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At least 757 records · Page 42

Geophysical estimation of shallow permafrost distribution and properties in an ice-wedge polygon-dominated Arctic tundra region

Shallow permafrost distribution and characteristics are important for predicting ecosystem feedbacks to a changing climate over decadal to century timescales because they can drive active layer deepening and land surface deformation, which in turn can significantly affect hydrologic and biogeochemical responses, including greenhouse gas dynamics. As part of the U.S. Department of Energy Next-Generation Ecosystem Experiments- Arctic, we have investigated shallow Arctic permafrost characteristics at a site in Barrow, Alaska, with the objective of improving our understanding of the spatial distribution of shallow permafrost, its associated properties, and its links with landscape microtopography. To meet this objective, we have acquired and integrated a variety of information, including electric resistance tomography data, frequency-domain electromagnetic induction data, laboratory core analysis, petrophysical studies, high-resolution digital surface models, and color mosaics inferred from kite-based landscape imaging. The results of our study provide a comprehensive and high-resolution examination of the distribution and nature of shallow permafrost in the Arctic tundra, including the estimation of ice content, porosity, and salinity. Among other results, porosity in the top 2 m varied between 85% (besides ice wedges) and 40%, and was negatively correlated with fluid salinity. Salinity directly influenced ice and unfrozen water content and indirectly influenced the soil organic matter content. A relatively continuous but depth-variable increase in salinity led to a partially unfrozen saline layer (cryopeg) located below the top of the permafrost. The cryopeg environment could lead to year-round microbial production of greenhouse gases. Results also indicated a covariability between topography and permafrost characteristics including icewedge and salinity distribution. In addition to providing insight about the Arctic ecosystem, through integration of lab-based petrophysical results with field data, this study also quantified the key controls on electric resistivity at this Arctic permafrost site, including salinity, porosity, water content, ice content, soil organic matter content, and lithologic properties.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗

Adaptive Grid Lens Modeling of the Cosmic Horseshoe Using Hubble Space Telescope Imaging

The Cosmic Horseshoe gravitational lensing system is an extraordinary example of strong gravitational lensing both due to the nearly complete Einstein ring formed in this system and due to the star-forming nature of the lensed $z$ = 2.38 Lyman-break galaxy. In this paper, we describe the development of a new lens modeling package and the lens models produced using the Hubble Space Telescope imaging. Our new lens modeling package uses adaptive grid methods, based especially on the algorithm described by Vegetti & Koopmans. The new lens modeling package introduces the K-means method to deal with multiple background sources. We utilize two parameterized models, the singular isothermal ellipsoid and the Navarro–Frenk–White model in order to optimize the Bayesian penalty function. Color–color diagrams show two distinct colors exist in the Einstein ring, which suggests that the Cosmic Horseshoe is formed from two background galaxies or from a highly irregular galaxy. We find that the best lens model includes two components and the total mass within the Einstein ring is $(5.43\pm 0.08)\times {10}^{12}\,{M}_{\odot }$. Furthermore, the background source reconstruction shows two peaks in the source plane and the most probable lens profile is consistent with the light profile of the foreground galaxy when comparing axis ratios and position angles.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

The unWISE Catalog: Two Billion Infrared Sources from Five Years of WISE Imaging

We introduce the unWISE Catalog, containing the positions and fluxes of roughly 2 billion objects observed by the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) over the full sky. The unWISE Catalog has two advantages over the existing WISE catalog (AllWISE): first, it is based on increasingly deeper imaging, and second, it features improved modeling of crowded regions. The deeper imaging used in the unWISE Catalog comes from the coaddition of all publicly available 3–5 μm WISE imaging, including that from the ongoing NEOWISE-reactivation mission, thus increasing the total exposure time by a factor of 5 relative to AllWISE. At these depths, even at high Galactic latitudes, many sources are blended with their neighbors; accordingly, the unWISE analysis simultaneously fits thousands of sources to obtain accurate photometry. Our new catalog detects sources roughly 0.7 magnitudes fainter than the AllWISE catalog at 5σ, and more accurately models millions of faint sources in the Galactic plane, enabling a wealth of Galactic and extragalactic science. In particular, relative to AllWISE, unWISE doubles the number of galaxies detected between redshifts 0 and 1 and triples the number between redshifts 1 and 2, cataloging more than half a billion galaxies over the whole sky.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Evaluation of corn/soybeans separability using Thematic Mapper and Thematic Mapper Simulator data

