NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

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Experiment Overview


Brief Summary

The International Space Station Agricultural Camera (ISSAC) will take frequent images, in visible and infrared light, principally of vegetated areas (growing crops, grasslands, forests) in the northern Great Plains region of the United States. The sensor also is being used to study dynamic Earth processes around the world, such as melting glaciers, ecosystem responses to seasonal changes, and human impacts, and including rapid-response monitoring of natural disasters. ISSAC was built and is being operated by students and faculty at the University of North Dakota, in Grand Forks, ND.

Principal Investigator(s)

Bruce Smith, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND, United States

Co-Investigator(s)/Collaborator(s)

Mario Runco Jr., Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX, United States

Soizik Laguette, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND, United States

Developer(s)

University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND, United States

Sponsoring Space Agency

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Sponsoring Organization

National Laboratory (NL)

Research Benefits

Information Pending

ISS Expedition Duration:

March 2011 - March 2013

Expeditions Assigned

27/28,29/30,31/32,33/34

Previous ISS Missions

AgCam, the precursor to ISSAC was performed on ISS Expedition 19/20.

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Experiment Description

Research Overview

• Existing Earth remote sensing system applicable to vegetative studies each have individual shortcomings that reduce their effectiveness for in-season agriculture applications research and operational decision support. Existing sensor platforms typically collect data too infrequently for rapidly changing short-season northern crops that often are under cloud cover, or deliver data with too much latency for effective in-season decision support; those that can meet the preceding needs have spatial resolutions that are too coarse for evaluation of in-field variability.



• End user research partners (farmers, ranchers) and collaborating research scientists will be able to select specific geographical areas of interest and request collection of ISSAC imagery. The ISSAC sensor will collect multi-spectral (green, red, and near-infrared) images at medium spatial resolution (about 15-20 meter pixels), and can point up to 30 degrees off-nadir, enabling frequent (multi-week to multi-day) imaging of a requested area, dramatically improving chances of obtaining cloud-free images. Collected images will be downlinked, processed on the ground, and delivered to the requesting end users within 1-2 days of image collection.



• Farmers using variable-rate application and other precision agriculture techniques will be able to dynamically delineate management zones as the crop vegetation canopy changes during the growing season; this can result in more effective use of fertilizer and other chemical inputs and reduce negative environmental effects. Ranchers will be better able to determine livestock carrying capacity of rangelands; this can help avoid ecosystem damage due to overgrazing and erosion. Scientists will gain new knowledge of rapidly-changing phenomena, ranging from mass-balance changes to glaciers, to observing phonological response to daily changing conditions. Geographic locations around the globe that are frequently under cloud cover during overflights of existing sensors will be able to be observed at times more conducive to cloud-free imaging.

Description

ISSAC is a multi-spectral camera destined for use on the ISS as a sub-rack payload of the Window Observational Research Facility (WORF). Primary ISSAC system components include an ISSAC Sensor Assembly (ISA), a Base Mounting Assembly, a Slide/Pointing Assembly, a Power/Data Controller, associated cabling and support items, and a NASA-supplied T61p Laptop, including power supply, and interconnecting power and data cables. The Base Mounting Assembly provides a solid mounting to the internal WORF payload support shelf. The Slide/Pointing Assembly has a slide mechanism to facilitate crew setup and activation within the WORF, and incorporates an integral gearbox and controller to point the lens assembly up to 30 degrees cross-track. The Power/Data Controller individually powers on the gearbox/controller and the ISA. Within the ISSAC Sensor Assembly, a vibration isolation and absorption system helps prevent excessive jitter in the ISSAC images. A single 150 mm lens and optical beam splitter supply light to three digital framing cameras, each with its own filter; green, red (630-690 nm) and near infrared (780-890 nm).

Nominally all payload operations are commanded via ground uplink. Commands are stored in an on-board command queue and executed based on system time supplied by the ISS. Imagery collected is downlinked via the medium-rate payload LAN. The onboard command queue capability can allow autonomous 24-hour operations, enabling routine worldwide target accessibility.

