Alguns nitrocompostos apresentam atividade antichagásica resultante do processo de redução do grupo nitro com conseqüente formação de radical nitro ânion e de intermediários tóxicos ao parasita. A variação estrutural dos derivados 5-nitroheterocíclicos pode interferir no processo de redução destes compostos e, também, na atividade biológica. Neste aspecto, o estudo da redução dos nitrocompostos por meio de técnicas voltamétricas, como a voltametria cíclica e a voltametria de onda quadrada é uma forma de avaliar ou até simular o mecanismo de ação destes derivados. Assim, a avaliação de processos eletródicos e a determinação dos potenciais de redução dos nitrocompostos fornecem subsídios para a compreensão do mecanismo da atividade antiparasitária. Neste trabalho, desenvolveram-se procedimentos eletroquímicos utilizados para a determinação do potencial de redução e do potencial de meia onda de vinte e três nitrocompostos (5-nitro-2-tiofilideno 4-R-benzidrazidas e 5-nitro-2-furfurilideno 4-R-benzidrazidas), visando o emprego destes em estudos de QSPR e SAR. As determinações foram realizadas empregando-se Voltametria Cíclica e Voltametria de Onda Quadrada em célula eletroquímica de 10 mL nos meios prótico (solução tampão PIPES com eletrólito de suporte NaNO3 0,1 mol L-1), misto de DMSO/solução tampão PIPES (50% v/v) e em meio aprótico de DMSO (com eletrólito de suporte Bu4NH4BF4). O eletrodos de referência e auxiliar utilizados foram Ag/AgCl saturado e platina. Os eletrodos de trabalho utilizados foram o carbono vítreo (meio aprótico e misto), pasta de carbono (meio misto e prótico) e pasta de carbono modificada com nitrocompostos (meio prótico). Foram realizados estudos teóricos, de modelagem molecular, e experimental, espectrofotometria UV/visível, com o objetivo de determinar a conformação de menor energia mínima global e confirmar a ocorrência de disposição estrutural co-planar. No estudo teórico, utilizou-se as metodologias de otimização de geometria, e análise conformacional dos nitrocompostos calculadas por meio de AM1 e HF3-21G* e HF6- 31G* para obtenção dos confôrmeros de menor energia mínima. Estes confôrmeros foram submetidos a cálculo de carga de ponto único (AM1), onde determinou-se os valores de energia de diversas propriedades de caráter eletrônico (energias de formação em vácuo e meio solvatado, de HOMO, de LUMO, momento de dipolo, dureza, potencial químico, afinidade eletrônica, potencial de ionização, cargas de potencial eletrostático), geométrica (volume molecular) e mapas 3D de densidade de potencial eletrostático, de HOMO e de LUMO. Todos os cálculos foram realizados empregando-se os pacotes computacionais Spartan O2 for Linux, Spartan O4 for Windows e ClogP 4.0 (para determinar os valores de hidrofobicidade). Os valores do potencial de pico catódico (Epc 1) e de meia onda bem como as propriedades físico-químicas, obtidos a partir de cálculos de química quântica, de σp e σR, ClogP e π) foram utilizados em análise de QSPR aplicando-se a Análise de Hansch e regressão multivariada, PLS. Avaliou-se ainda, a atividade antichagásica de dez nitrocompostos (oito derivados tiofilidênicos e dois derivados fufurilidênicos) visando investigar a possibilidade de influência do processo de redução dos nitrocompostos sobre a atividade biológica. Realizaram-se ensaios que permitiram avaliar o efeito antiproliferativo dos nitrocompostos sobre o parasita, em 24 horas, por meio de contagem do número de unidades viáveis em câmara de Neubauer. Os métodos voltamétricos utilizados mostraram-se adequados para a avaliação da redução eletroquímica dos nitrocompostos, e foram apropriados para a obtenção dos potenciais de redução de pico catódico e dos potenciais de meia onda de todos os derivados em meio aprótico e misto. Em meio aquoso, obtiveram-se os valores dos potenciais de redução de pico catódico apenas para os derivados tiofilidênicos. A partir dos resultados obtidos na análise conformacional, observou-se a quebra de efeito co-planar estrutural na região do anel benzênico substituído e porção hidrazídica molecular. Adicionalmente, nos mapas de densidade de potencial eletrostático, registrou-se a ocorrência de efeito mesomérico conjugado reduzido entre as porções moleculares citadas acima. De posse destes dados, em conjunto com as visualizações de sinais característicos para grupos cromóforos distintos em espectros UV/visível, sugere-se a ausência de efeito conjugado molecular e, como conseqüência, de influência dos grupos substituintes em posição para do anel benzênico sobre o grupo nitro ligado ao anel heterocíclico. Nos resultados obtidos a partir das análises de QSPR, observou-se que não ocorre correlação entre as propriedades físico-químicas, determinadas para os nitrocompostos, e os descritores eletroquímicos, obtidos em diferentes meios de reação. Diante deste fato, sugere-se que a quebra do efeito co-planar interfere diretamente na intensidade da influência das propriedades físico-químicas de grupos substituintes sobre o potencial de redução dos nitrocompostos. Observou-se, também, que a maioria dos compostos apresentou atividade antichagásica superior ao fármaco de referência, o benznidazol. Verificou-se que os compostos não substituído e cloro derivado da série dos 5-nitro-2-furfurilidênicos são mais ativos que os correspondentes análogos das 5-nitro-2-tiofilideno benzidrazidas. Em análise preliminar, observou-se que o potencial de redução e o