Multiple forecasts of kharif rice in orissa state-four year experience of fasal pilot study

Considering the requirement of multiple pre-harvest crop forecasts, the concept of Forecasting Agricultural output using Space, Agrometeorology and Land based observations (FASAL) has been formulated. Development of procedure and demonstration of this technique for four in-season forecasts for kharif rice has been carried out as a pilot study in Orissa State since 1998. As the availability of cloud-free optical remote sensing data during kharif season is very poor for Orissa state, multi-date RADARSAT SCANSAR data were used for acreage estimation of kharif rice. Meteorological models have been developed for early assessment of acreage and prediction of yield at mid and late crop growth season. Four in-season forecasts were made during four kharif seasons (1998-2001); the first forecast of zone level rice acreage at the beginning of kharif crop season using meteorological models, second forecast of district level acreage at mid growth season using two-date RADARSAT SCANSAR data and yield using meteorological models, third forecast at late growth season of district level acreage using three-date RADARSAT SCANSAR data and yield using meteorological models and revised forecast incorporating field observations at maturity. The results of multiple forecasts have shown rice acreage estimation and yield prediction with deviation up to 14 and 11 per cent respectively. This study has demonstrated the potential of FASAL concept to provide inseason multiple forecasts using data of remote sensing, meteorology and land based observations.     

天津GPS沉降监测的十年试验结果

1995年以来,天津市控制地面沉降工作办公室在天津市内陆续布设了一批永久性GPS观测点。本文作者利用十年的重复观测结果分析了这些点的相对高程变化,并与精密水准测量结果进行了比较,讨论了它们的差异和一致性,最后估计了GPS方法测定地面垂直变化的精度。     

ERRORS IN RESECTION

Abstract

I. Although surveying is generally conducted on the principle that there should be more observations than are mathematically necessary for the calculation of the required results, the determination of the position of a point by resection from three fixed points is an exception to the principle. In observing a round of angles at a point, one of them can be inferred, but it is always observed in order to obtain a check by closing the round; a point fixed by intersections is generally observed from four or five surrounding points, although only two shots are strictly necessary. But the problem of resection from three points is a “minimum-of-data” problem, that is, the observations are only just sufficient to fix the point, and there is nothing extra to give a check on the result.     

采用热像仪测量玉米冠层半球方向亮温的四种方法比较

为了提高玉米冠层半球方向亮温（DBT）测量的准确性，对一套由工业用起重机平台和热红外成像仪组成的地面观测系统的四种测量方法进行了对比和评价。这些方法基于不同的测量原理：（1）通过移动起重机和平台，从不同的角度去测量一个样区的DBT；（2）固定起重机和平台的位置，通过旋转热像仪，从不同的区域收集不同角度的DBT；（3）对方法2的改进，转动热像仪朝向的同时，吊车沿作物垄行方向运动，得到大区域内平均的DBT；（4）当热像仪沿着垂直于垄行方向的起重机臂运动时，用高成像频率对目标热辐射进行采样。在对这些方法进行比较时，着重考虑了玉米冠层亮温分布的时间和空间变化所产生的影响，对本观测系统的优点和局限性进行了初步探讨。最后，本文从实际应用的角度，提出了一个基于这个系统且优化了的DBT测量方法。     

Preliminary analysis of grid ionospheric vertical error for GAGAN

The inverse distance weighted model (IDWM) represents a geo-spatial interpolation technique used for estimation of ionospheric vertical delays at the ionospheric grid points (IGPs) and user ionospheric pierce points (IPPs). The GPS Aided Geo Augmented Navigation (GAGAN) system is planned for air-navigation over the Indian service region using a space based augmentation. One of the main needs for GAGAN is to develop a suitable grid-based ionospheric model for estimating the vertical delay and its error bound, i.e., grid ionospheric vertical error (GIVE) at all the IGPs covering the Indian subcontinent. Dual frequency GPS receiver data obtained from 17 total electron content (TEC) stations are considered in the analysis. For a typical IGP (25°N, 75°E), variations in the GIVE for a few days of quiet ionosphere are presented. For a quiet and magnetically moderate day, the mean and standard deviations of the user IPP (UIPP) estimation error and the mean GIVE are presented using the IDWM with Klobuchar, Junkins and bilinear models.     

