3D Target Localization Based on FrFT from Spaceborne Curve SAR

Synthetic aperture radar(SAR)three-dimensional(3D)imaging technology can reconstruct the complete structure of observed targets and has been a hot topic.Compared with tomographic SAR,array interferometric SAR,and circular SAR,curve SAR can use less data to achieve 3D positioning of targets.Most existing algorithms for estimating Doppler frequency modulation(FM)rate are based on sub aperture partitioning,resulting in low computational efficiency.To address this,this article establishes a target height estimation model,which reflects the relation-ship between the height and the residual Doppler FM rate for spaceborne curve SAR.Then,a fast SAR 3D localization processing flow based on fractional Fourier transform(FrFT)is proposed.Experimental verification demonstrates that this method can estimate the Doppler FM of the target column by column,and the 3D position error for non-overlapping targets is controlled within 1 m.For overlapping points with an intensity ratio greater than 1.5,the root mean square error(RMSE)of the estimation results is around 5 m.If the separation between overlapping points is greater than 35 m,the RMSE decreases to approximately 2 m.

A Method for Spaceborne Synthetic Remote Sensing of Atmospheric Aerosol Optical Depth and Vegetation Reflectance

Spaceborne synthetic remote sensing of atmospheric aerosol optical depth and vegetation reflectance is very significant, but it remains to be a question unresolved yet. Based on the property of vegetation reflectance spectra from near ultra violet to near infrared and the sensitivity of outgoing radiance to vegetation reflectance and atmospheric aerosol optical depth, a new method for spaceborne synthetic remote sensing of the reflectance and the depth is proposed, and an iteration correlation inversion algorithm is developed in this paper. According to numerical experiment, effects of radiance error, error in aerosol imaginary index and vegetation medium inhomogeneity on retrieved result are analyzed. Inversion results show that the effect of error in aerosol imaginary index is very important. As the error of aerosol imaginary index is within 0.01, standard errors of aerosol optical depth and vegetation reflectance solutions for 14 spectral channels from 410 nm to 900 nm are respectively less than 0.063 and 0.023. And as the radiance error is within 2%, the standard errors are less than 0.023 and 0.0056.

Application of Spectral Angle Mapper Classification to Discriminate Hydrothermal Alteration in Southwest Birjand, Iran, Using Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer Image Processing

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the Spectral Angle Mapper （SAM） classification method for determining the optimum threshold （maximum spectral angle） to unveil the hydrothermal mineral assemblages related to mineral deposits. The study area indicates good potential for Cu-Au porphyry, epithermal gold deposits and hydrothermal alteration well developed in arid and semiarid climates, which makes this region significant for Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer （ASTER） image processing analysis. Given that achieving an acceptable mineral mapping requires knowing the alteration patterns, petrochemistry and petrogenesis of the igneous rocks while considering the effect of weathering, overprinting of supergene alteration, overprinting of hypogene alteration and host rock spectral mixing, SAM classification was implemented for argillic, sericitic, propylitic, alunitization, silicification and iron oxide zones of six previously known mineral deposits： Maherabad, a Cu-Au porphyry system; Sheikhabad, an upper part of Cu-Au porphyry system; Khoonik, an Intrusion related Au system; Barmazid, a low sulfidation epithermal system; Khopik, a Cu-Au porphyry system; and Hanish, an epithermal Au system. Thus, the investigation showed that although the whole alteration zones are affected by mixing, it is also possible to produce a favorable hydrothermal mineral map by such complementary data as petrology, petrochemistry and alteration patterns.

