NASA Satellites Keep Watch On Gulf Current Near Spill

NASA satellite altimetry data are being used in combination with data from other satellites to track changes in a huge warm ocean current in the Gulf of Mexico that could transport oil from the Deepwater Horizon oil rig far away from the Gulf. Image credit: NASA/JPL/University of Colorado

by Staff Writers Pasadena CA (JPL) May 26, 2010

Scientists and agencies monitoring the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico are keeping a wary eye on changes in the nearby Loop Current, a warm ocean current that is part of the Gulf Stream. Beginning as a large flow of warm water from the Caribbean, the Loop Current heads up into the eastern part of the Gulf of Mexico and then turns south before finally moving out through the Straits of Florida and northward into the Gulf Stream.
Deep and fast moving, the Loop Current often breaks off and forms strong, clockwise rotating eddies called anticyclones that travel westward into the Gulf. The currents along the outer edges of the Loop Current, as well as these eddies, have been clocked at speeds as high as three to four knots (three to five miles per hour), comparable to the fastest ocean currents ever observed.
Because the Loop Current and its eddies are warmer, and thus higher in surface elevation, than the surrounding waters, they are easily spotted by satellite altimeters, such as those aboard the NASA/French Space Agency Jason 1 and Ocean Surface Topography Mission/Jason 2 satellites.

New Video Of First US Weather Satellite

Scientist giving a vibration test to TIROS at the Astro-Electronic Products Division of RCA in Princeton, N.J. TIROS-1 was designed and constructed by Radio Corporation of America under technical supervision of the U.S. Army Signal Research and Development Laboratory, Ft. Monmouth, N.J. Credit: NASA For the YouTube version of the video please go here.

by Rob Gutro Washington DC (SPX) May 26, 2010

The Television Infrared Observation Satellite, known as TIROS-1, was the world's first weather satellite

. Fifty years ago in 1960 it lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Fla., opening a new and exciting dimension in weather forecasting. Now, a television producer at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. has created a video to capture this historic satellite's life. NASA-Television producer Vicky Weeks created a video about TIROS-1 that made its debut at event at the National Capitol on May 20, 2010. The event, called "The Climate Connection - In honor of the 50th Anniversary of TIROS" was hosted by the American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA).
"The video includes a progression of imagery, from the first images of TIROS-1 to today's modern-day high-resolution imagery of the Geostationary Operational Environmental (GOES) satellites," Weeks said. "It's amazing to think that only 50 years ago we were looking at weather from above for the first time, and now it's a part of our everyday lives with amazing clarity and resolution."

Flight of a feather: the QUILL radar satellite

A new book provides new insights on the 1960s-era experimental radar satellite. by Dwayne A. Day Monday, May 24, 2010 In December 1964 the US Air Force launched a top secret National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) satellite from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California atop a Thor Agena rocket. For decades the identity of the payload remained classified, although a few independent satellite observers—the space field’s equivalent of trainspotters—recognized that this was an unusual bird that did not operate in the same kind of orbit as other, much more common reconnaissance satellites. In 1995, retired Air Force Major General David Bradburn, who had run the program as a mid-ranking officer, revealed during a public talk that it was a unique payload that had only flown once. Several years ago the identity of this satellite was finally leaked: a radar satellite named QUILL. The program has not been officially declassified, but several years ago the National Reconnaissance Office finally acknowledged that it operated radar satellites. Now, a new book by a former intelligence official has released some further details on QUILL. For decades the identity of the payload remained classified, although a few independent satellite observers—the space field’s equivalent of trainspotters—recognized that this was an unusual bird that did not operate in the same kind of orbit as other, much more common reconnaissance satellites. The book is Eyes in the Sky, by Dino Brugioni. Brugioni is a retired senior analyst who for years worked for the National Photographic Interpretation Center (NPIC, or “enpic”). During his time in the intelligence community, Brugioni briefed presidents from Eisenhower to Ford about things spotted in American spy satellite photography. Over the years Brugioni has written a number of informative books on such subjects as the Cuban Missile Crisis and photo-fakery. In Eyes in the Sky, Brugioni briefly discusses QUILL. Spy satellite photography is limited by cloud cover and during the Cold War photo interpreters were frustrated by the fact that so much of the Soviet Union was cloudy all the time. It might take years to return photographs of certain regions. Radar offered a possibility for peering through the clouds.

