three databases are normalized such that unity is represented by a value of 255 in each database. The frequencies of each plotted point within the ternary diagram are recorded in order to establish the mode of each cluster. The pixels of each cluster are displayed as one separate color; their ternary plot will show not only the interrelations between clusters, but also the presence of any anomalous points within a cluster. Existing lunar and terrestrial analog radar data is used to establish fields within this ternary diagram that are indicative of as many different geologic materials and tectonics settings as possible. The resultant fields are used to determine empirically the geologic significance of the clusters resulting from the cluster analysis.

Davis, P. A.↗

NASA NTRS1984

Satellite techniques for determining the geopotential for sea-surface elevations

Spaceborne altimetry with measurement accuracies of a few centimeters which has the potential to determine sea surface elevations necessary to compute accurate three-dimensonal geostrophic currents from traditional hydrographic observation is discussed. The limitation in this approach is the uncertainties in knowledge of the global and ocean geopotentials which produce satellite and height uncertainties about an order of magnitude larger than the goal of about 10 cm. The quantative effects of geopotential uncertainties on processing altimetry data are described. Potential near term improvements, not requiring additional spacecraft, are discussed. Even though there is substantial improvements at the longer wavelengths, the oceanographic goal will be achieved. The geopotential research mission (GRM) is described which should produce goepotential models that are capable of defining the ocean geid to 10 cm and near-Earth satellite position. The state of the art and the potential of spaceborne gravimetry is described as an alternative approach to improve our knowledge of the geopotential.

Pisacane, V. L.↗

NASA NTRS1984

Electromagnetic bias of 10-GHz radar altimeter measurements of MSL

Electromagnetic bias, the small difference that exists between the radar measured mean sea level and the geometric mean sea level is an important issue in high precision satellite altimetry. Present day satellite altimetry has achieved, with SEASAT-1, a precision of 5 cm rms in the range measurement. Future altimeter designs are expected to improve the range measurement precision to cm rms. In order to exploit the capability of these precise radar altimeters are marine geodesy and oceanography, it is necessary to understand and account for all of the known biases in the range measurement. The electromagnetic bias or the EM bias, which has been attributed to the observed fact that ocean wave troughs tend to be better reflectors of nadir viewing microwave radar energy than ocean wave crests, can be observed with high resolution airborne radar. This report presents the results of the EM bias measurements made by NRL using an airborne radar altimeter operating at 10 GHz with a 1 ns range resolution. Data were taken for various sea states and wind conditions. The experimental results are compared with current theories.

Choy, L. W.↗

NASA NTRS1985

Topex - A spaceborne ocean observing system

The key to the ocean's influence on life is its general circulation. For the study of this circulation, geostrophic currents at the sea surface can be mapped from space with the aid of satellite altimeters, which measure the height of the sea surface and its variations in time and space. In view of the usefulness of satellite altimetry, the European Space Agency, Japan, France, and the United State have plans to launch Seasat-class altimeters. The similarity between the U.S. and the French programs and goals for satellite altimetry has led the respective agencies to study the possibility of combining NASA's Ocean Topography Experiment Topex with CNES's Poseidon Project. The objectives of the combined Topex/Poseidon mission involve an enhancement of the understanding of ocean dynamics on the basis of precise and accurate observations of the oceanic topography for a period of three years. The mission is to provide the foundation for a continuing program concerned with long-term observations of oceanic circulation.

Born, G. H.↗

NASA NTRS1986

Satellite techniques for determining the geopotential of sea surface elevations

Spaceborne altimetry with measurement accuracies of a few centimeters which has the potential to determine sea surface elevations necessary to compute accurate three-dimensional geostrophic currents from traditional hydrographic observation is discussed. The limitation in this approach is the uncertainties in knowledge of the global and ocean geopotentials which produce satellite and height uncertainties about an order of magnitude larger than the goal of about 10 cm. The quantitative effects of geopotential uncertainties on processing altimetry data are described. Potential near term improvements, not requiring additional spacecraft, are discussed. Even though there is substantial improvements at the longer wavelengths, the oceanographic goal will be achieved. The geopotential research mission (GRM) is described which should produce geopotential models that are capable of defining the ocean geoid to 10 cm and near-earth satellite position. The state of the art and the potential of spaceborne gravimetry is described as an alternative approach to improve our knowledge of the geopotential.

