Mine surface subsidence monitoring due to impacts of underground mining using persistent scatterer interferometry

The Singhbhum shear zone in India is well known for its historical underground copper mining activity. As a consequence, today some abandoned underground mines pose a serious risk to the local people and property. Thus it is essential for a long-term wide-range monitoring technique to map the surface subsidence over the mining areas. In this study, it has been tried to establish occurrence of ground subsidence with an advanced differential interferometric synthetic aperture radar technology called persistent scatterer interferometry, which is known for its capability of high-precision monitoring. The results clearly indicate trends of surface subsidence over abandoned mining regions.     

Precise Three-Dimensional Deformation Retrieval in Large and Complex Deformation Areas via Integration of Offset-Based Unwrapping and Improved Multiple-Aperture SAR Interferometry: Application to the 2016 Kumamoto Earthquake

Conventional synthetic aperture radar (SAR) interferometry (InSAR) has been successfully used to precisely measure surface deformation in the line-of-sight (LOS) direction, while multiple-aperture SAR interferometry (MAI) has provided precise surface deformation in the along-track (AT) direction. Integration of the InSAR and MAI methods enables precise measurement of the two-dimensional (2D) deformation from an interferometric pair; recently, the integration of ascending and descending pairs has allowed the observation of precise three-dimensional (3D) deformation. Precise 3D deformation measurement has been applied to better understand geological events such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. The surface deformation related to the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake was large and complex near the fault line; hence, precise 3D deformation retrieval had not yet been attempted. The objectives of this study were to ① perform a feasibility test of precise 3D deformation retrieval in large and complex deformation areas through the integration of offset-based unwrapped and improved multiple-aperture SAR interferograms and ② observe the 3D deformation field related to the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake, even near the fault lines. Two ascending pairs and one descending the Advanced Land Observing Satellite-2 (ALOS-2) Phased Array-type L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar-2 (PALSAR-2) pair were used for the 3D deformation retrieval. Eleven in situ Global Positioning System (GPS) measurements were used to validate the 3D deformation measurement accuracy. The achieved accuracy was approximately 2.96, 3.75, and 2.86 cm in the east, north, and up directions, respectively. The results show the feasibility of precise 3D deformation measured through the integration of the improved methods, even in a case of large and complex deformation.     

基于小波变换利用超声估计生物组织散射元平均间距

生物组织散射元平均间距是描述生物组织微观结构和生物组织和超声散射特性和重要参数,文中构建并物理仿真了生物组织散射元一维超声散射模型,用小波变换方法估计了仿一物组织散射元的平均间距。     

Discriminating real objects in radar imaging by exploiting the squared modulus of the continuous wavelet transform

New technique based on continuous wavelet transform (CWT) for classifying objects in synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaging is presented. The CWT allows to analyse two-dimensional SAR images to highlight the frequency and angular behaviour of the scatterers. This technique allows to build a SAR hyperimage, that is, a four-dimensional data cube which represents for each spatial location (x, y) of the scatterer in the image, its frequency and angular energy behaviour. When analysing different targets, objects or areas in SAR images, it has been recently observed that some scatterers belonging to a same class of objects could have similar frequency and angular energy responses. The previous observations have motivated the determination to exploit these energy responses to discriminate these objects. This discrimination is performed by frequency and angular correlations between the response of a particular scatterer (measured) and those of all the scatterers in the SAR image. Some examples of discrimination from real SAR data are presented and show an interest of the method for target classification and recognition for SAR imaging     

Modeling and analysis of ultrasound backscattering by spherical aggregates and rouleaux of red blood cells

The present study concerns the modeling and analysis of ultrasound backscattering by red blood cell (RBC) aggregates, which under pathological conditions play a significant role in the rheology of blood within human vessels. A theoretical model based on the convolution between a tissue matrix and a point spread function, representing, respectively, the RBC aggregates and the characteristics of the ultrasound system, was used to examine the influence of the scatterer shape and size on the backscattered power. Both scatterers in the form of clumps of RBC aggregates and rouleaux were modeled. For all simulations, the hematocrit was kept constant at 10%, the ultrasound frequency was 10 MHz, the insonification angle was varied from 0 to 90 degrees , and the scatterer size (diameter for clumps and length for rouleaux) ranged from 4 mum to 120 mum. Under Rayleigh scattering by assuming a Poisson distribution of scatterers in space, the ultrasound backscattered power increased linearly with the particle volume. For non-Rayleigh scatterers, the intensity of the echoes diminished as the scatterer volume increased, with the exception of rouleaux at an angle of 90 degrees . As expected, the backscattered power was angularly dependent for anisotropic particles (rouleaux). The ultrasound backscattered power did not always increase with the size of the aggregates, especially when they were no longer Rayleigh scatterers. In the case of rouleaux, the anisotropy of the backscattered power is emphasized in the non-Rayleigh region.     

