Use of radio-occultation data for ionospheric imaging during the April 2002 disturbances

In 1994, Hajj et al. (1994) proposed the use of radio occultation data in ionospheric imaging. The advantages gained by including this data source are examined in this paper. Many data sources including ground-based and satellite-based observations are available for the events of the April 2002 ionospheric disturbance. This period has been chosen to study simultaneous images of the disturbed ionosphere over the USA and Europe. A 4D tomographic imaging technique known as Multi-instrument Data Analysis System (MIDAS) (Mitchell and Spencer, 2003) is applied in this study. The primary purpose of the study is to compare images produced with and without the use of radio-occultation data. The work investigates whether GPS occultation combined with ground-based GPS data improves the determination of peak height and peak density in the images. The results indicate that the occultation data improve both the peak height and the peak density in the images. The use of ionosonde data is also examined and the results are compared between the USA and Europe.     

Global height datum unification: a new approach in gravity potential space

The problem of “global height datum unification” is solved in the gravity potential space based on: (1) high-resolution local gravity field modeling, (2) geocentric coordinates of the reference benchmark, and (3) a known value of the geoid’s potential. The high-resolution local gravity field model is derived based on a solution of the fixed-free two-boundary-value problem of the Earth’s gravity field using (a) potential difference values (from precise leveling), (b) modulus of the gravity vector (from gravimetry), (c) astronomical longitude and latitude (from geodetic astronomy and/or combination of (GNSS) Global Navigation Satellite System observations with total station measurements), (d) and satellite altimetry. Knowing the height of the reference benchmark in the national height system and its geocentric GNSS coordinates, and using the derived high-resolution local gravity field model, the gravity potential value of the zero point of the height system is computed. The difference between the derived gravity potential value of the zero point of the height system and the geoid’s potential value is computed. This potential difference gives the offset of the zero point of the height system from geoid in the “potential space”, which is transferred into “geometry space” using the transformation formula derived in this paper. The method was applied to the computation of the offset of the zero point of the Iranian height datum from the geoid’s potential value W ₀=62636855.8 m²/s². According to the geometry space computations, the height datum of Iran is 0.09 m below the geoid.     

Boreal forest transmissivity in the microwave domain using ground-based measurements

This letter proposes an estimation of microwave transmissivity within the Canadian boreal forest. The aim is to correct the forest effect in snow water equivalent estimation from Special Sensor Microwave Imager and Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer microwave measurements. The estimation was carried out using ground-based radiometric measurements, at 19 and 37 GHz, and for both polarizations. The results show that the transmissivity is correlated with the stem volume and is independent of the tree species. For high stem volumes (>100 m/sup 3//ha), the transmissivity is found to be 0.4 and 0.3 for 19 and 37 GHz, respectively.     

Cloud bottom altitude determination from a satellite

The letter is devoted to the introduction of a new technique to derive the cloud bottom height (CBH) from satellite measurements of the cloud reflectance in the oxygen A-band. The information on the cloud top height needed in the retrieval of the CBH must be obtained from separate measurements to insure small biases in the retrieved CBH. Such measurements can be performed by a space-based lidar.     

Change in cloud-top temperatures over Europe

Long-term measurements from Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) onboard the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration satellites were evaluated to assess variability in cloud-top temperatures over central and eastern Europe that saw radical infrastructural changes after the fall of the East Bloc in 1989 that has affected the pollution levels and hence cloud albedo. Four years in the late 1980s (1985-1988) and in the late 1990s (1997-2000) were chosen, as these are distinctively marked as episodes of very high and lower air pollution (sulphates and particulate matter). During the late 1980s, low- and medium-level clouds were colder by more than 2 K and convective clouds even by 4 K. Cloud-tops over and around polluted regions are higher, and their temperatures showed stronger variability, suggesting an indirect aerosol effect in the thermal spectral range as well.     

Estimation of ship velocities from MODIS and OCM

Detection of ships and their tracks in the atmosphere from satellites was earlier demonstrated by Porch, Noone, and Kaufman, among others. In this letter, we have gone one step further to estimate the ship speed and direction by locating them and their tracks from multisatellite imagery. Exhausts from the ships create streaks of clouds in the atmosphere that help identify the same ship from two satellites. Ship velocities are estimated from displacements of ships. We have used optical sensors data from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and Ocean Color Monitor (OCM) to demonstrate this technique. Estimated velocities of ships are within the expected range. Application of this approach has general interest to the navy, coast guards, shipping corporations, commercial ship owners, and fishermen. More satellite observations can be used to continuously monitor the ship velocities.     

Geocomputation, Geodemographics and Resource Allocation for Local Policing

The field of geodemographics is one of the most fertile applications areas of geocomputation research. Geodemographic profiles of the characteristics of individuals and small areas are pivotal to tactical and strategic resource management in many areas of business, and are becoming similarly central to efficient and effective deployment of resources by public services. In this context, this paper describes research that has been developed in partnership with the Devon and Cornwall Constabulary and Institute of Criminal Justice Studies (ICJS) at the University of Portsmouth to assess the potential use of geodemographics as a policing tool. Crime, the fear of crime and the efficacy of public services are issues that have moved to the top of the UK political agenda and have long been matters of serious public concern. This paper considers the ways in which police forces might use geodemographics to better deploy resources at a variety of spatial scales in England and Wales.     

Combined Digital Photogrammetry and Time-of-Flight Laser Scanning for Monitoring Cliff Evolution

Although cliffs form approximately 75% of the world's coastline, the understanding of the processes through which they evolve remains limited because of a lack of quantitative data on the morphological changes they undergo. In this paper the combination of terrestrial time-of-flight laser scanning with high-resolution digital photogrammetry is examined to generate high-quality data-sets pertaining to the geomorphic processes governing cliff development. The study was undertaken on a section of hard rock cliffs in North Yorkshire, UK, which has been monitored over a 12-month period. High-density, laser-scanned point clouds have been used to produce an accurate representation of these complex surfaces, free from the optical variations that degrade photographic data. These data-sets have been combined with high-resolution photographic monitoring, resampled with the fixed accuracies of the terrestrial laser survey, to generate a new approach to recording the volumetric changes in complex coastal cliffs. This has led to significant improvements in the understanding of the activity patterns of coastal cliffs.     

THE NEW DECADE: DIGITS AND DIVERSITY

The President of the Photogrammetric Society, Mr. I Newton, chaired a panel discussion concerned with those developments in photogrammetry which may take place during the 1990s.