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At least 127 records · Page 7

Microwave emission measurements of sea surface roughness, soil moisture, and sea ice structure

In order to demonstrate the feasibility of the microwave radiometers to be carried aboard the Nimbus 5 and 6 satellites and proposed for one of the earth observatory satellites, remote measurements of microwave radiation at wavelengths ranging from 0.8 to 21 cm have been made of a variety of the earth's surfaces from the NASA CV-990 A/C. Brightness temperatures of sea water surfaces of varying roughness, of terrain with varying soil moisture, and of sea ice of varying structure were observed. In each case, around truth information was available for correlation with the microwave brightness temperature. The utility of passive microwave radiometry in determining ocean surface wind speeds, at least for values higher than 7 meters/second has been demonstrated. In addition, it was shown that radiometric signatures can be used to determine soil moisture in unvegetated terrain to within five percentage points by weight. Finally, it was demonstrated that first year thick, multi-year, and first year thin sea ice can be distinguished by observing their differing microwave emissivities at various wavelengths.

Gloersen, P.↗

Mercury's infrared phase effect

Predictions based on a smooth spherical blackbody do not agree with the observed brightness temperatures of the planet Mercury. The curves of measured effective brightness temperature as a function of phase angle are more steep than and reach lower values near absolute values of i of about 180 deg and higher values near absolute values of i of about 0 deg than those of a smooth sphere. Phase curves of the moon have also been obtained which confirm earlier measurements. The distribution of Mercury's emitted energy in wavelength is dependent upon phase angle, changing from clearly identifiable thermal spectra for absolute values of i less than 150 deg to a superposition of thermal emission at several color temperatures for greater phase angles. No significant variation of infrared brightness temperature with subearth longitude intensity was found. These results provide further evidence that the surfaces of Mercury and the moon are similar and that the top layer of the planetary terrain is rough on a millimeter scale.-

Murdock, T. L.↗

Magellan - Radar performance and data products

The Magellan Venus orbiter carries only one scientific instrument: a 12.6-centimeter-wavelength radar system shared among three data-taking modes. The synthetic-aperture mode images radar echoes from the Venus surface at a resolution of between 120 and 300 meters, depending on spacecraft altitude. In the altimetric mode, relative height measurement accuracies may approach 5 meters, depending on the terrain's roughness, although orbital uncertainties place a floor of about 50 meters on the absolute uncertainty. In areas of extremely rough topography, accuracy is limited by the inherent line-of-sight radar resolution of about 88 meters. The maximum elevation observed to date, corresponding to a planetary radius of 6062 kilometers, lies within Maxwell Mons. When used as a thermal emission radiometer, the system can determine surface emissivities to an absolute accuracy of about 0.02. Mosaicked and archival digital data products will be released in compact disk (CDROM) format.

Pettengill, Gordon H.↗

Experiments with a small behaviour controlled planetary rover

A series of experiments that were performed on the Rocky 3 robot is described. Rocky 3 is a small autonomous rover capable of navigating through rough outdoor terrain to a predesignated area, searching that area for soft soil, acquiring a soil sample, and depositing the sample in a container at its home base. The robot is programmed according to a reactive behavior control paradigm using the ALFA programming language. This style of programming produces robust autonomous performance while requiring significantly less computational resources than more traditional mobile robot control systems. The code for Rocky 3 runs on an eight bit processor and uses about ten k of memory.

Miller, David P.↗

Task Adaptive Walking Robots for Mars Surface Exploration

There are exciting opportunities for robot science that lie beyond the reach of current manipulators, rovers, balloons, penetrators, etc. Examples include mobile explorations of the densely cratered Mars highlands, of asteroids, and of moons. These sites are believed to be rich in geologic history and mineralogical detail, but are difficult to robotically access and sample. The surface terrains are rough and changeable, with variable porosity and dust layering; and the small bodies present further challenges of low-temperature, micro-gravity environments. Even the more benign areas of Mars are highly variegated in character (>VL2 rock densities), presenting significant risk to conventional rovers. The development of compact walking robots would have applications to the current mission set for Mars surface exploration, as well as enabling future Mars Outpost missions, asteroid rendezvous missions for the Solar System Exploration Program (SSE) and the mechanical assembly/inspection of large space platforms for the Human Exploration and Development of Spaces (HEDS).

