NOAA Cessna Citation II - N52RF
May 2000 Featured Platform
The Cessna
Citation II aircraft, equipped with dual camera ports for simultaneous
exposures with different types of film, is used primarily by the National
Ocean Service's National Geodetic Survey Remote
Sensing Division to obtain aerial photography for the nautical
charting and airport obstruction programs. The Citation is also used to
help NOAA map and monitor the health of the nation’s coral reef systems.
The Citation is conducting a photobathymetric mission to map coral reef environments in the Hawaiian Islands in support of U.S. Coral Reef Task Force (CRTF) mandates. Concurrent with this mission will be an effort to examine further the application of an evolving remote sensing technology used in a similar mapping effort in St. Croix last year.
The
mission will acquire both color photobathymetry, using a Wild RC-30 camera,
and hyperspectral imaging, using a digital hyperspectral sensor called
AURORA, developed by Advanced Power Technologies, Inc. of Washington, D.C.,
a small business innovation research contractor.
The current mission calls for 97 flight lines covering water depths to 20 meters. Photobathymetry flights will be flown with a sun angle restriction of 10 to 30 degrees above the horizon, less than 10 percent cloud cover, winds less than 10 to 15 knots, and water visibility of greater than 60 feet. During these flights, a number of in-situ measurements will be collected by divers in the water and boats on the surface to calibrate and test the sensitivity of the AURORA. Individuals from several universities and colleges are conducting the in-situ measurements.
The scientific objective of this mission is to relate the spectral signatures obtained by hyperspectral imaging to selected coral reef environments and associated conditions. The longer-term goal is the development of standard protocols to map corals based on this technology.
The imagery will be used to create maps
of the region's marine resources, including coral reefs, seagrass beds,
mangrove forests, and other important habitats for fisheries, tourism,
and other aspects of the coastal economy. This work directly supports the
ongoing coral and species habitat mapping work in NOS's
Biogeography Program and the mandates of the U.S. Coral Reef Task Force.
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