Mission Summary
HyMap arrived in the US (San Francisco) around the 26th of August. We had
hoped to get things going then, but aircraft problems delayed actual installation of
HyMap. Here is a summary of the mission so far.
Thursday, 2 Sept 1999
HyVista finally got full access to aircraft for HyMap installation (at 8 pm !!!).
Installation proceeded until after midnight.
Friday, 3 Sept 1999
First flight was a system test. Data acquired: 3 strips at Walnut Ck., Ca. and 3
strips at Calistoga, Ca. (part of the geo-rectification cal sites)
Saturday, 4 Sept 1999
Following acquired: Jasper Ridge, Ca. (1 strip), Hayward, Ca. (3 strips, geo-rect cal
site), Richmond, Ca. (3 strips, Chevron), San Francisco, Ca. (1 strip, AIG/HVC)
Sunday, 5 Sept 1999
HyMap de-installed and calibration equipment set up.
Monday, 6 Sept 1999
HyMap calibration including JPL calibration with Tom Chrien, JPL.
HyMap re-installed in Cessna 402
Tues, 7 Sept, 1999
AVIRIS flight at Rogers Dry Lake, Ca. was a no go (lack of ground support team)
Following acquired by HyMap: Mammoth Mountain/Long Valley, Ca. (7 strips, UC Santa
Cruz/LLNL), Eldorado, Ca. (1 strip, SITAC), Van Vleck, Ca. (1 strip, SITAC)
Wednesday, 8 Sept. 1999
Aircraft Maintenance
Thursday, 9 Sept. 1999
AVIRIS flight at Rogers Dry Lake, CA, was a no go again (Weather), next chance is
later in September.
No data acquired today because of weather.
Friday September 10th
Some partially cloudy weather, clearing towards afternoon. HyVista was able to acquire
data for: Meling/Ainley, CA (2 lines, 3m and 1m undersampled), Ubehebe Peak, NV (1
line), N. Grapevine Mtns, NV (2 lines). Also attempted Darwin Hills, CA, but the area
encroaches on military airspace and the area was "hot", so no data collect was
attempted. Cuprite wasn't collected because of scattered clouds.
Previous Image of the Day:
North Grapevine Mountains, Nevada, Truecolor at
1/2 resolution:
Saturday 11 September 1999
Today was a successful day which included the acquisition of 11 lines. A contrast to
the previous day, where we were dodging clouds and turbulence, we had clear skies and
smooth conditions across southern Nevada. Sites Acquired include:
1. Cuprite, NV - AIG/HVC - (7 lines including 3m, 5m, and 10m pixels)
2. Virginia City, NV- AIG/HVC/UNR - (3 lines)
3. Steamboat Springs, NV - AIG/UNR ( 1line)
Previous Image of the Day:
Subset, Cuprite, Nevada, 3-m pixels.
portion of the central silicified cap
Sunday 12 September
No rest for the weary! Another successful day which included the acquisition of 20
lines in Nevada. Today we actually broke 20,000ft operating altitude, a record for HyMap.
Previous Image of the Day:
Cuprite, Nevada 5 meter truecolor with
saturation stretch.
Line along Rt. 93 and over "Buddingtonite Bump"
Monday 13 Sept 1999
The weather in Nevada deteriorated today, so HyMap moved on to Colorado. The
aircraft spent the afternoon in the Grand Junction area and acquired 9 of 10 flightlines
for PNL/Marconi Integrated Systems. One line was clouded out by changing weather
conditions. Upon completion of these lines, HyMap moved to a base of operations at the
Jefferson County, Colorado, Airport for acquisitions around the Colorado Front Range.
Tuesday 14 September 1999
Collection of Colorado Front Range Sites was planned for calibration and various
customers. The weather was good in the morning, with clouds building towards
afternoon. Unfortunately, the aircraft required maintenance in the morning, so no data
were collected.
Wednesday September 15th 1999
Weather in Colorado was partly cloudy in the morning, but we decided to gamble and try
to get some local data. Scheduled acquisitions in the south at Morrison, Colorado
(USGS/CSM), Golden-Boulder, Colorado (CSES), South Golden, Colorado (CSES/AIG/HyVista),
Perry Park, Colorado (CSES), and Pueblo, Colorado (CSES) were cancelled. We did
manage to acquire data north of Boulder for the AIG Training Facility, Boulder, Colorado
and for two sites near the Colorado/Wyoming state line. The CSES, University of
Colorado calibration team diverted to the AIG Boulder site and made radiance and
reflectance measurements. There were some high clouds, but the conditions were
generally favorable. HyVista acquired both 3-meter and 5-meter data at the Boulder site.
