Planetary film reconnaissance system
Design, fabrication, assembly of planetary film reconnaissance system
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Design, fabrication, assembly of planetary film reconnaissance system
Radar remote sensors as tools in reconnaissance geomorphic, vegetation and soil mapping
Reconnaissance missions for outer planets exploration, discussing spacecraft design constraints, multiple planet fly-by, planetary orbiter, etc
Phobos and Deimos photographic reconnaissance feasibility during 1971 orbiter and 1973 Viking missions, studying trajectory
Phobos and Deimos photographic reconnaissance feasibility during 1971 Orbiter and 1973 Viking missions, studying trajectory
The author has identified the following significant results. An area of anomalous linear topographic grain and color expressions was recognized in Apollo 9 and ERTS-1 imagery along the Colorado River of northwestern Arizona and southern Nevada. Field reconnaissance and analysis of U-2 photography has shown the anomaly to be a zone of north to north-northwest trending dike swarms and associated granitic plutons. The dikes vary in composition from rhyolite to diabase, with an average composition nearer rhyolite. Shearing and displacement of host rocks along dikes suggest dike emplacement along active fault zones. Post-dike deformation has resulted in shearing and complex normal faulting along a similar north-south trend. The epizonal plutonism and volcanism of this north-south belt appears to represent a structurally controlled volcanogenic province which ends abruptly in the vicinity of Lake Mead at a probable eastern extension of the Las Vegas Shear Zone. The magnitude and chronology of extensional faulting and plutonism recognized in the north-south zone, support the hypothesis that the Las Vegas Shear Zone is a transform fault separating two areas of crustal spreading.
The author has identified the following significant results. Initial analytical results in Area 3 have been very encouraging. Not only have new major lineaments been detected but many of the intersections of those lineaments correlate with the general location of known mineral deposits while others appear to outline petroleum-bearing basins and uplifts. If later analyses confirm these results the economic impact of ERTS type imagery could be very significant in worldwide mineral and petroleum reconnaissance.
There are no author-identified significant results in this report. Research progress in applications of ERTS-1 MSS imagery in study of Basin-Range tectonics is summarized. Field reconnaissance of ERTS-1 image anomalies has resulted in recognition of previously unreported fault zones and regional structural control of volcanic and plutonic activity. NIMBUS, Apollo 9, X-15, U-2, and SLAR imagery are discussed with specific applications, and methods of image enhancement and analysis employed in the research are summarized. Areas studied and methods employed in geologic field work are outlined.
The author has identified the following significant results. Analysis of ERTS-1 MSS and other imagery for a 125 x 25 mile area in the southern part of the Basin-Range Province of southeastern California, southern Nevada, and northwestern Arizona indicates the presence of numerous color and contrast anomalies in alluvium. Field work guided by high altitude U-2 and side-looking aerial radar imagery confirmed that these anomalies are fault zones, many of which are believed to be of recent age. Few faults in alluvium have been reported from previous ground based geologic studies in the area. ERTS-1 imagery provides a synoptic perspective previously unavailable for regional geologic studies. The ability to conduct rapid and inexpensive reconnaissance of recent faulting has important applications to land use planning, ground water exploration, geologic hazards, and the siting and design of engineering projects.
Evaluation of commercial utility of ERTS-1 imagery in structural reconnaissance for mineral and petroleum in North America
The author has identified the following significant results. Analysis of ERTS-1 MSS imagery over the sourthern Basin-Range Province of California, Nevada, and Arizona has led to recognition of regional tectonic control of volcanism, plutonism, mineralization, and fault patterns. This conclusion is the result of geologic reconnaissance of anomalies observed in ERTS-1 and Apollo-9 data, guided by intermediate scale U-2 photography, SLAR, and relevant geologic literature. In addition to regional tectonic studies, the ERTS-1 imagery provides a basis for detailed research of relatively small geologic features. Interpretation of ERTS-1 and Apollo-9 space imagery and intermediate scale X-15 and U-2 photography indicates the presence of a major fault zone along the California-Nevada state line, here named the Pahrump fault zone. Field mapping confirms previously unreported evidence of fault breaks in bedrock, along range fronts and in Quaternary alluvium and lake sediments. Regional gravity lows and fault traces within the Pahrump fault zone from a general left stepping en echelon pattern. The trend and postulated diplacement for this fault are similar to other major strike slip fault zones in the southern Basin-Range Province.
