The Delta Exchange (Delta-X) was a 5-year campaign focusing on environmental changes in the Mississippi River Delta. Delta-X had two deployments during the boreal spring and summer of 2021. Airborne imagery and sediment samples of the surrounding wetlands were taken to determine what parts of the Mississippi River Delta will survive due to rising sea levels. Several “Pre-Delta-X” deployments were conducted in 2015 and 2016 and validation activities occurred in 2022. Delta-X is one of NASA's EVS-3 projects.
2021-03-26 — 2023-09-30
Atchafalaya and Terrebonne basins of the Mississippi River Delta
The Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle Synthetic Aperture Radar (UAVSAR) is an airborne polarimetric L-band radar developed and operated by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). It provides differential interferometric measurements which can be used to understand deformation from phenomena such as earthquakes, volcanoes, and glaciers. UAVSAR operates at a frequency of 1.26 GHz and has a range bandwidth of 80 MHz. It has a horizontal resolution of 6 m and a swath width of 20 km at an altitude of 12 km.
The Airborne Visible InfraRed Imaging Spectrometer - Next Generation (AVIRIS-NG) is an airborne imaging spectrometer developed by Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) to operate alongside and eventually replace the AVIRIS Classic. AVIRIS-NG has been designed to operate aboard NASA’s ER-2, a Twin Otter, and a B-200. AVIRIS-NG operates between 380 nm - 2510 nm with 5nm spectral resolution. AVIRIS-NG has a spatial resolution of 18 m at 20 km altitude and is often used for terrestrial ecology research investigations.
The Air Surface Water and Ocean Topography (AirSWOT) is an airborne instrument suite developed to support calibration efforts for the SWOT satellite mission. AirSWOT comprises three components: Ka-band SWOT Phenomenology Airborne Radar (KaSPAR), Digital Camera System, and Precision Inertial Motion Units (IMU). The KaSPAR- the main element of AirSWOT- collects across-track interferometry data to produce digital elevation models over land and water surfaces. It operates at the 35.75 frequency and has a spatial resolution of 3.6 m.
Earth Science > Land Surface > Topography > Terrain Elevation
The Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) is an in situ acoustic sensor used to measure ocean currents. ADCP uses the Doppler effect to detect sound waves to provide measurements of the speed and direction of currents throughout the water column. ADCP can easily be mounted on different water platforms such as ships, buoys, and autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs). It also can be deployed on the seafloor to provide profile measurements of ocean currents.