Thursday September 16th
HyVista was still in Boulder after some computer problems on Wednesday, so
with that back in working order, they made another attempt at Colorado Front
Range sites. The fog cleared around Boulder/Golden fairly
early, and we managed to obtain data for the following sites:
Morrison - AIG - (3 lines)
USGS/CSM
Boulder/Golden - CSES - (1 line) CSES
Golden South - CSES (1
line) CSES/AIG/HyVista
Perry Park CO - CSES (1 line)
CSES
The CSES calibration team occupied the Golden South site and made both
radiance and reflectance measurements. The Pueblo, Colorado site was not
acquired due to scattered cloud and heavy fog in the area.
Previous Image of the Day:
False Color Composite Image, Perry Park,
Colorado, 09/16/1999
Friday, September17th
No HyMap data were collected (Continued Texas Ferry + Clouds). The Flight
team relocated to Brownsville, Texas.
Saturday, September 18th
Sites in south Texas acquired included:
1. Rio Grande Valley, TX - 6 of 8 sites acquired (2 lost to cloud cover).(U of TEXAS)
2. Padre Island, TX - 1 line - AIG/HyVista
3. Bolivar Peninsula, TX - 7 lines (U of TEXAS)
4. Cedar Bayou, TX - 1 line (CHEVRON)
Previous Images of the Day:
Portion of the Bolivar Peninsula, TX. True Color Composite
Portion of the Rio Grande Valley, TX. True Color Composite
Sunday 19 September
The following sites were acquired:
1. Port Arthur, TX - Chevron (4 lines)
2. Orange, TX - Chevron (1 line)
Monday 20 September
We didn't get to fly any sites today as it was cloudy along the Gulf Coast. Looks like we caught the edge of
the hurricane heading towards Florida.
Tuesday 21 September
A scheduled 50 hour aircraft service was performed. No sites were flown.
Wednesday 22 September
The scheduled 50 hour aircraft service was completed. The scanner also
required service and no sites were
flown.
Previous Images of the Day:
While processing Cuprite, NV, data we ran across some
interesting phenomena, examine this image closely!
Thursday, 23 September
The following sites were flown:
1. Saint James, LA (1 line) - Chevron
2. Oak Point, LA (1 line) - Chevron
3. Pascagoula, MS (5 lines) - Chevron
4. Camp Shelby, MS - (1 line) U of Southern MS (Ground crew on site!)
Friday 24 September
Back Bay, Biloxi, MS (1 line) NRL
Ship Island, MS (1 line)
NRL
West Point Lake,
GA (2 lines) CRREL
Ground crews (and boats!) were in position for both sets of
acquisitions today.
Previous Images of the Day:
Image is 1/2 resolution image subset of the Ship Island line flown Sept
24th for NRL. Image is a decorrelation stretch, which enhances color differences
(note the near-shore detail)..
Saturday 25 September
The HyVista team acquired the last of the
CRREL GA lake sites and moved north today. We were unable to acquire the
scheduled Florida sites prior to starting north, principally because of weather problems.
Data acquired today included:
Russell Reservoir, GA
CRREL (1 line)
J. Strom Thurmond Reservoir, GA CRREL (1 of
2 lines, 1 clouded out)
Copper Basin, TN
EPA/EPIC (3 lines)
Great Smokies, National Park, TN USGS) (1 line)
HyVista arrived in Virgina at about 2pm to beautiful sunshine - zero
cloud, however, we were unable to get access to Ft Pickett (live artillery
fire up to 18,000 ft) and the rest of the VA ground crews weren't ready.
The story of this data acquisition effort!! We're having some problems getting
aircraft, weather, instrument, and ground crews all in sync. With all these
factors stacking up against us, it's a wonder we've gotten all the good data
collected so far!! Give credit to HyVista for tenacity!
Sunday 26 September
Early morning promised good weather as we headed to the airport. At 9am the clouds rolled in so we delayed the start up for 1 hr to see if the clouds would burn off. They did and we left for the 1st site at 11am. Sites acquired
today:
1. Ft AP-Hill, VA - (6 lines)
(JPL/Warfighter)
2. Dahlgren, VA - (1 line)
(Autometric)
3. Fredricksburg, VA - (1 line)
(SAIC)
4. Louisa, VA (2 lines)
(SAIC)
The clouds came back in later, so we were unable to acquire the following sites due to cloud
cover:
1. Appomattox
2. Ft Pickett
Because weather didn't look promising for Monday in VA, we moved on to
Harrisburg, PA to base for planned acquisitions for the USGS
and US Military Academy.
Previous Images of the Day:
1/2 resolution flightline subset over the Potomac near near
Dahlgren, VA. We were almost ahead of the clouds here, but not quite.
Monday 27 September
We've had serious trouble with the east
coast weather. The aircraft was grounded for some time this morning in Harrisburg with heavy fog
and overcast. The word from the people on the ground at West Point was full
cloud cover. The story of this mission has been "you should have been
here yesterday". In hindsight, if we hadn't waited for some of the
ground crews and had just flown the sites, we might have gotten a lot more
really good data. Now it looks like all of our NE sites are a wash and the
forecast for the next week for the whole east coast is for more of the same.
