The angular characteristics of Moon-based Earth observations

ABSTRACT

The Moon, Earth’s only natural satellite, is a potential new platform for Earth observation. Moreover, with the wide applicability of the angular information from remote sensing data, it has been attracting increasingly more attention. Accordingly, this study focuses on the angular characteristics of Moon-based Earth observations. Using ephemeris DE430 and Earth orientation parameters, the position and attitude of the Sun, Earth, and Moon were obtained and their coordinates normalized to a single framework using coordinate transformations between the related reference systems. Then, an angular geometric model of Moon-based Earth observations was constructed, and the corresponding angular algorithms were presented. The results revealed the angular range and distribution characteristics of Moon-based Earth observations. For every point on the surface of the Earth, the view and solar zenith angles all vary widely, which decreases with increasing latitude. The view and solar zenith angles all vary widely with the largest range of values in the equatorial and polar regions and a smaller range of values in mid-latitudes. Furthermore, the range of solar angles of Moon-based Earth observations is the same as that of all-time solar angles, indicating the potential for monitoring and understanding large-scale geoscientific phenomena using Moon-based Earth observations.     

Moon-based Earth observation: scientific concept and potential applications

Although Earth’s surface parameters obtained from satellite data have become more and more precise, it is still difficult to guarantee temporal consistency and spatial continuity for large-scale geoscience phenomena. Developing new Earth observation platforms is a feasible way to improve the consistency and continuity of such data. As the planet’s only natural satellite, the Moon has special advantages as a platform for observing Earth, including long lifetime, whole disk view, tectonic stability and unique perspective. After presenting the observation geometry constructed by using the ephemeris, this paper mainly discusses the characteristics of a lunar platform and the proper Moon-based sensors, as well as the scientific objectives of Moon-based Earth observation. Solid Earth dynamics, the energy budget of Earth, Earth’s environmental elements and the Earth-space environment are four potential applications analysed in this paper.     

全极化微波辐射计对环境参数敏感性分析

为衡量全极化微波辐射计各通道对不同环境参数的探测能力,在构建全极化微波辐射传输正演模型的基础上,采用敏感性分析的方法,在固定背景场条件下,对全极化微波辐射计不同频率、各极化通道亮温对海面风速、海面风向、海面温度、大气水汽含量和云中液态水含量等重要环境参数的敏感度进行了分析和量化计算,对正演模型仿真亮温、星载全极化微波辐射计Wind Sat实测亮温相对于真实背景场参数、NCEP分析场资料和TAO/TRITON浮标实测海面风场数据的敏感性进行了分析。分析结果验证了全极化微波辐射计对海面风场的观测能力,衡量了上述重要环境参数对星载全极化微波辐射计各通道的单独影响程度,为中国自主研制全极化微波辐射计时通道指标设计、环境参数反演通道选取及算法提供支持。     

FY-3B微波成像仪资料的地理定位误差与订正

风云3号B星(FY-3B)上的微波成像仪(MWRI)通过10.65 GHz,18.7 GHz,23.8GHz,36.5 GHz和189.0 GHz5个频率的双极化通道对地球表面进行监测。自卫星发射至今,MWRI资料的地理定位误差还未进行深入研究。为了提高FY-3B MWRI L1级数据地理定位精度,基于海、陆响应的升、降轨亮温差理论NDM(Node Differential Method),通过卫星位置和速度矢量建立卫星姿态模型、采用非线性最优化方法估计卫星姿态偏差,进而对MWRI 89 GHz通道的地理定位误差进行分析与订正。结果表明,2015年1—9月份俯仰、滚动和偏航角度的平均偏差分别为-0.220°,0.068°和0.062°,对应沿轨误差大约3—4 km,跨轨误差小于1 km。定位误差订正后,地中海、澳大利亚区域海岸线附近的升降轨亮温差明显减小;观测亮温在红海和南美洲东南部区域的分布和海岸线更加吻合,定位精度得到明显提高。     

