Active remote sensing is the principal tool used to study and to predict short- and long-term changes in the environment of Earth - the atmosphere, the oceans and the land surfaces - as well as the near space environment of Earth. All of these measurements are essential to understanding terrestrial weather, climate change, space weather hazards, and threats from asteroids. Active remote sensing measurements are of inestimable benefit to society, as we pursue the development of a technological civilization that is economically viable, and seek to maintain the quality of our life. A Strategy for Active Remote Sensing Amid Increased Demand for Spectrum describes the threats, both current and future, to the effective use of the electromagnetic spectrum required for active remote sensing. This report offers specific recommendations for protecting and making effective use of the spectrum required for active remote sensing.
Remote Sensing of Ocean and Coastal Environments advances the scientific understanding and application of technologies to address a variety of areas relating to sustainable development, including environmental systems analysis, environmental management, clean processes, green chemistry and green engineering. Through each contributed chapter, the book covers ocean remote sensing, ocean color monitoring, modeling biomass and the carbon of oceanic ecosystems, sea surface temperature (SST) and sea surface salinity, ocean monitoring for oil spills and pollutions, coastal erosion and accretion measurement. This book is aimed at those with a common interest in oceanography techniques, sustainable development and other diverse backgrounds within earth and ocean science fields. This book is ideal for academicians, scientists, environmentalists, meteorologists, environmental consultants and computing experts working in the areas of earth and ocean sciences. Provides a comprehensive assessment of various ocean processes and their relative phenomena Includes graphical abstract and photosets in each chapter Presents literature reviews, case studies and applications
Changes in sea surface roughness are usually associated with a change in the sea surface wind field. This interaction has been exploited to measure sea surface wind speed by scatterometry. A number of features on the sea surface associated with changes in roughness can be observed by synthetic aperture radar (SAR) because of the change in Bragg backscatter of the radar signal by damping of the resonant ocean capillary waves. With various radar frequencies, resolutions, and modes of polarization, sea surface features have been analyzed in numerous campaigns, bringing various datasets together, thus allowing for new insights into small-scale processes at a larger areal coverage. This Special Issue aims at investigating sea surface features detected by high spatial resolution radar systems, such as SAR.
This carefully curated volume presents an in-depth, state-of-the-art discussion on many applications of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR). Integrating interdisciplinary sciences, the book features novel ideas, quantitative methods, and research results, promising to advance computational practices and technologies within the academic and industrial communities. SAR applications employ diverse and often complex computational methods rooted in machine learning, estimation, statistical learning, inversion models, and empirical models. Current and emerging applications of SAR data for earth observation, object detection and recognition, change detection, navigation, and interference mitigation are highlighted. Cutting edge methods, with particular emphasis on machine learning, are included. Contemporary deep learning models in object detection and recognition in SAR imagery with corresponding feature extraction and training schemes are considered. State-of-the-art neural network architectures in SAR-aided navigation are compared and discussed further. Advanced empirical and machine learning models in retrieving land and ocean information — wind, wave, soil conditions, among others, are also included.
The Department of Commerce operates two telecommunications research laboratories located at the Department of Commerce's Boulder, Colorado, campus: the National Telecommunications and Information Administration's (NTIA's) Institute for Telecommunications Sciences (ITS) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST's) Communications Technology Laboratory (CTL). ITS serves as a principal federal resource for solving the telecommunications concerns of federal agencies, state and local governments, private corporations and associations, standards bodies, and international organizations. ITS could provide an essential service to the nation by being a principal provider of instrumentation and spectrum measurement services; however, the inter-related shortages of funding, staff, and a coherent strategy limits its ability to fully function as a research laboratory. This report examines the institute's performance, resources, and capabilities and the extent to which these meet customer needs. The Boulder telecommunications laboratories currently play an important role in the economic vitality of the country and can play an even greater role given the importance of access to spectrum and spectrum sharing to the wireless networking and mobile cellular industries. Research advances are needed to ensure the continued evolution and enhancement of the connected world the public has come to expect.
The Department of Commerce operates two telecommunications research laboratories located at the Department of Commerce's Boulder, Colorado, campus: the National Telecommunications and Information Administration's (NTIA's) Institute for Telecommunications Sciences (ITS) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST's) Communications Technology Laboratory (CTL). CTL develops appropriate measurements and standards to enable interoperable public safety communications, effective and efficient spectrum use and sharing, and advanced communication technologies. CTL is a newly organized laboratory within NIST, formed mid-2014. As it is new and its planned work represents a departure from that carried out by the elements of which it was composed, this study focuses on its available resources and future plans rather than past work. The Boulder telecommunications laboratories currently play an important role in the economic vitality of the country and can play an even greater role given the importance of access to spectrum and spectrum sharing to the wireless networking and mobile cellular industries. Research advances are needed to ensure the continued evolution and enhancement of the connected world the public has come to expect.