单个球面散射的电磁场的空间分布研究

近年来,关于发生在直径远大于入射光波长的圆柱或圆球散射体外表面的光学喷射翼的研究受到了很多关注.本文采用严格的Mie散射理论,借助计算机仿真软件Matlab 7.1,模拟计算出关于单个球体散射体电磁场在圆球内部以及圆球外部近场的空间分布.实验中,我们对电磁场边界条件的数值误差进行了检查,讨论了平面波入射下,在圆球外表面产生的光学喷射翼的一些基本性质,如喷射翼衰减长度,光强峰值及其空间位置.同时,我们详细分析了出现在圆球内部的两处显著光强峰的基本性质.另外,散射球体半径以及折射率对空间电磁场的影响在文中得以分析,相关的解释在文中得以提出.     

ISAR imaging of manoeuvring targets with the range instantaneous chirp rate technique

The conventional range instantaneous Doppler (RID) algorithm is a well accepted inverse synthetic aperture radar (ISAR) imaging method for manoeuvring targets. In the RID imaging, the cross-range resolution depends on the instantaneous Doppler of scatterers at the imaging instant. For a high manoeuvring target, the instantaneous Doppler of scatterers may be small at some imaging instants and the satisfactory RID images may not be obtained. On the other hand, a large instantaneous chirp rate is often present for the same scatterer at the same instant for RID imaging. In order to obtain some additional information of a manoeuvring target, a novel ISAR imaging approach, referred to as the range instantaneous chirp (RIC), is proposed based on instantaneous chirp rate of scatterer to provide cross-range resolution. Using the proposed imaging algorithm, with the same received data of RID, a RIC image is generated at the same instant with a different `view`. Therefore the RIC image may provide some additional information that is not shown in the RID image. With both the RIC and RID images, a better target recognition and identification can be achieved for high-manoeuvring targets. The proposed RIC algorithm is verified by raw radar data.     

Inverse method of identification for three-dimensional subsurface cracks in a half-space

A procedure is presented which is well suited for three-dimensional subsurface crack identification in a half-space through the inversion of measured surface displacements. The investigation began with the linear, forward problem of generating contour maps of surface deformation produced by a fracture of known geometry and loading which is embedded in a finite medium. The fundamental solutions for tensile and shear multipoles in a half-space provided an efficient mathematical representation of the three-dimensional fracture. The inverse problem of crack identification centers on the development of a hybrid of the Marquardt–Levenberg algorithm. Initial guesses for the constrained set of search variables were determined heuristically from the correspondences between crack geometry and loading and the resulting uplift at the free surface. Physical measurements of surface deformation were taken for a cube of transparent acrylic polyester in which a fracture was hydraulically pressurized. Displacements induced at the surface of the specimen, which were measured by laser interferometry, had a strong correlation with predictions of the computational model (coupled with a finite element discretization). Numerical tests demonstrate the robustness of the inverse methodology even in the presence of the random and systematic errors corresponding to the experimental interferometric measurements. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Modal analysis of ultra-compact channel filters based on race-track photonic crystal ring resonators

A new channel drop filter (CDF) is proposed based on a race-track photonic crystal ring resonator composed of square-lattice cylindrical silicon rods in air. By using a two-dimensional finite-difference, time-domain numerical technique, the modal behavior of two representative CDFs, parallel and perpendicular, has been analyzed. The analyses include the impact of additional scatterer size, scatterer amount and their position on the performance of proposed CDFs, such as drop efficiency and quality factor (Q). For the parallel CDF, about 130 spectral Q and 99% drop efficiency can be optimally achieved at 1363?nm channel with 0.145 periodicity scatterer size, whereas for the perpendicular one, about 180 spectral Q and 99% drop efficiency can be optimally obtained at 1366?nm channel with 0.165 periodicity scatterer size. By increasing the number of scatterers, the efficiency of both configurations can be enhanced. No obvious variation is obtained by changing the scatterer position.     