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Applications

Space Applications

ISSAC is a space-related research project that will result in the delivery of direct benefits from space to the general public. Increasing the relevance of any space-related research activities with respect to the daily lives of the general public will benefit all ISS applications, whether for space or earth applications. By using ISSAC data in support of precision agriculture activities, the public will receive benefits synergistically from three different space systems: (1) Earth-observing from the ISS; (2) in-field navigation from the Global Positioning System; and (3) data delivery via satellite communications. With respect to the educational aspect of the ISSAC project, using students to develop and operate ISSAC helps train the next generation of scientists and engineers that will work on future space-based applications.

Earth Applications

For broad-band multi-spectral systems, the two most useful frequency bands for studying vegetation are the same red and the near-infrared bands that ISSAC will collect. Agricultural efficiency and competitiveness can be enhanced through the practical application of data products that are derived from reflectance measurements taken in these spectral regions. The combination of characteristics that ISSAC can provide ? high-temporal data acquisition in these two bands at medium-high resolution, and delivered with minimal latency ? will offer a unique data source that will allow aspects of agricultural efficiency that are of particular importance to the northern Great Plains to be investigated and improved. More generally, these same capabilities of ISSAC can be applied to scientific study of any areas undergoing rapid ecosystem change, worldwide. Potential targets range from natural systems (glacier melt, plant phenological transitions (spring green-up, fall senescence) to human impact (deforestation, urbanization); itself a major change agent. The rapid responsiveness of ISSAC imagery may also aid in disaster monitoring applications worldwide.

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Operations

Operational Requirements

To be able to image the Earth, ISSAC requires the ISS to be in Local-Vertical-Local-Horizontal (LVLH) attitude control mode, and preferably with the ISS X-axis in the direction of the Velocity Vector (+XVV), though imaging is still possible in other velocity orientations (i.e., -XVV, etc.). In addition, the US Laboratory Window external shutter must also be open (within shutter Flight Rule constraints).

Once in operation, nominal imaging plans call for acquiring 2-4 images per orbit, 2-4 orbits per day. Contraints on maximum imaging performance are principally data dowlink and operational staffing; a practical upper limit is about 40-50 images per 24 hour period, on an episodic basis. Specific science investigations and application results may be achievable with only one or a few images of a target; others, such as agricultural uses, may require multiple images closely spaced in time, several times during a growing season, and repeated over 2-3 growing seasons.

Operational Protocols

Crew members have installed ISSAC components, including a T61p Laptop and related Government Furnished Equipment (GFE). No more crew support is needed for nominal operations, other than manual opening and closing of the Lab Window external shutter per standard flight rules, and a once-per-increment cleaning of an air inlet screen.

From within the ISSAC Science Operations Center (SOC) at the University of North Dakota, operators will receive ISSAC imagery requests from an extensive network of end-user participants and research scientists, and will convert these requests into specific sets of commands for uplink to ISSAC. Through coordination with NASA for WORF rack operations, image acquisition and other ISSAC operational commands will be uplinked to the ISSAC payload software, which will take images over specific areas of the Earth. Resultant imagery data will be downlinked and transferred to the University of North Dakota for processing and quick delivery to image requestors.

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Results/More Information

ISSAC was installed into the WORF on May 13, 2011.

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Related Websites

Upper Midwest Aerospace Consortium

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Imagery

NASA Image: ISS019E007157 Astronaut Michael Barratt,Expedition 19/20 flight engineer,working at the Destiny laboratory module window during the Agricultural Camera (AgCam) Setup and Activation. AgCam was the presursor to ISSAC.
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NASA Image: ISS027E023644 - NASA astronaut Ron Garan, Expedition 27 flight engineer, works with ISS Agricultural Camera (ISSAC) hardware in the Destiny laboratory of the International Space Station. ISSAC, a successor of the earlier AgCam, will operate in conjunction with EarthKAM, both instruments to conduct simultaneous but independent operations in the WORF rack in Destiny.
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Florida west coastal region. ISSAC image courtesy UND UMAC
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