Pisacane, V. L.↗

NASA NTRS1989

Stress distribution and topography of Tellus Regio, Venus

The Tellus Regio area of Venus represents a subset of a narrow latitude band where Pioneer Venus Orbiter (PVO) altimetry data, line-of-sight (LOS) gravity data, and Venera 15/16 radar images have all been obtained with good resolution. Tellus Regio also has a wide variety of surface morphologic features, elevations ranging up to 2.5 km, and a relatively low LOS gravity anomaly. This area was therefore chosen in order to examine the theoretical stress distributions resulting from various models of compensation of the observed topography. These surface stress distributions are then compared with the surface morphology revealed in the Venera 15/16 radar images. Conclusions drawn from these comparisons will enable constraints to be put on various tectonic parameters relevant to Tellus Regio. The stress distribution is calculated as a function of the topography, the equipotential anomaly, and the assumed model parameters. The topography data is obtained from the PVO altimetry. The equipotential anomaly is estimated from the PVO LOS gravity data. The PVO LOS gravity represents the spacecraft accelerations due to mass anomalies within the planet. These accelerations are measured at various altitudes and angles to the local vertical and therefore do not lend themselves to a straightforward conversion. A minimum variance estimator of the LOS gravity data is calculated, taking into account the various spacecraft altitudes and LOS angles and using the measured PVO topography as an a priori constraint. This results in an estimated equivalent surface mass distribution, from which the equipotential anomaly is determined.

Williams, David R.↗

NASA NTRS1989

Gravitational model improvement at the Goddard Space Flight Center

Major new computations of terrestrial gravitational field models were performed by the Geodynamics Branch of Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). This development has incorporated the present state of the art results in satellite geodesy and have relied upon a more consistent set of reference constants than was heretofore utilized in GSFC's GEM models. The solutions are complete in spherical harmonic coefficients out to degree 50 for the gravity field parameters. These models include adjustment for a subset of 66 ocean tidal coefficients for the long wavelength components of 12 major ocean tides. This tidal adjustment was made in the presence of 550 other fixed ocean tidal terms representing 32 major and minor ocean tides and the Wahr frequency dependent solid earth tidal model. In addition 5-day averaged values for Earth rotation and polar motion were derived for the time period of 1980 onward. Two types of models were computed. These are satellite only models relying exclusively on tracking data and combination models which have incorporated satellite altimetry and surface gravity data. The satellite observational data base consists of over 1100 orbital arcs of data on 31 satellites. A large percentage of these observations were provided by third generation laser stations (less than 5 cm). A calibration of the model accuracy of the GEM-T2 satellite only solution indicated that it was a significant improvement over previous models based solely upon tracking data. The rms geoid error for this field is 110 cm to degree and order 36. This is a major advancement over GEM-T1 whose errors were estimated to be 160 cm. An error propagation using the covariances of the GEM-T2 model for the TOPEX radial orbit component indicates that the rms radial errors are expected to be 12 cm. The combination solution, PGS-3337, is a preliminary effort leading to the development of GEM-T3. PGS-3337 has incorporated global sets of surface gravity data and the Seasat altimetry to produce a model complete to (50,50). A solution for the dynamic ocean topography to degree and order 10 was included as part of this adjustment.

Marsh, J. G.↗

NASA NTRS1989

Stabilized determination of geopotential coefficients by the mixed hom-BLUP approach

For the determination of geopotential coefficients, data can be used from rather different sources, e.g., satellite tracking, gravimetry, or altimetry. As each data type is particularly sensitive to certain wavelengths of the spherical harmonic coefficients it is of essential importance how they are treated in a combination solution. For example the longer wavelengths are well described by the coefficients of a model derived by satellite tracking, while other observation types such as gravity anomalies, delta g, and geoid heights, N, from altimetry contain only poor information for these long wavelengths. Therefore, the lower coefficients of the satellite model should be treated as being superior in the combination. In the combination a new method is presented which turns out to be highly suitable for this purpose due to its great flexibility combined with robustness.

Middel, B.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Atmospheric analysis for airdata calibration on research aircraft

In-flight airdata calibrations are used to determine the aerodynamic influence of an airplane on pitot-static pressure measurements of altitude and speed. Conventional flight-test calibration techniques are briefly reviewed and meteorological analysis methods for estimating calibration reference values of atmospheric conditions are described. There are cases where some conventional in-flight techniques are not entirely satisfactory for research aircraft because of added equipment requirements or flight envelope and location limitations. In these cases, atmospheric wind and pressure information can be used to complement conventional techniques. Accuracy of the atmospheric measurements and the variability of upper-air winds and pressure values are discussed. Results from several flight research aircraft show that wind reference calibration is generally less accurate than calibration accuracy standards for civil and research aircraft. Examples of pressure reference altimetry derived from meteorological analyses are also presented for a variety of flight research programs. These flight data show that the reference pressure accuracy provided by meteorological analyses is usually within civil aircraft and flight research airdata calibration accuracy standards. Meteorological analyses altimetry is particularly useful when it is not feasible to restrict the test airplane altitude, location, or maneuver envelope.