Wind vector retrieval algorithm from spaceborne lidar data

The principal purpose of this paper is to extract entire sea surface wind＇s information from spaceborne lidar, and particularly to utilize a appropriate algorithm for removing the interference information due to white caps and subsurface water. Wind speeds are obtained through empirical relationship with sea surface mean square slopes. Wind directions are derived from relationship between wind speeds and wind directions im plied in CMOD5n geophysical models function （GMF）. Whitecaps backscattering signals were distinguished with the help of lidar depolarization ratio measurements and rectified by whitecaps coverage equation. Subsurface water backscattering signals were corrected by means of inverse distance weighted （IDW） from neighborhood non-singular data with optimal subsurface water backscattering calibration parameters. To verify the algorithm reliably, it selected NDBC＇s TAO buoy-laying area as survey region in camparison with buoys＇ wind field data and METOP satellite ASCAT of 25 km single orbit wind field data after temporal-spa tial matching. Validation results showed that the retrieval algorithm works well in terms of root mean square error （RMSE） less than 2m/s and wind direction＇s RMSE less than 21 degree.

Statistical Modeling with a Hidden Markov Tree and High-resolution Interpolation for Spaceborne Radar Reflectivity in the Wavelet Domain

With the increasing availability of precipitation radar data from space,enhancement of the resolution of spaceborne precipitation observations is important,particularly for hazard prediction and climate modeling at local scales relevant to extreme precipitation intensities and gradients.In this paper,the statistical characteristics of radar precipitation reflectivity data are studied and modeled using a hidden Markov tree(HMT)in the wavelet domain.Then,a high-resolution interpolation algorithm is proposed for spaceborne radar reflectivity using the HMT model as prior information.Owing to the small and transient storm elements embedded in the larger and slowly varying elements,the radar precipitation data exhibit distinct multiscale statistical properties,including a non-Gaussian structure and scale-to-scale dependency.An HMT model can capture well the statistical properties of radar precipitation,where the wavelet coefficients in each sub-band are characterized as a Gaussian mixture model(GMM),and the wavelet coefficients from the coarse scale to fine scale are described using a multiscale Markov process.The state probabilities of the GMM are determined using the expectation maximization method,and other parameters,for instance,the variance decay parameters in the HMT model are learned and estimated from high-resolution ground radar reflectivity images.Using the prior model,the wavelet coefficients at finer scales are estimated using local Wiener filtering.The interpolation algorithm is validated using data from the precipitation radar onboard the Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission satellite,and the reconstructed results are found to be able to enhance the spatial resolution while optimally reproducing the local extremes and gradients.

Sparse flight spotlight mode 3-D imaging of spaceborne SAR based on sparse spectrum and principal component analysis

The spaceborne synthetic aperture radar(SAR)sparse flight 3-D imaging technology through multiple observations of the cross-track direction is designed to form the cross-track equivalent aperture,and achieve the third dimensionality recognition.In this paper,combined with the actual triple star orbits,a sparse flight spaceborne SAR 3-D imaging method based on the sparse spectrum of interferometry and the principal component analysis(PCA)is presented.Firstly,interferometric processing is utilized to reach an effective sparse representation of radar images in the frequency domain.Secondly,as a method with simple principle and fast calculation,the PCA is introduced to extract the main features of the image spectrum according to its principal characteristics.Finally,the 3-D image can be obtained by inverse transformation of the reconstructed spectrum by the PCA.The simulation results of 4.84 km equivalent cross-track aperture and corresponding 1.78 m cross-track resolution verify the effective suppression of this method on high-frequency sidelobe noise introduced by sparse flight with a sparsity of 49%and random noise introduced by the receiver.Meanwhile,due to the influence of orbit distribution of the actual triple star orbits,the simulation results of the sparse flight with the 7-bit Barker code orbits are given as a comparison and reference to illuminate the significance of orbit distribution for this reconstruction results.This method has prospects for sparse flight 3-D imaging in high latitude areas for its short revisit period.

A Chirp Scaling Algorithm for Spaceborne SAR System with Large Squint Angle

A new Chirp Scaling algorithm for spaceborne synthetic aperture radar(SAR) with large squint angle is presented and compared with the Range-Doppler algorithm and the algorithm in literatur [6] in the paper. The simulation results of processing point target echocs show that the algorithm developed in this paper can give more accurate image especially in the case of large squint angle.

