Anomalous radar backscatter from Titan’s surface?

Since Cassini arrived at Saturn in 2004, its moon Titan has been thoroughly mapped by the RADAR instrument at 2-cm wavelength, in both active and passive modes. Some regions on Titan, including Xanadu and various bright hummocky bright terrains, contain surfaces that are among the most radar-bright encountered in the Solar System. This high brightness has been generally attributed to volume scattering processes in the inhomogeneous, low-loss medium expected for a cold, icy satellite surface. We can test this assumption now that the emissivity has been obtained from the concurrent radiometric measurements for nearly all the surface, with unprecedented accuracy (Janssen et al., and the Cassini RADAR Team [2009]. Icarus 200, 222-239). Kirchhoff’s law of thermal radiation relates the radar and radiometric properties in a way that has never been fully exploited. In this paper we examine here how this law may be applied in this case to better understand the nature of Titan’s radar-bright regions. We develop a quantitative model that, when compared to the observational data, allows us to conclude that either the reflective characteristics of the putative volume scattering subsurface must be highly constrained, or, more likely, organized structure on or in the surface is present that enhances the backscatter.     

Ground-based radar observations of Titan: 2000-2008

We have observed Titan with the Arecibo Observatory’s 12.6 cm wavelength radar system during the last eight oppositions of the Saturn system with sufficient sensitivity to characterize its scattering properties as a function of sub-Earth longitude. In a few sessions the Green Bank Telescope was used as the receiving instrument in a bistatic configuration to boost sub-radar track length and integration time. Radar echo spectra have been obtained for a total of 92 viewing geometries with sub-Earth locations scattered through all longitudes and at latitudes between 7.6°S and 26.3°S, close to the maximum southern excursion of the sub-Earth track. We find Titan to have globally average radar albedos at this wavelength of 0.161 in the opposite circular polarization sense as that transmitted (OC) and 0.074 in the same sense (SC), giving a polarization ratio SC/OC of 0.46. These values are intermediate between lower reflectivity rocky surfaces and higher reflectivity clean icy surfaces. The variations with longitude in general mirror the surface brightness variations seen through the infrared atmospheric windows. Xanadu Regio’s radar reflectivity and polarization ratio are higher than the global averages, and suggest that its composition is relatively cleaner water ice or, possibly, some other material with low propagation loss at radio wavelengths. For all echo spectra most of the power is in a broad diffuse component but with a specular component whose strength and narrowness is highly variable as a function of surface location. For all data we fit a sum of the standard Hagfors scattering law describing the specular component and an empirical diffuse radar scattering model to extract bulk parameters of the surface. Many areas exhibit very narrow specular reflections implying terrain that are quite flat on centimeter to meter scales over spans of tens to perhaps hundreds of kilometers. The proportion of spectra showing these narrow specular echoes has fallen significantly over the observational time span, indicating either a latitudinal effect related to terrain differences or changing surface conditions over the past several years. A few radar tracks, especially those from the 2008 session, overlap some high resolution Cassini RADAR imagery swaths to allow a direct comparison with terrain.     

淮河流域一次强对流性天气过程的遥感资料分析

利用气象卫星红外遥感资料和新一代多普勒天气雷达微波探测信息,对2008年7月22日发生在淮河流域的一次暴雨强对流性天气过程进行分析,了解两种探测结果间存在的异同点。结果表明：虽然气象卫星在时空分辨率上不如天气雷达直观,但从卫星云图上可以观测到在雷达回波图中无法分析的大尺度天气背景,且通过Tir=Twv线所处位置的分析,能够了解对流系统的发展趋势。而从高时空分辨率的雷达回波强度分布以及径向速度中,则可以清晰地观测到系统的小尺度变化特征以及不同高度的径向速度特征。综合两种探测信息可以相互弥补不足,了解到更多的有效信息。     

Radar altimetry backscattering signatures at Ka,Ku, C,and S bands over West Africa

This study presents a comprehensive comparison of radar altimetry signatures at Ka-, Ku-, C-, and S-bands using SARAL, ENVISAT and Jason-2 data over the major bioclimatic zones, soil and vegetation types encountered in West-Africa, with an emphasis on the new information at Ka-band provided by the recently launched SARAL–Altika mission. Spatio-temporal variations of the radar altimetry responses were related to changes in surface roughness, land cover and soil wetness. Analysis of time series of backscattering coefficients along the West African bioclimatic gradient shows that radar echoes at nadir incidence are well correlated to soil moisture in semi-arid savannah environments. Radar altimeters are able to detect the presence of water even under a dense canopy cover at all frequencies. But only measurements at Ka-band are able to penetrate underneath the canopy of non-inundated tropical evergreen forests.     

