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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 145 records · Page 8
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1973

The JSC clustering program ISOCLS and its applications

The clustering program ISOCLS developed at the Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas, has been extensively used in the pattern analysis and classification of remote sensor data collected by aircraft and by the Earth Resources Technology Satellite ERTS-1. This paper discusses the theory behind this clustering algorithm. Several new ideas that have been incorporated in ISOCLS are discussed. Among these are the novel philosophy of operation behind the procedure, which assumes that a population (i.e., a class or a cluster) can be treated as the union of an appropriate number of subpopulations, and the termination of the clustering program by a 'chaining algorithm.' Finally, this paper reports the results of the application of ISOCLS to an investigation on rangeland vegetation mapping using ERTS-1 data.

Kan, E. P.↗
NASA NTRS1974

Environmental surveys in Alaska based upon ERTS data

Alaskan applications of ERTS data are summarized. Areas discussed are: (1) land use; (2) archaeology; (3) vegetation mapping; (4) ice reporting and mapping; (5) permafrost; (6) mineral and oil exploration; (7) geological surveys; (8) seismology; (9) geological faults and structures; (10) hydrology and water resources; (11) glaciology; (12) water circulation in Cook Inlet; and (13) fish and mammal populations.

Miller, J. M.↗
NASA NTRS1975

Classification of wetlands vegetation using small scale color infrared imagery

A classification system for Chesapeake Bay wetlands was derived from the correlation of film density classes and actual vegetation classes. The data processing programs used were developed by the Laboratory for the Applications of Remote Sensing. These programs were tested for their value in classifying natural vegetation, using digitized data from small scale aerial photography. Existing imagery and the vegetation map of Farm Creek Marsh were used to determine the optimal number of classes, and to aid in determining if the computer maps were a believable product.

Williamson, F. S. L.↗
NASA NTRS1972

SLAR image interpretation keys for geographic analysis

A means for side-looking airborne radar (SLAR) imagery to become a more widely used data source in geoscience and agriculture is suggested by providing interpretation keys as an easily implemented interpretation model. Interpretation problems faced by the researcher wishing to employ SLAR are specifically described, and the use of various types of image interpretation keys to overcome these problems is suggested. With examples drawn from agriculture and vegetation mapping, direct and associate dichotomous image interpretation keys are discussed and methods of constructing keys are outlined. Initial testing of the keys, key-based automated decision rules, and the role of the keys in an information system for agriculture are developed.

Coiner, J. C.↗
NASA NTRS1975

Vegetational analysis with Skylab-3 imagery

The author has identified the following significant results. Color infrared photography from Skylab 3 appeared to be superior to ERTS imagery in a vegetational study of northeastern North Carolina. An accuracy of 87% was achieved in delimiting species composition and zonation patterns of three coastal, vegetation classes. A vegetation map of Perquimans County, North Carolina, seemed to have a high degree of correlation with information provided by high altitude U-2 photography. Random verification sites revealed an overall interpretation accuracy above 84%. Comparison of maps drawn utilizing Skylab photography with North Carolina Dept. of Agriculture estimates of crop acreage revealed some marked discrepancies. The chief difference lies in the nonagricultural category in which there is a 30% discrepancy. This fact raised some questions as to the definition of nonagricultural land uses and methods used by the State Dept. of Agriculture to determine actual percentages of crops grown.

Welby, C. W.↗
NASA NTRS1975

Planning applications in east central Florida

The author has identified the following significant results. St. Johns National Wildlife Refuge, a 4000 acre marsh, was established primarily to protect the Dusky Seaside Sparrow. A vegetation map of the refuge based on ground observations and color infrared photography was made. The preferred habitat of this sparrow is high-to-medium density spartina (a marsh grass) with no trees nearby. An increase in spartina density corresponds to an increase in marsh wetness. A thematic map shows the birds habitat preferences.

Hannah, J. W.↗
NASA NTRS1977

Airphoto assessment of changes in aquatic vegetation

Large scale, multiyear, color and color infrared aerial photographs were used to evaluate changes in aquatic vegetation that have accompanied a reduction in phosphorus inputs to a phosphorus-limited, eutrophic lake in New York State. The study showed that the distribution of emergent, floating and submersed vegetation could be determined with little or no concurrent ground data; that various emergent and floating types could be separated and, with limited field checks, identified; and that different submersed types are generally not separable. Major vegetative types are characterized by spectral and nonspectral features, and a classification is developed for compiling time-sequential vegetation maps.