The author has identified the following significant results. In areas 2 and 3 (Colorado and New Mexico - Texas) continuing correlations are observed between lineaments selected from the ERTS imagery and known fault and fracture zones. There continues to be a correlation between lineament intersectional areas and known mining areas. Initial contacts with mining and/or petroleum companies regarding the use of ERTS-1 imagery as an interpreted medium for guiding reconnaissance operations seems to indicate that the technology and economics will be commercially acceptable for initial investigatory investments.
The author has identified the following significant results. Research progress in applications of ERTS-1 MSS imagery to study of Basin-Range tectonics is summarized. Field reconnaissance of ERTS-1 image anomalies has resulted in recognition of previously unreported fault zones and regional structural control of volcanic and plutonic activity. Nimbus, Apollo 9, X-15, U-2, and SIAR imagery are discussed with specific applications, and methods of image enhancement and analysis employed in the research are summarized. Field areas studied and methods employed in geologic field work are outlined.
The author has identified the following significant results. Reconnaissance geologic mapping can be done with 60-70% accuracy in the Dry Valleys of Antarctica using ERTS-1 imagery. Bedrock geology can be mapped much better than unconsolidated deposits of Quaternary age. Mapping of bedrock geology is facilitated by lack of vegetation, whereas mapping of Quaternary deposits is hindered by lack of vegetation. Antarctic images show remarkable clarity and under certain conditions (moderate relief, selection of the optimum band for specific rock types, stereo-viewing) irregular contacts can be mapped in local areas that are amazing like those mapped at a scale of 1:25,000, but, of course, lack details due to resolution limitations. ERTS-1 images should be a valuable aid to Antarctic geologists who have some limited ground truth and wish to extend boundaries of geologic mapping from known areas.
The author has identified the following significant results. Research progress in an investigation using ERTS-1 MSS imagery to study regional tectonics and related natural resources is summarized. Field reconnaissance guided by analysis of ERTS-1 imagery has resulted in development of a tectonic model relating strike-slip faulting to crustal extension in the southern Basin Range Province. The tectonics of the northern Death Valley-Furnace Creek Fault Zone and spacially associated volcanism and mercury mineralization were also investigated. Field work in the southern Sierra Nevada has confirmed the existence of faults and diabase dike swarms aligned along several major lineaments first recognized in ERTS-1 imagery. Various image enhancement and analysis techniques employed in the study of ERTS-1 data are summarized.
The SLAR was obtained in early April 1973 by means of an AN/APQ-97 K-band brute-force system. The flight strips are all north-look, with ground-range display, and 60% overlap. The interpretation was compiled on a 1/100,000-scale mosaic, but the actual mapping of contacts, dips, lineaments, and the like, was done on 1/100,000-scale stereo-strips. Initial regional mapping was intended as an aid in determining that part of the Southern Trough most likely to be underlain by relatively unmetamorphosed paralic Kembelangan sandstones ideally interdigitated with marine source and cape shales. SLAR reconnaissance mapping met a subsequent need to rapidly and inexpensively narrow the search to that part of the "fairway' coincident with a favorable structure. The SLAR mosaic clearly displays the Irian mountains, strongly and gently folded foothills belts, and the southern front of the fold belt south of which is a large complex of alluvial fans.
A method of mapping geology at a reconnaissance scale and locating zones of possible hydrothermal alteration has been developed. This method is based on principal component analysis of Landsat digital data and is applied to the desert area of the Chagai Hills, Baluchistan, Pakistan. A method for airborne spectrometric detection of geobotanical anomalies associated with prophyry Cu-Mo mineralization at Heddleston, Montana has also been developed. This method is based on discriminants in the 0.67 micron and 0.79 micron region of the spectrum.
Satellite remote sensing technology is a tool with which archaeologists can, with relative ease, survey a region that is otherwise inaccessible. The northeast corner of the Yucatan Peninsula is such an area: it is isolated and sparsely inhabited, with dense forest and extensive swamps. From Cabo Catoche inland to Cancun, this remote corner of the ancient Maya world is virtually unexplored. Recent satellite images disclose evidence of past human activity in this unexplored region and offer a compelling argument for an archaeological reconnaissance.