Spatial triangulation in a local, astronomical oriented cartesian coordinate system

For the determination of spatial coordinates of the points of a net-work a local Cartesian coordinate system is introduced, whoze z-axis coincides with the true vertical of an arbitrarily selected central point in the net-work, and whose x-axis is oriented to astronomical north. The observed horizontal directions and vertical angles, which refer to the local verticals of the observation stations, are reduced to parallels to the z-axis and the x-axis. For this purpose the direction of the local vertical in the observation stations and at least the astronomical azimuth of one side of the net-work need to be measured. This method has the advantage, that the number of unknowns for one observation station is reduced from six for the conventional method to four, and that, if the vertical angle and the astronomical azimuth of a line are measured from both sides, a simple control of the measured values is possible before the adjustment. The formulae for the reduction of the measured quantities and the observation equations for the adjustment of reduced azimuths, reduced vertical angles and of distances are derived. The method is checked in a quadrilateral in the Swiss Alps and compared with the conventional ellipsoidal adjustment.     

The impact of size variations in the ground instantaneous field of view of pixels on MODIS BRDF modelling

Bidirectional reflectance distribution functions (BRDF) seek to represent surface reflectance anisotropy resulting from surface physical structure and changes in a satellite sensor’s view and solar illumination angles. NASA’s MODerate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) is a wide field of view sensor that generates observations over a large range of view angles. Based on MODIS observations, a BRDF product and several sub-products have been developed by MODIS science teams, i.e. the MCD43 product suite. Variations in pixels’ ground instantaneous field of view (GIFOV), i.e. the size of a pixel’s footprint on the ground, is a well known effect associated with wide field of view sensors such as MODIS, but is not specifically considered in the MODIS BRDF algorithm nor has research been undertaken into its effects on MODIS BRDF modelling. This paper introduces two metrics to examine the relationship between reflectance variations associated with changes in MODIS pixels’ GIFOV and the MODIS BRDF (MCD43) product. These metrics are applied to four different study areas and epochs across the Australian continent. The two metrics are shown to be well correlated (mean correlation coefficient of 0.81 for the four study areas); suggesting that variations in pixels’ GIFOV are a consistent, non-random source of variance in MODIS BRDF modelling. The results contained in this paper suggest that all downstream products which include MODIS BRDF processing in their derivation and results directly based on MODIS BRDF processing may need to be reassessed.     

Qualitative and quantitative analysis of snow parameters using passive microwave remote sensing

Snow cover is an important variable for climatic and hydrologic models due to its effect on surface albedo, energy, and mass balance. Satellite observations successfully provide a global and comprehensive hemispheric-scale record of the short-term, as well as inter-seasonal variations in snow cover. Passive microwave sensors provide an excellent method to monitor temporal and spatial variations in large-scale snow cover parameters, overcoming problems of cloud cover. Using microwave remote sensing data, snow parameters (snow surface temperature, snow water equivalence, scattering index, emissivity, snow depth) have been retrieved to integrate with the snow cover simulation model developed by SASE for avalanche risk assessment on regional basis. Multispectral and multitemporal brightness temperature data obtained from the Special Sensor Microwave Imager (SSM/I), flown onboard the DMSP satellites, for the period November 2000 to April 2001 and from November 2001 to February 2002 have been analysed. A comparative data set on snow measurements and meteorological observations of a region covering large area of Pir-Panjal and the Greater Himalayan range, available on near real time basis from SASE field observatories were also used. Model calculations were carried out to study the effects of atmospheric transmission on the microwave radiation emitted from the snow covered and snow free ground and atmosphere. The sensitivity of combinations of the SSM/I channels at 19, 37 and 85 GHz, in both horizontal and vertical polarizations, in respect to snow depth, surface temperature of the snowpack have been carried out. Decision rule based algorithms are developed to identify snow cover and non-snow area.     