Multitemporal Thematic Mapper, Thematic Mapper Simulator, and detailed ground truth data were collected for a 9- by 11-km sample segment in Webster County, IA, in the summer of 1982. Three dates were acquired each with Thematic Mapper Simulator (June 7, June 23, and July 31) and Thematic Mapper (August 2, September 3, and October 21). The Thematic Mapper Simulator data were converted to equivalent TM count values using TM and TMS calibration data and model based estimates of atmospheric effects. The July 31, TMS image was compared to the August 2, TM image to verify the conversion process. A quantitative measure of proportion estimation variance (Fisher information) was used to evaluate the corn/soybeans separability for each TM band as a function of time during the growing season. The additional bands in the middle infrared allowed corn and soybeans to be separated much earlier than was possible with the visible and near-infrared bands alone. Using the TM and TMS data, temporal profiles of the TM principal components were developed. The greenness and brightness exhibited behavior similar to MSS greenness and brightness for corn and soybeans.

Pitts, D. E.↗

Rectification of terrain induced distortions in radar imagery

This paper describes a technique to generate geocoded synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery corrected for terrain induced geometric distortions. This algorithm transforms the raw slant range image, generated by the signal processor, into a map registered product, resampled to either Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) or Polar Stereographic projections, and corrected for foreshortening. The technique utilizes the space platform trajectory information in conjunction with a digital elevation map (DEM) of the target area to generate an ortho-radar map with near-autonomous operation. The current procedure requires only two to three tie-points to compensate for the platform position uncertainty that results in translational error between the image and the DEM. This approach is unique in that it does not require generation of a simulated radar image from the DEM or a grid of tie-points to characterize the image-to-map distortions. Rather, it models the inherent distortions based on knowledge of the radar data collection characteristics, the signal Doppler parameters, and the local terrain height to automatically predict the registration transformation. This algorithm has been implemented on a minicomputer system equipped with an array processor and a large random-access memory to optimize the throughput.

Kwok, Ronald↗

Theoretical and experimental studies relevant to interpretation of auroral emissions

The results obtained in the second year of a three year collaborative effort with MSFC are summarized. A succession of experimental studies was completed to determine the effects of the natural and induced space vehicle environment on the measurement of auroral images from space-based platforms. In addition, a global model which incorporates both auroral and dayglow emission sources is being developed to allow interpretation of measured auroral emissions. A description of work completed on these two tasks is presented.

Keffer, Charles E.↗

Small convolution kernels for high-fidelity image restoration

An algorithm is developed for computing the mean-square-optimal values for small, image-restoration kernels. The algorithm is based on a comprehensive, end-to-end imaging system model that accounts for the important components of the imaging process: the statistics of the scene, the point-spread function of the image-gathering device, sampling effects, noise, and display reconstruction. Subject to constraints on the spatial support of the kernel, the algorithm generates the kernel values that restore the image with maximum fidelity, that is, the kernel minimizes the expected mean-square restoration error. The algorithm is consistent with the derivation of the spatially unconstrained Wiener filter, but leads to a small, spatially constrained kernel that, unlike the unconstrained filter, can be efficiently implemented by convolution. Simulation experiments demonstrate that for a wide range of imaging systems these small kernels can restore images with fidelity comparable to images restored with the unconstrained Wiener filter.

