Introduction: Flank terraces are topographically subtle, laterally extensive structures on the flanks of several large Martian volcanoes [1]. The origin of terraces has been ascribed to several mechanisms, including elastic self-loading [2], lithospheric flexure [3], gravitational spreading [4], magma chamber tumes-cence [5], and shallow slumping [6]. Here we summa-rise the results of our work ...

This paper proposes a real-time navigation system for an AUV that takes advantage of the complementary performance of a sensor suite including a DVL, a compass, a depth sensor and altimeter sensors with a feature based motion estimator using vision. To allow for real-time performance of the vision based motion estimator a simple but fast correlation algorithm is used for feature matching. The c...

The neural network algorithm in this paper is applied to the ocean surface wind speed retrievals. Firstly, the Ku band backscattering coefficient (σKu) is considered as the input parameter to retrieve the wind speed and the retrieval precision reaches 1 m/s (root mean square error) for HY2 altimeter. Secondly, by introducing the Ku-band significant wave height (swhku), C-band backscattering coe...

A full-spectral third-generation ocean wind-wave model, Wavewatch-III, has been implemented in the South China Sea (SCS) for investigating the wind wave characteristics. This model was developed at the Ocean Modeling Branch of the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP). The NASA QuickScat data (0.25 resolution) two times daily were used to simulate the wind waves for the whole yea...

Water level fluctuations of inland lakes are related to regional-scale climate changes, and reflect variations in evaporation, precipitation and glacier meltwater flowing into the lake area in its catchment. In this paper, Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite (ICESat) altimeter data and Landsat imagery (2002–09) are used to estimate Nam Co lake (Nyainqentanglha range, Tibetan Plateau) water ...

This paper describes the design, development, and operation of a research Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) system that has been developed at the Georgia Institute of Technology, called the GTMax. This description will include the processes put in place to enable the system to be used for UAV-technology research, including effective flight testing. Research UAVs are characterized by the need for co...

This paper describes the Ka-band altimetry payload and system that has been studied for several years by CNES, ALCATEL SPACE and some science laboratories. Altimetry is one of the major elements of the ocean observing system to be made sustainable through the GEOSS (Global Earth Observation System of Systems) and GMES (Global Monitoring of the Environment and Security) programs. A short review ...

Conventional terrain-aided navigation (TAN) technique uses an altimeter to locate the position of an aerial vehicle. However, a major problem with a radar altimeter is that its beam (or pulse) footprint on the ground could be large, and therefore the nadir altitude cannot be estimated accurately. To overcome this difficulty, one may use the nadir-looking synthetic aperture radar (SAR) technique...

Observations of sea surface height reveal that substantial changes have occurred over the past decade in the mid- to high-latitude North Atlantic Ocean. TOPEX/Poseidon altimeter data show that subpolar sea surface height increased during the 1990s, and the geostrophic velocity derived from altimeter data exhibits declining subpolar gyre circulation. Combining the data from earlier satellites, w...

We have conducted airborne measurements over the Greenland ice sheet from the NASA P-3B aircraft using a 150MHz coherent radar depth sounder to obtain extensive ice sheet thickness measurements. Simultaneous measurements of ice sheet elevation were also made using a laser altimeter. In outlet glacier areas along the ice sheet margin, the ice surface is characterized by a very rough, crevassed s...