Characterization and quantification of data voids in the shuttle Radar topography mission data

The goal of this study was to characterize and quantify the occurrence of data voids in data from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) for the conterminous United States. For this purpose, SRTM data and corresponding data from the national elevation data were downloaded in 21 samples spatially organized to cover the main topography of the U.S. Void locations in SRTM data were compared to terrain attributes and subsequently the area of individual data voids to the same attributes. It was found that data voids amounted to 0.3% of the total dataset. Data voids were found in all topographic settings but more often in slopes steeper than approximately 20/spl deg/ that face south (170/spl deg/), and also in flat areas such as lakes and rivers. It was also found that more than 50% of all data voids were composed of connected pixels in groups less than six pixels. The largest data voids could be attributed to water bodies, while the rest could be explained by terrain-radar interaction characteristics.     

Ellipsoidal geoid computation

Modern geoid computation uses a global gravity model, such as EGM96, as a third component in a remove–restore process. The classical approach uses only two: the reference ellipsoid and a geometrical model representing the topography. The rationale for all three components is reviewed, drawing attention to the much smaller precision now needed when transforming residual gravity anomalies. It is shown that all ellipsoidal effects needed for geoid computation with millimetric accuracy are automatically included provided that the free air anomaly and geoid are calculated correctly from the global model. Both must be consistent with an ellipsoidal Earth and with the treatment of observed gravity data. Further ellipsoidal corrections are then negligible. Precise formulae are developed for the geoid height and the free air anomaly using a global gravity model, given as spherical harmonic coefficients. Although only linear in the anomalous potential, these formulae are otherwise exact for an ellipsoidal reference Earth—they involve closed analytical functions of the eccentricity (and the Earths spin rate), rather than a truncated power series in e². They are evaluated using EGM96 and give ellipsoidal corrections to the conventional free air anomaly ranging from –0.84 to +1.14 mGal, both extremes occurring in Tibet. The geoid error corresponding to these differences is dominated by longer wavelengths, so extrema occur elsewhere, rising to +766 mm south of India and falling to –594 mm over New Guinea. At short wavelengths, the difference between ellipsoidal corrections based only on EGM96 and those derived from detailed local gravity data for the North Sea geoid GEONZ97 has a standard deviation of only 3.3 mm. However, the long-wavelength components missed by the local computation reach 300 mm and have a significant slope. In Australia, for example, such a slope would amount to a 600-mm rise from Perth to Cairns.     

An automated seamless mosaicing system of multi-charge coupled devices of panchromatic data

Panchromatic data of pixel resolution 5.8 m obtained from IRS-1C and IRS-1D satellites proved to be very useful for mapping purposes. One of the popular data product is the 70 km swath mosaic which is covered by a combination of 3 CCD line sensors, each with 4096 pixels. Each CCD-line sensor with different imaging times causes geometric problems of mosaicing three strips data together. In this paper, we propose the details of the design elements of system that caters to the need for accurate and automatic multi strip image registration without any second resampling of the data. The systematic geometric correction grid mapping is improved to facilitate accurate mosaicing by automatic image registration task that makes use of the overlap data within image strips and image registration is achieved up to sub-pixel level.     

Internet teaching foundation for the Remote Sensing Core Curriculum program

The Remote Sensing Core Curriculum (RSCC) was initiated in 1993 to meet the demands for a college-level set of resources to enhance the quality of education across national and international campuses. The American Society of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing adopted the RSCC in 1996 to sustain support of this educational initiative for its membership and collegiate community. A series of volumes, containing lectures, exercises, and data, is being created by expert contributors to address the different technical fields of remote sensing. The RSCC program is designed to operate on the Internet taking full advantage of the World Wide Web (WWW) technology for distance learning. The issues of curriculum development related to the educational setting, with demands on faculty, students, and facilities, is considered to understand the new paradigms for WW-influenced computer-aided learning. The WWW is shown to be especially appropriate for facilitating remote sensing education with requirements for addressing image data sets and multimedia learning tools. The RSCC is located at http://www.umbc.edu/rscc     

Remote sensing of horticultural plantations in Kumarsain tehsil in Shimla district, Himachal Pradesh

The favourable agroclimatic conditions for orchards especially apples have increased the acreages in Himachal Pradesh (HP) which has significantly contributed in the growth of state economy. Realizing the importance of horticulture in HP and its changing scenario of the land use/land cover, a study was conducted to identify and map apple and almond plantations in the Kumarsain tehsil of Shimla district using Remote Sensing (RS) techniques. IRS-IB LISS-II False Colour Composite (FCC) diapositives of October 27, March 30 and April 20, 1992 were visually analysed for mapping apple and almond plantations. The results indicate that IRS LISS-II data of April 20 on 1∶50,000 scale was found very useful for identification and mapping of apple and almond plantations in this region. Accuracy of interpretation was also tested on sample basis assuming a binomial distribution for the probability of success/failure of sample points. The overall interpretation accuracy assessed based on 40 sample points was found to be 87 per cent at 90 per cent confidence limits.     

