The objective of this thesis is to investigate the viability of using contrast reduction in multi-spectral satellite observations to characterize surface visibility reduction due to heavy aerosol loading. Two methods are explored. First, the spectral distribution of standard deviation of surface reflectance over a homogeneous background (urban, agriculture, or forested) is plotted for three aerosol conditions (dust, smoke, and low aerosol loading). Second, the same cases are analyzed using a pixel-to-pixel differencing of surface reflectance. The spectral distributions of the means for the resulting difference fields are constructed. Each aerosol type was found to exhibit a relatively unique spectral distribution for both methods. Each background was found to exhibit a characteristic amount of contrast in the absence of heavy aerosol loading. The unique spectral characteristics for each aerosol- background combination may be correlated to aerosol optical depths or surface visibilities with corrections for sensor view angle variations, Rayleigh scattering, and masking of clouds and surface water. The spectral distribution- aerosol optical depth correlation can be used to build an empirical model for aerosol optical depth and surface visibility retrievals from satellite observations. This method may be applied to multi-spectral or panchromatic imagery, unlike current aerosol optical depth retrievals over land.

The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) is studying the application and utility of various groundbased and space-based optical sensors for improving surveillance of space objects in both Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (GEO). At present, ground-based optical and radar sensors provide the bulk of remotely sensed information on satellites and space debris, and will continue to do so into the foreseeable future. However, in recent years, the Space Based Visible (SBV) sensor was used to demonstrate that a synthesis of space-based visible data with ground-based sensor data could provide enhancements to information obtained from any one source in isolation. The incentives for space-based sensing include improved spatial resolution due to the absence of atmospheric effects and cloud cover and increased flexibility for observations. Though ground-based optical sensors can use adaptive optics to somewhat compensate for atmospheric turbulence, cloud cover and absorption are unavoidable. With recent advances in technology, we are in a far better position to consider what might constitute an ideal system to monitor our surroundings in space. This work has begun at the AFRL using detailed optical sensor simulations and analysis techniques to explore the trade space involved in acquiring and processing data from a variety of hypothetical space-based and ground-based sensor systems. In this paper we briefly review the phenomenology and trade space aspects of what might be required in order to use multiple band-passes, sensor characteristics, and observation and illumination geometries to increase our awareness of objects in space.

An international team of over 150 experts provide up-to-date satellite imaging and quantitative analysis of the state and dynamics of the glaciers around the world, and they provide an in-depth review of analysis methodologies. Includes an e-published supplement. Global Land Ice Measurements from Space - Satellite Multispectral Imaging of Glaciers (GLIMS book for short) is the leading state-of-the-art technical and interpretive presentation of satellite image data and analysis of the changing state of the world's glaciers. The book is the most definitive, comprehensive product of a global glacier remote sensing consortium, Global Land Ice Measurements from Space (GLIMS, http://www.glims.org). With 33 chapters and a companion e-supplement, the world's foremost experts in satellite image analysis of glaciers analyze the current state and recent and possible future changes of glaciers across the globe and interpret these findings for policy planners. Climate change is with us for some time to come, and its impacts are being felt by the world's population. The GLIMS Book, to be released about the same time as the IPCC's 5th Assessment report on global climate warming, buttresses and adds rich details and authority to the global change community's understanding of climate change impacts on the cryosphere. This will be a definitive and technically complete reference for experts and students examining the responses of glaciers to climate change. World experts demonstrate that glaciers are changing in response to the ongoing climatic upheaval in addition to other factors that pertain to the circumstances of individual glaciers. The global mosaic of glacier changes is documented by quantitative analyses and are placed into a perspective of causative factors. Starting with a Foreword, Preface, and Introduction, the GLIMS book gives the rationale for and history of glacier monitoring and satellite data analysis. It includes a comprehensive set of six "how-to" methodology chapters, twenty-five chapters detailing regional glacier state and dynamical changes, and an in-depth summary and interpretation chapter placing the observed glacier changes into a global context of the coupled atmosphere-land-ocean system. An accompanying e-supplement will include oversize imagery and other other highly visual renderings of scientific data.