2009 Annual Report - NASA Airborne Science Program

vapor mapping, and was flight-tested on the ER-2.
After being de-manifested from GLOPAC for weight
reasons, it was re-configured for fire work, and flown
on Ikhana for burned area assessment following the
large Station Fire event in southern California.
Digital Tracking Cameras
These include 16- or 21-megapixel Cirrus digital
cameras, synchronized to a precision navigation
system on board the aircraft. They are used as
secondary tracking devices to provide scene context
and mission documentation for the science payload.
Over 200,000 frames of imagery were collected this
year during the IceBridge missions in Antarctica,
where they will be used to study the surface texture
and topology within coincident lidar and radar
data sets. Time-lapse digital video cameras are also
employed as needed, and a new Ethernet-hosted
video system is being developed for the Global
Hawk UAS, which will enable investigators on the
ground to download imagery of selected areas during
a mission, without monopolizing limited satellite
communications resources.
Applanix POS/AV (Aircraft Position/Orientation System)
These stand-alone systems provide high-fidelity
platform navigation and attitude data to science
payload systems that require precision geo-location.
They are interfaced directly to various facility
instruments, and other sensors (e.g. Lidars) as
required. This year POS/AV systems were deployed
on the P-3, DC-8, ER-2, and several B200 aircraft.
Figure 61:
A typical DC-8 mission profile from Operation IceBridge, derived from the
POS/AV system data. The operating base at Punta Arenas, Chile can be
seen at top, together with multiple flight tracks over the Antarctic Peninsula
(11/16/09.)
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