We're not going to be able to wait this one out. We've headed west and will try
to wrap up sites along the way if we get any good weather. We've been in the US
over a month now and we're constrained by other scheduled deployments. We were shooting for some of the following, but were
unable to get any because of bad weather:
Harrisburg, PA USGS
West Point and Hudson River, NY US Military
Academy
Elizabeth Mine,
VT
USGS
Maine Coastal
Sites
USGS
Balmat Mine,
NY
USGS
NH Targets of
Opportunity??
Dartmouth College
Tuesday 28 September
We overnighted in Evansville, Indiana and woke to more bad weather.
Our immediate plans were to head west to Boulder and then south to Arizona,
however, we made one last try for
the Great Miami River, OH, sites prior to departure. Unfortunately, we were
unable to acquire any data because of low clouds and thunderstorms and now we're stranded
in Dayton, OH and will be until at least AM 29 September. As soon as it clears enough to take
off on Wednesday, we're on our way directly
to Arizona. It's extremely unlikely that we'll get any other sites before
then.
Wednesday 29 September
It's funny (or not) how small decisions can haunt you. We're still stuck in
Dayton, OH, with little chance of taking off until tomorrow 30
September. We've lost 2 more complete days to the weather, and if we'd just been
a little quicker, we'd be basking in the Arizona sunshine. We hope to
start towards the southwest on Thursday morning.
Thursday 30 September
Well, it's happened! We got out of Dayton this morning and are back
collecting data. We successfully acquired the following sites today.
Great Miami River,
OH (2 lines)
EPA
Purdue Agronomy Research Center,
IN (1 line) Purdue
University
Purdue Campus Stereo Experiment,
IN (3 lines) Purdue University
Purdue Davis Research Farm,
IN (1 line)
Purdue University (Target of Opportunity)
Shelton, NE (1
line)
Marconi
The AIG/HyVista team coordinated the rest of the mission over a
beer in Boulder.
Previous Images of the Day:
Here are a couple of full resolution images from the Great Miami River,
Ohio and the Purdue University Campus, Indiana to remind us
just how good these data really are!
Friday 1 October
We departed for AZ and acquired data for Pueblo, Colorado (CSES), but shortly thereafter
began to experience intermittent (overheating-related) problems with the
instrument GPS/Navigation serial communications. We landed in Colorado Springs,
attempted a quick fix and then went for the USGS Iron Hill site, unfortunately,
that was clouded out and we couldn't collect any data. We continued the
traverse to Arizona and spent the night in Gallup, NM.
Saturday 2 October
Most of the day was spent making field modifications to the cooling system for
the serial communications gear. We acquired data for several Arizona sites
and finished up the day by collecting data for Safford/Pima AZ (you know the
HyVista guys are also associated with design, production, and sales of the
"PIMA" field spectrometer so they thought they'd get data for their
namesake). We finished the day with a late arrival in Las Vegas, NV.
Sunday 3 October/Monday 4 October
We were based in Las Vegas, NV on Sunday. We've experienced some problems
with the aircraft's turbocharging system over the last couple days, and since we
have some high altitude flights coming up, we've scheduled aircraft maintenance
today and tomorrow. We were able to acquire several flightlines for Mtn.
Pass, CA this morning as a USGS east coast replacement site.
Previous Images of the Day:
HyMap Does PIMA (Arizona that is).
Subset of Mountain Pass area data, California,
(decorrelation stretch)
Tuesday 5 October
We collected data for sites in the Tonopah, NV, area today and will continue
tomorrow. We still hope do a re-flight of Cuprite, NV, at 5m pixels.
Wednesday 6 October
We're weathered out again in Tonopah. Skies were cloudy and we had up to 40
mph winds with scattered snow showers at higher elevations to the north. We'll
stock up on liquid nitrogen tomorrow, assess the weather, and hopefully make
another try for some of our remaining Nevada sites.
Thursday 7 October
We've experienced some hardware problems, have made repairs, and are fine-tuning
the scanner. We went to Elko, NV to get liquid nitrogen, flew some test
lines, and returned to Tonopah. Back to the mission on Friday.
Friday, 8 October
Aircraft service was completed. We also finished flights in the Tonopah area,
including a repeat of 4 Cuprite 5m resolution lines.
Previous Images of the Day:
The eye plays funny tricks! Ever look
at the clouds and wonder - well it's the same with rocks!!
Saturday 9 October
We completed flying sites in central Nevada today. Departure at 7AM
tomorrow for California, the last leg on this mission!
Sunday 10 October
A record day with over 25 lines of data acquired under optimum conditions
for Elkhorn Slough, California. The boats were on the water and
ground/water truth collected.
Monday 11 October
Foggy in the morning, so we went down to Camp Roberts, California, and got
some lines we missed there on the way out. Things cleared up later in the
day and we were able to acquire data for the Monterey Peninsula.
Mission Complete!! Over a month of flying and more than 230
flightlines of data.