A NEW METHOD OF DOPPLER CENTROID ESTIMATION FOR SPACEBORNE SAR-AMPLITUDE CORRELATION METHOD

The linear relationship between Doppler centroid and range walking in spaceborne SAR data is analyzed, and a new method to estimate Doppler centroid is proposed, which is so called amplitude correlation method. Compared with clutter-lock method which is widely used now, the new method has much less computation burden and is able to give higher estimation accuracy for a quasi-homogeneous scene or a non-homogeneous scene. This is clearly verified by the experimental results of estimating Doppler centroid for SEASAT-A raw data.

ON STUDY OF SPACEBORNE SAR SYSTEMS BY SIMULATIONS

The mathematical model of spaceborne SAR systems and its computer simulationsare described. Results of computer simulations about range migration, range migration correction,azimuth weighting and signal generation/processing are given. This software can be used tosimulate the dynamic processes in spaceborne SAR systems, to develop new signal processingtechniques and to evaluate the performance of the designed system.

Spaceborne GPS receiver antenna phase center offset and variation estimation for the Shiyan 3 satellite

In determining the orbits of low Earth orbit （LEO） satellites using spaceborne GPS, the errors caused by receiver antenna phase center offset （PCO） and phase center variations （PCVs） are gradually becoming a major limiting factor for continued improvements to accuracy. Shiyan 3, a small satellite mission for space technology experimentation and climate exploration, was developed by China and launched on November 5, 2008. The dual-frequency GPS receiver payload delivers 1 Hz data and provides the basis for precise orbit determination within the range of a few centimeters. The antenna PCO and PCV error characteristics and the principles influencing orbit determination are analyzed. The feasibility of PCO and PCV estimation and compensation in different directions is demonstrated through simulation and in-flight tests. The values of receiver antenna PCO and PCVs for Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment （GRACE） and Shiyan 3 satellites are estimated from one month of data. A large and stable antenna PCO error, reaching up to 10.34 cm in the z-direction, is found with the Shiyan 3 satellite. The PCVs on the Shiyan 3 satellite are estimated and reach up to 3.0 cm, which is slightly larger than that of GRACE satellites. Orbit validation clearly improved with independent k-band ranging （KBR） and satellite laser ranging （SLR） measurements. For GRACE satellites, the average root mean square （RMS） of KBR residuals improved from 1.01 cm to 0.88 cm. For the Shiyan 3 satellite, the average RMS of SLR residuals improved from 4.95 cm to 4.06 cm.

Ground moving target detection and location based on SAR images for distributed spaceborne SAR

This paper investigates data processing approaches to detect and locate ground moving targets using distributed spaceborne SAR systems with long cross-track baselines. In particular, it investigates the performance of ground moving target detection for two typical satellite formations： Cartwheel and Pendulum. An approach based on SAR images and a space-time adaptive processing （STAP） algorithm is proposed in order to overcome the effects of the ground terrain on the clutter suppression. The key idea of the approach is firstly to reduce the clutter degrees of freedom greatly by using conventional SAR imaging processing. Then the ground terrain clutter within each SAR pixel can be effectively cancelled by using the very limited spatial degrees of freedom. Finally, constant-false-alarm-rate （CFAR） techniques can be used to detect the remaining target SAR pixels after clutter cancellation. An approach to relocate the detected targets is also proposed, which is based on the estimation of the Doppler spectrum shifts of ground moving targets relative to the clutter Doppler spectrum. The proposed approaches in this paper have the advantages of simplicity and high efficiency.

