RAMOS near term observations

The Russian American Observational Satellites (RAMOS) program is a joint US-Russian experiment designed to collect simultaneous stereo imagery in the visible and IR wavelength regions in support of clutter measurements and environmental monitoring. The classic RAMOS experiment utilizes complementary sensors on board two dedicated, extended-lifetime satellites, an American Observational Satellite (AOS) and a Russian Observational Satellite (ROS), which are in the same low Earth orbit. In preparation for the launch of these dedicated satellites, the RAMOS program is currently making use of existing US and Russian assets in a series of near term observations. These observations are designed to accomplish the milestones that lead RAMOS to its goals of developing a data base of three-dimensional background radiance and spatial structure statistics, and of obtaining the ability to monitor environmental trends and specific atmospheric events, such as hurricanes. The intermediate goals of the RAMOS program and how they will be accomplished through these near-term observations are discussed. The first set of assets used for these observations is the NASA-owned WB-57 aircraft for the U.S. and either one of two Russian satellites, Resource 1 or MIR. Two simultaneous data collection events have occurred thus far. The U.S. sensors include an infrared multi-spectral imager, IR imagers, and visible cameras. The Russian satellites feature visible line scanners, visible and IR imagers, and video cameras. This paper includes discussions of both recent and future RAMOS near-term data collections and analysis, and presents data collected during the recent simultaneous measurements.