Huntsberger, Terry↗

Space-Frame Lunar Lander

The space-frame lunar lander was originally intended to (1) land on rough lunar terrain, (2) deform itself to conform to the terrain so as to be able to remain there in a stable position and orientation, and (3) if required, further deform itself to perform various functions. In principle, the space-frame lunar lander could be used in the same way on Earth, as might be required, for example, to place meteorological sensors or a radio-communication relay station on an otherwise inaccessible mountain peak. the space-frame lunar lander would include a truss-like structure consisting mostly of a tetrahedral mesh of nodes connected by variable-length struts, the lengths of which would be altered in coordination to impart the desired overall size and shape to the structure. Thrusters (that is, small rocket engines), propellant tanks, a control system, and instrumentation would be mounted in and on the structure (see figure). Once it had landed and deformed itself to the terrain through coordinated variations in the lengths of the struts, the structure could be further deformed into another space-frame structure

Curtis, Steven A.↗

Comparison of Raindrop Size Distribution between NASA’s S-Band Polarimetric Radar and Two-Dimensional Video Disdrometers

The ground-based-radar-derived raindrop size distribution (DSD) parameters—mass-weighted drop diameter Dmass and normalized intercept parameter NW—are the sole resource for direct validation of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission Core Observatory satellite-based retrieved DSD. Both Dmass and NW are obtained from radar-measured reflectivity ZH and differential reflectivity ZDR through empirical relationships. This study uses existing relationships that were determined for the GPM ground validation (GV) program and directly compares the NASA S-band polarimetric radar (NPOL) observables of ZH and ZDR and derivedDmass and NW with those calculated by two-dimensional video disdrometer (2DVD). The joint NPOL and 2DVD datasets were acquired during three GPM GV field campaigns conducted in eastern Iowa, southern Appalachia, and western Washington State. The comparative study quantifies the level of agreement for ZH, ZDR, Dmass, and log(NW) at an optimum distance (15–40 km) from the radar as well as at distances greater than 60 km from radar and over mountainous terrain. Interestingly, roughly 10%–15% of the NPOL ZH–ZDR pairs were well outside the envelope of 2DVD-estimated ZH–ZDR pairs. The exclusion of these pairs improved the comparisons noticeably.

Ali Tokay↗

Comparison of Raindrop Size Distribution between NASA's S-Band Polarimetric Radar and Two-Dimensional Video Disdrometers

The ground-based-radar-derived raindrop size distribution (DSD) parameters—mass-weighted drop diameter D mass and normalized intercept parameter NW—are the sole resource for direct validation of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM ) mission Core Observatory satellite-based retrieved DSD. Both D mass and NW are obtained from radar-measured reflectivity Z Hand differential reflectivity ZDR through empirical relationships. This study uses existing relationships that were determined for the GPM ground validation (GV) program and directly compares the NASA S-band polarimetric radar (NPOL) observables of Z Hand Z DR and derived D mass and NW with those calculated by two-dimensional video disdrometer (2DVD). The joint NPOL and 2DVD datasets were acquired during three GPM GV field campaigns conducted in eastern Iowa, southern Appalachia, and western Washington State. The comparative study quantifies the level of agreement for ZH, ZDR, D mass, and log (NW) at an optimum distance (15–40 km) from the radar as well as at distances greater than 60 km from radar and over mountainous terrain. Interestingly, roughly 10%–15% of the NPOLZH–Z DR pairs were well outside the envelope of 2DVD-estimatedZH–Z DR pairs. The exclusion of these pairs improved the comparisons noticeably.