potencial de meia onda não exercem influência sobre a atividade antichagásica dos nitrocompostos. / Some nitrocompounds have show activity against to Trypanosoma cruzi. Those biological activity are resulting from nitro group reduction with subsequent formation of radical nitro anion and other reaction\'s intermediates, which are toxic to the parasite. The structural difference among the 5-nitro-heterocyclic derivatives might exert influence on these compounds reduction and also on the antichagasic activity. In this way, the study of reduction process by voltammetric techniques, such as cyclic voltammetry and square wave voltammetry, is a mode of evaluate the biological action mechanism. Therefore, the evaluation of the electrodic process and the determination of nitrocompounds reduction potential provide information for elucidating the antitrypanosomal activity mechanism. In the present work, the procedures employed to determinate the cathodic reduction and reduction potentials were carried out on twenty three nitrocompounds (5-nitro-2-tiofilidenic benzhidrazides and 5-nitro-2-furfurilidenic benzhidrazides) with the aim using those data in QSPR and SAR analysis. Cyclic voltammetry and square wave voltammetry techniques were used to determined the reduction potential in electrochemical cell of 10 mL in the protic media (PIPES buffer and electrolyte of support NaNO3 0.1 mol L-1), mixed media of DMSO and PIPES buffer 50:50 v/v (electrolyte of support NaNO3 0.1 mol L-1), and aprotic media of DMSO (electrolyte of support Bu4NH4BF4 0.1 mol L-1). The reference and counter electrodes used were Ag/AgCl (with KCl saturated) and platinum, respectively. In these studies, the work electrodes were glassy carbon (aprotic and mixed media), carbon paste (mixed and protic media) and carbon paste modified with nitrocompounds (protic media). Molecular modeling studies and UV/visible spectrophotometry were investigated with the aim for determining the lowest conformational energy and the occurrence of co-planarity molecular structure. In this work were performed the geometry optimization (using the quantum chemistry AM1, ab initio HF3-21G* and HF6-31G* level of theory), conformational analysis(AM1 and ab initio HF6-31G*) and single point calculations (AM1). All the lowest energy conformers from conformational analysis were submitted to single point calculations. These models were used to determine the physicochemical properties (energy of formation in vacuum and solvated media, energy of HOMO, energy of LUMO, dipole moment, hardness, chemistry potential, electronic affinity, ionization potential and charges of electrostatic potential) and the molecular electrostatic potential, HOMO and LUMO maps, respectively. All calculations were performed using the computational software Spartan O2 for Linux, Spartan O4 for Windows, and the ClogP 4.0 (only for hydrophobicity). The cathodic reduction and half-wave potentials values and the set of physicochemical properties, which are obtained from quantum chemistry calculations, as well as the electronic effect (σp and σR derived of σ Hammett) and the hydrophobicity property (ClogP, and π of Hansch) were used in QSPR analysis applying Hansch analysis and PLS methodologies. Afterwards, the antichagasic activity of ten compounds (eight thiofilidenic and two furfurylidenic derivatives) was evaluated considering the influence of nitrocompounds reduction on biological activity. This assay allows to analyse the antiproliferative effect of nitrocompounds on the parasites growing, in twenty-four (24) hours, reading the number of trypanosomes in Haemocytometer. The voltammetric methodologies allowed to determinate the cathodic reduction and half-wave potential values in aprotic and mixed media to all nitrocompounds. In protic media, however, the cathodic reduction potential values were obtained only for the 5-nitro-2-tiofilidenic benzhidrazides. Those procedures seen to be appropriated for perform the electrochemistry reduction evaluation. The geometry optimization and conformational analysis allows determining a lack of structural planarity in all derivatives located at the bond between the carbonilic carbon and benzhoyl group. Additionally, the electrostatic potential maps presented a decreased on the electronic conjugate effect of the structures of nitrocompounds investigated. The conformational analysis allows us to determine the nitroheterocyclic biosostere conformations dependence on the reaction phase studied. The UV/visible spectra presented two waves, which are indicating responses related to different chromophores. These results suggest the absence of conjugate effect in nitrocompound structure, indicating that the presence of groups attached to benzene ring do not exert influence on the nitro group attached to heterocyclic ring. In the QSPR analysis was not detected any correlations between thel physicochemical properties and the cathodic reduction and reduction potentials, in all reaction media investigated. Those results might be occurred due to the lack of molecular co-planarity, which is reducing the influence of any property on the nitrocompounds reduction. Almost all nitrocompounds investigated show higher antichagasic activity than the reference drug, benznidazol. In a preliminary analysis it was verified that the cathodic reduction and half-wave potentials do not exert influence on the nitrocompounds antichagasic activity.