Airless Bodies of the Inner Solar System: Understanding the Process Affecting Rocky, Airless Surfaces focuses on the airless, rocky bodies in the inner solar system as a host unto themselves, with a unique set of processes that require a specific set of investigative techniques. The book allows readers to understand both the basic and advanced concepts necessary to understand and employ that information. Topics covered past exploration of these surfaces, changes with time, space weathering, impact cratering, creation and evolution of regolith and soils, comparison of sample and remote sensing data, dust characterization, surface composition and thoughts for future exploration. Together these authors represent the unique combination of skills and experience required to produce an excellent book on the subject of the surfaces of airless, rocky bodies in the solar system, which will be useful both for graduate students and for working scientists. Written by experts with a unique combination of skills and experience on the subject of the surfaces of airless, rocky bodies in the solar system Addresses the unique nature of airless bodies not done in any other reference Organized into subjects that can be easily translated into classroom lecture points Represents topics that scientists will want to pinpoint and browse
This is the first book to bring together the increasingly complex radar automotive technologies and tools being explored and utilized in the development of fully autonomous vehicles – technologies and tools now understood to be an essential need for the field to fully mature. The book presents state-of-the-art knowledge as shared by the best and brightest experts working in the automotive radar industry today -- leaders who have “been there and done that.” Each chapter is written as a standalone "master class" with the authors, seeing the topic through their eyes and experiences. Where beneficial, the chapters reference one another but can otherwise be read in any order desired, making the book an excellent go-to reference for a particular topic or review you need to understand. You’ll get a big-picture tour of the key radar needs for fully autonomous vehicles, and how achieving these needs is complicated by the automotive environment’s dense scenes, number of possible targets of interest, and mix of very large and very small returns. You’ll then be shown the challenges from – and mitigations to – radio frequency interference (RFI), an ever-increasing challenge as the number of vehicles with radars – and radars per vehicle grow. The book also dives into the impacts of weather on radar performance, providing you with insights gained from extensive real-world testing. You are then taken through the integration and systems considerations, especially regarding safety, computing needs, and testing. Each of these areas is influenced heavily by the needs of fully autonomous vehicles and are open areas of research and development. With this authoritative volume you will understand: * How to engage with radar designers (from a system integrator / OEM standpoint); * How to structure and set requirements for automotive radars; * How to address system safety needs for radars in fully autonomous vehicles; * How to assess weather impact on the radar and its ability to support autonomy; * How to include weather effects into specifications for radars. This is an essential reference for engineers currently in the autonomous vehicle arena and/or working in automotive radar development, as well as engineers and leaders in adjacent radar fields needing to stay abreast of the rapid developments in this exciting and dynamic field of research and development.
Remote observations of Earth from space serve an extraordinarily broad range of purposes, resulting in extraordinary demands on those at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and elsewhere who must decide how to execute them. In research, Earth observations promise large volumes of data to a variety of disciplines with differing needs for measurement type, simultaneity, continuity, and long-term instrument stability. Operational needs, such as weather forecasting, add a distinct set of requirements for continual and highly reliable monitoring of global conditions. The Role of Small Satellites in NASA and NOAA Earth Observation Programs confronts these diverse requirements and assesses how they might be met by small satellites. In the past, the preferred architecture for most NASA and NOAA missions was a single large spacecraft platform containing a sophisticated suite of instruments. But the recognition in other areas of space research that cost-effectiveness, flexibility, and robustness may be enhanced by using small spacecraft has raised questions about this philosophy of Earth observation. For example, NASA has already abandoned its original plan for a follow-on series of major platforms in its Earth Observing System. This study finds that small spacecraft can play an important role in Earth observation programs, providing to this field some of the expected benefits that are normally associated with such programs, such as rapid development and lower individual mission cost. It also identifies some of the programmatic and technical challenges associated with a mission composed of small spacecraft, as well as reasons why more traditional, larger platforms might still be preferred. The reasonable conclusion is that a systems-level examination is required to determine the optimum architecture for a given scientific and/or operational objective. The implied new challenge is for NASA and NOAA to find intra- and interagency planning mechanisms that can achieve the most appropriate and cost-effective balance among their various requirements.