Advances in spaceborne hyperspectral remote sensing in China

With the maturation of satellite technology,Hyperspectral Remote Sensing(HRS)platforms have developed from the initial ground-based and airborne platforms into spaceborne platforms,which greatly promotes the civil application of HRS imagery in the fields of agriculture,forestry,and environmental monitoring.China is playing an important role in this evolution,especially in recent years,with the successful launch and operation of a series of civil hyper-spectral spacecraft and satellites,including the Shenzhou-3 spacecraft,the Gaofen-5 satellite,the SPARK satellite,the Zhuhai-1 satellite network for environmental and resources monitoring,the FengYun series of satellites for meteorological observation,and the Chang’E series of spacecraft for planetary exploration.The Chinese spaceborne HRS platforms have various new characteristics,such as the wide swath width,high spatial resolution,wide spectral range,hyperspectral satellite networks,and microsatellites.This paper focuses on the recent progress in Chinese spaceborne HRS,from the aspects of the typical satellite systems,the data processing,and the applications.In addition,the future development trends of HRS in China are also discussed and analyzed.

Tests of spaceborne rain radar retrieval algorithms by simulation

THE rainfall rate is related statistically to the radar reflectivity, but the return power of

Design and VHDL simulation of a special high speed spaceborne bus controller

The application of high speed data bus on the satellites having several remote sensors could not only satisfy the demand of high speed data transfer,but also could reuse the equipment at both the com-ponent and subsystem levels for other space missions,thus reducing the costs of on-board processing system integration.In this article,a special high speed data bus with simple interfaces is chosen for transferring the data produced by remote sensors and other instrumentations.First,the function and the structure of the data bus are discussed carefully.And then,the bus controller,which is a key mod-ule of the data bus,is designed.At last,the function and performance of the bus controller are verified by VHDL simulation.

Application of the RPC model for spaceborne SAR image geometric processing

An increasing number of low,medium,and high resolution SAR satellites creates a demand for a generalized sensor model to replace the rigorous sensor model(RSM).The rational polynomial coefficient(RPC)model is a generic sensor model which accurately fits the object-image geometry for various sensor systems with different coefficient values.It has been widely used as an alternative to RSM for photogrammetric processing of optical images,but its applications to SAR images are rarely discussed in publications.In this paper,the feasibility and practicability of the RPC model for SAR images are studied.The RPC model can not only be used to replace the RSM(range–Doppler model for SAR),but also applied to the processing chain for SAR data,thus facilitating the processing of SAR and InSAR data for end users.

A spaceborne advanced storage system for remote sensing microsatellites

With the development of satellite miniaturization and remote sensing,the establishment of microsatellite constellations is an inevitable trend.Due to their limited size,weight,and power,spaceborne storage systems with excellent scalability,performance,and reliability are still one of the technical bottlenecks of remote sensing microsatellites.Based on the commercial off-the-shelf field-programmable gate array and memory devices,a spaceborne advanced storage system(SASS)is proposed in this paper.This work provides a dynamic programming,queue scheduling multiple-input multiple-output cache technique and a high-speed,high-reliability NAND flash controller for multiple microsatellite payload data.Experimental results show that SASS has outstanding scalability with a maximum write rate of 2429 Mb/s and preserves at least 78.53%of the performance when a single NAND flash fails.The scheduling technique effectively shortens the data scheduling time,and the data remapping method of the NAND flash controller can reduce the retention error by at least 50.73%and the program disturbance error by at least 37.80%.

Evaluating the suitability of different terrains for sustaining human settlements according to the local elevation range in China using the ASTER GDEM