Markham, B. L.↗
NASA NTRS1977

Large scale 20mm photography for range resources analysis in the Western United States

Large scale 70mm aerial photography is a valuable supplementary tool for rangeland studies. A wide assortment of applications were developed varying from vegetation mapping to assessing environmental impact on rangelands. Color and color infrared stereo pairs are useful for effectively sampling sites limited by ground accessibility. They allow an increased sample size at similar or lower cost than ground sampling techniques and provide a permanent record.

Tueller, P. T.↗
NASA NTRS1977

Microwave remote sensing from space for earth resource surveys

The concepts of radar remote sensing and microwave radiometry are discussed and their utility in earth resource sensing is examined. The direct relationship between the character of the remotely sensed data and the level of decision making for which the data are appropriate is considered. Applications of active and a passive microwave sensing covered include hydrology, land use, mapping, vegetation classification, environmental monitoring, coastal features and processes, geology, and ice and snow. Approved and proposed microwave sensors are described and the use of space shuttle as a development platform is evaluated.

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NASA NTRS1977

A comparison of photointerpretive and digital production methods for four key remote sensing-based information products

This paper evaluates the costs of producing four remote sensing-based information products: timber volume estimate tables, Level II land use/land cover maps, soil maps, and vegetative cover maps. Two production methods for each product are evaluated, one is based on digital processing of satellite data, and the other on conventional photointerpretation of aircraft data. For each product, a comparison is conducted of the two strategies' production costs (including data acquisition, 'ground truthing', interpretation, compilation, and printing charges) and their performance (as measured by accuracy and timeliness). Each of the production methods reviewed has been demonstrated - either operationally or experimentally - and the costs, timeliness and other performance estimates presented are based on observations made in practice. The results show that for these products, satellite-based production results in significant cost and timeliness improvements at the cost of a loss in accuracy.

Eastwood, L. F., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Combining LANDSAT MSS, aerial photographs and ground measurements to estimate rangeland productivity

The production of a vegetation map of over 2.2 million acres with detail down to the plant community level, and the production of estimates of rangeland productivity (pounds of usable forage per acre for cattle) for a 500,000 acre subset of area with a design goal for accuracy and precision of + or - 20% at the 80% confidence level, are considered. The data consist of five groups: maps of area, LANDSAT data, digital terrain data, large scale aerial photography, and ground plots. An outline of the data acquisition and data reduction schemes are presented.

Gialdini, M. J.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Application of scanning microdensitometer data in selected plant science case studies

This paper treats a representative sample of projects aimed at vegetation mapping and assessment via analysis of both digital photographic and Landsat data projects and illustrates the potential for using scanning microdensitometric data extracted from color infrared photographs in the following applications: freshwater wetlands mapping, tree type mapping, and yield vs. reflectance modeling in corn fertilization experiments. These case studies are presented to illustrate the general applicability of scanning microdensitometer data in the contexts of image classification and enhancement as well as quantitative modeling of ground parameters.

Lillesand, T. M.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Comparative study of Suits and SAIL canopy reflectance models

A detailed understanding of the relationships between the canopy reflectance and the characteristics of canopy elements is an important factor for the full exploitation of the potential of remote sensing from aircraft and spacecraft altitudes to map vegetation and estimate key agronomic parameters such as the leaf area index (LAI) and biomass (BM). Suits (1972) idealized the canopy geometry by replacing each plant component with three orthogonal projections of that component. Verhoeff and Bunnik (1981) extended the Suits model, henceforth called the SAIL (Scattering from Arbitrarily Inclined Leaves) model, by removing certain constraints. The present investigation is concerned with an evaluation of the performance of the Suits and SAIL models, taking into account two data sets on soybean and corn. It was found that the tested models have significant deficiencies. However, the performance of the SAIL model is better than that of the Suits model because it provides a more realistic description of the canopy architecture.

Badhwar, G. D.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Remote detection of geobotanical anomalies associated with hydrocarbon microseepage using thematic mapper simulator (TMS) and airborne imaging spectrometer (AIS) data

An interpretation of TMS and AIS data sets collected from Lost River, West Virginia, are presented, along with a brief review of the supervised vegetation classification approach to vegetation mapping used at Lost River. A preliminary study of AIS data suggests that contiguous high-spectral resolution data from a very limited portion of the spectrum (1.2-1.5 micron) provide a greater discriminatory capability than do broad-band sensors such as the TMS covering of wider spectral range (0.45-2.35 microns).

