Airborne Geophysics and Precise Positioning: Scientific Issues and Future Directions (1995)
Chapter: Front Matter
COMMITTEE ON GEODESY
THOMAS HERRING, Chair,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge
ROBIN E. BELL,
Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, Palisades, New York
B. CLARK BURCHFIEL,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge
M. ELIZABETH CANNON,
The University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada
CHRISTOPHER JEKELI,
The Ohio State University, Columbus
ROGER L. MERRELL, Consultant,
Austin, Texas
J. BERNARD MINSTER,*
Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, California (Through December, 1993)
RICHARD SAILOR,
TASC, Inc., Massachusetts
DAVID SANDWELL,
Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, California
WILLIAM YOUNG,
Riverside County Flood Control and Water Conservation District, California
National Research Council Staff
ANNE M. LINN, Program Officer
LALLY A. ANDERSON, Staff Associate
JENNIFER T. ESTEP, Administrative Assistant
JUDITH L. ESTEP, Administrative Assistant
SHELLEY A. MYERS, Project Assistant
BOARD ON EARTH SCIENCES AND RESOURCES
J. FREEMAN GILBERT,
University of California, San Diego, Chair
GAIL M. ASHLEY,
Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey
THURE CERLING,
University of Utah, Salt Lake City
MARK P. CLOOS,
University of Texas at Austin
WILLIAM R. DICKINSON,
University of Arizona, Tucson
JOEL DARMSTADTER,
Resources for the Future, Washington, D.C.
MARCO T. EINAUDI,
Stanford University, California
NORMAN H. FOSTER, Independent Petroleum Geologist,
Denver, Colorado
CHARLES G. GROAT,
Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge
DONALD C. HANEY,
University of Kentucky, Lexington
SUSAN M. KIDWELL,
University of Chicago, Illinois
PHILIP E. LaMOREAUX,
P.E. LaMoreaux and Associates, Inc., Tuscaloosa, Alabama
SUSAN M. LANDON,
Thomasson Partner Associates, Denver, Colorado
MARCIA K. McNUTT,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge (Through December 1994)
J. BERNARD MINSTER,
University of California, San Diego
ALEXANDRA NAVROTSKY,
Princeton University, New Jersey
JILL D. PASTERIS,
Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri
EDWARD C. ROY, JR.,
Trinity University, San Antonio, Texas
National Research Council Staff
JONATHAN G. PRICE, Staff Director (Through February 1995)
THOMAS M. USSELMAN, Associate Staff Director
WILLIAM E. BENSON, Senior Program Officer
KEVIN D. CROWLEY, Senior Program Officer
ANNE M. LINN, Program Officer
CHARLES MEADE, Program Officer
LALLY A. ANDERSON, Staff Associate
JENNIFER T. ESTEP, Administrative Assistant
JUDITH L. ESTEP, Administrative Assistant
SHELLEY A. MYERS, Project Assistant
COMMISSION ON GEOSCIENCES, ENVIRONMENT, AND RESOURCES
M. GORDON WOLMAN, Chair,
The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland
PATRICK R. ATKINS,
Aluminum Company of America, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
EDITH BROWN WEISS,
Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, D.C.
JAMES P. BRUCE,
Canadian Climate Program Board, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
WILLIAM L. FISHER,
The University of Texas at Austin
EDWARD A. FRIEMAN,
Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, California
GEORGE M. HORNBERGER,
University of Virginia, Charlottesville
W. BARCLAY KAMB,
California Institute of Technology, Pasadena
PERRY L. MCCARTY,
Stanford University, Stanford, California
S. GEORGE PHILANDER,
Princeton University, New Jersey
RAYMOND A. PRICE,
Queen's University at Kingston, Ontario, Canada
THOMAS A. SCHELLING,
University of Maryland, College Park
ELLEN K. SILBERGELD,
University of Maryland Medical School, Baltimore, Maryland
STEVEN M. STANLEY,
The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland
VICTORIA J. TSCHINKEL,
Landers and Parsons, Tallahassee, Florida
Staff
STEPHEN RATTIEN, Executive Director
STEPHEN D. PARKER, Associate Executive Director
MORGAN GOPNIK, Assistant Executive Director
JEANETTE SPOON, Administrative Officer
SANDI FITZPATRICK, Administrative Associate
The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Bruce Alberts is president of the National Academy of Sciences.
The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. Robert M. White is president of the National Academy of Engineering.
The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Kenneth I. Shine is president of the Institute of Medicine.
The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy's purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Bruce Alberts and Dr. Robert M. White are chairman and vice-chairman, respectively, of the National Research Council.
Preface
The Committee on Geodesy (COG) of the National Research Council (NRC) has long been involved in evaluating the opportunities for new insights and applications that accurate geodetic measurements offer the earth, ocean, and space science communities. With the development of the Global Positioning System (GPS) and the possibility of having very precise aircraft navigation, new scientific opportunities exist for high-resolution surveys of the topography and gravity field of the Earth. To assess these new opportunities and the ways in which airborne techniques using GPS might complement other ground-and space-based techniques, COG held a workshop on airborne geophysics in July 1993. The goals of the workshop were as follows:
- to evaluate the current status of airborne geophysics and precise positioning techniques;
- to identify the scientific objectives that are made possible by integrating aerial measurements and precise positioning techniques; and
- to propose strategies for expanding and optimizing the future development of airborne research platforms, aircraft-based measurements, and precise positioning.
A steering committee of six individuals from COG with expertise in both the instrumentation and the scientific aspects of airborne geophysics planned the workshop. Steering committee members were Robin Bell (chair), Thomas Herring, Christopher Jekeli, J. Bernard Minster, Richard Sailor, and David Sandwell. Held on July 12–14, 1993, in Washington,
D.C., the workshop consisted of plenary and poster sessions that allowed interaction between federal managers and the applied and basic research communities.1 Workshop participants (see Appendix D) included approximately 40 scientists and engineers who are active in the areas of airborne geophysics and precise positioning, or who are addressing research questions that could benefit from the application of a new generation of airborne geophysical measurements.
The workshop (see the agenda in Appendix C) was organized around four principal technical elements of airborne geophysical measurements and the scientific objectives that can be addressed by these new techniques. The themes of the workshop were as follows:
• | GPS positioning; |
• | integrating GPS and Inertial Navigation Systems (INS); |
• | recovery of topography from aircraft; and |
• | airborne gravity field measurements. |
The scientific objectives of the next generation of airborne geophysics programs were discussed within the framework of the technical elements. Working groups chaired by members of the steering committee developed conclusions related to these themes. The major conclusions of the working groups are presented in Appendix B.
The following report is based primarily on information presented at the workshop and on the expertise of the workshop participants and the steering committee. The Committee on Geodesy worked with the steering committee in the preparation of this report and takes full responsibility for its conclusions and recommendations.
ROBIN E. BELL, CHAIR
STEERING COMMITTEE ON AIRBORNE GEOPHYSICS AND PRECISE POSITIONING
1 | Abstracts of the papers presented at the workshop are available from the Committee on Geodesy, National Research Council. |