Deflection of the vertical and refraction in three-dimensional adjustment of terrestrial networks

Summary In this paper statistical tests are exploited in order to verify the hypotheses about the refraction and the deflection of the vertical pertaining to a geometrical model for the three-dimensional adjustment of terrestrial networks. The deflections of the vertical and the refraction coefficients can be assumed either as unknowns or fixed input data, at some or all the points of the network. The geometrical model, reported in the appendix for convenience, assumes as observables the slant distances, zenith and horizontal angles, without any reduction neither to the marks on the ground nor to the surface of reference. Further, the observation equations are derived and linearized in terms of Cartesian coordinates in Geocentric or Topocentric system; direction cosines of the vertical and of the ellipsoidal normal are adopted as the relevant direction parameters. Finally, an application to a network from Hradilek (1984), performed under different assumptions about the unknowns and the corrections of the angular observations due to the deflections of the vertical, shows the effectiveness of the proposed approach.     

测量机器人系统构成与精度研究

对测量机器人的特点进行了详细分析 ,对其自动化的工作原理进行了研究 ,其核心技术是用CCD摄像机获取目标图像 ,用计算机软件对数字图像进行分析和匹配 ,提取所需要的特征点 ,再配以精密马达伺服机构控制经纬仪系统的水平和垂直旋转 ,从而实现观测自动化。同时还简要介绍了与测量机器人配套使用的软件 ,并给出了试验结果。     

Estimating atmospheric pressure loading regression coefficients from GPS observations

The loading exerted by atmospheric pressure on the surface of the Earth causes deformations, mainly in vertical direction. Consequently, these deformations are also subject to pressure variations. At present this effect is only modeled by a few research groups in the post-processing of very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) and global positioning system (GPS) observations. As the displacements may clearly exceed the accuracy goals, we implement vertical pressure loading regression coefficients as a new estimable parameter type in the Bernese GPS software. This development is applied to a network of 60 European permanent GPS stations extending from 35 to 79° northern latitude. The analysis comprises 1,055 days of observations between January 2001 and February 2004. During that period pressure variations as large as 80 hPa occurred at high latitude sites. A least squares solution including all observations and all relevant parameters yields significant regression coefficients for all stations but reveals also some critical issues with regard to the capability of this geodetic approach to verify results based on the geophysical convolution method.An erratum to this article can be found at     

精密全站仪标称精度的实现途径之一——距离测量精度的保障

气象代表性误差是光电测距的主要误差来源,也是实现精密全站仪标称精度的主要障碍之一。文中以近地面大气层的垂直温度分布为基础,讨论了光电测距的最佳观测时间以及精确的气象改正方法。采用这些方法能够有效地削减光电测距的气象代表性误差,保证距离测量的精度。     

SRTM约束的无地面控制立体影像区域网平差

针对SRTM(shuttle radar topography mission)数据在平坦地形或局部区域的高程精度远远高于其标称精度的特点,研究设计了一种无地面控制条件下利用SRTM作为高程约束的立体区域网平差方法。通过构建一个较大范围区域网并匹配密集连接点,将SRTM作为连接点物方高程初值,并在平差解算过程中确保分布于地形平坦区域(根据经验,在该类区域SRTM精度较高)的连接点的物方高程严格趋近SRTM高程,最终实现大范围区域内影像高程精度的整体提升。通过以覆盖湖北省全境的资源三号卫星三线阵立体影像作为试验影像的试验验证表明,采用该平差方案,在无地面控制点条件下资源三号立体影像的高程中误差从7.2m提升到2.0m,其中地形平坦区域高程中误差1.44m,山地区域高程中误差3.0m,达到了我国1∶25 000比例尺测图应用的高程精度要求。     

Analysis of geodetic satellite (Geos I) observations in North America

Geos I observations made at thirty optical and four Secor stations were analyzed in the geometric and short-arc modes for the purpose of detecting systematic distortions in the North American Datum. The results indicate that the Nad at its origin (Meades Ranch, Kansas) requires an easterly rotation in azimuth and a westerly rotation in the prime vertical plane, both in the magnitude of one second of arc to fit the satellite data. There is also evidence of the need for a reduction in scale of about 1:200.000.     