Ehernberger, L. J.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Scattering properties of Venus' surface

Radar backscatter functions Sigma-(carat)(sub 0)(phi) for incidence angles between 0 less than or equal to phi less than or equal to 4-10 deg were derived from Magellan altimetry radar echoes. The procedure includes constrained solution of a system of simultaneous equations for which the echo-spectrum and echo time profile are inputs. A practical and workable set of constraints was applied; optimization and improved results are expected as the analysis matures. The scattering functions yield information on small-scale surface structures (tens of centimeters to tens of meters) but averaged over hundreds of sq km. RMS surface slopes derived from fits of analytic functions to the Sigma-(carat)(sub 0)(phi) results were converted to map form and show patterns similar to those reported using other techniques. While all three forms are found on Venus, fit residuals imply that an exponential scattering function matches data better than either the Hagfors or Gaussian form in most areas, although the Hagfors function may be a better descriptor at some sites. Limited study of image data indicates that average backscatter cross section, and possibly its slope, can be derived at oblique angles (17 deg less than or equal to phi less than or equal to 45 deg). Offsets of the echo peak in altimetry spectra are surprisingly common and are loosely correlated with Venus topography, but no cause for this phenomenon was identified.

Tyler, G. L.↗

NASA NTRS1991

TOPEX/POSEIDON Science Investigations Plan

TOPEX/POSEIDON is a satellite mission that will use the technique of radar altimetry to make precise measurement of sea level with a primary goal of studying the global ocean circulation. The mission represents the culmination of the development of satellite altimetry over the past two decades. The major thrust of the mission is a commitment to measuring seal level with an unprecedented accuracy such that the small-amplitude, basinwide sea level changes that bear significant effects on global change can be detected. The mission will be conducted jointly by the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the French space agency, Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales. The 3- to 5-year mission will study the long-term mean and variability of ocean circulation. This document provides brief descriptions of the planned investigations as well as a summary of the major elements of the mission.

Fulton, David↗

NASA NTRS1991

Global ocean tides through assimilation of oceanographic and altimeter satellite data in a hydrodynamic model

Ocean tides must be considered in many scientific disciplines: astronomy, oceanography, geodesy, geophysics, meteorology, and space technologies. Progress in each of these disciplines leads to the need for greater knowledge and more precise predictions of the ocean tide contribution. This is particularly true of satellite altimetry. On one side, the present and future satellite altimetry missions provide and will supply new data that will contribute to the improvement of the present ocean tide solutions. On the other side, tidal corrections included in the Geophysical Data Records must be determined with the maximum possible accuracy. The valuable results obtained with satellite altimeter data thus far have not been penalized by the insufficiencies of the present ocean tide predictions included in the geophysical data records (GDR's) because the oceanic processes investigated have shorter wavelengths than the error field of the tidal predictions, so that the residual errors of the tidal corrections are absorbed in the empirical tilt and bias corrections of the satellite orbit. For future applications to large-scale oceanic phenomena, however, it will no longer be possible to ignore these insufficiencies.

Leprovost, Christian↗

NASA NTRS1991

The dynamics and energetics of midlatitude western boundary currents: A comparison of the Kuroshio Extension and the Gulf Stream

We will use TOPEX/POSEIDON altimetry in combination with ongoing and planned efforts, including data from the European Remote Sensing satellite (ERS-1), in situ measurements designed specifically to complement satellite altimetry, and assimilation of these several data types into eddy-resolving numerical models in order to understand the dynamics and energetics of midlatitude western boundary currents (specifically, the Gulf Stream and the Kuroshio Extension). A better understanding of the recirculation of midlatitude gyres can best be undertaken in the format of such regional, eddy-resolving experiments. Such regional programs will enhance and be enhanced by the larger scale circulation studies of the World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE) as well as by global-scale eddy-resolving models that we will develop prior to the TOPEX/POSEIDON mission. This effort includes participation on the TOPEDX/POSEIDON Science Team.

Mitchell, James L.↗

NASA NTRS1991

Ocean circulation modeling by use of radar altimeter data

The project will investigate the use of radar altimetry (RA) data in the determination of the ocean circulation models. RA data will be used to verify prognostic experiments of the steady state and seasonal cycle of large-scale circulation models and the statistical steady state of eddy-resolving models. The data will serve as initial and update conditions in data assimilation experiments and as constraints in inverse calculations. The aim of the project is a better understanding of ocean physics, the determination and mapping of ocean currents, and a contribution to the establishment of ocean circulation models for climate studies. The goal of the project is to use satellite radar altimetry data for improving our knowledge of ocean circulation both in a descriptive sense and through the physics that govern the circulation state. The basic tool is a series of ocean circulation models. Depending on the model, different techniques will be applied to incorporate the RA data.

