NASA project will offer validation of ocean-color satellite imagery
Ian St. John
From: "Jacques van Oene" <j.va...@chello.nl>
Subject: NASA project will offer validation of ocean-color satellite imagery
Date: January 24, 2003 2:10 PM
NASA News
National Aeronautics and
Space Administration
John C. Stennis Space Center
Stennis Space Center, MS 39529-6000 MWS-03-006
(228) 688-3341 Jan. 21, 2003
Lanee Cooksey FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NASA News Chief
(228) 688-3341
NASA PROJECT WILL OFFER VALIDATION
OF OCEAN-COLOR SATELLITE IMAGERY
HANCOCK COUNTY, Miss. - Through a NASA Small Business Innovation Research
(SBIR) project sponsored by the Office of Technology Development and Transfer at
Stennis Space Center, Wet Labs Inc., Philomath, Ore., is developing a prototype of
an instrument that will help validate products produced from ocean-color satellite imagery -
data that helps researchers better understand and protect our home planet.
Ocean-color images obtained from instruments in space are used to assess
the conditions of the oceans, including pollution transport, water quality and fisheries
yield - information valuable to decision-makers. For decision-makers to rely on this information
with confidence, however, the remote sensing instruments and the products generated from
their data must be validated. The Earth Science Applications Directorate at Stennis Space
Center, which conducts remote sensing applications as part of NASA's Earth Science
Enterprise, is known for its validation of remote sensing data and instruments, made possible
by their research and engineering facilities and expertise.
The Wet Labs product, Dolphin, will be a major advance in the development
and validation of ocean-color products. "A major hurdle in any ground-truthing
exercise is to collect sufficient and high quality field data at the time of satellite overpass,"
said NASA's Dr. Richard Miller, chief scientist of the Directorate. "If you're trying to
relate what the satellite sees to what is actually occurring in the ocean, you must collect
data as close as possible to when the satellite goes over. This is particularly important in
the coastal environment because it is highly dynamic. Many features quickly change with
the tides, winds and river discharge."
The amount of data obtained from traditional techniques to collect water
samples by lowering an instrument into the water from a boat at intervals is limited.
The time to obtain these measurements and move to a new sampling site may take
several hours. The features observed by the satellite instruments have often changed
or moved. The Dolphin will contain a bio-optics package towed on a vehicle behind
a boat and will enable scientists to gather data over an area much faster, greatly
increasing the amount of measurements that can be compared to the ocean-
color images. As the Dolphin is towed through the water horizontally, it
also rises and falls under water, collecting data from an entire water column.
Scientists can also collect water from the Dolphin in the boat for analysis
in the laboratory and comparison with the measurements of the underwater sensors -
a much-needed yet uncommon feature in towed bio-optics packages - thereby
calibrating the data collected by its towed sensors.
Miller recently returned from a cruise off the coast of Narragansett, R.I.,
where the prototype instrument underwent the second in a series of trials. "All
elements of the package worked extremely well," said Miller.
Once the Dolphin is complete, it will measure how light is absorbed,
scattered and weakened; chlorophyll fluorescence, which is an indicator of
phytoplankton; and temperature, depth and salinity. "We should be able to
apply these data in the coastal environment where applications can be
developed to address a number of different coastal issues," said Miller.
The Dolphin will be used to validate remote sensing results that will help
scientists measure marine conditions from satellite imagery. The Dolphin results will
be important to the validation of the products and applications of NASA's
ocean-color remote sensing instruments.
"This project with Wet Labs is a prime example of how the Earth Science
Applications Directorate works to develop strategic partnerships with private industry
and NASA's technology programs," said NASA's Dr. David Powe, the head of the
Directorate.
The SBIR Program goals are to stimulate U.S. technological innovation, use
small businesses to meet federal research and development needs, increase
private-sector commercialization of innovations derived from federal research and
development, and foster and encourage participation by socially disadvantaged businesses.
For more information about Stennis' SBIR Program, contact Ray Bryant at the
Office of Technology Development and Transfer at (228) 688-1929 or visit
http://technology.ssc.nasa.gov.
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Jacques :-)
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