The topographical suitability assessment of human settlements(SAHS) creates a solid foundation for regional population distribution and socio-economic development. Local elevation range(LER) is an important factor that can be used to assess the suitability of different terrains for sustaining human settlements. However, current digital elevation model(DEM)-based LER products suffer from some challenges typically because of their subjectively selected neighborhood scales and coarser spatial resolution. In this study, we initially determined the optimal statistical window and then calculated the appropriate LER with the finer resolution data of the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer Global DEM(ASTER GDEM) products for China. Then, the appropriate LER was used to evaluate the topographical SAHS and its correlations with the national gridded population distribution(1 km × 1 km) in 2010. The results show that the optimal statistical window for calculating a 1 arc-second(about 30 m) resolution GDEM LER for China can be determined using a 51 × 51 grid unit(width × height) within a rectangular neighborhood, corresponding to an area of about 2.34 km^2. Secondly, the LER values in the southern and western China were greater than those of the north and east, showing a trend which consistently reflects the general spatial features of landforms. Finally, the relationship between GDEM LER and population density was highly correlated with the R^2 value of 0.81. It showed that 85.22% of the Chinese population was located in areas where the LER is lower than 500 m. The topographically suitable area within China decreased from the southeastern coastal zone towards the northwestern inland areas due to transition from plains and basins to plateaus and mountains. The total area of moderate to high suitable level was 423.84 × 10~4 km^2, or 44.15% of the total land area, with 88.17% of the national population. Our study demonstrates the usefulness of appropriate LER in evaluating the topographical SAHS as well as its significant impact on population distribution.

Phase Two of the Integrative Monsoon Frontal Rainfall Experiment(IMFRE-II)over the Middle and Lower Reaches of the Yangtze River in 2020

Phase Two of the Integrative Monsoon Frontal Rainfall Experiment(IMFRE-II)was conducted over the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River during the period 16 June to 19 July 2020.This paper provides a brief overview of the IMFRE-II field campaign,including the multiple ground-based remote sensors,aircraft probes,and their corresponding measurements during the 2020 mei-yu period,as well as how to use these numerous datasets to answer scientific questions.The highlights of IMFRE-II are:(1)to the best of our knowledge,IMFRE-II is the first field campaign in China to use ground-based,airborne,and spaceborne platforms to conduct comprehensive observations over the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River;and(2)seven aircraft flights were successfully carried out,and the spectra of ice particles,cloud droplets,and raindrops at different altitudes were obtained.These in-situ measurements will provide a“cloud truth”to validate the ground-based and satellite-retrieved cloud and precipitation properties and quantitatively estimate their retrieval uncertainties.They are also crucial for the development of a warm(and/or cold)rain conceptual model in order to better understand the cloud-to-rain conversion and accretion processes in mei-yu precipitation events.Through an integrative analysis of ground-based,aircraft,and satellite observations and model simulations,we can significantly improve our cloud and precipitation retrieval algorithms,investigate the microphysical properties of cloud and precipitation,understand in-depth the formation and dissipation mechanisms of mei-yu frontal systems,and improve cloud microphysics parameterization schemes and model simulations.

Internet-Based Spectral Database for Different Land Covers in Egypt

The spectral signatures of natural objects in the visible and near-infrared spectral range are influenced by the object’s physical and biochemical properties. These signatures can be compiled in a database and used to retrieve information of land cover types and their physical composition from actual hyperspectral observations. This paper describes development process of hyperstectral database of reflectance from different land cover types in Egypt. It has been compiled from data obtained using a ground-based spectroradiometer system that covers the spectral range from 350 to 2500 nm at 1 nm resolution. The database is accessible through a website http://www.spectraldb.narss.sci.eg/spectral, where the system includes also metadata that describes the site environment and measurement processes. The system provides flexible mechanisms and friendly interfaces to allow accessing the database by the non-specialized people, whereas spectral data can be sorted by sites, species or selected environmental parameters. The system presents sample results from different vegetation and soil covers. Development of such a database is essential for different remote sensing applications, satellite’s calibrations, data dissemination and linkage with other databases for scientific researches purposes.

Enhanced Destriping of Satellite Data of Ice Surface in Antarctica

This paper briefly reviews the cause of the striping and then develops a tapered (Chebwin & Kaiser) window finite impulse response (FIR) filter and a constrained least squares FIR filter by reason of the striping of ASTER satellite data . Both filters minimize the stripes in the visible data and simultaneously minimize any distortion in the filtered data. Finally, the results obtained by using these new filtering methods are quantitatively compared with those produced by other destriping methods.