Reichenbach, Stephen E.↗

Vertical Settling and Radial Segregation of Large Dust Grains in the Circumstellar Disk of the Butterfly Star

Circumstellar disks are considered as the environment for the formation of planets. The growth of dust grains in these disks is the first step in the core accretion-gas capture planet formation scenario. Indicators as well as evidence of disk evolution can be traced in spatially resolved images and the spectral energy distribution (SED) of these objects. Aims. We aim at developing a model for the dust phase of the edge-on orientated circumstellar disk of the Butterfly Star which allows one to fit observed multi-wavelength images as well as the SED simultaneously. Our model is based on spatially resolved high angular resolution observations at 1.3 mm, 894 μm, 2.07 μm, 1.87 μm, 1.60 μm and 1.13 μm as well as an extensively covered SED ranging from 12 μm to 2.7 mm, including a detailed spectrum obtained with the Spitzer Space Telescope in the range from 12 μm to 38 μm. A parameter study based on a grid search method, involving the detailed analysis of every parameter, was performed to constrain the disk parameters and find the best-fit model for the independent observations. The individual observations were modeled simultaneously, using our continuum radiative transfer code MC3D. We derived a model that is capable of reproducing all of the observations of the disk at the same time. We find quantitative evidence for grain growth up to ~100 μm sized particles, vertical settling of larger dust grains toward the disk midplane, and radial segregation of the latter toward the central star. Our results are consistent with current theoretical models for the evolution of circumstellar disks and the early stages of planet formation.

Radiative transfer↗

Measuring local primordial non-Gaussianity from the clustering of DESI DR1 LRGs and QSOs

We report the first measurement of primordial non-Gaussianity (PNG), parameterized by $f_{\mathrm{NL}}$, in the configuration space two-point correlation function (2pcf). We employ simulation based modeling and a novel approach for the mitigation of imaging systematics. We apply this method to samples of luminous red galaxies (LRG) and quasars (QSO) observed by the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) during the first year of its observations (DR1). The observed 68% CL interval on $f_{\mathrm{NL}}$ is $-3^{+22}_{-21}$ using LRGs, and $ 0^{+17}_{-16}$ using QSOs. The joint measurement yields $f_{\mathrm{NL}} = -3^{+12}_{-12}$ at $\ [68\%]$ CL. Our pipeline imposes a Gaussian prior on the value of $p$ (which defines the PNG bias via the Universality relation), with $p_{\rm LRG} = 1.0 \pm 0.1$ and $p_{\rm QSO} = 1.6\pm 0.1$. The observed constraining power of DESI tracers significantly exceeds that of previous large-scale structure (LSS) surveys, and encouragingly, approaches the sensitivity of CMB probes of PNG.

Brown, Z. [Kansas State U.]↗

CHARA/MIRC observations of two M supergiants in Perseus OB1: Temperature, bayesian modeling, and compressed sensing imaging

Two red supergiants (RSGs) of the Per OB1 association, RS Per and T Per, have been observed in the H band using the Michigan Infra-Red Combiner (MIRC) instrument at the CHARA array. The data show clear evidence of a departure from circular symmetry. We present here new techniques specially developed to analyze such cases, based on state-of-the-art statistical frameworks. The stellar surfaces are first modeled as limb-darkened disks based on SATLAS models that fit both MIRC interferometric data and publicly available spectrophotometric data. Bayesian model selection is then used to determine the most probable number of spots. The effective surface temperatures are also determined and give further support to the recently derived hotter temperature scales of RSGs. The stellar surfaces are reconstructed by our model-independent imaging code SQUEEZE, making use of its novel regularizer based on Compressed Sensing theory. We find excellent agreement between the model-selection results and the reconstructions. Our results provide evidence for the presence of near-infrared spots representing about 3%-5% of the stellar flux.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Hyperspectral Imaging and SPA–LDA Quantitative Analysis for Detection of Colon Cancer Tissue

