The Airborne Polarimetric Microwave Imaging Radiometer (APMIR) has been developed at the Naval Research Laboratory. This instrument was designed primarily as a calibration tool for satellite sensors. As such, the system design began with a challenging error budget. The design and construction followed from the error budget. The system has flown several times. This paper focuses on the design of the instrument and preliminary results.
Geodesy is the science of accurately measuring and understanding three fundamental properties of Earth: its geometric shape, its orientation in space, and its gravity field, as well as the changes of these properties with time. Over the past half century, the United States, in cooperation with international partners, has led the development of geodetic techniques and instrumentation. Geodetic observing systems provide a significant benefit to society in a wide array of military, research, civil, and commercial areas, including sea level change monitoring, autonomous navigation, tighter low flying routes for strategic aircraft, precision agriculture, civil surveying, earthquake monitoring, forest structural mapping and biomass estimation, and improved floodplain mapping. Recognizing the growing reliance of a wide range of scientific and societal endeavors on infrastructure for precise geodesy, and recognizing geodetic infrastructure as a shared national resource, this book provides an independent assessment of the benefits provided by geodetic observations and networks, as well as a plan for the future development and support of the infrastructure needed to meet the demand for increasingly greater precision. Precise Geodetic Infrastructure makes a series of focused recommendations for upgrading and improving specific elements of the infrastructure, for enhancing the role of the United States in international geodetic services, for evaluating the requirements for a geodetic workforce for the coming decades, and for providing national coordination and advocacy for the various agencies and organizations that contribute to the geodetic infrastructure.
This proceedings book presents dual approaches to examining new theoretical models and their applicability in the search for new scintillation materials and, ultimately, the development of industrial technologies. The ISMART conferences bring together the radiation detector community, from fundamental research scientists to applied physics experts, engineers, and experts on the implementation of advanced solutions. This scientific forum builds a bridge between the different parts of the community and is the basis for multidisciplinary, cooperative research and development efforts. The main goals of the conference series are to review the latest results in scintillator development, from theory to applications, and to arrive at a deeper understanding of fundamental processes, as well as to discover components for the production of new generations of scintillation materials. The book highlights recent findings and hypotheses, key advances, as well as exotic detector designs and solutions, and includes papers on the microtheory of scintillation and the initial phase of luminescence development, applications of the various materials, as well as the development and characterization of ionizing radiation detection equipment. It also touches on the increased demand for cryogenic scintillators, the renaissance of garnet materials for scintillator applications, nano-structuring in scintillator development, trends in and applications for security, and exploration of hydrocarbons and ecological monitoring.
Natural and human-induced changes in Earth's interior, land surface, biosphere, atmosphere, and oceans affect all aspects of life. Understanding these changes requires a range of observations acquired from land-, sea-, air-, and space-based platforms. To assist NASA, NOAA, and USGS in developing these tools, the NRC was asked to carry out a "decadal strategy" survey of Earth science and applications from space that would develop the key scientific questions on which to focus Earth and environmental observations in the period 2005-2015 and beyond, and present a prioritized list of space programs, missions, and supporting activities to address these questions. This report presents a vision for the Earth science program; an analysis of the existing Earth Observing System and recommendations to help restore its capabilities; an assessment of and recommendations for new observations and missions for the next decade; an examination of and recommendations for effective application of those observations; and an analysis of how best to sustain that observation and applications system.
This book provides a comprehensive description of the volcanological, petrological and geochemical features of the Copahue volcano, located at the border between Argentina and Chile. Scientific studies are limited for this volcanic system, due to its remote location and difficult access in winter. However, Copahue is one of the most active volcanic systems in the southern Andes. Monitoring the volcano's activity is of utter importance, as it provides means of existence for the nearby village of the same name, hosting the world's highest-located hot-springs resort. This book's aim is to present the current monitoring activities, and to describe future research programs that are planned in order to mitigate volcanic hazards. Special attention is therefore devoted to the social and industrial activities close to the volcano, such as health therapies and geothermal energy exploitation. In a special section, the Copahue volcano is presented as a terrestrial modern analog for early-Earth and Mars environments.