Ali Tokay↗

A novel tiered sensor fusion approach for terrain characterization and safe landing assessment

This paper presents a novel tiered sensor fusion methodology for real-time terrain safety assessment. A combination of active and passive sensors, specifically, radar, lidar, and camera, operate in three tiers according to their inherent ranges of operation. Low-level terrain features (e.g. slope, roughness) and high-level terrain features (e.g. hills, craters) are integrated using principles of reasoning under uncertainty. Three methodologies are used to infer landing safety: Fuzzy Reasoning, Probabilistic Reasoning, and Evidential Reasoning. The safe landing predictions from the three fusion engines are consolidated in a subsequent decision fusion stage aimed at combining the strengths of each fusion methodology. Results from simulated spacecraft descents are presented and discussed.

fuzzy reasoning↗

Model for optimal parallax in stereo radar imagery

Simulated stereo radar imagery is used to investigate parameters for a spaceborne imaging radar. Incidence angles ranging from small to intermediate to large are used with three digital terrain model areas which are representative of relatively flat, moderately rough, and mountaneous terrain. The simulated radar imagery was evaluated by interpreters for ease of stereo perception and information content, and rank ordered within each class of terrain. The interpreter's results are analyzed for trends between the height of a feature and either parallax or vertical exaggeration for a stereo pair. A model is developed which predicts the amount of parallax (or vertical exaggeration) an interpreter would desire for best stereo perception of a feature of a specific height. Results indicate the selection of angle of incidence and stereo intersection angle depend upon the relief of the terrain. Examples of the simulated stereo imagery are presented for a candidate spaceborne imaging radar having four selectable angles of incidence.

Pisaruck, M. A.↗

An analysis of simulated stereo radar imagery

Simulated stereo radar imagery is used to investigate parameters for a spaceborne imaging radar. Incidence angles ranging from small to intermediate to large are used with three digital terrain model areas which are representative of relatively flat, moderately rough, and mountainous terrain. The simulated radar imagery was evaluated by interpreters for ease of stereo perception and information content, and rank order within each class of terrain. The interpreter's results are analyzed for trends between the height of a feature and either parallax or vertical exaggeration for a stereo pair. A model is developed which predicts the amount of parallax (or vertical exaggeration) an interpreter would desire for best stereo perception of a feature of a specific height. Results indicate the selection of angle of incidence and stereo intersection angle depend upon the relative relief of the terrain. Examples of the simulated stereo imagery are presented for a candidate spaceborne imaging radar having four selectable angles of incidence.

Pisaruck, M. A.↗

Viking bistatic radar experiment - Summary of results in near-equatorial regions

Viking bistatic radar have been processed using Hagfors' scattering function to obtain estimates of rms surface roughness from ground tracks primarily in the equatorial region of Mars. Roughness varies from as little as 0.75 deg rms east of Solis and Sinai Plana to at least 8 deg on the western slope of Arsia Mons. Estimated roughness in cratered terrain is generally about 5 deg or less, implying the existence of smoothing processes on scales less than 100 m. There is good agreement between bistatic roughness estimates and earth-based results at ground track intersections near the equator in both cratered terrain and plains. Surface tilt probability density functions derived from these observations are usually more sharply peaked than the Hagfors function for similar values of rms surface roughness. Earlier results using the Gaussian model appear to have overestimated the surface roughness by 30-40 percent.

Simpson, R. A.↗

A vision system for a Mars rover

A Mars rover must be able to sense its local environment with sufficient resolution and accuracy to avoid local obstacles and hazards while moving a significant distance each day. Power efficiency and reliability are extremely important considerations, making stereo correlation an attractive method of range sensing compared to laser scanning, if the computational load and correspondence errors can be handled. Techniques for treatment of these problems, including the use of more than two cameras to reduce correspondence errors and possibly to limit the computational burden of stereo processing, have been tested at JPL. Once a reliable range map is obtained, it must be transformed to a plan view and compared to a stored terrain database, in order to refine the estimated position of the rover and to improve the database. The slope and roughness of each terrain region are computed, which form the basis for a traversability map allowing local path planning. Ongoing research and field testing of such a system is described.

