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

职业：开发和部署系绳气球上的可指向高光谱遥感仪器的综合研究和教育计划由卫星和基于飞机的遥感仪器拍摄的地球图像提供了非常有价值的，但有限的视角。虽然遥感技术使大的表面区域能够快速和频繁地成像，从而彻底改变了对地球系统的研究，但各种限制可能会限制遥感数据的空间分辨率（即像素大小），使可观测的表面细节不足以研究关键的环境过程。因此，通常需要复杂的数学程序来获得各种地面覆盖类型（如树木、草、裸土和水）的“亚像素”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补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，它可以连接在大型无人驾驶飞艇的缆绳上，可以升降，从一系列中间视角观察地球。南达科他州矿业与技术学院（SDSM&amp；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，用于这种系绳气球平台。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生工程专业学生合作，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，以整合到sdsmt面向印第安人学习和领导能力的科学知识（技能）暑期项目中。仪器开发将在五年开发期内的每学年逐步进行。在仪器开发的每个阶段完成后，研究生和首席研究员将使用仪器进行几次遥感实验，这些实验是由气球平台实现的。例如，气球平台将用于研究如何使用各种数学“光谱混合分析”技术来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进行新颖的研究，并在地面遥感方面取得进展，3)使少数民族学生熟悉这项技术和研究，并鼓励他们从事科学和技术事业。

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.