I joined the faculty at Montana State University in 2001 after spending 12 years at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) research labs in Boulder, Colorado. I enjoy developing optical remote sensing systems and applying them to understanding the natural world. Photographing and understanding natural optical phenomena is another of my passions (see examples in my book, Optics in the Air). I am a Fellow of SPIE and Optica.
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A segment of the field of precision agriculture is being developed to accurately and quickly map the location of herbicide-resistant and herbicide-susceptible weeds using advanced optics and computer algorithms. In our previous paper, we classified herbicide-susceptible and herbicide-resistant kochia [
Knowing the thermodynamic phase of a cloud–whether it is composed of spherical water droplets or polyhedral ice crystals–is critical in remote sensing applications and in climate studies. Liquid water and ice have different absorptive properties in certain spectral bands that can be exploited to identify the phase of clouds using ground-based, passive remote sensing. Our simulations found that ground-based radiance measurements at three spectral channels (1.55, 1.64, and 1.70 μm) provide improved discrimination when analyzed in three spectral dimensions as opposed to previous approaches based in two-dimensional parameter space. Our simulations show that these bands provide good discrimination between liquid-water and ice clouds when the optical depth is large. We also show measurements from a ground-based spectrometer confirming the cloud-phase sensing ability of these three channels, with validation provided by a dual-polarization lidar system.
Multispectral imaging systems on tethered balloons for optical remote sensing education and research
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This course provides a broad introduction to optical (near UV-visible) and infrared sensor systems. Radiometry and radiometric calculations are used to determine the optical power captured by a sensor system and the resulting signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). We explore design tradeoffs for resolution in space, angle, and time, as well as dynamic range and image quality. Modulation Transfer Function (MTF) curves are explained in terms of image contrast, Nyquist image sampling, and image aliasing. We review atmospheric phenomenology (absorption, emission, scattering, and turbulence) and how these issues affect sensor system design and performance. These principles of system design, resolution, radiometry, and atmospheric propagation are combined in examples of real sensors studied at the block-diagram level. Sensor system examples include passive infrared imagers, polarization imagers, and hyperspectral imagers, and active laser radars (lidars or ladars) for sensing distributed and hard targets. The course organization is approximately one third on the radiometric analysis of sensor systems, one third on design tradeoffs and detector selection, and one third on example systems.
This course provides a broad introduction to optical remote sensing systems, including both passive sensors (e.g., radiometers and spectral imagers) and active sensors (e.g., laser radars or LIDARs). A brief review of basic principles of radiometry and atmospheric propagation (absorption, emission, and scattering) is followed by a system-level discussion of a variety of ground-, air-, and space-based remote sensing systems. Key equations are presented for predicting the optical resolution and signal-to-noise performance of passive and active sensing systems. Sensor system examples discussed in the class include solar radiometers, passive spectrometers and hyperspectral imagers, airborne imaging spectrometers, thermal infrared imagers, polarization imagers, and active laser radars (LIDARs and LADARs). The course material is directly relevant to sensing in environmental, civilian, military, astronomical, and solar energy applications.
This course explains basic principles and applications of radiometry and photometry. A primary goal of the course is to reveal the logic, systematic order, and methodology behind what sometimes appears to be a confusing branch of optical science and engineering. Examples are taken from the ultraviolet through the long-wave infrared portions of the electromagnetic spectrum. Anyone who wants to answer questions such as, "how many watts or photons do I have?" or "how much optical energy or radiation do I need?" will benefit from taking this course.
This course provides an introduction to the exciting and rapidly growing field of light detection and ranging (LIDAR) on autonomous vehicles. The rapid growth of new lasers and detectors, along with miniaturization of computers and high-speed data acquisition systems, is opening many new opportunities for LIDAR systems in applications that require smaller and more portable instruments. This course begins with a discussion of a current AR/VR LIDAR system to quickly identify the key technologies that enable tiny systems with low cost. We then review the basic principles that govern the design of any LIDAR system, emphasizing how these principles can be used to design and analyze small, portable LIDAR systems uniquely tailored to guiding autonomous vehicles and performing remote sensing measurements from them on the road, in the air, and in the water.
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