中国陆地区域陆表温度业务化遥感反演算法及产品运行系统

地表温度反演的裂窗算法已成功应用于NOAA系列卫星热红外遥感数据。目前，裂窗算法中应用较为广泛的一种是Becker等人于1990年提出的局地裂窗算法，主要是通过辐射传输模型模拟不同地表条件和大气状况下，地表温度和发射率对红外辐射亮温的影响，从而发展出一个利用AVHRR4，5通道亮温数据反演地表温度的线性模型。在晴空无云和地表比辐射率能精确估算的情况下，Becker算法反演地表温度的精度在1K以内。Becker算法用Lowtran程序模拟计算地表辐射量，且模型中参数主要针对NOAA-9传感器特性得到。本文在Becker算法的基础上，针对NOAA-16／17传感器热红外通道光谱响应函数特性，利用最新的、计算光谱分辨率更高的MODTRAN程序模拟不同大气状况下，不同地表温度和发射率对NOAAAVHRR4，5通道辐射亮温响应特性的影响，改进Becker算法中模型参数，使之能适用于NOAA-16／17热红外数据。同时，本文利用植被指数NDVI，在中国陆地区域lkm分辨率最新地表分类数据的基础上，得到模型中需要的地表比辐射率参数，将改进的模型应用于1km分辨率NOAA17数据，得到了旬合成中国陆地区域范围地表温度，通过地面气象台站实测数据对比验证．取得了较好的结果。     

月球地形特征认识及增强可视化

长期以来人们生活在地球上,已形成了基于地球的习惯式视觉感受与空间认识,对其他星体地貌与现象的认知和识别成为新的挑战。基于月球与地球地形地貌上的差异性认知,研究地球认知转移的月球地形地貌的增强可视化,能够让人们更加直观地认识月球地形地貌。对比分析月球与地球的地形在地貌类型、地表色彩体系和地形起伏的异同性,建立基于地球认知转移的月球地形增强可视化的认知基础;构建月球与地球地形可视化要求的相似性和差异性,对撞击坑、月海、月陆、月溪等月球的典型地貌和区域地形进行了晕渲参数调整,分析月球地形在不同参数下的晕渲效果,实现月球地形增强晕渲可视化;揭示了月球地形可视化既要借鉴地球可视的认知转移（如暗色-低地形,亮色-高地形）,又要打破地球特定思维造成的可视化误解（如白色-雪线、绿-植被）,制作符合月球自身特征的可视化体系。     

量子卫星暗空间背景载荷测试时段仿真分析

量子卫星上的有些载荷器件对空间背景光较敏感。空间背景光来源主要有地球、月球等。量子卫星在轨运行期间,它与月亮、地球等天体相对位置的变化,使得量子卫星工作轨道上空间背景光分布是随时间变化的。考虑了主要空间背景光源的影响,对量子卫星暗空间背景载荷测试时段进行算例仿真、分析,为量子卫星顺利开展在轨测试和实验提供了技术支持。      

Error analysis of exterior orientation elements on geolocation for a Moon-based Earth observation optical sensor

ABSTRACT

The Moon is a potential new platform for Earth observation. The advantages of its large-scale observational scope, long temporal duration, and multi-layer detecting of the Earth will undoubtedly advance our understanding of the Earth system. To carry out the observations from a Moon-based optical sensor, the geolocation error caused by exterior orientation elements need to be investigated. This paper analyses the error effects of exterior orientation elements on geolocation for an optical sensor. To estimate the error, we present a geometric image model and utilise some parameters to measure the image offsets. Through a large number of numerical simulations, the results demonstrate that the image offsets are not obvious influenced by the distance and observation angle at mid-high latitude of the Moon and have linear correlation with the increasing errors of the exterior orientation elements. Further, the relationship between the spatial resolution and errors of exterior orientation elements are revealed. Finally, the error characteristics for Moon-based Earth observation are discussed. It is expected that the conclusion drawn in this paper could support the study of a Moon-based Earth observation optical sensor.     

Using a Cold Earth Surface Target to Characterize Long-Term Stability of the MODIS Thermal Emissive Bands

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) has successfully provided Earth image products for instruments on the Terra and Aqua satellites since 2000 and 2002, respectively. Maintaining accurate radiometric calibration and calibration consistency between two sensors is an important issue for continued quality of long-term data records, especially as the instruments operate beyond their original projected mission lifetime. A strategy to use frequent MODIS measurements of the brightness temperature of the land surface in the area surrounding Dome Concordia, Antarctica (75.1, 123.4 ) to track the long-term stability of MODIS Band 31 is presented. Dome Concordia, located on the Antarctic plateau, is one of the most homogeneous land surfaces on Earth in terms of surface temperature and emissivity, with a seasonal temperature range of 190-250 K. The extremely dry, cold, and rarefied atmosphere of the site makes it ideal to track and detect any long-term changes in the MODIS thermal band response through trend analyses of near-nadir MODIS overpass data in conjunction with surface temperature measurements. Application of this approach shows an average relative bias between Terra and Aqua MODIS Band 31 (11 ) measurements of 0.08 K, which is well within the calibration uncertainty.     