Quality enhancement of image generated with bistatic ground based noise waveform SAR

A new method for quality enhancement in a noise synthetic aperture radar (SAR) image and the first results of its application to the SAR image generated with the use of a bistatic Ka-band ground-based noise waveform SAR (GB NW-SAR) are presented. A SAR image generated with a noise SAR suffers from the masking effect which is tied to residual random fluctuations in noise radar response from bright scatterers in the scene. This is similar to the masking effect present in the deterministic waveform SAR when the signal sidelobes of echoes from bright scatterers may mask the main response from a weaker target. The procedure presented is a variation of the CLEAN algorithm. Knowing precisely the emitted signal and finding positions of the strongest scatterers one may model the echo signal originated from a selected scatterer. Extraction of the modelled signal from the received one reduces the residual fluctuations and makes it possible to clean the image and increase its dynamic range. The final image is constructed from the cleaned signal and the previously removed strongest scatterers. A theoretical background is provided to the proposed procedure and its application to enhance the SAR image using simulated data as well as data generated by the Ka-band bistatic GB NW-SAR is demonstrated. The GB NW-SAR, recently developed and tested in LNDES IRE NASU, may operate in CW and pulse random signal regimes for short range applications.     

Estimating mean scatterer spacing with the frequency-smoothedspectral autocorrelation function

The quasiperiodicity of regularly spaced scatterers results in characteristic patterns in the spectra of backscattered ultrasonic signals from which the mean scatterer spacing can be estimated. The mean spacing has been considered for classifying certain biological tissue. This paper addresses the problem of estimating the mean scatterer spacing from backscattered ultrasound signals using the frequency-smoothed spectral autocorrelation (SAC) function. The SAC function exploits characteristic differences between the phase spectrum of the resolvable quasiperiodic scatterers and the unresolvable uniformly distributed (diffuse) scatterers to improve estimator performance over other estimators that operate directly on the magnitude spectrum. Mean scatterer spacing estimates are compared for the frequency-smoothed SAC function and a cepstral technique using an AR model. Simulation results indicate that SAC-based estimates converge more reliably over smaller amounts of data than cepstrum-based estimates. An example of computing an estimate from liver tissue scans is also presented for the SAC function and the AR cepstrum     

A condition imposed on the electromagnetic polarizability of a bianisotropic lossless scatterer

In the dipole and local field approximations, electromagnetic scatterers are modeled in terms of the polarizability tensor. The matrix elements of this tensor, which are determined by the scatterer geometry, are complex even in the absence of losses in the material. There is a criterion that the polarizability tensor must obey if the scatterers possess no dissipative losses. This condition, derived here for bianisotropic scatterers, can be applied to analytical modeling of periodic structures composed of such scattering inclusions.     

Spectral correlation in ultrasonic pulse echo signal processing

The effects of using spectral correlation in a maximum-likelihood estimator (MLE) for backscattered energy corresponding to coherent reflectors embedded in media of microstructure scatterers is considered. The spectral autocorrelation (SAC) function is analyzed for various scatterer configurations based on the regularity of the interspacing distance between scatterers. It is shown that increased regularity gives rise to significant spectral correlation, whereas uniform distribution of scatters throughout a resolution cell results in no significant correlation between spectral components. This implies that when a true uniform distribution for the effective scatterers exists, the power spectral density (PSD) is sufficient to characterize their echoes. However, as the microstructure scatterer distribution becomes more regular, SAC terms become more significant. MLE results for 15 A-scans from stainless steel specimens with three different grain sizes indicate an average 6-dB signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) improvement in the coherent scatterer (flat-bottom hole) echo intensities for estimators using the SAC characterization as opposed to the PSD characterization.     

Single-shot parallel four-step phase shifting using on-axis Fizeau interferometry

The purposes of the paper are threefold: (1) to show the possibility to perform parallel phase-shifting Fizeau interferometry by using a quarter waveplate with high flatness as a reference, (2) to present a comparative study between the phase-shifting algorithm and the off-axis geometry in surface microtopography measurement, and (3) to show the advantages of using the proposed common path Fizeau interferometry over the quasi-common path Michelson interferometry in terms of accuracy in measurement. The compelling advantage of the proposed parallel phase-shifting Fizeau interferometric technique is the long-term stability that leads to measuring objects with a high degree of accuracy.     