US satellites shadow chinas submarines

By Peter J Brown
May 13, 2010
Courtesy Of "Asia Times Online"

The People's Liberation Army's Navy (PLAN) submarines cannot spot United States satellites high overhead as the submarines leave their bases at Sanya on Hainan Island, Qingdao in Shandong province and Ningbo in Zhejiang province, and head for deeper water.
Plenty of very deep water can be found in the South China Sea, especially in the zone north of the Spratly Islands, east of the Paracels, and south of the Luzon Strait.
"A more challenging area for submarines to operate undetected is the East China Sea, which is quite shallow from the Chinese coastline up to the Okinawa Trough with a depth of only 30 to 60 fathoms [180 to 360 feet] in most places," said associate professor Peter Dutton with the China Maritime Studies Institute at the US Naval War College.
"Much of the water space [in the South China Sea] is more than 2,000 fathoms deep," said Dutton.
Detecting submarines via satellite is a form of Non-Acoustic Anti-Submarine Warfare (NAASW). Lasers, infrared and other detectors and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) in space may be used as part of this NAASW activity. Satellites might see subtle undersea disturbances caused by submarines, watch wave patterns on or beneath the sea surface, or detect subtle variations in ocean temperature.

Mapping and tracking the evolution of London

Publish Date: 21 May 2010
UK: Dr Kiril Stanilov, a Marie Curie research fellow at University College London’s (UCL) Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis (CASA) is developing a historical model of urban growth to explore the evolution of London.
The model will be used to investigate the forces shaping the emergence and evolution of London’s metropolitan form. The results so far raise questions about common assumptions such as the sprawl of London in the interwar period and the role of the car in determining post-war growth patterns.
The model points to a remarkable constancy of spatial relationships over different historical periods and highlights the importance of pre-urban land use, land ownership patterns and infrastructure as a framework to determine future urban growth patterns. Using a map from 1875, the model predicts with a surprising level of accuracy the patterns of development in West London for the following 130 years.

China targets illegal online maps

Publish Date: 20 May 2010
China: China will introduce new net mapping rules to prevent disclosure of sensitive information such as location of army bases. Anyone who would violate the regulations may face seven to 10 years of imprisonment, according to Zee News report.
Song Chaozhi, deputy director of State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping (SBSM) said that an investigation would be launched to detect problematic Internet map sites. According to China National News report, under the latest standard, qualified online map servers must have no record of information leakage in any form in the past three years. The new regulation includes all maps downloaded or copied from the Internet onto cell phones and handheld computers. By December officials will also crack down on unregistered or illegal Internet map servers and release blacklist to the public.

NOAA's Modernized Positioning System Key To Improved Mapping, Emergency And Land Planning

File image.

by Staff Writers Washington DC (SPX) May 17, 2010

NOAA's National Geodetic Survey - the official U.S. government source for determining precise latitude, longitude and elevation - is undergoing a modernization effort that takes into account advances in GPS and other technologies. The effort is important to all activities requiring accurate positioning information including levee construction projects, the design of evacuation routes in hurricane-prone areas and the forecast of sea-level rise in coastal communities.
The modernized National Spatial Reference System will take even greater advantage of newer technologies and better track changes in position and elevation over time to improve and update digital maps.