O estudo das formas do relevo terrestre teve um avanço expressivo com a utilização das modernas ferramentas de sensoriamento remoto. Na região Amazônica, devido à vasta cobertura de nuvens, bruma e fumaça, quase que o ano inteiro, de certa forma, ocasiona dificuldade para levantamento com sensores ópticos. As melhores imagens para a região, portanto, são as imagens provenientes de radar, pois esse sistema tem a vantagem de adquirir imagens, independente, da presença de nuvens ou fumaça. Desta forma, este trabalho teve por objetivo principal o uso das imagens do Radar de Abertura Sintética (SAR) R99B para o mapeamento geomorfológico ao longo do furo do Ariaú no município de Iranduba. A escolha desta área se justifica por apresentar características naturais e socioeconômicas bem peculiares. Na questão natural, Iranduba está encravado entre os dois maiores caudal da região: rio Negro e Solimões/Amazonas e composto de um ambiente de terra firme e várzea. Na questão socioeconômica, é nesse município que se encontra, também, o maior polo oleiro do estado do Amazonas. A metodologia empregada neste trabalho foi baseada na adaptação dos métodos propostos por Lima (1995), composta de três fases: identificação, análise e interpretação. O método proposto permitiu a interpretação das feições geomorfológicas baseadas na textura das imagens SAR/R99B com múltiplas polarizações para as terras baixas com altitude não ultrapassando 100 m. A fim de buscar entender a dinâmica fluvial da área do Ariaú foi realizado trabalho de campo e levantamento pedológico. Como resultado desta pesquisa, obteve-se mapa da drenagem, mapa geomorfológico das feições fluviais e os principais nutrientes do solo na calha do Ariaú. As imagens do SAR mostraram-se eficientes para as diferentes feições geomorfológicas para o mapeamento de média escala, no entanto, a falta de imagens nos diversos períodos hidrológicos, seca, enchente, cheia e vazante, de certa forma, compromete um melhor entendimento do ambiente. Este trabalho, portanto, coloca-se como uma perspectiva para novas interpretações geomorfológicas dos ambientes fluviais nas áreas baixas da Amazônia. / The study of the forms of terrestrial landscape had a significant progress with the use of modern remote sensing tools. In the Amazon region, due to extensive cloud cover, haze and smoke, almost the entire year, somehow, causes difficulty imaging with optical sensors. The best images for the region, are the pictures from Radar because this system has the advantage of acquiring images, independent of the presence of clouds or smoke. Thus, this work aimed to use pictures of the Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) R99B for geomorphological mapping along the Furo do Ariaú in the municipality of Iranduba. The choice of this area is justified due to its peculiar natural and socioeconomic characteristics. In the natural matter, Iranduba is wedged between the two major flow region: Rio Negro and Solimões /Amazonas and composed of an environment of upland and floodplain. In the socioeconomic issue, it is in this city that lays the largest polo potter in the state of Amazonas. The methodology used in this study was based on the adaptation of the methods proposed by Lima (1995), composed of three phases: identification, analysis and interpretation. The proposed method allowed the interpretation of geomorphological features based on texture of SAR/R99B images with multiple polarizations to the lowlands to an altitude not exceeding 100m. In order to try to understand the dynamics of the Ariaú river area fieldwork and soil survey were conducted. As a result of this research a map was obtained, including the drainage map, geomorphological map of the river and the main nutrients in the soil trough Ariaú. The SAR images were effective for different geomorphological mapping to medium scale, however, the lack of pictures in different hydrological periods, drought, flooding and receding somewhat, compromises a better understanding of the environment. This work, therefore, arises as a prospect for new interpretations of fluvial geomorphic low-lying areas of the Amazon.

Ce travail se situe dans le cadre général de la modélisation cohérente de l'interaction des ondes électromagnétiques avec les surfaces végétalisées. Notre objectif a été de développer une approche de la simulation électromagnétique avec prise en compte de la topographie et des hétérogénéités de la végétation. La validation des résultats obtenus a été réalisée en s'appuyant sur de nombreuses mesures in-situ. Nous avons ensuite mis en œuvre cet outil de modélisation sur les deux problématiques suivantes. D'une part, nous nous sommes intéressés à l'étude des forêts tropicales dans un contexte d'inversion de propriétés bio-géophysiques (biomasse, humidité). D'autre part, nous avons introduit la prise en compte de la présence d'hydrocarbures essentiellement sur la végétation basse dans un contexte de caractérisation et d'exploration. Ce travail s'inscrit dans un programme de recherche et d'innovation en télédétection mené conjointement par l'ONERA et Total. La première étape a consisté à une écriture du code cohérent de simulation électromagnétique avec prise en compte du relief et de l'hétérogénéité de la végétation. Pour cela, le sol a été discrétisé en triangles et le volume en pentaèdres reposant sur le sol Après avoir validé notre code sur des exemples théoriques, nous avons pu étudier les effets du relief sur la rétrodiffusion radar. Pour les forêts tropicales, un modèle de description de la végétation a été mis en place à partir de mesures in-situ et d'observations directes. Ce modèle sert de données d'entrée pour notre code de simulation électromagnétique et nous permet ainsi de confronter nos simulations aux mesures aéroportées et de proximités acquises par l'ONERA sur deux sites en Afrique Des études de sensibilité aux paramètres d'entrée du code de simulation électromagnétique et du code de croissance sont présentées. En parallèle, des modèles de substitution au code numérique ont été mis en place pour effectuer l'inversion. Ces modèles sont moins coûteux à évaluer tout en restant précis. Une application à l'inversion est présentée : pour un jeu d'image radar, il s'agit de retrouver les caractéristiques bio-géophysiques de la forêt observée (humidités, biomasse...). Pour terminer, nous avons étudié les effets des hydrocarbures sur la rétrodiffusion radar pour une végétation basse. [...] / This work is in the general frame of coherent modelling of interaction between electromagnetic waves and surfaces with vegetation. Our objective is to develop an approach of the electromagnetic simulation taking into account topography and vegetation heterogeneities. Simulation results have been validated using numerous in-situ measurements. The corresponding code is then used for two issues. First one is the study of tropical forests to retrieve bio-geophysical properties (biomass, moisture). Second one is the consideration of hydrocarbons with short vegetation in a context of hydrocarbons characterization and exploration. This work is part of a program of research and innovation in remote sensing conducted jointly by ONERA and Total. The first step consisted in writing the coherent electromagnetic simulation code, taking into account the relief and the heterogeneity of the vegetation. For this purpose, the forest is represented by a variable stacking of pentahedral volume elements (voxels) to match the triangular mesh of the ground and to follow the irregularity of the canopy. After validating our code on theoretical examples, we have been able to study the effects of the relief on radar backscattering. Then, a vegetation description model for tropical forests was developed based on in-situ measurements and direct observations. This model generates the input data for our electromagnetic simulation code and it permitted to compare simulations with airborne and proximity measurements acquired by ONERA on two sites in Africa. Sensitivity studies on the input parameters of both the electromagnetic simulation code and the growth code are presented. In parallel, substitution models for the numerical code have been developed to perform the inversion of the bio-geophysical features versus the polarimetric radar data. These models are much faster while remaining accurate. An application to retrieval is presented: it is possible to retrieve some bio-geophysical characteristics of one forest (moisture, biomass ...) from a radar image set. Finally, a study on the effects of hydrocarbons on radar backscatter with short vegetation is presented.[...]

