Autonomous earth feature classification - Shuttle and aircraft flight test resultsThe Feature Identification and Location Experiment (FILE) flown on the Shuttle STS-2 mission November 12-14, 1981, tested a technique for autonomous real-time classification of selected earth features, i.e., water; bare land; vegetation; and clouds, snow, and ice. A second instrument, designed for aircraft flights, flew over regions of the west and east coasts of the United States and across the country. In each instrument, two bore-sighted CCD cameras image earth scenes in two spectral bands. Each camera includes a 100-element by 100-element detector array, and classification circuits. A simple algorithm and logic circuit provides classification decisions within a few microseconds. The experiment records the number of picture elements (pixels) representing each feature and the reflected solar radiation for each band. After flight, pixel-by-pixel classification images are constructed and compared with 70-mm color photographs taken simultaneously with the CCD-camera data.
Document ID
19830054836
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Sivertson, W. E., Jr. (NASA Langley Research Center Hampton, VA, United States)
Wilson, R. G. (NASA Langley Research Center Hampton, VA, United States)
Bullock, G. F. (NASA Langley Research Center Hampton, VA, United States)