Hyperspectral imaging (HSI) has been demonstrated to provide a rapid, precise, and noninvasive method for cancer detection. However, because HSI contains many data, quantitative analysis is often necessary to distill information useful for distinguishing cancerous from normal tissue. To demonstrate that HSI with our proposed algorithm can make this distinction, we built a Vis–NIR HSI setup and made many spectral images of colon tissues, and then used a successive projection algorithm (SPA) to analyze the hyperspectral image data of the tissues. This was used to build an identification model based on linear discrimination analysis (LDA) using the relative reflectance values of the effective wavelengths. Other tissues were used as a prediction set to verify the reliability of the identification model. The results suggest that Vis–NIR hyperspectral images, together with the spectroscopic classification method, provide a new approach for reliable and safe diagnosis of colon cancer and could lead to advances in cancer diagnosis generally.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Prospects for in vivo estimation of photon linear attenuation coefficients using postprocessing dual-energy CT imaging on a commercial scanner: Comparison of analytic and polyenergetic statistical reconstruction algorithms

Purpose: Accurate patient-specific photon cross-section information is needed to support more accurate model-based dose calculation for low energy photon-emitting modalities in medicine such as brachytherapy and kilovoltage x-ray imaging procedures. A postprocessing dual-energy CT (pDECT) technique for noninvasivein vivo estimation of photon linear attenuation coefficients has been experimentally implemented on a commercial CT scanner and its accuracy assessed in idealized phantom geometries. Methods: Eight test materials of known composition and density were used to compare pDECT-estimated linear attenuation coefficients to NIST reference values over an energy range from 10 keV to 1 MeV. As statistical image reconstruction (SIR) has been shown to reconstruct images with less random and systematic error than conventional filtered backprojection (FBP), the pDECT technique was implemented with both an in-house polyenergetic SIR algorithm, alternating minimization (AM), as well as a conventional FBP reconstruction algorithm. Improvement from increased spectral separation was also investigated by filtering the high-energy beam with an additional 0.5 mm of tin. The law of propagated uncertainty was employed to assess the sensitivity of the pDECT process to errors in reconstructed images. Results: Mean pDECT-estimated linear attenuation coefficients for the eight test materials agreed within 1% of NIST reference values for energies from 1 MeV down to 30 keV, with mean errors rising to between 3% and 6% at 10 keV, indicating that the method is unbiased when measurement and calibration phantom geometries are matched. Reconstruction with FBP and AM algorithms conferred similar mean pDECT accuracy. However, single-voxel pDECT estimates reconstructed on a 1 × 1 × 3 mm{sup 3} grid are shown to be highly sensitive to reconstructed image uncertainty; in some cases pDECT attenuation coefficient estimates exhibited standard deviations on the order of 20% around the mean. Reconstruction with the statistical AM algorithm led to standard deviations roughly 40% to 60% less than FBP reconstruction. Additional tin filtration of the high energy beam exhibits similar pDECT estimation accuracy as the unfiltered beam, even when scanning with only 25% of the dose. Using the law of propagated uncertainty, low Z materials are found to be more sensitive to image reconstruction errors than high Z materials. Furthermore, it is estimated that reconstructed CT image uncertainty must be limited to less than 0.25% to achieve a target linear-attenuation coefficient estimation uncertainty of 3% at 28 keV. Conclusions: That pDECT supports mean linear attenuation coefficient measurement accuracies of 1% of reference values for energies greater than 30 keV is encouraging. However, the sensitivity of the pDECT measurements to noise and systematic errors in reconstructed CT images warrants further investigation in more complex phantom geometries. The investigated statistical reconstruction algorithm, AM, reduced random measurement uncertainty relative to FBP owing to improved noise performance. These early results also support efforts to increase DE spectral separation, which can further reduce the pDECT sensitivity to measurement uncertainty.

