STREAMS OF BRYCE CANYON : A MISSING LINK IN GROUND TRUTH

Every tale has more than one side or perspective. And so it is with NASA, which studies Earth science from different angles – from satellites, from aircraft, and sometimes from the ground. But somehow, no matter how many ways there are to view a place, there’s nothing better than being there.

Case in point: Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah. The interlocking peaks of the canyon rim can top 9,000 feet – high enough that year-round flurries created this snow-capped winter wonderland captured by photographer James Van Gundy. The spectacular oranges, browns, reds, and yellows of the limestone and the unique rain- and frost-carved stone make the park a destination for more than 1.5 million tourists each year.

Those peaks offer breathtaking views of three states and 200 miles of visibility.

In contrast, a Landsat satellite image of the park, taken in 2006, tells a top-side story of streams and rivers and valleys that stretch out like the fingers of a child’s hand print. A host of new colors emerge, not apparent from the ground view. The greens of coniferous forests. The blues of lakes and the Tropic Reservoir.

GEOINFORMATICS : IN AN ENGINEERING PERSPECTIVE

Knowing the earth by its dimensions and imaging the natural processes on earth through the geospatial technologies are the prime goals of Geo-Informatics. The tell-tale stories of ancient cartographers and their handmade paper maps, large scale techniques of triangulation, stereoscopic principles and earth observation satellites speak in volumes about Geo-Informatics as a technology. Much water has run under the bridge since then. The potential of this technology has aggrandized from Earth science and cartographers to Geo-Informatics engineers. Construction of geospatial solutions as a conglomeration of scientific principles and Engineering innovations is the need of the hour.

Geomatics engineering is based on the framework of applied mathematic, physics, remotesensing ,computerscience, integration of satellite communication systems , design and management of complex hardware and data system. Probing the earth and its atmosphere from space provides an efficient, cost effective and rapid approach to discover natural resources, understand the climate system and monitor ocean circulation. Hence it requires complete understanding of the physical principles which go behind the remotely sensed images and complex mathematical principles involved in excellent geospatial softwares which process those imageries.

Geomatics engineering is a modern dicipline which integrates acquisition, modelling analysis and management of spatially referenced data. i.e data identified according to locations. Based on the scientific frame work of geodesy, it uses terrestial marine airborne, and sattelite based sensors to acquire spatial and other data. Also it includes the process of transforming spatially referenced data from different sources into common information system with well defined accuracy characteristics.

By and large the nuances of geomatics Engineering has increased manifold. The advent of hyperspectral remote sensing is one of the most significant breakthroughs in Geomatics. The capability of distinguishing different features and describing the same ground objects in various levels of details enhanced greatly.

The contribution of a Geomatics Engineer starts even before the satellite is launched into orbit. It is imperative to decide the sensor configuration and the typical wavelenghts of the sensor which can sense radiometrically and geometrically different features on Earth in a distinct manner. Hence the verdict of the Geomatics Engineer is extremely important while designing the spectral resolution of a sensor. Once the satellite is put into orbit it becomes highly essential to know the pertubing forces due to earth’s asphericity,solar Radiation, Tidal forces and third body perturbations which can alter the image characteristics of the Remote sensing satellites. Here the regular corrections to be made to the imagery for various perturbing effects must be studied and modelling of these variations must be handled by a Geomatics Engineer.

After the satellite starts transmitting data to ground station , scene –wise storage and management of data is carried becomes his responsibilty. The various levels of Geometric and Radiometric corections are then performed. The data is imported into a GIS or image processing software for data analysis and classification. Finally the Geomatics Engineer disseminates the data according to user requirements , there by bringing the process in to its consummation.

But, its ironical that the softwares which were actually introduced to perceive the technology in a better way hinders the real understanding of its principles.The extent of analysis must not be bound by the modules available. Thus what’s needed is to fathom the concepts of Geoinformatics running behind the screen rather than laying our hands just on the ‘mouse clicks’.

Thus, the burgeoning multifacted arena of Ge-Informatics Engineering enables the scientists to achieve credible Geospatial solutions not only for processes happening on Earth but also for umpteen unanswered mysteries in other planets. Proud to be a Geomatics Engineer!