Wilcox, Brian H.↗

Assessments of Physiology and Cognition in Hybrid-Reality Environments (APACHE)

NASA is planning to return to the Moon in the mid-2020s as a stepping stone to Mars missions in the 2030s. Spacewalks, or extravehicular activities (EVAs), performed on the Moon and Mars will differ in a variety of ways from those that have been performed in decades past. NASA has identified multiple risks to human health and performance associated with a crewed mission to Mars, especially those associated with exploration EVAs which are expected to be a primary mission activity. Crew may be expected to conduct up to 24 hours of EVA per person per week, where the likelihood of injury and/or mental mistakes are increased compared to ground-based training or current microgravity EVAs and the consequences of which can be catastrophic. Current test environments for exploration EVA research and technology development are large, costly facilities that are limited in their availability or capabilities. Spacesuit testing in a reduced gravity environment such as NASA’s Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory, while a good representation of the crew’s physical workload during exploration EVAs, typically has small datasets and is difficult to integrate physiological sensors or other types of crew performance measures. Meanwhile, scientific field-based testing such as NASA’s Desert Research and Technology Studies offers an operationally relevant environment for exploration EVAs, particularly for cognitive workload, but is also limited by small datasets, lack of a pressurized spacesuit, and obtrusive measures. The limitations of current analogs for exploration EVAs identify a need for a new test environment that can approximate both the physical and cognitive demands associated with exploration EVAs to enable rapid, controlled, and repeatable evaluations of human health and performance risks of exploration missions. In response, the Human Physiology, Performance, Protection, and Operations Laboratory (H-3PO) at NASA Johnson Space Center has developed a hybrid reality exploration EVA analog named the Assessments of Physiology And Cognition in Hybrid-reality Environments (APACHE) to address these limitations using a combination of virtual, physical, and hybrid reality techniques. The APACHE facility resides at NASA Johnson Space Center and serves as a large “sandbox” for EVA research and simulation. At its center is a roughly 15x20ft space surrounded by a 14” tall sandbox partially filled with lunar regolith simulant to emulate the physical feeling of walking on a planetary surface and to allow for simulated geology operations. Nearby, a curved passive treadmill (Skillmill Connect, Technogym, Fairfield, NJ) and an omnidirectional treadmill (Infinadeck, Infinadeck, Rocklin, CA) are included to enable exploration of these large virtual environments while also imposing the physical demands, representative timelines, and cognitive burdens required to navigate and traverse these distances during exploration EVA. A 6DOF motion platform is used to simulate rover operations and supports various human performance evaluations and associated risks. Lastly, APACHE can support two extravehicular (EV) crewmembers working in tandem. A computer workstation is located nearby and also supports an intravehicular (IV) crewmember as part of a full mission simulation. The IV crewmember has direct video and audio communication with the EV crew in VR to provide operational and procedural support. The software used in APACHE was created by the JSC Engineering Directorate, in partnership with Buendea, powered by a custom Unreal Engine 5 (UE5.3, Epic Games) project. APACHE currently utilizes the HTC Vive Pro Eye in a wireless configuration for VR simulations. There are two virtual environments that subjects can explore within APACHE, a Lunar and Martian surface. The virtual Lunar surface was created from LIDAR data of the Lunar South Pole to create roughly 16 sq km of explorable terrain. The virtual Martian surface contains roughly 400 sq km of explorable terrain derived from Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter LIDAR data of the Jezero Crater. The immersion and related cognitive burdens of conducting a planetary EVA is simulated through a series of EVA-relevant tasks performed in the VR environment, using these high-fidelity visual representations. Additionally, APACHE includes biosensor driven informatics, such as real-time heart rate monitoring and/or derived values from model simulations, for active monitoring by the EV crew and added cognitive demand. A “Wizard of Oz” control panel enables test operators to activate contingency events such as simulated spacesuit malfunctions, loss of communications, and/or limited visibility. Embedded performance measures such as accuracy, completeness, and execution time have been developed for various exploration tasks to objectively quantify crew performance during an EVA and compare impacts to performance when different environmental stressors, both physical and cognitive, are added to or removed from the simulation. Additionally, validated cognitive and operational performance measures such as the Digit Symbol Substitution Task have been recreated and embedded in VR for direct and relatively unobtrusive measurement of motor perception. The APACHE environment currently supports multiple research studies at NASA. Examples include the CHAPEA project, a series of simulated year-long missions on Mars by a 4-person crew; and the CO2 Contingency Walk Back Study, an investigation of elevated CO2 exposure on crew performance during a contingency EVA scenario. APACHE also provides a test environment to support the development of the Crew State and Risk Model, which is a collection of individualized, mathematical models of crew physical and cognitive state; and the Personalized EVA Informatics and Decision Support system, an operational tool for flight controllers, and eventually a self-reliant Martian crew, to make biomedically-informed decisions in real-time to optimize the EVA planning and execution with respect to crew health and performance. Some technical challenges associated with developing the APACHE environment, as well as current limitations, include VR limitless natural walking with a hybrid spacesuit simulator, optimizing performance for wireless PC VR streaming while maintaining a high degree of visual fidelity, and the integration of various physiological (metabolic masks) and psychometric (eye tracking) sensors with the VR headset.