61 RADIATION PROTECTION AND DOSIMETRY↗

DiffLense: a conditional diffusion model for super-resolution of gravitational lensing data

Abstract Gravitational lensing data is frequently collected at low resolution due to instrumental limitations and observing conditions. Machine learning-based super-resolution techniques offer a method to enhance the resolution of these images, enabling more precise measurements of lensing effects and a better understanding of the matter distribution in the lensing system. This enhancement can significantly improve our knowledge of the distribution of mass within the lensing galaxy and its environment, as well as the properties of the background source being lensed. Traditional super-resolution techniques typically learn a mapping function from lower-resolution to higher-resolution samples. However, these methods are often constrained by their dependence on optimizing a fixed distance function, which can result in the loss of intricate details crucial for astrophysical analysis. In this work, we introduce DiffLense , a novel super-resolution pipeline based on a conditional diffusion model specifically designed to enhance the resolution of gravitational lensing images obtained from the Hyper Suprime-Cam Subaru Strategic Program (HSC-SSP). Our approach adopts a generative model, leveraging the detailed structural information present in Hubble space telescope (HST) counterparts. The diffusion model, trained to generate HST data, is conditioned on HSC data pre-processed with denoising techniques and thresholding to significantly reduce noise and background interference. This process leads to a more distinct and less overlapping conditional distribution during the model’s training phase. We demonstrate that DiffLense outperforms existing state-of-the-art single-image super-resolution techniques, particularly in retaining the fine details necessary for astrophysical analyses.

Computer Science↗

MO-G-BRF-02: Enhancement of Texture-Based Metastasis Prediction Models Via the Optimization of PET/MRI Acquisition Protocols

Purpose: We have previously identified a prediction model of lung metastases at diagnosis of soft-tissue sarcomas (STS) that is composed of two textural features extracted from FDG-PET and T1-weighted (T1w) MRI scans. The goal of this study is to evaluate whether the optimization in FDGPET and MRI acquisition parameters would enhance the prediction performance of texture-based models. Methods: Ten FDG-PET and T1w- MRI digitized tumor models were generated from imaging data of STS patients who underwent pre-treatment clinical scans between 2005 and 2011. Five of ten patients eventually developed lung metastases. Numerically simulated MR images were produced using echo times (TE) of 2 and 4 times the nominal clinical parameter (TEc), and repetition times (TR) of 0.5, 0.67, 1.5 and 2 times the nominal clinical parameter (TRc) found in the DICOM headers (TEc range: 9–13 ms, TRc range: 410-667 ms). PET 2D images were simulated using Monte-Carlo and were reconstructed using an ordered-subsets expectation maximization (OSEM) algorithm with 1 to 32 iterations and a post-reconstruction Gaussian filter of 0, 2, 4 or 6 mm width. For all possible combinations of PET and MRI acquisition parameters, the prediction model was constructed using logistic regression with new coefficients, and its associated prediction performance for lung metastases was evaluated using the area under the ROC curve (AUC). Results: The prediction performance over all simulations yielded AUCs ranging from 0.7 to 1. Notably, TR values below or equal to TRc and higher PET post-reconstruction filter widths yielded higher prediction performance. The best results were obtained with a combination of 4*TEc, TRc, 30 OSEM iterations and 2mm filter width. Conclusion: This work indicates that texture-based metastasis prediction models could be improved using optimized choices of FDG-PET and MRI acquisition protocols. This principle could be generalized to other texture-based models.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

Uncertainty Quantification for Quantitative Imaging Holdup Measurements

In nuclear fuel cycle safeguards, special nuclear material "held up" in pipes, ducts, and glove boxes causes significant uncertainty in material-unaccounted-for estimates. Quantitative imaging is a proposed non-destructive assay technique with potential to estimate the holdup mass more accurately and reliably than current techniques. However, uncertainty analysis for quantitative imaging remains a significant challenge. In this work we demonstrate an analysis approach for data acquired with a fast-neutron coded aperture imager. The work includes a calibrated forward model of the imager. Cross-validation indicates that the forward model predicts the imager data typically within 23%; further improvements are forthcoming. A new algorithm based on the chi-squared goodness-of-fit metric then uses the forward model to calculate a holdup confidence interval. The new algorithm removes geometry approximations that previous methods require, making it a more reliable uncertainty estimator.

holdup measurement↗

Generation of realistic input parameters for simulating atmospheric point-spread functions at astronomical observatories

