CAREER: An Integrated Research/Educational Plan to Develop and Deploy a Pointable, Hyperspectral Remote Sensing Instrument on a Tethered Balloon

职业：一个综合的研究和教育计划，以开发和部署一个指向，高光谱遥感仪器上的系留卫星和飞机上的遥感仪器拍摄的地球图像提供了一个非常有价值的，但有限的观点。 虽然遥感技术通过使大面积的表面区域能够快速和频繁地成像而彻底改变了对地球系统的研究，但各种限制可能会将遥感数据的空间分辨率（即像素大小）限制到可观察到的表面细节不足以研究关键环境过程的程度。 因此，复杂的数学程序往往是必要的，以获得“亚像素”的各种地面覆盖类型，如树木，草，裸露的土壤和水的分数。 为了补充和验证这些数学程序，需要新的遥感技术来弥合小规模地面观测与大规模飞机和卫星测量之间的差距。将开发一种仪器，可以连接到一个大型的，无人驾驶的飞艇的系绳线和上升和下降，以查看地球在一系列的中间视角。南达科他州矿业与技术学院（SDSM T）的一项综合研究/教育计划将开发和部署一种轻型、最先进的遥感仪器包，用于这种系留气球平台。 大气科学研究所的研究生和教师将与参加SDSM T先进制造和生产卓越中心（CAMP）和高级设计课程的本科工程专业学生合作，设计，建造和测试仪器。 此外，该仪器还将用于开发一个遥感教育模块，以便纳入SDSM T印第安人学习和领导科学知识暑期方案，供美国土著学生上大学前使用。 仪器开发将在五年开发期的每个学年逐步进行。 在完成仪器开发的每一阶段后，研究生和主要研究员将使用该仪器进行几项由气球平台提供的遥感实验。 例如，气球平台将用于调查如何使用各种数学“光谱混合分析”技术验证和改进亚像素景观成分的覆盖估计。 到项目结束时，高光谱仪器平台将能够稳定飞行，实时仪器到地面数据传输，并将从地面远程指向。 这项工作的总体目标是：1）促进学生科学家和工程师之间的合作，2）利用这种合作的结果，以进行新的研究，并在地球遥感方面取得进展，以及3）使少数民族学生熟悉这项技术和研究，并鼓励他们追求科学和技术事业。

CAREER: An Integrated Research and Education Plan to Develop and Deploy a Pointable, Hyperspectral Remote Sensing Instrument on a Tethered BalloonImages of the earth taken by satellite and aircraft-based remote sensing instruments offer an immensely valuable, yet limited perspective. While remote sensing technologies have revolutionized the study of the earth system by enabling large surface areas to be imaged quickly and frequently, various limitations can restrict the spatial resolution (i.e. pixel size) of remote sensing data to the point where observable surface detail is insufficient to study critical environmental processes. As a result, complex mathematical procedures are often necessary to derive "sub-pixel" fractions of various ground cover types such as trees, grasses, bare soil, and water. To complement and validate these mathematical procedures, novel remote sensing techniques are needed to bridge the gap between small-scale, ground-based observations and larger scale aircraft- and satellite-based measurements. A instrument will be developed that can be attached to the tether line of a large, unmanned blimp and raised and lowered to view the earth across a range of intermediate perspectives. An integrated research/education program at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology (SDSM&T) will develop and deploy a lightweight, state-of-the-art remote sensing instrument package for use on such a tethered balloon platform. Graduate students and faculty in the Institute of Atmospheric Sciences will team with undergraduate engineering students participating in the SDSM&T Center of Excellence for Advanced Manufacturing and Production (CAMP) and Senior Design Courses to design, construct, and test the instrument. In addition, the instrument will be used to develop a remote sensing educational module for integration into the SDSM&T Scientific Knowledge for Indian Learning and Leadership (SKILL) summer program for pre-college Native American students. Instrument development will occur incrementally during each academic year of the five-year development period. Upon the completion of each stage of instrument development, graduate students and the Principal Investigator will use the instrument to conduct several remote sensing experiments made possible by the balloon platform. For example, the balloon platform will be used to investigate how cover estimates of sub-pixel landscape components using various mathematical "spectral mixture analysis" techniques can be validated and improved. By the end of the project, the hyperspectral instrument platform will be capable of stable flight, real-time instrument-to-ground data transmission, and will be remotely pointable from the ground. The overarching goals of this work are 1) to foster collaboration between student scientists and engineers, 2) to utilize the results of this collaboration in order to conduct novel research and make advances in terrestrial remote sensing, and 3) to make this technology and research familiar to minority students and encourage them to pursue careers in science and technology.