MISR Provides Unique Views Of Gulf Oil Slick

False-color image of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, created by combining data from different color bands on two of MISR's nine cameras. Bottom: Two MISR camera views of a smoke plume believed to be from a controlled burn of oil on the ocean surface. Image credit: NASA/GSFC/LaRC/JPL, MISR Team

by Staff Writers Pasadena CA (JPL) May 24, 2010

These unique images of the Deepwater Horizon oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico were obtained by the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) instrument aboard NASA's Terra spacecraft on May 17, 2010, at around 16:40 UTC (11:40 a.m. CDT). The top panel is a false-color image created by combining data from the red band of the 26-degree forward-viewing camera (where the oil appears dark) with the blue and green bands of the nadir (vertical-viewing) camera (where the oil appears bright).
The result causes the oil spill to stand out dramatically in shades of cyan, while other features like clouds and land appear close to their natural color. The Mississippi River Delta is visible in the upper left portion of the image.
The red symbol represents the former location of the Deepwater Horizon drilling platform. The image dimensions are 346 by 258 kilometers (215 by 160 miles), and north is toward the top of the image.

SMOS Water Mission Goes Live

SMOS employs a novel interferometric radiometer that operates in the L-band microwave range to capture 'brightness temperature' images. These images are used to produce global maps of soil moisture every three days and maps of ocean salinity averaged over 30 days.

by Staff Writers Paris, France (ESA) May 24, 2010

ESA's SMOS satellite completed its six-month commissioning this week and formally began operational life. This milestone means the mission is now set to provide much-needed global images of soil moisture and ocean salinity to improve our understanding of the water cycle. The Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) satellite was launched on 2 November last year, and has since undergone an intense programme of calibration and commissioning in preparation for its life in service.
At a three-day review this week in Ávila, Spain, all the elements of the mission were found to be in excellent shape. The meeting concluded with the formal end of commissioning.

New Nanotech Discovery Could Lead To Breakthrough In Infrared Satellite Imaging

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Professor Shawn-Yu Lin has developed a new nanotechnology-based "microlens" that uses gold to boost the strength of infrared imaging and could lead to a new generation of ultra-powerful satellite cameras and night-vision devices. The device, pictured, leverages the unique properties of nanoscale gold to "squeeze" light into the tiny holes in its surface.

by Staff Writers
Troy NY (SPX) May 21, 2010

Researchers from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have developed a new nanotechnology-based "microlens" that uses gold to boost the strength of infrared imaging and could lead to a new generation of ultra-powerful satellite cameras and night-vision devices.
By leveraging the unique properties of nanoscale gold to "squeeze" light into tiny holes in the surface of the device, the researchers have doubled the detectivity of a quantum dot-based infrared detector. With some refinements, the researchers expect this new technology should be able to enhance detectivity by up to 20 times.
This study is the first in more than a decade to demonstrate success in enhancing the signal of an infrared detector without also increasing the noise, said project leader Shawn-Yu Lin, professor of physics at Rensselaer and a member of the university's Future Chips Constellation and Smart Lighting Engineering Research Center.

Sun-Watching Proba-2 Keeps Small Eye On Earth

Proba-2 Exploration Camera (X-Cam) monochrome image of Argentina, acquired 15 January 2010. Capital city Buenos Aires is visible to the top left; the Rio Negro river can also be seen. Credits: ESA/Micro-Cameras and Space Exploration

by Staff Writers Paris, France (ESA) May 14, 2010

While ESA's Proba-2 keeps its main instruments trained on the Sun, it is also looking back to its homeworld. This wide-angle view of Earth comes from an experimental camera that is smaller than an espresso cup. The Exploration Camera (X-Cam) is carried on the underside of Proba-2, one of 17 new technologies being tested by the mini-satellite. Observing in the visible and near-infrared with a 100 degrees field-of-view, its monochrome images resemble what an astronaut

might see if elevated to Proba-2's 800 km orbit.
X-Cam was designed by Swiss company Micro-Cameras and Space Exploration. It is the latest in a series of miniature cameras built by the company for previous ESA missions including Proba-1, SMART-1 and Rosetta.
"X-Cam has a lot of components, capability and embedded intelligence we need to test," said Stephane Beauvivre of Micro-Cameras and Space Exploration.