Soil conditions under vegetation cover and their spatial and temporal variations from point to catchment scale are crucial for understanding hydrological processes within the vadose zone, for managing irrigation and consequently maximizing yield by precision farming. Soil moisture and soil roughness are the key parameters that characterize the soil status. In order to monitor their spatial and temporal variability on large scales, remote sensing techniques are required. Therefore the determination of soil parameters under vegetation cover was approached in this thesis by means of (multi-angular) polarimetric SAR acquisitions at a longer wavelength (L-band, lambda=23cm). In this thesis, the penetration capabilities of L-band are combined with newly developed (multi-angular) polarimetric decomposition techniques to separate the different scattering contributions, which are occurring in vegetation and on ground. Subsequently the ground components are inverted to estimate the soil characteristics. The novel (multi-angular) polarimetric decomposition techniques for soil parameter retrieval are physically-based, computationally inexpensive and can be solved analytically without any a priori knowledge. Therefore they can be applied without test site calibration directly to agricultural areas. The developed algorithms are validated with fully polarimetric SAR data acquired by the airborne E-SAR sensor of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) for three different study areas in Germany. The achieved results reveal inversion rates up to 99% for the soil moisture and soil roughness retrieval in agricultural areas. However, in forested areas the inversion rate drops significantly for most of the algorithms, because the inversion in forests is invalid for the applied scattering models at L-band. The validation against simultaneously acquired field measurements indicates an estimation accuracy (root mean square error) of 5-10vol.% for the soil moisture (range of in situ values: 1-46vol.%) and of 0.37-0.45cm for the soil roughness (range of in situ values: 0.5-4.0cm) within the catchment. Hence, a continuous monitoring of soil parameters with the obtained precision, excluding frozen and snow covered conditions, is possible. Especially future, fully polarimetric, space-borne, long wavelength SAR missions can profit distinctively from the developed polarimetric decomposition techniques for separation of ground and volume contributions as well as for soil parameter retrieval on large spatial scales. / Zur Verbesserung der hydrologischen Abflussmodellierung, der Flutvorhersage, der gezielten Bewässerung von landwirtschaftlichen Nutzflächen und zum Schutz vor Ernteausfällen ist die Bestimmung der Bodenfeuchte und der Bodenrauhigkeit von grosser Bedeutung. Aufgrund der hohen zeitlichen sowie räumlichen Dynamik dieser Bodenparameter ist eine flächenhafte Erfassung mit hoher Auflösung und in kurzen zeitlichen Abständen notwendig. In situ Messtechniken stellen eine sehr zeit- und personalaufwändige Alternative dar, deshalb werden innovative Fernerkundungsverfahren mit aktivem Radar erprobt. Diese Aufnahmetechniken sind von Wetter- und Beleuchtungsverhältnissen unabhängig und besitzen zudem die Möglichkeit, abhängig von der Wellenlänge, in Medien einzudringen. Mit dem in dieser Arbeit verwendeten polarimetrischen Radar mit synthetischer Apertur (PolSAR) werden die Veränderungen der Polarisationen ausgewertet, da diese aufgrund der physikalischen Eigenschaften der reflektierenden Medien objektspezifisch verändert und gestreut werden. Es kann dadurch ein Bezug zwischen der empfangenen Radarwelle und den dielektrischen Eigenschaften (Feuchtegehalt) sowie der Oberflächengeometrie (Rauhigkeit) des Bodens hergestellt werden. Da vor allem in den gemässigten Klimazonen die landwirtschaftlichen Nutzflächen die meiste Zeit des Jahres mit Vegetation bestanden sind, wurden in dieser Dissertation Verfahren entwickelt, um die Bodenfeuchte und die Bodenrauhigkeit unter der Vegetation erfassen zu können. Um die einzelnen Rückstreubeiträge der Vegetation und des Bodens voneinander zu trennen, wurde die Eindringfähigkeit von längeren Wellenlängen (L-band, lambda=23cm) mit neu entwickelten (multi-angularen) polarimetrischen Dekompositionstechniken kombiniert, um die Komponente des Bodens zu extrahieren und auszuwerten. Für die Auswertung wurden polarimetrische Streumodelle benutzt, um die Bodenkomponente zu modellieren und dann mit der extrahierten Bodenkomponente der aufgenommenen Daten zu vergleichen. Die beste Übereinstimmung von Modell und Daten wurde als die gegebene Bodencharakteristik gewertet und dementsprechend invertiert. Die neu entwickelten, polarimetrischen Dekompositionstechniken für langwelliges polarimetrisches SAR basieren auf physikalischen Prinzipien, benötigen wenig Rechenzeit, erfordern keine Kalibrierung und sind ohne Verwendung von a priori Wissen analytisch lösbar. Um die entwickelten Algorithmen zu testen, wurden in drei verschiedenen Untersuchungsgebieten in Deutschland mit dem flugzeuggetragenen E-SAR Sensor des Deutschen Zentrums für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR) polarimetrische SAR Daten aufgenommen. Die Auswertungen der PolSAR Daten haben bestätigt, dass die besten Invertierungsergebnisse mit langen Wellenlängen erzielt werden können (L-Band). Des Weiteren konnten bei der Bestimmung der Bodenfeuchte und der Bodenrauhigkeit hohe Inversionsraten erreicht werden (bis zu 99% der Untersuchungsfläche). Es hat sich gezeigt, dass die polarimetrischen Streumodelle bei der gegebenen Wellenlänge nicht für bewaldete Gebiete geeignet sind, was die Anwendbarkeit des Verfahrens auf landwirtschaftliche Nutzflächen einschränkt. Die Validierung mit Bodenmessungen in den Untersuchungsgebieten, die zeitgleich zu den PolSAR Aufnahmen durchgeführt wurden, hat ergeben, dass eine kontinuierliche Beobachtung des Bodenzustandes (ausgenommen in Zeiten mit gefrorenem oder Schnee bedecktem Boden) mit einer Genauigkeit (Wurzel des mittleren quadratischen Fehlers) von 5-10vol.