Die Teildispersion von Gläsern Teil II

The measurement of displacement vectors in holographic interferometry requires a knowledge of the coordinates of the corresponding points on the object surface, and in some cases a knowledge of the direction of illumination as well. Usually these quantities are determined by geometrical measurements which can be complicated and prone to error. It is shown how these geometrical quantities can also be determined by interferometric evaluation—by the same kind of measurement as the subsequent deformation analysis.     

复制多元光学元件的模型型芯机器集成形状检测

表面特征参数的在位检测对生产过程控制可提供十分有用的信息，从而可在制造过程中直接调节加工参数．检测要求取决于应用领域．对于超精密表面，例如微结构的或连续结构的光学器件，宜应用干涉法进行形状检测，因为干涉法有极高的精度和适应性，此外，表面可被迅速检测，因而减少生产时间．但是干涉法对机器振动、噪声或空气扰动等外界影响十分敏感，因而很难在生产环境中完成干涉测量．提出了在机械加工环境中的干涉测量和基于对在位干涉检测中各种基本干涉影响分析结果基础上的仿真．     

Quantitative ultrasound estimates from populations of scatterers with continuous size distributions

Although quantitative ultrasound imaging based on backscattering coefficients has proven potential for tissue characterization, the scattering models used in most studies assume distributions of identical scatterers. However, actual tissues may exhibit multiple levels of spatial scales. Therefore, the objective of the present study is to analyze the effects of scatterer size distributions when using a fluid-sphere model for estimating values of effective scatterer diameter (ESD) through both simulations and experiments. For simulations, ESD estimates were obtained at several analysis frequencies between 1 and 40 MHz from populations of scatterers with diameters ranging between 25 and 100 μm, 25 and 50 μm, 50 and 100 μm, and 50 and 75 μm. For sufficiently high analysis frequencies, the ESD estimates obtained through simulations were approximately inversely proportional to frequency and mostly independent of the underlying scatterer size distribution. Asymptotic expressions for the expected ESD estimates at low- and high-frequency limits were derived. Experiments were conducted using two gelatin phantoms with contrast agent spheres ranging in diameter from 30 to 140 μm and 70 to 140 μm, and 5-, 7.5-, 10-, and 13-MHz focused transducers. Not only was the asymptotic behavior of ESD versus frequency estimates observed experimentally, but also the experimental ESD estimates using the 10- and 13-MHz transducers were lower than the smallest scatterers present in the second phantom. These results may have a direct impact on how scatterer size estimates corresponding to specimens with different subresolution spatial scales should be interpreted.     

Analysis of a two-dimensional photonic bandgap structure fabricated by an interferometric lithographic system

An interferometric lithographic technique and double exposure method are applied to theoretically and experimentally investigate several kinds of 2D periodic structures. The shape, lattice symmetries, and lattice constants of the 2D structures, for different substrate rotational angles, are obtained from the simulated predictions. The shape of the 2D structures can be varied by controlling the rotational angle of the substrate and the development process, and they are validated experimentally. The variation of the lattice symmetry of the 2D structure with the substrate rotational angle is discussed in detail in relation to the axial angle and lattice constant. It is found that square, circular, rectangular, and elliptical scatterers which are arranged in parallelogram, triangular, and square lattices (with different lattice constants) can be obtained. The photonic bandgaps for each condition are also investigated. When the substrate rotational angles are the same, the normalized frequency (omega a/2 pi c) of photonic bandgap structures with an equal filling factor are very similar regardless of the interference angle. The results are helpful in designing the forbidden frequency when the lattice constant and the scatterer shape can be controlled by the interferometric lithographic technique.     

Expansion of the dynamic range of statistical interferometry and its application to extremely short- to long-term plant growth monitoring

In this study, we propose a method to expand the dynamic range of expansion or strain measurement using statistical interferometry. Statistical interferometry is a very accurate interferometric technique that is applicable to practical rough surface objects [Opt. Lett. 16, 883 (1991); J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 18, 1267 (2001)]. It is based on the statistical stability of a fully developed speckle field and was successfully applied to measure the growth of plants in our previous study [Environ. Exp. Bot. 64, 314 (2008); J. For. Res. 12, 393 (2007)]. However, the measurable range of the expansion of the object was restricted to less than one wavelength of the light used. Improvement of the dynamic range is confirmed experimentally in this work by introducing a large expansion up to 300 μm while keeping the precision of measurement high. Next, the improved system is applied to monitor plant growth from the subnanometric scale to several hundreds of micrometers under some environmental conditions. These features of the method make it especially worthwhile in botanical and agricultural studies.