Date of Award
2014
Document Type
Open Access Thesis
Department
Geography
First Advisor
Michael Hodgson
Abstract
When a disaster occurs, remotely sensed imagery is critical for emergency responders. Aircraft collect digital images of damaged areas to assist with damage assessment and response planning. Such airborne imagery can be transmitted directly from the plane to ground antennae and internet-connected dispersal, allowing for faster acquisition of data. However, air-to-ground transmission of images requires near-constant visibility between the aircraft transmitter and ground station antenna. This research uses GIS-based models to identify the ground station locations that can reliably receive data from aircraft, using a variety of visibility analysis methods and a comparison of their performance. A custom algorithm is demonstrated to perform significantly faster than commercially available software tools.
Rights
© 2014, Erica Pfister-Altschul
Recommended Citation
Pfister-Altschul, E.(2014). Comparison of Ground-to-Air Visibility Analysis Methods. (Master's thesis). Retrieved from https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/etd/2753