Rock, B. N.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Proceedings of the Airborne Imaging Spectrometer Data Analysis Workshop

The Airborne Imaging Spectrometer (AIS) Data Analysis Workshop was held at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory on April 8 to 10, 1985. It was attended by 92 people who heard reports on 30 investigations currently under way using AIS data that have been collected over the past two years. Written summaries of 27 of the presentations are in these Proceedings. Many of the results presented at the Workshop are preliminary because most investigators have been working with this fundamentally new type of data for only a relatively short time. Nevertheless, several conclusions can be drawn from the Workshop presentations concerning the value of imaging spectrometry to Earth remote sensing. First, work with AIS has shown that direct identification of minerals through high spectral resolution imaging is a reality for a wide range of materials and geological settings. Second, there are strong indications that high spectral resolution remote sensing will enhance the ability to map vegetation species. There are also good indications that imaging spectrometry will be useful for biochemical studies of vegetation. Finally, there are a number of new data analysis techniques under development which should lead to more efficient and complete information extraction from imaging spectrometer data. The results of the Workshop indicate that as experience is gained with this new class of data, and as new analysis methodologies are developed and applied, the value of imaging spectrometry should increase.

Vane, G.↗
NASA NTRS1985

High resolution millimeter-wave imaging sensor

A scanning 3-mm radiometer is described that has been built for use on a small aircraft to produce real time high resolution images of the ground when atmospheric conditions such as smoke, dust, and clouds make IR and visual sensors unusable. The sensor can be used for a variety of remote sensing applications such as measurements of snow cover and snow water equivalent, precipitation mapping, vegetation type and extent, surface moisture and temperature, and surface thermal inertia. The advantages of millimeter waves for cloud penetration and the ability to observe different physical phenomena make this system an attractive supplement to visible and IR remote sensing systems.

Wilson, W. J.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Overview of the Shuttle Imaging Radar-B preliminary scientific results

Data collected with the Shuttle Imaging Radar-B (SIR-B) on the October 5, 1985 Shuttle mission are discussed. The design and capabilities of the sensor which operates in a fixed illumination geometry and has incidence angles between 15 and 60 deg with 1 deg increments are described. Problems encountered with the SIR-B during the mission are examined. the The radar stereo imaging capability of the sensor was verified and three-dimensional images of the earth surface were obtained. The oceanography experiments provided significant data on ocean wave and internal wave patterns, oil spills, and ice zones. The geological images revealed that the sensor can evaluate penetration effect in dry soil from buried receivers and the existence of subsurface dry channels in the Egyptian desert was validated. The use of multiincidence angle imaging to classify terrain units and derive vegetation maps and the development of terrain maps are confirmed.

Elachi, C.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Shuttle imaging radar-C science plan

The Shuttle Imaging Radar-C (SIR-C) mission will yield new and advanced scientific studies of the Earth. SIR-C will be the first instrument to simultaneously acquire images at L-band and C-band with HH, VV, HV, or VH polarizations, as well as images of the phase difference between HH and VV polarizations. These data will be digitally encoded and recorded using onboard high-density digital tape recorders and will later be digitally processed into images using the JPL Advanced Digital SAR Processor. SIR-C geologic studies include cold-region geomorphology, fluvial geomorphology, rock weathering and erosional processes, tectonics and geologic boundaries, geobotany, and radar stereogrammetry. Hydrology investigations cover arid, humid, wetland, snow-covered, and high-latitude regions. Additionally, SIR-C will provide the data to identify and map vegetation types, interpret landscape patterns and processes, assess the biophysical properties of plant canopies, and determine the degree of radar penetration of plant canopies. In oceanography, SIR-C will provide the information necessary to: forecast ocean directional wave spectra; better understand internal wave-current interactions; study the relationship of ocean-bottom features to surface expressions and the correlation of wind signatures to radar backscatter; and detect current-system boundaries, oceanic fronts, and mesoscale eddies. And, as the first spaceborne SAR with multi-frequency, multipolarization imaging capabilities, whole new areas of glaciology will be opened for study when SIR-C is flown in a polar orbit.

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