% für die Bodenfeuchte (in situ Messbereich: 1-46vol.%) und von 0.37-0.45cm für die Bodenrauhigkeit (in situ Messbereich: 0.5-4.0cm) möglich ist. Besonders künftige Fernerkundungsmissionen mit langwelligem, voll polarimetrischem SAR können von den entwickelten Dekompositionstechniken profitieren, um die Vegetationskomponente von der Bodenkomponente zu trennen und die Charakteristik des Oberbodens flächenhaft zu bestimmen.

In an industrial and consumer electronic marketplace that is increasingly demanding greater real-world interactivity in portable and distributed devices, analog to digital converter efficiency and performance is being carefully examined. The successive approximation (SAR) analog to digital converter (ADC) architecture has become popular for its high efficiency at mid-speed and resolution requirements. This is due to the one core single bit quantizer, lack of residue amplification, and large digital domain processing allowing for easy process scaling. This work examines the traditional binary capacitive SAR ADC time and statistical information and proposes new structures that optimize ADC performance. The Ternary SAR (TSAR) uses the quantizer delay information to enhance accuracy, speed and power consumption of the overall SAR while providing multi-level redundancy. The early reset merged capacitor switching SAR (EMCS) identifies lost information in the SAR subtraction and optimizes a full binary quanitzer structure for a Ternary MCS DAC. Residue Shaping is demonstrated in SAR and pipeline configurations to allow for an extra bit of signal to noise quantization ratio (SQNR) due to multi-level redundancy. The feedback initialized ternary SAR (FITSAR) is proposed which splits a TSAR into separate binary and ternary sub-ADC structures for speed and power benefits with an inter-stage encoding that not only maintains residue shaping across the binary SAR, but allows for nearly optimally minimal energy consumption for capacitive ternary DACs. Finally, the ternary SAR ideas are applied to R2R DACs to reduce power consumption. These ideas are tested both in simulation and with prototype results. / Graduation date: 2013 / Access restricted to the OSU Community at author's request from Jan. 7, 2013 - Jan. 7, 2014

Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) is an imaging technique based on the radio reflectivity of the target being imaged. SAR instruments offer many advantages over optical imaging due to the ability to form coherent images in inclement weather, at night, and through ground cover. High resolution is achieved in azimuth through a synthesized aperture much larger than the physical antenna of the imaging device. Consequently, proper focusing requires accurate information about the relative motion between the antenna phase center and the scene. Any unknown target velocity, acceleration, rotation, or vibration will introduce errors in the image. This work addresses a novel method of focusing a moving target in a SAR image through the estimation of various motion parameters. The target azimuth position is determined through monopulse radar, at which point range velocity and acceleration are estimated across a series of overlapping sub-apertures. Cross-range velocity is then estimated through a search to optimize an image quality metric such as entropy or contrast. A final focused image is then generated based on this velocity vector. Methods of extending this work for a single phase center system are considered. This technique is demonstrated with real radar data from an experimental system, and the performance of this technique is compared both subjectively and with a variety of image metrics to the MITRE keystone technique. Finally, extensions to this current line of research are considered. / text

Einen großräumigen Überblick über ein Gebiet von Interesse können Satellitenbilddaten ermöglichen. Dabei werden räumliche Beziehungen erkennbar und lassen sich untersuchen. Die Bestimmung der räumlichen Verteilung und des zeitlichen Ausmaßes eines großräumigen Ereignisses, wie einer Überflutung, ist oftmals nur mit Unterstützung von fernerkundlichen Daten möglich. Es besteht der Bedarf an kontinuierlichen Informationen über den Zustand eines Systems über einen längeren Zeitraum, wenn Zusammenhänge zwischen den natürlichen Schwankungen und unterschiedlichen anthropogenen sowie natürlichen Einflüssen untersucht werden sollen. Das Nigerbinnendelta in der Republik Mali nimmt in der semi-ariden Region eine besondere Stellung ein, da es sich um einen Gunststandort handelt, der wesentlich zur wirtschaftlichen Entwicklung der Region beiträgt. Die im Rahmen dieser Arbeit zu erstellende Datenbasis beruht auf SAR-Daten, deren größter Vorteil in der Wetter- und Tageszeitunabhängigkeit liegt. Eine Herausforderung bei der Nutzung von Radaraufnahmen sind die spezielle Bildgeometrie, der auftretende Speckle-Effekt sowie das komplexe Rückstreuverhalten der Strahlung. Die Datenbasis bilden ERS- und Envisat-Aufnahmen, deren Auswertung zunächst die Datenaufbereitung bzw. die Vorverarbeitung, u. a. in Form einer radiometrischen Kalibrierung und einer