Performance of the improved Abel transform to estimate electron density profiles from GPS occultation data

The Abel inversion is a straightforward tool to retrieve high-resolution vertical profiles of electron density from GPS radio occultations gathered by low earth orbiters (LEO). Nevertheless, the classical approach of this technique is limited by the assumption that the electron density in the vicinity of the occultation depends only on height (i.e., spherical symmetry), which is not realistic particularly in low-latitude regions or during ionospheric storms. Moreover, with the advent of recent satellite missions with orbits placed around 400 km (such as CHAMP satellite), an additional issue has to be dealt with: the treatment of the electron content above the satellite orbits. This paper extends the performance study of a method, proposed by the authors in previous works, which tackles both problems using an assumption of electron-density separability between the vertical total electron content and a shape function. This allows introducing horizontal information into the classic Abel inversion. Moreover, using both positive and negative elevation data makes it feasible to take into account the electron content above the LEO as well. Different data sets involving different periods of the solar cycle, periods of the day and satellites are studied in this work, confirming the benefits of this improved Abel transform approach.     

Spaceborne gravitational field determination by means of locally supported wavelets

In space-borne gravitational field determination, two challenges are inherent. First, the continuation of the data down to the surface of the Earth is an ill-posed problem, requiring therefore regularization techniques. Second huge data sets result requiring efficient numerical methods. In this paper, we show how locally supported wavelets on the sphere can be developed by means of a spherical version of the so-called up function. By construction, the corresponding scaling functions and wavelets are infinitely smooth, so that they can be used for regularization purposes. In particular, we show how the ill-posed pseudo-differential equations coming from satellite missions can be regularized by efficient numerical schemes using locally supported wavelets. These methods seem in particular to be interesting for regional gravity field modelling.     

Dynamic survey of architectural heritage by high-speed microwave interferometry

The authors propose the use of a high-speed interferometric radar for remotely measuring both transient displacements and steady-state vibrations of architectural heritage structures in order to test their stability conditions. Demonstrative results of application of the technique to a prominent cultural heritage artwork, the tower of Giotto in Florence, Italy, are reported.     

Accuracy of differential shift estimation by correlation and split-bandwidth interferometry for wideband and delta-k SAR systems

Estimation of differential shift of image elements between two synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images is the basis for many applications, like digital elevation model generation or ground motion mapping. The shift measurement can be done nonambiguously on the macro scale at an accuracy depending on the range resolution of the system or on the micro scale by employing interferometric methods. The latter suffers from phase cycle ambiguities and requires phase unwrapping. Modern wideband high-resolution SAR systems boast resolutions as small as a few tens of a wavelength. If sufficiently many samples are used for macro-scale shift estimation, the accuracy can be increased to a small fraction of a resolution cell and even in the order of a wavelength. Then, accurate absolute ranging becomes precise enough to support phase unwrapping or even make it obsolete. This letter establishes a few fundamental equations on the accuracy bounds of shift estimation accuracy for several algorithms: coherent speckle correlation, incoherent speckle correlation, split-band interferometry, a multifrequency approach, and correlation of point scatterers in clutter. It is shown that the performance of split-band interferometry is close to the Crame/spl acute/r-Rao bound for a broad variety of bandwidth ratios. Based on these findings, Delta-k systems are proposed to best take advantage of the available radar bandwidth.     

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.     

The negative alpha filter: a new Processing technique for polarimetric SAR interferometry

In this letter we develop a new concept, the negative alpha filter, which we suggest has application for quantitative estimation of surface parameters beneath vegetation using polarimetric synthetic aperture radar (SAR) interferometry (POLInSAR). We first derive the filter and then validate it using simulations of L-band coherent forest scattering. We then show initial results of applying the filter to airborne data from the German Aerospace Center's E-SAR L-band sensor.     

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.     

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.     

Selection of spectral band combination for land cover/land use classification using a brightness value overlapping index (BVOI)

A simply defined, accurate and efficient criterion of selecting a spectral-band combination for improved land use/land cover classification using remote sensing data is discussed. Results indicate that Brightness Value Overlapping Index (BVOI) is very effective in measuring the degree of overlap in brightness values among land cover types and in selecting suitable spectral-band combination for landuse classification. The results of BVOI are also compared with the results of another band-combination selecting index - Optimum Index Factor (OIF).