水库冰气泡含量和密度对探地雷达测厚的影响分析(英文)

在水库现场试验了RIS K2型探地雷达探测水库冰厚度的能力,试验时所用天线频率为600MHz;同步钻孔测量雷达探测处的冰厚度;以及在一个点上取样测试分析冰晶体、冰内气泡和冰密度。试验时冰面积雪厚度0.03-0.05m,冰层上部有0.24m粒状冰,其下均为柱状冰;冰内气泡含量呈表层高底层低分布;冰密度随气泡含量变化;冰厚度在平面内不均一。通过探测厚度和实测厚度的对比分析以及气泡含量对介电系数影响的理论分析,建立了积雪、粒状冰和柱状冰三层介质模型,获取雷达波在冰内的理论传递时间。结果发现:能够利用等效介电常数或等效传播速度评价雷达波传递时间,结冰期冰层1/3深度处的对应介电常数或传递速度可以作为等效值;另外因冰内大气泡造成的理论传递时间大于雷达探测时间,其差值随理论传递时间或冰厚的增加呈非线性增加。     

Assimilation of ASAR data with a hydrologic and semi-empirical backscattering coupled model to estimate soil moisture

The most promising approach for studying soil moisture is the assimilation of observation data and computational modeling.However,there is much uncertainty in the assimilation process,which affects the assimilation results.This research developed a one-dimensional soil moisture assimilation scheme based on the Ensemble Kalman Filter(EnKF)and Genetic Algorithm(GA).A two-dimensional hydrologic model-Distributed Hydrology-Soil-Vegetation Model(DHSVM)was coupled with a semi-empirical backscattering model(Oh).The Advanced Synthetic Apertture Radar(ASAR)data were assimilated with this coupled model and the field observation data were used to validate this scheme in the soil moisture assimilation experiment.In order to improve the assimilation results,a cost function was set up based on the distance between the simulated backscattering coefficient from the coupled model and the observed backscattering coefficient from ASAR.The EnKF and GA were used to re-initialize and re-parameterize the simulation process,respectively.The assimilation results were compared with the free-run simulations from hydrologic model and the field observation data.The results obtained indicate that this assimilation scheme is practical and it can improve the accuracy of soil moisture estimation significantly.     

用星载合成孔径雷达(SAR)立体影像生成DEM的方法研究

星载SAR成像是一种微波成像,由于微波具有穿透云雾、雨雪等的特点,使得SAR能够不受天气和时间的限制而对地球扫描成像,这使得SAR具有一般光学成像所没有的优点。人们正积极探索把SAR数据用于测绘并来解决一些问题。考虑到卫星在短时间内的运动比较平稳,并且它的相对关系精确度高,本文主要从SAR成像的几何角度和两景影像的相对关系出发,分析了雷达成象的特点,进而探讨了从立体像对上提取DEM的方法,并就具体步骤做了进一步的阐述。     

顾及特征优化的全极化SAR图像SVM分类

以支持向量数和相关性分析为评估依据,结合序列前进搜寻策略,本文提出一种顾及特征优化的改进SVM分类方法,并将其应用于全极化SAR图像监督分类。真实数据的实验结果表明,该方法不仅具有小样本情况下的良好泛化性能,而且能以更少的特征个数,在更广泛的SVM参数取值范围内获得更高的分类精度。     

Impact of physical parameterizations on simulation of the Caspian Sea lake-effect snow

The southwestern coast of the Caspian Sea often experiences heavy snowfall during winter season due to the lake effect. The accurate estimation of snowfall in this region is still a challenge for weather forecasters. This study attempts to investigate the simulation of lake-effect snow (LES) event occurring along the southwest coastline of the Caspian Sea from 31 January to 4 February 2014 using Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. The study evaluates the sensitivity of four microphysics (WSM6, Goddard, Morrison, and Thompson) schemes and two planetary boundary layer (PBL) schemes (the Yonsei University (YSU) and the Mellor-Yamada-Janjic (MYJ)), yielding eight distinct combinations. The results indicated that all the simulations overestimated the precipitation. However, the best configurations for estimation of precipitation and snow in terms of their spatiotemporal variation were the Morrison-MYJ and the Goddard-MYJ, respectively. Analyses of the vertical profiles of hydrometeor species showed that the combination of Goddard and MYJ schemes created more snow and graupel than the other configurations. Although the combination of WSM-MYJ schemes revealed the least bias, it was not appropriate for the prediction of snow. A comparison of the two boundary layer schemes showed that the MYJ scheme simulated better intensity and distribution of precipitation than the YSU scheme compared to observations. Also, the maximum radar reflectivity of the model output was useful for identifying the location of maximum precipitation.     

极化散射特性保持的改进迭代Wishart分类算法

为克服基于极化散射特性保持的迭代Wishart分类算法不适用于城区及对混合散射像素分类欠理想等不足,本文提出一种改进方法.其基本思想是先应用四分量分解算法将像素分成4种基本散射类型和混合散射类型,接着以平均合并度为指导对基本散射类型中的像素自适应聚类,最后对所有像素进行散射特性保持的迭代Wishart分类.试验结果表明...