Speckle-Filterung, vorangestellt ist. Die Anwendung von pixelbasierten Auswertemethoden ist aufgrund der radiometrischen Eigenschaften der Daten weniger geeignet, weshalb die in der Fernerkundung neuere objektorientierte und wissensbasierte Klassifikation zur Anwendung kam. Das Fehlen von zeitnah erhobenen Geländebeobachtungen sowie das komplexe Rückstreuverhalten der Mikrowellen erfordern eine ausführliche Auseinandersetzung mit dem Untersuchungsgebiet sowie mit dem Verhalten der C-Band SAR-Daten in Feuchtgebieten. Innerhalb der SAR-Daten treten vermehrt Überschneidungen in der Rückstreuung unterschiedlicher Landbedeckungen auf. Deren Trennung erfordert Vorkenntnisse über die Ausbreitung der Landbedeckungen zu unterschiedlichen hydrologischen Stadien. Die zum Aufbau der wissensbasierten Auswertung erfolgte Auseinandersetzung mit dem Untersuchungsgebiet beinhaltete neben der geographischen Aufbereitung die Erstellung einer Vergleichsbasis, basierend auf multispektralen Aufnahmen. Auf Grundlage je einer Aufnahme während sowie nach der Überschwemmung wurden für die objektorientierte Klassifikation zwei Regelwerke, in die neben der auszuwertenden SAR-Aufnahme zusätzliche Informationen wie z. B. der Texturparameter Entropie eingingen, erstellt. Das Ergebnis ist eine Datenbasis der Überschwemmungsflächen zu verschiedenen Aufnahmezeitpunkten. Die Evaluierung von zwei Klassifikationsergebnissen ergab eine sehr gute Trennung der überschwemmten und nicht überschwemmten Bereiche. Die aufbereiteten SAR-Daten geben einen Überblick über die Ressource Wasser für bereits vergangene Zeitschnitte. Zusammen mit aktuellen Informationen können diese einen Beitrag für ein nachhaltiges Management dieser Lebensgrundlage im Nigerbinnendelta leisten.

Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) was first invented in the early 1950s as the remote surveillance instruments to produce high resolution 2D images of the illuminated scene with weather-independent, day-or-night performance. Compared to the Real Aperture Radar (RAR), SAR is synthesising a large virtual aperture by moving a small antenna along the platform path. Typical SAR imaging systems are designed with the basic assumption of a static scene, and moving targets are widely known to induce displacements and defocusing in the formed images. While the capabilities of detection, states estimation and imaging for moving targets with SAR are highly desired in both civilian and military applications, the Ground Moving Target Indication (GMTI) techniques can be integrated into SAR systems to realise these challenging missions. The state-of-the- art SAR-based GMTI is often associated with multi-channel systems to improve the detection capabilities compared to the single-channel ones. Motivated by the fact that the SAR imaging is essentially solving an optimisation problem, we investigate the practicality to reformulate the GMTI process into the optimisation form. Furthermore, the moving target sparsities and underlying similarities between the conventional GMTI processing and sparse reconstruction algorithms drive us to consider the compressed sensing theory in SAR/GMTI applications. This thesis aims to establish an end-to-end SAR/GMTI processing framework regularised by target sparsities based on multi-channel SAR models. We have explained the mathematical model of the SAR system and its key properties in details. The common GMTI mechanism and basics of the compressed sensing theory are also introduced in this thesis. The practical implementation of the proposed framework is provided in this work. The developed model is capable of realising various SAR/GMTI tasks including SAR image formation, moving target detection, target state estimation and moving target imaging. We also consider two essential components, i.e. the data pre-processing and elevation map, in this work. The effectiveness of the proposed framework is demonstrated through both simulations and real data. Given that our focus in this thesis is on the development of a complete sparsity-aided SAR/GMTI framework, the contributions of this thesis can be summarised as follows. First, the effects of SAR channel balancing techniques and elevation information in SAR/GMTI applications are analysed in details. We have adapted these essential components to the developed framework for data pre-processing, system specification estimation and better SAR/GMTI accuracies. Although the purpose is on enhancing the proposed sparsity-based SAR/GMTI framework, the exploitation of the DEM in other SAR/GMTI algorithms may be of independent interest. Secondly, we have designed a novel sparsity-aided framework which integrates the SAR/GMTI missions, i.e. SAR imaging, moving target and background decomposition, and target state estimation, into optimisation problems. A practical implementation of the proposed framework with a two stage process and theoretically/experimentally proven algorithms are proposed in this work. The key novelty on utilising optimisations and target sparsities is explained in details. Finally, a practical algorithm for moving target imaging and state estimation is developed to accurately estimate the full target parameters and form target images with relocation and refocusing capabilities. Compared to the previous processing steps for practical applications, the designed algorithm consistently relies on the exploitation of target sparsities which forms the final processing stage of the whole pipeline. All the developed components contribute coherently to establish a complete sparsity driven SAR/GMTI processing framework.