High-fidelity simulated astronomical images are an important tool in developing and measuring the performance of image-processing algorithms, particularly for high precision measurements of cosmic shear – correlated distortions of images of distant galaxies due to weak gravitational lensing caused by the large-scale mass distribution in the Universe. For unbiased measurements of cosmic shear, all other sources of correlated image distortions must be modeled or removed. One such source is the correlated blurring of images due to optical turbulence in the atmosphere, which dominates the point-spread function (PSF) for ground-based instruments. In this work, we leverage data from weather forecasting models to produce wind speeds and directions, and turbulence parameters, that are realistically correlated with altitude. To study the resulting correlations in the size and shape of the PSF, we generate simulated images of the PSF across a ~10 square-degree field of view – the size of the camera focal plane for the Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile – using weather data and historical seeing for a geographic location near the Observatory. We make quantitative predictions for two-point correlation functions (2PCF) that are used in analyses of cosmic shear. We observe a strong anisotropy in the two-dimensional 2PCF, which is expected based on observations in real images, and study the dependence of the orientation of the anisotropy on dominant wind directions near the ground and at higher altitudes.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Predicting adenocarcinoma recurrence using computational texture models of nodule components in lung CT

Purpose: To investigate the importance of presurgical computed tomography (CT) intensity and texture information from ground-glass opacities (GGO) and solid nodule components for the prediction of adenocarcinoma recurrence. Methods: For this study, 101 patients with surgically resected stage I adenocarcinoma were selected. During the follow-up period, 17 patients had disease recurrence with six associated cancer-related deaths. GGO and solid tumor components were delineated on presurgical CT scans by a radiologist. Computational texture models of GGO and solid regions were built using linear combinations of steerable Riesz wavelets learned with linear support vector machines (SVMs). Unlike other traditional texture attributes, the proposed texture models are designed to encode local image scales and directions that are specific to GGO and solid tissue. The responses of the locally steered models were used as texture attributes and compared to the responses of unaligned Riesz wavelets. The texture attributes were combined with CT intensities to predict tumor recurrence and patient hazard according to disease-free survival (DFS) time. Two families of predictive models were compared: LASSO and SVMs, and their survival counterparts: Cox-LASSO and survival SVMs. Results: The best-performing predictive model of patient hazard was associated with a concordance index (C-index) of 0.81 ± 0.02 and was based on the combination of the steered models and CT intensities with survival SVMs. The same feature group and the LASSO model yielded the highest area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) of 0.8 ± 0.01 for predicting tumor recurrence, although no statistically significant difference was found when compared to using intensity features solely. For all models, the performance was found to be significantly higher when image attributes were based on the solid components solely versus using the entire tumors (p < 3.08 × 10{sup −5}). Conclusions: This study constitutes a novel perspective on how to interpret imaging information from CT examinations by suggesting that most of the information related to adenocarcinoma aggressiveness is related to the intensity and morphological properties of solid components of the tumor. The prediction of adenocarcinoma relapse was found to have low specificity but very high sensitivity. Our results could be useful in clinical practice to identify patients for which no recurrence is expected with a very high confidence using a presurgical CT scan only. It also provided an accurate estimation of the risk of recurrence after a given duration t from surgical resection (i.e., C-index = 0.81 ± 0.02)

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

Up Periscope! Designing a New Perceptual Metric for Imaging System Performance

Modern electronic imaging systems include optics, sensors, sampling, noise, processing, compression, transmission and display elements, and are viewed by the human eye. Many of these elements cannot be assessed by traditional imaging system metrics such as the MTF. More complex metrics such as NVTherm do address these elements, but do so largely through parametric adjustment of an MTF-like metric. The parameters are adjusted through subjective testing of human observers identifying specific targets in a set of standard images. We have designed a new metric that is based on a model of human visual pattern classification. In contrast to previous metrics, ours simulates the human observer identifying the standard targets. One application of this metric is to quantify performance of modern electronic periscope systems on submarines.

imaging↗