The international GLONASS experiment: products, progress and prospects

 In October 1998 the IGEX field campaign, the first coordinated international effort to monitor GLONASS satellites on global basis, was started. Currently about 40 institutions worldwide support this effort either by providing GLONASS tracking data or in operating related data and analysis centers. The increasing quality and consistency of the calculated GLONASS orbits (about 25 cm early in 2000), even after the end of the official IGEX field campaign, are shown. Particular attention is drawn to the combination of precise ephemerides in order to generate a robust, reliable and complete IGEX orbits product. Some problems in modeling the effect of solar radiation pressure on GLONASS satellites are demonstrated. Finally, the expected benefits and prospects of the upcoming International GLOnass Service-Pilot Project (IGLOS-PP) of the International GPS Service (IGS) are discussed in more detail. Received: 17 August 2000 / Accepted: 12 April 2001     

Temperature Sensitivity of Timing Measurements Using Dorne Margolin Antennas

We have inferred the temperature sensitivity of Dorne Margolin choke ring antennas by direct estimation from differential clock estimates for two GPS sites separated by 2400 km. At each site, the cable and receiver systems are very well isolated from environmental variations. By direct comparison of the observed clock variations between these sites with local temperature measurements, empirical temperature coefficients for each system have been estimated. These thermal coefficients most likely apply to the only uncontrolled components of the systems, the Dorne Margolin choke ring antennas. Based on these results, the short-term (diurnal) stability of the antennas appears to be better than 2 ps/°C. The possibility that longer-term effects exist due to sensitivity in the daily average of the pseudorange observations has not been tested and cannot be excluded. ? 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Thermodynamic controls on element partitioning between titanomagnetite and andesitic–dacitic silicate melts

Titanomagnetite–melt partitioning of Mg, Mn, Al, Ti, Sc, V, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Ga, Zr, Nb, Mo, Hf and Ta was investigated experimentally as a function of oxygen fugacity (fO₂) and temperature (T) in an andesitic–dacitic bulk-chemical compositional range. In these bulk systems, at constant T, there are strong increases in the titanomagnetite–melt partitioning of the divalent cations (Mg²⁺, Mn²⁺, Co²⁺, Ni²⁺, Zn²⁺) and Cu²⁺/Cu⁺ with increasing fO₂ between 0.2 and 3.7 log units above the fayalite–magnetite–quartz buffer. This is attributed to a coupling between magnetite crystallisation and melt composition. Although melt structure has been invoked to explain the patterns of mineral–melt partitioning of divalent cations, a more rigorous justification of magnetite–melt partitioning can be derived from thermodynamic principles, which accounts for much of the supposed influence ascribed to melt structure. The presence of magnetite-rich spinel in equilibrium with melt over a range of fO₂ implies a reciprocal relationship between a(Fe²⁺O) and a(Fe³⁺O_1.5) in the melt. We show that this relationship accounts for the observed dependence of titanomagnetite–melt partitioning of divalent cations with fO₂ in magnetite-rich spinel. As a result of this, titanomagnetite–melt partitioning of divalent cations is indirectly sensitive to changes in fO₂ in silicic, but less so in mafic bulk systems.     

Evaluation of significant sources influencing the variation of physico-chemical parameters in Port Blair Bay,South Andaman,India by using multivariate statistics

Port Blair is the capital city of Andaman & Nicobar Islands, the union territory of India. More than 50% of the population of these islands lives around Port Blair Bay. Therefore the anthropogenic effects in the bay water were studied for monitoring purpose from seven stations. Physico-chemical parameters of seawater were analyzed in samples collected once in every 3 months for 2 years from seven sampling stations located in Port Blair Bay, South Andaman Island to evaluate the spatial and tidal variation. Cluster analysis and factor analysis were applied to the experimental data in an attempt to understand the sources of variation of physico-chemical parameters. In cluster analysis, the stations Junglighat Bay and Phoenix Bay having high anthropogenic influence formed a separate group. The factors obtained from factor analysis indicated that the parameters responsible for physico-chemical variations are mainly related to land run-off, sewage outfall and tidal flow.     

Application of Hilbert‐like transforms for enhanced processing of full tensor magnetic gradient data

Commonly, geomagnetic prospection is performed via scalar magnetometers that measure values of the total magnetic intensity. Recent developments of superconducting quantum interference devices have led to their integration in full tensor magnetic gradiometry systems consisting of planar‐type first‐order gradiometers and magnetometers fabricated in thin‐film technology. With these systems measuring directly the magnetic gradient tensor and field vector, a significantly higher magnetic and spatial resolution of the magnetic maps is yield than those produced via conventional magnetometers. In order to preserve the high data quality in this work, we develop a workflow containing all the necessary steps for generating the gradient tensor and field vector quantities from the raw measurement data up to their integration into high­resolution, low­noise, and artefactless two‐dimensional maps of the magnetic field vector. The gradient tensor components are processed by superposition of the balanced gradiometer signals and rotation into an Earth‐centred Earth‐fixed coordinate frame. As the magnetometers have sensitivity lower than that of gradiometers and the total magnetic intensity is not directly recorded, we employ Hilbert‐like transforms, e.g., integration of the gradient tensor components or the conversion of the total magnetic intensity derived by calibrated magnetometer readings to obtain these values. This can lead to a better interpretation of the measured magnetic anomalies of the Earth's magnetic field that is possible from scalar total magnetic intensity measurements. Our conclusions are drawn from the application of these algorithms on a survey acquired in South Africa containing full tensor magnetic gradiometry data.