Este trabalho estima a velocidade de fluxo da geleira Grey, localizada no Campo de Gelo Patagônico Sul, nos meses de outubro de 2011 e janeiro a abril de 2012. Os valores de velocidade foram obtidos por um algoritmo, baseado no cálculo de correlação cruzada, entre pares de imagens SAR COSMO-SkyMed e, posteriormente interpolados, para a geração de uma superfície contínua, que ilustre os valores de direção e intensidade de fluxo para toda a geleira. Os resultados foram comparados com dados meteorológicos, disponibilizados pelo Serviço Meteorológico Argentino, para interpretar o padrão sazonal na velocidade de deslocamento. Os meses de Outubro e abril registraram valores médios de velocidade de fluxo de 1,2 ± 0,6 md-1 e 1,1 ± 0,7 md-1, respectivamente. Durante o período de verão, os meses de janeiro, fevereiro e março apresentaram valores de velocidade de fluxo de 1,5 ± 0,6 md-1; 1,3 ± 0,7 md-1 e 1,4 ± 0,5 md-1 variando, diretamente, com a temperatura média mensal. Os valores mensais de fluxo da geleira Grey apresentaram uma correlação linear de 0,96 com a temperatura do ar, medida por uma estação meteorológica automática, localizada a cerca de 80 km da geleira. Os resultados indicam que os valores mensais do fluxo da geleira Grey possuem uma relação positiva com a variação sazonal da temperatura. / This study aims to estimate the flow velocities of Grey Glacier, located in Southern Patagonian Ice Field, between October 2011 and May 2012. The velocity vectors of Grey Glacier were obtained by means of an algorithm based on cross-correlation between pairs of COSMO-SkyMed images and subsequently interpolated, for generate a continuous surface that illustrates the values of intensity and direction of glacier flow. The results were compared with meteorological data, provided by the Meteorological Service of Argentina, to interpret the seasonal pattern in velocity. October-April registered values of flow velocity of 1,2 ± 0,6 md-1 and 1,1 ± 0,7 md-1; respectively. During the summer, the months of January, February and March had values of flow velocity of 1,5 ± 0,6 md-1; 1,3 ± 0,7 md-1 and 1,4 ± 0,5 md-1 varying directly with the monthly average temperature. The monthly values flow of Glacier Grey presented a linear correlation of 0.96 with the air temperature measured by an automatic weather station, located about 80 km from the glacier. The results indicate that the monthly values of the Grey glacier flow are positively related to seasonal variation in temperature.

Suite aux lancements successifs de satellites pour l'observation de la Terre dotés de capteur SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar), la masse de données SAR disponible est considérable. Dans ce contexte, la fusion des mesures de déplacement issues de l'imagerie SAR est prometteuse à la fois dans la communauté de la télédétection et dans le domaine géophysique. Dans cette optique, cette thèse propose d'élargir les approches conventionnelles en combinant les techniques de traitement des images SAR, les méthodes de fusion d'informations et la connaissance géophysique. Dans un premier temps, cette thèse a pour objectif d'étudier plusieurs stratégies de fusion, l'inversion jointe, la pré-fusion et la post-fusion, afin de réduire l'incertitude associée d'une part à l'estimation du déplacement en 3 dimensions (3D) à la surface de la Terre, d'autre part à la modélisation physique qui décrit la source en profondeur du déplacement observé en surface. Nous évaluons les avantages et les inconvénients de chacune des stratégies en ce qui concerne la réduction de l'incertitude et la robustesse vis à vis du bruit. Dans un second temps, nous visons à prendre en compte les incertitudes épistémiques, en plus des incertitudes aléatoires, présentes dans les mesures et proposons les approches classiques et floues basées sur la théorie des probabilités et la théorie des possibilités pour modéliser ces incertitudes. Nous analysons et mettons en évidence l'efficacité de chaque approche dans le cadre de chaque stratégie de fusion. La première application consiste à estimer les champs du déplacement 3D à la surface de la Terre dus au séisme du Cachemire en octobre 2005 et à l'éruption du Piton de la Fournaise en janvier 2004 sur l'île de la Réunion. La deuxième application porte sur la modélisation de la rupture de la faille en profondeur liée au séisme du Cachemire. Les principales avancées sont évaluées d'un point de vue méthodologique en traitement de l'information et d'un point de vue géophysique. Au niveau méthodologique, afin de lever les principales difficultées rencontrées pour l'application de l'interférométrie différentielle à la mesure du déplacement induit par le séisme du Cachemire, une stratégie de multi-échelles basée sur l'information a priori en utilisant les fréquences locales de phase interférométrique est adoptée avec succès. En ce qui concerne la gestion de l'incertitude, les incertitudes aléatoires et épistémiques sont analysées et identifiées dans les mesures du déplacement. La théorie des probabilités et la théorie des possibilités sont utilisées afin de modéliser et de gérer les propagations des incertitudes au cours de la fusion. En outre, les comparaisons entre les distributions de possibilité enrichissent les comparaisons faites simplement entre les valeurs et indiquent la pertinence des distributions de possibilité dans le contexte étudié. Par ailleurs, la pré-fusion et la post-fusion, 2 stratégies de fusion différentes de la stratégie d'inversion jointe couramment utilisée, sont proposées afin de réduire autant que possible les incertitudes hétérogènes présentes en pratique dans les mesures et pour contourner les principales limitations de la stratégie d'inversion jointe. Les bons cadres d'application de chaque approche de la gestion de l'incertitude sont mis en évidence dans le contexte de ces stratégies de fusion. Au niveau géophysique, l'application de l'interférométrie différentielle à l'étude du séisme du Cachemire est réalisée pour la première fois et compléte les études antérieures basées sur les mesures issues de la corrélation des images SAR et optiques, les mesures télésismiques et les mesures de terrain. L'interférométrie différentielle