应用微波遥感数据的东北地区地表温度反演

针对无源微波遥感时间分辨率高可以克服云层影响获取地表温度的问题,该文应用AMSR-E微波亮度温度数据,分别选取了基于发射率估计的单通道反演法和多通道线性拟合法反演东北地区地表温度。在原有方法的基础上提出算法改进:对单通道反演法按照植被生长周期在生长季与非生长季分别建立发射率估计方程,探究各微波通道在每种地表覆被类型的反演能力并组合反演精度最高的通道,将微波极化差异指数作为表征发射率参数加入多通道拟合方程。结果显示,获取的地表温度剔除水体和冰雪无效像元后可用性达到100%,改进后的单通道反演法均方根误差由3.58~4.6降低至2.0~3.1,在75%的区域的误差小于2 K;多通道拟合法的最终均方根误差为2.6~3.5,同样有较高精度且只使用微波亮温数据就能获取地表温度。     

用被动微波AMSR数据反演地表温度及发射率的方法研究

 针对对地观测卫星多传感器的特点，提出了借助MODIS地表温度产品从被动微波数据中反演地表温度的方法。即利用MODIS地表温度产品和AMSR不同通道之间的亮度温度，建立地表温度的反演方程。该方法克服了以往需要测量同步数据的困难，为不同传感器之间的参数反演相互校正和综合利用多传感器的数据提供实际应用和理论依据。文中以MODIS地表温度产品作为评价标准，对方法进行检验，其平均误差为2~3℃。另外，微波的发射率是土壤水分反演的关键参数，在对微波地表温度反演的基础上，进一步对发射率进行了研究。     

Forecasting China’s GDP at the pixel level using nighttime lights time series and population images

China’s rapid economic development greatly affected not only the global economy but also the entire environment of the Earth. Forecasting China’s economic growth has become a popular and essential issue but at present, such forecasts are nearly all conducted at the national scale. In this study, we use nighttime light images and the gridded Landscan population dataset to disaggregate gross domestic product (GDP) reported at the province scale on a per pixel level for 2000–2013. Using the disaggregated GDP time series data and the statistical tool of Holt–Winters smoothing, we predict changes of GDP at each 1 km × 1 km grid area from 2014 to 2020 and then aggregate the pixel-level GDP to forecast economic growth in 23 major urban agglomerations of China. We elaborate and demonstrate that lit population (brightness of nighttime lights × population) is a better indicator than brightness of nighttime lights to estimate and disaggregate GDP. We also show that our forecast GDP has high agreement with the National Bureau of Statistics of China’s demographic data and the International Monetary Fund’s predictions. Finally, we display uncertainties and analyze potential errors of this disaggregation and forecast method.     

FY-2E红外通道晴空沙尘区时间差分法导风研究

利用大气红外辐射传输模式,结合FY-2E静止卫星红外窗区光谱响应函数,模拟计算了标准大气环境下0-5 km各高度层气溶胶消光系数增量为50%和30%两种情况下对FY-2E红外1通道亮温增量的贡献。定量分析了春季气溶胶消光系数对亮温增量的影响以及主要影响高度。结合FY-2E红外1通道灵敏度,提出了可用于红外通道晴空沙尘气溶胶微弱示踪信号移动追踪的"时间差分法"。理论模拟计算和实例分析表明,在一定条件下,"时间差分法"追踪红外通道晴空沙尘气溶胶微弱示踪信号的移动,可以获得传统云导风所无法得到的干旱半干旱沙尘爆发区的风场信息,且反演得到的风场与美国国家环境预报中心NCEP再分析资料850 hPa风场有着很好的一致性。     

月球地形测绘和月球大地测量(1)

从十九世纪六十年代以来的几十年中 ,人类一直试图发射航天器 ,以对月球 ,特别是它的远月面进行探测。美国和前苏联发射了各类月球探测器达七十余个 ,对月球进行探测 ,至今几乎已经完成了对月球重要的地学勘查 ,其中包括对全部月面的地形测绘和月球重力场测定。本节对月球航天探测的主要情况作了介绍 ,对月球的不同起源学说作了简要回顾 ,对月球的几何和物理特征作了介绍     

Geodetic VLBI with an artificial radio source on the Moon: a simulation study

We perform extensive simulations in order to assess the accuracy with which the position of a radio transmitter on the surface of the Moon can be determined by geodetic VLBI. We study how the quality and quantity of geodetic VLBI observations influence these position estimates and investigate how observations of such near-field objects affect classical geodetic parameters like VLBI station coordinates and Earth rotation parameters. Our studies are based on today’s global geodetic VLBI schedules as well as on those designed for the next-generation geodetic VLBI system. We use Monte Carlo simulations including realistic stochastic models of troposphere, station clocks, and observational noise. Our results indicate that it is possible to position a radio transmitter on the Moon using today’s geodetic VLBI with a two-dimensional horizontal accuracy of better than one meter. Moreover, we show that the next-generation geodetic VLBI has the potential to improve the two-dimensional accuracy to better than 5 cm. Thus, our results lay the base for novel observing concepts to improve both lunar research and geodetic VLBI.     