Human Performance↗

Further study of terrain effects on the mesoscale spectrum of atmospheric motions

Wind and temperature data collected on commercial airliners are used to investigate the effects of underlying terrain on mesoscale variability. These results expand upon those of Nastrom et al., by including all available data from the Global Atmospheric Sampling Program (GASP) and by more closely focusing on the coupling of variance with the roughness of the underlying terrain over mountainous regions. The earlier results, showing that variances are larger over mountains than over oceans or plains, with greatest increases at wavelengths below about 80 km, are confirmed. Statistical tests are used to confirm that these differences are highly significant. Over mountainous regions the roughness of the underlying terrain was parameterized from topographic data and it was found that variances are highly correlated with roughness and, in the troposphere, with background windspeed. Average variances over the roughest terrain areas range up to about ten times larger than those over the oceans. These results are found to follow the scaling with stability predicted in the framework of linenar gravity wave theory. The implications of these results for vertical transports of momentum and energy, assuming they are due to gravity waves and considering the effects of intermittency and anisotroy, are also discussed.

Jasperson, W. H.↗

Simulation of spaceborne stereo radar imagery - Experimental results

Computer simulation of radar imagery was used to investigate spaceborne stereo radar. The major conclusions reached are that stereo pairs representing different angles of incidence with the same look-direction appear best and that the angles of incidence and stereo intersection angle be matched to the slope and relief of terrain. A parametric tradeoff analysis was performed for eleven different angles of incidence over three different model areas. The eleven angles spanned the range from small- to large-incidence angles. The three model areas were selected as typical of relatively flat, moderately rough, and mountainous terrain. The stereo pair judged best for each model area are included.

Kaupp, V. H.↗

A New View of the Lunar South Pole from the Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA)

Upcoming missions to the lunar south pole require detailed maps over large areas to fully characterize landing sites locally and regionally and to place their data into proper geologic context. To that end, we enhanced the Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA) altimetry dataset for the south polar region, from which we produced new maps of topography, topographic roughness, and permanently shadowed regions (PSRs). The roughness maps reveal a diversity of terrains characterized by hectometer-scale roughness which is controlled in this region primarily by cratering and downslope mass transport. The south polar region is littered with linear roughness features of order ~1 – 10 km wide and ~10s – 100s of km long hypothesized to be secondary impacts within extended ejecta rays. Non uniformities in these features could reflect variations in secondary impactor properties and/or target terrain properties. Poleward of 80° S, the PSR cumulative size-frequency distribution (CSFD) shows an approximately power-law behavior whose exponent has a spatial variation of ~10%. PSRs with areas < 1 km2 contain 15 ± 5% of the total PSR area. Finally, we studied the effect of false positives and false negatives on the accuracy of the measured PSR cumulative size-frequency distribution (CSFD) and on the area for any individual PSR. The new maps presented here have many applications in the science and exploration of the lunar south polar region, such as geologic mapping and traverse planning.

Michael K. Barker↗

Mars Rovers: Past, Present, and Future

This viewgraph presentation provides information on the exploration of Mars through the use of rover vehicles. Mars is considered an interesting planet because it is the most like Earth of all known planets, and it may have or have had water on or below its surface. There are many different engineering design challenges for roving vehicles intended for Mars. These include: communications time delay, narrow communications bandwidth, extreme temperatures, rough and rocky terrain, the lack of a global positioning system, and dust. The Sojourner Rover specifications are provided including wheel diameter and instruments. There are prototypes being tested at NASA's Ames Research Center of the next generation Mars rovers.

Bualat, Maria↗