apporte une information précise sur le déplacement en champ lointain par rapport à la position de la faille. Ceci permet d'une part de réduire les incertitudes associées aux mesures de déplacement en surface et aux paramètres du modèle, et d'autre part de détecter les déplacements post-sismiques qui existent potentiellement dans les mesures cosismiques qui couvrent la période de mouvement post-sismique. Par ailleurs, la prise en compte de l'incertitude épistémique et la proposition de l'approche floue pour gérer ce type d'incertitude, fournissent une vision différente de l'incertitude de mesure connue par la plupart des géophysiciens et complétent la connaissance de l'incertitude aléatoire et l'application de la théorie des probabilités dans ce domaine. En particulier, la gestion de l'incertitude par la théorie des possibilités permet de contourner le problème de sous-estimation d'incertitude par la théorie des probabilités. Enfin, la comparaison du déplacement mesuré par les images SAR avec le déplacement mesuré par les images optiques et le déplacement issu des mesures sur le terrain révèle toute la difficulté d'interpréter différentes sources de données plus ou moins compatibles entre elles. Les outils développés dans le cadre de cette thèse sont intégrés dans le package MDIFF (Methods of Displacement Information Fuzzy Fusion) dans l'ensemble des "EFIDIR Tools" distribués sous licence GPL. / Following the successive launches of satellites for Earth observation with SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) sensor, the volume of available radar data is increasing considerably. In this context, fusion of displacement measurements from SAR imagery is promising both in the community of remote sensing and in geophysics. With this in mind, this Ph.D thesis proposes to extend conventional approaches by combining SAR image processing techniques, information fusion methods and the knowledge on geophysics. First, this Ph.D thesis aims to explore several fusion strategies, joint inversion, pre-fusion and post-fusion, to reduce the uncertainty associated on the one hand to the estimation of the 3-dimensional (3D) displacement at the Earth's surface, on the other hand to physical modeling that describes the source in depth of the displacement observed at the Earth's surface. We evaluate advantages and disadvantages of each fusion strategy in terms of reducing uncertainty and of robustness against noise. Second, we aim to take account of epistemic uncertainty, in addition to the random uncertainty present in the measurements and propose the conventional and fuzzy approaches based on probability theory and possibility theory respectively to model these uncertainties. We analyze and highlight the efficiency of each approach in context of each fusion strategy. The first application consists of estimating the 3D displacement fields at the Earth's surface due to the Kashmir earthquake in October 2005 and the eruption of Piton de la Fournaise in January 2004 on Reunion Island. The second application involves the modeling of the fault rupture in depth related to the Kashmir earthquake. The main achievements and contributions are evaluated from a methodological point of view in information processing and from a geophysical point of view. In the methodological view, in order to address the major difficulties encountered in the application of differential interferometry for measuring the displacement induced by the Kashmir earthquake, a multi-scale strategy based on prior information issued from a deformation model using local frequencies of interferometric phase is adopted successfully. Regarding the measurement uncertainty management, both random and epistemic uncertainties are analyzed and identified in the displacement measurements. The conventional approach and a fuzzy approach based on respectively probability theory and possibility theory are proposed to model uncertainties and manage the uncertainty propagation in the fusion system. In addition, comparisons between possibility distributions enrich the comparisons made simply between displacement values ​​and indicate the relevance of possibility distributions in the considered context. Furthermore, pre-fusion and post-fusion, two fusion strategies different from the commonly used fusion strategy of joint inversion, are proposed to reduce heterogeous uncertainties present in practice in the measurements and to get around the main limitations of joint inversion. Appropriated conditions of the application of each uncertainty management approach are highlighted in the context of these fusion strategies. In the geophysical view, the application of differential interferometry to the Kashmir earthquake is performed successfully for the first time and it completes previous studies based on measurements from the correlation of SAR and optical images, teleseismic measurements and in situ field measurements. Differential interferometry provides accurate displacement information in the far field relative to the fault position. This allows on the one hand reducing uncertainties associated with surface displacement measurements and with model parameters, on the other hand detecting post-seismic movements that exist potentially in the used coseismic measurements covering the post-seismic period. Moreover, taking into consideration of epistemic uncertainty and the proposition of a fuzzy approach for its management, provide a different view of the measurement uncertainty known by most geophysicists and complete the knowledge of the random uncertainty and the application of probability theory in this domain. In particular, the management of uncertainty by possibility theory allows overcoming the problem of under-estimation of uncertainty by probability theory. Finally, comparisons of the displacement measured by SAR images with the displacement measured by optical images and the displacement from in situ field measurements reveal the difficulty to interpret different data sources more or less compatible among them. The tools developed during this Ph.D thesis are included in the MDIFF (Methods of Displacement Information Fuzzy Fusion) package in "EFIDIR Tools" distributed under the GPL lisence.