NASA Students Use Satellites To Check For Ticks

Likely tick habitats related to high NDVI and soil moisture levels were identified around the Black Warrior River in Central Alabama. (Credit: NASA)

by Staff Writers Huntsville AL (SPX) May 14, 2010

Using state-of-the-art NASA satellite information, about a dozen students from the University of Alabama at Birmingham and Jacksonville State University in Jacksonville, Ala., are busy checking state forests for ticks that may carry Lyme disease. The students, participating in a NASA program called DEVELOP, have spent three school terms looking at habitats favorable for the proliferation of the blood-sucking arachnids.
DEVELOP is a mentorship and training program sponsored by the Applied Sciences Program in NASA's Earth Science Division of the Science Mission Directorate in Washington, D.C. DEVELOP engages students in scientific fieldwork and lab study and teaches them how to analyze research results and share them with scientific and public communities.

Highly Advanced NigeriaSat-2 Small Satellite Launch Date Announced

The small satellite's imaging capability is further enhanced by the SSTL-300i satellite platform's avionics, allowing 45 degrees roll/pitch off-pointing for high resolution spot imaging and also stereo mode imaging.

by Staff Writers Yasny, Russia (SPX) May 12, 2010

SSTL has announced that it will launch the NigeriaSat-2 and NigeriaSat-X satellites on behalf of the National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) by a Dnepr launch vehicle from Yasny, Russia on 29th October 2010. NigeriaSat-2 is the most advanced small satellite ever to be launched, defining new standards in Earth observation and avionics. The spacecraft, which is based upon SSTL's flagship SSTL-300i platform, will be used primarily for resource management and mapping of the Nigerian territory.

GOCE Satellite Determines Gravitational Force In The Himalayas

Measuring the field with previously unattainable precision - thereby contributing to the understanding of its effects - is the task of GOCE (Gravity Field and Steady-State Ocean Circulation Explorer), which lifted into earth's orbit on March 17, 2009

by Staff Writers Munich, Germany (SPX) May 10, 2010  
ESA's GOCE satellite has been orbiting the Earth for more than a year and surveying its gravitational field more accurately than any instrument previously. The goal of the researchers - including scientists at the Technische Universitaet Muenchen (TUM) - is to determine the gravitational force in precise detail even in pathless places like the Himalayas. Evaluations of the first data from the satellite indicate that current models of the gravitational field in some regions can be fundamentally revised. On that basis, researchers expect to develop a better understanding of many geophysical processes, including for example earthquakes and ocean circulation. 

EADS and Thales in French geomatics deal

disclaimer: image is for illustration purposes only

by Staff Writers Paris (UPI) Apr 28, 2010 The French defense procurement agency DGA awarded a $35 million contract to EADS Defense & Security and Thales to produce and support two sets of deployable geographic modules. EADS DS, as a prime contractor in cooperation with Thales, will develop the MGPs for the 28th Geographic Group of the French army.
The MGPs will allow the updating of field maps through a single cartographic access point by troops deployed on a mission or in the field, a statement by EADS said. It will complement the 3-D digital geographical data program developed in France for mass production of geographical information.

High-tech mapping could show Gulf oil impacts: expert

by Staff Writers
New Orleans, Louisiana (AFP) May 10, 2010 

A French researcher has suggested an aerial map-making technique could be a valuable tool to show where oil from a giant spill is washing ashore in the Gulf of Mexico. SHOALS-1000 has been used by the US military to map coastlines but never before to measure an oil slick's presence on shore, said Antoine Cottin, a 34-year-old researcher at the University of Southern Mississippi.
The technique, developed by a Canadian company, involves a plane flying over a given maritime zone carrying bundles of lasers that sweep the surface of the sea and the seabed, mapping in detail the depths and underwater terrain.