Centers of Excellence
In 1997, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) established numerous Centers of Excellence for Applications in Remote Sensing, principally to support regional and global integrated assessments of the environment. Selected as one of these centers, the John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences has acquired and operates a satellite ground receiving station to downlink data from Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) spacecraft sensors. These AVHRR sensors, which are aboard several polar orbiting spacecraft operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), are used to collect multi-spectral images of the Earth's land masses, oceans, and atmosphere. Applications of the data are wide-ranging, from meteorology and weather forecasting to support for agriculture and for environmental monitoring.
Satellite Remote Sensing Imagery
In response to NRA-97-MTPE-05 for Centers of Excellence in Applied Remote Sensing,
the University of North Dakota (UND) proposed to expand our ability to acquire, analyze, and manage satellite remote sensing imagery, thereby significantly adding to our capability to perform environmental monitoring, research, and teaching activities on local, regional and national scales. Through funds received under a grant and through our own internal support, we acquire, operate, and maintain the following:
- a fully integrated antenna tracking and ground station for receipt of
Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) satellite imagery,
- comprehensive software systems for AVHRR image processing and data analysis,
- sufficient hardware and software resources to simultaneously support in-depth
research, academic courses, and the public access of remote sensing
imagery.
Applied Remote Sensing
Beginning in January of 1998, the John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences began to put in place our AVHRR Ground Station as part of our participation in NASA's Center of Excellence in Applied Remote Sensing program. Due to a reduction in grant funding from our original proposal, options for reducing the cost of acquiring the antenna, receiver system, and related equipment from the SeaSpace Corporation were researched and evaluated.
Cost Reductions
To reduce costs, an existing radome assembly previously used by the Odegard School in a weather radar research project was evaluated and deemed acceptable, albeit with refurbishment. This radome, is used to house the tracking dish antenna of the system. Additional cost savings were realized by directly purchasing a Sun workstation, rather than acquiring through SeaSpace, and by deleting other equipment, such as heaters for the radome and a tape drive and floppy drive for the computer system. All purchase orders were in place by April.
A Refurbished Radome
Refurbishment of the existing radome took place in June and July. A crane was hired to remove the radome and support structure from the roof of Odegard Hall. The radome was disassembled, cleaned, repaired, repainted with appropriate RF-transparent paint, and reassembled. A new pedestal support
structure was also built and new cables were routed through Odegard Hall, both of which were artially funded from sources outside this grant.
The SeaSpace equipment was delivered in July. The new receiver dish was installed on the pedestal, the radome was installed over it, and the complete assembly was lifted back on to the roof of Odegard Hall. The antenna control system and the Sun workstation and software are also located in Odegard Hall, in the Regional Weather Information Center.
The System Goes Online
Initial system checkout and data acquisition was completed in late July, and the system went online in August. Scripts have been set up to automatically acquire spacecraft ephemerides via the Internet and GMT via a roof-mounted GPS receiver, and to use this information to automatically track selected
NOAA polar spacecraft and acquire down-linked AVHRR data. Metadata is generated for each pass, and image files are converted to an industry-standard "Level 1b" output format for ease of use. The image files and metadata are made available to both remote and local users via a password-protected ftp server. Currently, all images and datasets are retained online for up to 7 days.