Atmospheric correction of AMSR-E brightness temperatures for dry snow cover mapping

Differences between the brightness temperatures (spectral gradient) collected by the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for EOS (AMSR-E) at 18.7 and 36.5 GHz are used to map the snow-covered area (SCA) over a region including the western U.S. The brightness temperatures are corrected to take into account for atmospheric effects by means of a simplified radiative transfer equation whose parameters are stratified using rawinsonde data collected from a few stations. The surface emissivity is estimated from the model, and the brightness temperatures at the surface are computed as the product of the surface temperature and the computed emissivity. The SCA derived from microwave data is compared with that obtained from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer for both cases of corrected and noncorrected brightness temperatures. The improvement to the SCA retrievals based on the corrected brightness temperatures shows an average value around 7%.     

Computerised plotting of bhaskara-I alternate mode brightness temperature data

A method has been developed to study the alternate mode BHASKARA SAMIR data with reference to a cartographic referencing system of India. The look angle dependence of the brightness temperature over sea region has been clearly depicted. The change in brightness temperature due to snow/ice in Himalayan region is also identified. A sharp variation of brightness temperature values has been observed at the land-sea crossings.     

Study of surface brightness from backscattered laser intensity: calibration of laser data

Systematic laboratory measurements of laser backscatter intensity are presented for brightness calibration targets, and a calibration scheme for airborne laser scanner intensity data is proposed. Thus far, the use of these data has been partly hampered by the variability of the intensity with time, and no test fields have been available for airborne reflectance calibration. Portable brightness targets (tarps), with nominal reflectances from 5% to 70%, were manufactured, and, based on these measurements, found suitable for lidar reflectance standards. Furthermore, the variability of the recorded intensity from the tarps as a function of incidence angle was low. The measurements also provide new information on the surface albedo dependence of backscattering effects: as the surface brightness increases from 5% to 70%, the hotspot brightness peak amplitudes increase by 20% to 30%, and their apparent widths reduce to a half, which implies that hotspots could be used as an albedo discriminator.     

Investigation of tidal effects in lunar laser ranging

 The analysis of lunar laser ranging (LLR) data enables the determination of many parameters of the Earth–Moon system, such as lunar gravity coefficients, reflector and station coordinates which contribute to the realisation of the International Terrestrial Reference Frame 2000 (ITRF 2000), Earth orientation parameters [EOPs, which contribute to the global EOP solutions at the International Earth Rotation Service (IERS)] or quantities which parameterise relativistic effects in the solar system. The big advantage of LLR is the long time span of lunar observations (1970–2000). The accuracy of the normal points nowadays is about 1 cm.  The capability of LLR to determine tidal parameters is investigated. In principle, it could be assumed that LLR would contribute greatly to the investigation of tidal effects, because the Moon is the most important tide-generating body. In this respect some special topics such as treatment of the permanent tide and the effect of atmospheric loading are addressed and results for the tidal parameters h ₂ and l ₂ as well as values for the eight main tides are given. Received: 14 August 2000 / Accepted: 15 October 2001     

Using NHDPlus as the Land Base for the Noah-distributed Model

The National Elevation, Hydrography and Land Cover datasets of the United States have been synthesized into a geospatial dataset called NHDPlus which is referenced to a spheroidal Earth, provides geospatial data layers for topography on 30 m rasters, and has vector coverages for catchments and river reaches. In this article, we examine the integration of NHDPlus with the Noah-distributed model. In order to retain compatibility with atmospheric models, Noah-distributed utilizes surface domain fields referenced to a spherical rather than spheroidal Earth in its computation of vertical land surface/atmosphere water and energy budgets (at coarse resolution) as well as horizontal cell-to-cell water routing across the land surface and through the shallow subsurface (at fine resolution). Two data-centric issues affecting the linkage between Noah-distributed and NHDPlus are examined: (1) the shape of the Earth; and (2) the linking of gridded landscape with a vector representation of the stream and river network. At mid-latitudes the errors due to projections between spherical and spheroidal representations of the Earth are significant. A catchment-based "pour point" technique is developed to link the raster and vector data to provide lateral inflow from the landscape to a one-dimensional river model. We conclude that, when Noah-distributed is run uncoupled to an atmospheric model, it is advantageous to implement Noah-distributed at the native spatial scale of the digital elevation data and the spheroidal Earth of the NHDPlus dataset rather than transforming the NHDPlus dataset to fit the coarser resolution and spherical Earth shape of the Noah-distributed model.