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Digital multispectral imagery collected by using two systems of similar spectral and angular resolution were compared to assess the potential of the International Space Station as an Earth-observing platform. Folds and faults associated with the Neoproterozoic Mai Kenetal synform in northern Ethiopia were imaged with the Modular Optoelectronic Multispectral Stereo Scanner (MOMS-2P) on the Russian space station Mir and the free-flying Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) system. The most important difference between MOMS-2P and Landsat TM is the much lower altitude of the former (380 km versus 705 km), so that MOMS-2P has a significantly smaller ground-resolution cell, which reveals details not apparent from TM imagery over the same area. Corresponding improvements in spatial resolution can be expected if any of the free-flying imaging systems (ASTER, SPOT, Hyperion), which fly at altitudes of 700 to 820 km, were mounted on the ISS, which orbits at 380 km. The ultralow orbit of the ISS presents an outstanding, but currently under-utilized, opportunity for observing Earth. Keywords: remote sensing, International Space Station, Ethiopia, Neoproterozoic.

We used new precise leveling data acquired 40 days after the Bam earthquake in combination with radar interferometry observations from both ascending and descending orbits to investigate static deformation associated with the 2003 Bam earthquake. We invert this geodetic data set to gain insight into the fault geometry and slip distribution of the rupture. The best-fitting dislocation model is a steeply east-dipping right-lateral strike-slip fault that has a size of 11 by 8 km and strikes N2°W. We find that such smooth geometry fits available geodetic data better than previously proposed models for this earthquake. Our distributed slip model indicates a maximum strike slip of 3 m occurring about 3 to 5 km deep. The slip magnitude and depth of faulting taper to the north, where the fault approaches the Bam city. Inclusion of crustal layering increases the amount of maximum slip inferred at depth by about 4%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aftershocks of the magnitude Mw 6.4 Bingöl earthquake of 1 May 2003 (eastern Turkey) were monitored by a local temporary seismic network. The spatial distribution of the aftershocks shows that the earthquake did not occur on the left-lateral East Anatolian fault, but perpendicular to it along a north-northwest-striking right-lateral fault. The event ruptured an area of 20 km by 8 km, but did not reach the Earth's surface. The aftershocks of the 2003 Bingöl earthquake and those of the 1992 Erzincan earthquake seem to indicate the existence of a new seismically active right-lateral shear zone. Indeed, we show that historical earthquakes along both the North and East Anatolian fault led to positive changes in Coulomb failure stress for north-northwest-oriented right-lateral strike-slip faults in the Bingöl epicentral area. Moreover, the existence of such faults is supported by remote-sensing data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2009 expedition led to the Inylchek Glacier in eastern Kyrgyzstan, the largest glacier of the Tien Shan with a length of 60,5 kilometers. In this paper we present the results of our investigations in the surroundings of the Northern Inylchek Glacier, namely in the Peremitschka, the seasonally flooded plain situated between the Southern Inylchek Glacier and Upper Lake Merzbacher. During the summer, this plain is flooded by melt water discharged from the Northern Inylchek Valley, creating the up to 120 m deep Lower Lake Merzbacher, which regularly bursts out and releases its water through an englacial piping system of the Southern Inylchek Glacier in. It is due to this unique phenomenon that Lower Lake Merzbacher has been the subject of study by scientists on numerous expeditions during the last century. As a mapping basis for our field works, we used an enlarged scene acquired in September 2005 from the Quickbird satellite with 60 cm ground resolution. For identification of advancing and retreating parts of the Inylchek Glacier system, a pan-sharpened Landsat 7 ETM+ scene (bands 1, 4 and 7) with a ground resolution of 15 m acquired in 2006 was used. A time series analysis of aerial photos dating from 1943 and 1956 was compared to the Quickbird scene from 2005 and revealed first the retreat and later the rapid advance of the Northern Inylchek Glacier along a distance of at least two kilometres. Since neither indications of a glacier lake outburst around Upper Lake Merzbacher nor stretched ogives or erosional scars in the Northern Inylchek Glacier implying a rapid surge could be detected, the mechanism of this fluctuating glacier is subject to ongoing investigations. Our helicopter-supported campaign in the Peremitschka at altitudes between 3300 and 3500 meters lasted only four days. For the glaciogeologic and geomorphologic interpretation of remote sensing imageries we used geophysical methods such as electric resistivity tomography (ERT) and frequency domain electromagnetics (FDEM). The 800 m long ERT-profile crossing the Peremitschka plain revealed resistivities ranging from 6 Ohmmeter (ohm.m) in the near subsurface to 100.000 ohm.m down to a depth of 45 meters. A series of thin, undulated, low-resistivity layers are underlain by a thick high-resistivity layer, which has been interpreted as dead ice from the formerly advancing Northern Inylchek Glacier. A small river flows down the Northern Inylchek Valley, here termed "Merz Rivulet" or "Merzbach", with a flow of about 30 m³/second. Along its course it has locally eroded the Peremitschka plain to a depth of 20-25 meters. This steep slope within the Peremitschka reveals an intercalation of silty calcareous lake deposits with ice layers and ice lenses respectively. These outcrops have been interpreted as near subsurface permafrost layers, which can be correlated with the undulated low-resistivity layer of the ERT-profile. Additionally, high resolution mapping of this permafrost zone using frequency domain electromagnetics with 2525 Hertz (Hz) and 5025 Hz revealed cone-like depressions, which were interpreted as glacier karst. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The analysis of hyperspectral images is an important task in Remote Sensing. Foregoing radiometric calibration results in the assignment of incident electromagnetic radiation to digital numbers and reduces the striping caused by slightly different responses of the pixel detectors. However, due to uncertainties in the calibration some striping remains. This publication presents a new reduction framework that efficiently reduces linear and nonlinear miscalibrations by an image-driven, radiometric recalibration and rescaling. The proposed framework-Reduction Of Miscalibration Effects (ROME)-considering spectral and spatial probability distributions, is constrained by specific minimisation and maximisation principles and incorporates image processing techniques such as Minkowski metrics and convolution. To objectively evaluate the performance of the new approach, the technique was applied to a variety of commonly used image examples and to one simulated and miscalibrated EnMAP (Environmental Mapping and Analysis Program) scene. Other examples consist of miscalibrated AISA/Eagle VNIR (Visible and Near Infrared) and Hawk SWIR (Short Wave Infrared) scenes of rural areas of the region Fichtwald in Germany and Hyperion scenes of the Jalal-Abad district in Southern Kyrgyzstan. Recovery rates of approximately 97% for linear and approximately 94% for nonlinear miscalibrated data were achieved, clearly demonstrating the benefits of the new approach and its potential for broad applicability to miscalibrated pushbroom sensor data.