Olbers, Dirk↗

NASA NTRS1993

Multibeam Laser Altimeter for Planetary Topographic Mapping

Laser altimetry provides an active, high-resolution, high-accuracy method for measurement of planetary and asteroid surface topography. The basis of the measurement is the timing of the roundtrip propagation of short-duration pulses of laser radiation between a spacecraft and the surface. Vertical, or elevation, resolution of the altimetry measurement is determined primarily by laser pulse width, surface-induced spreading in time of the reflected pulse, and the timing precision of the altimeter electronics. With conventional gain-switched pulses from solid-state lasers and nanosecond resolution timing electronics, submeter vertical range resolution is possible anywhere from orbital altitudes of approximately 1 km to altitudes of several hundred kilometers. Horizontal resolution is a function of laser beam footprint size at the surface and the spacing between successive laser pulses. Laser divergence angle and altimeter platform height above the surface determine the laser footprint size at the surface, while laser pulse repetition rate, laser transmitter beam configuration, and altimeter platform velocity determine the spacing between successive laser pulses. Multiple laser transmitters in a single laser altimeter instrument that is orbiting above a planetary or asteroid surface could provide across-track as well as along-track coverage that can be used to construct a range image (i.e., topographic map) of the surface. We are developing a pushbroom laser altimeter instrument concept that utilizes a linear array of laser transmitters to provide contiguous across-track and along-track data. The laser technology is based on the emerging monolithic combination of individual, 1-sq cm diode-pumped Nd:YAG laser pulse emitters. Details of the multi-emitter laser transmitter technology, the instrument configuration, and performance calculations for a realistic Discovery-class mission will be presented.

Garvin, J. B.↗

NASA NTRS1993

Changes on the ice plain of Ice Stream B and Ross Ice Shelf

During the 1970's and 1980's, nearly 200 stations from which accurate, three dimensional position fixes have been obtained from TRANSIT satellites were occupied throughout the Ross Ice Shelf. We have transformed the elevations obtained by satellite altimetry to the same geodetic datum, and then applied a second transformation to reduce the geodetic heights to elevations above mean sea level using the GEM-10C geoidal height. On the IGY Ross Ice Shelf traverse between Oct. 1957 and Feb. 1958, an accurate method of barometric altimetry was used on a loop around the ice shelf that was directly tied to the sea at both ends of the travel route, thus providing absolute elevations. Comparisons of the two sets of data at 32 station pairs on floating ice show a mean difference of 0 +/- 1 m. The elevation data were also compared with theoretical values of elevations for a hydrostatically floating ice shelf. The mean difference between theoretical and measured values of elevations is -2 +/- 1 m.

Shabtaie, Sion↗

NASA NTRS1991

Geoscience Laser Ranging System design and performance predictions

The Geoscience Laser System (GLRS) will be a high-precision distance-measuring instrument planned for deployment on the EOS-B platform. Its primary objectives are to perform ranging measurements to ground targets to monitor crustal deformation and tectonic plate motions, and nadir-looking altimetry to determine ice sheet thicknesses, surface topography, and vertical profiles of clouds and aerosols. The system uses a mode-locked, 3-color Nd:YAG laser source, a Microchannel Plate-PMT for absolute time-of-flight (TOF) measurement (at 532 nm), a streak camera for TOF 2-color dispersion measurement (532 nm and 355 nm), and a Si avalanche photodiode for altimeter waveform detection (1064 nm). The performance goals are to make ranging measurements to ground targets with about 1 cm accuracy, and altimetry height measurements over ice with 10 cm accuracy. This paper presents an overview of the design concept developed during a phase B study. System engineering issues and trade studies are discussed, with particular attention to error budgets and performance predictions.

Anderson, Kent L.↗

NASA NTRS1993

Venus - Global gravity and topography

A new gravity field determination that has been produced combines both the Pioneer Venus Orbiter (PVO) and the Magellan Doppler radio data. Comparisonsbetween this estimate, a spherical harmonic model of degree and order 21, and previous models show that significant improvements have been made. Results are displayed as gravity contours overlaying a topographic map. We also calculate a new spherical harmonic model of topography based on Magellan altimetry, with PVO altimetry included where gaps exist in the Magellan data. This model is also of degree and order 21, so in conjunction with the gravity model, Bouguer and isostatic anomaly maps can be produced. These results are very consistent with previous results, but reveal more spatial resolution in the higher latitudes.

Mcnamee, J. B.↗