Impact of tropospheric modelling on GNSS vertical precision: an empirical analysis based on a local active network

The troposphere affects Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signals due to the variability of the refractive index. Tropospheric delay is a function of the satellite elevation angle and the altitude of the GNSS receiver and depends on the atmospheric parameters. If the residual tropospheric delay is not modelled carefully a bias error will occur in the vertical component. In order to analyse the precise altimetric positioning based on a local active network, four scenarios in Southern Spain with different topographical, environmental, and meteorological conditions are presented, considering both favourable and non-favourable conditions. The use of surface meteorological observations allows us to take into account the tropospheric conditions instead of a standard atmosphere, but introduces a residual tropospheric bias which reduces the accuracy of precise GNSS positioning. Thus, with short observation times it is recommended not to estimate troposphere parameters, but to use an a priori model together with the standard atmosphere. The results confirm that it is possible to achieve centimetre-scale vertical accuracy and precision with real time kinematic positioning even with large elevation differences with respect to the nearest reference stations. These numerical results may be taken into consideration for improving the altimetric configuration of the local active network.     

EVALUATION OF THE COEFFICIENT OF TERRESTRIAL REFRACTION

Abstract

In a previous article on this subject (Empire Survey Review, January 1937) the writer sought to show that for trigonometrical observations of vertical angles made near noon in the Tropics the coefficient of refraction depends chiefly on height above ground level in the case of stations sited within a few hundred feet above the general level of the ground surface. Indeed, the computed values of the coefficient K show a definite and appreciable increase with “h”, the height of the observing station above ground level; it is usually assumed that K decreases with increase in height above the Mean-Sea-Level surface. From analysis of the results obtained by varying h but holding the heights above Mean Sea Level fixed the writer came to the conclusion that the variations in K could only be due to abnormal values of dt/dh and d²t/dh², “t” denoting the air temperature. Now it is generally recognized by meteorologists that abnormal lapse-rates of temperature do frequently occur in the lower air layers in the Tropics; but up to the present time no temperature soundings in Nigeria are available. Recently, however, the writer came across the results of the aerological soundings made by an expedition in East Africa during the year 1908. The results of many of the soundings were of no use for the purpose of this paper; many of the observations were not taken at or near noon, and in others counterlapses of temperature in the lower layers indicated that conditions were not normal. A set of observations taken at Mombasa between 10 and 11 a.m. were eventually chosen as offering an example of what might reasonably occur in the lower layers of the atmosphere.     

铅垂线辅助城区航空影像的绝对定向

依据灭点理论，推导了空间铅垂线与航空影像的空间姿态角之间的关系及其相应的误差方程式，并分析了铅垂线辅助的单像空间后方交会和单模型绝对定向中所需的控制点数。最后，通过实际数据的试验研究了铅垂线辅助的单像空间后方交会和单模型绝对定向的精度与可靠性。试验结果表明，在传统的单像空间后方交会和单模型绝对定向中引入铅垂线约束条件，不仅定向精度与传统的基于控制点的绝对定向精度相当，而且可以减少所需的控制点数以及定向精度对控制点分布的依赖性。     

The vertical mirror, its potential applications to theodolites and two star image stopping micrometers

A small area of a mirror can be made vertical with a high degree of accuracy by using a free mercury surface and an autocollimation target made of a mirror. The direction of the horizontal axis of a theodolite can be established, made and kept perpendicular to the vertical mirror for all telescope altitudes and the direction of the line of sight can be made, perpendicular to the horizontal axis with the same high degree of accuracy. Observations can thus be made on any part of a chosen celestial vertical circle much more accurately than by using the best striding levels. This application is potentially useful in determination of: astronomical longitude; changes in longitude differences with time, or the possible East-West component of continental drift; right ascension differences between stars; and the rotation rate of the Earth. Other applications include a leveling instrument of a new type, checking of tubular spirit levels, monitoring tidal variations in the direction of the plumb line, establishing an accurate 90° angle, and checking the graduations of the horizontal and vertical circles of theodolites. The impersonal micrometer for special astronomical observations stops the star image. Only parallel rays will enter the telescope when the observer is tracking the star keeping the star image stationary at the center of cross hairs.     

地图数字化中基于点位坐标的统一平差模型

探讨了地图数字化过程中采用平差方法来建立坐标计算的统一模型。将测得的角度、边长等数据化为方向、距离观测值列立误差方程，通过调用统一的平差迭代计算程序来计算未知点坐标及精度。详细给出了基于平差的11种常用坐标计算方法，并通过实例进行了说明。