IMAGING

Nov 2024 | No Comment

USGS experts responding to two major natural hazards

As U.S. Geological Survey staff prepare for Hurricane Milton to hit Florida’s west coast, agency experts are still dealing with the after-effects of Hurricane Helene that made landfall in Florida late last month and continued a path of destruction north through Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.

While USGS experts are deploying wave sensors and forecasting coastal change in anticipation of Milton’s arrival, many of their agency colleagues have been hard at work mapping landslides, repairing and replacing damaged streamgages, and analyzing sensor data to provide the science information needed to help emergency responders and local officials with ongoing Helene recovery efforts.

To meet requests for local technical assistance, USGS activated its landslide event team to collect remotely sensed imagery and map landslides to gain a better picture of the extent and severity of landslide impacts. It continues to support requests from the North Carolina and Tennessee geological survey offices to identify landslide locations and landslide impacts to state transportation networks and the infrastructure environments. Hurricanes are known to lead to landslide and debris flow hazards in the southern Appalachian Mountains so experts at the USGS Geologic Hazards Science Center helped create a multi-agency Landslides Observations Dashboard to map landslides associated with Helene and aid state officials in determining the extent and severity of landslide occurrence and impacts.

Two USGS landslide experts conducted aerial reconnaissance flights between October 3 and October 5 in partnership with U.S. Fish & Wildlife Services to obtain a better understanding of the extent and severity of landslide impacts in the southern Appalachian region. USGS experts continue to review the data and imagery from these flights to confirm locations of some landslides and assist local authorities as they work to protect lives and vital infrastructure. www.usgs.gov

NCDOT and partners capturing Helene impacts from the sky

The N.C. Department of Transportation’s Division of Aviation is using aircraft to capture imagery, assess infrastructure, and assist with disaster relief efforts in the wake of Hurricane Helene. A range of aviation resources have been deployed in Western North Carolina, including N.C. National Guard aircraft, NCDOT’s aerial imagery planes and drones, and private organizations making air drops of food, water and other emergency supplies.

NCDOT’s drone teams and Photogrammetry unit, the Civil Air Patrol and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have flown over 240 missions to capture images that are being used to inform the massive disaster response effort. This real-time data enables NCDOT teams to gather information about difficult to reach areas and prioritize safe response and recovery operations.

NCDOT employs three primary types of imagery: rapid situational awareness images, site-specific drone images, and photogrammetry images. bladenonline.com

Iran to launch three indigenous remote-sensing satellites

The head of the Iranian Space Agency (ISA) says the country plans to launch three homegrown remotesensing satellites into orbit by the end of the current Iranian calendar year, which ends on March 20, 2025.

The agency aims to send Kowsar, Tolo- 3 (Sunrise-3) and Zafar-2 (Victory-2) Earth observation satellites into orbit soon so that they would form a satellite constellation and work together as a system. www.presstv.ir

NASA selects lunar relay contractor for lunar communication and navigation services

NASA has awarded a contract to Intuitive Machines, LLC of Houston, to support the agency’s lunar relay systems as part of the Near Space Network, operated by the agency’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

This Subcategory 2.2 GEO to Cislunar Relay Services is a new firm-fixed- price, multiple award, indefinite- delivery/indefinite-quantity task order contract. The contract has a base period of five years with an additional 5-year option period, with a maximum potential value of $4.82 billion.

Lunar relays will play an essential role in NASA’s Artemis campaign to establish a long-term presence on the Moon. These relays will provide vital communication and navigation services for the exploration and scientific study of the Moon’s South Pole region. Without the extended coverage offered by lunar relays, landing opportunities at the Moon’s South Pole will be significantly limited due to the lack of direct communication between potential landing sites and ground stations on Earth.

The lunar relay award also includes services to support position, navigation, and timing capabilities, which are crucial for ensuring the safety of navigation on and around the lunar surface. Under the contract, Intuitive Machines also will enable NASA to provide communication and navigation services to customer missions in the near space region.

The initial task award will support the progressive validation of lunar relay capabilities/services for Artemis. NASA anticipates these lunar relay services will be used with human landing systems, the LTV (lunar terrain vehicle), and CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) flights.

As lunar relay services become fully operational, they will be integrated into the Near Space Network’s expanding portfolio, enhancing communications and navigation support for future lunar missions. By implementing these new capabilities reliance on NASA’s Deep Space Network will be reduced.

NASA’s goal is to provide users with communication and navigation services that are secure, reliable, and affordable, so that all NASA users receive the services required by their mission within their latency, accuracy, and availability requirements.

This is another step in NASA partnering with U.S. industry to build commercial space partners to support NASA missions, including NASA’s long-term Moon to Mars objectives for interoperable communications and navigation capabilities. This award
is part of the Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) Program and will be executed by the Near Space Network team at NASA Goddard. www.nasa.gov