1999 PaSCoR Annual Report - Engineeringece.uprm.edu/pascor/pascor/Microsoft Word - First Annual Report.pdf · PaSCoR First Annual Report – March 31, 1999 7 1. pre-calculus 2. chemistry

PaSCoR …from Space

1999 PaSCoR Annual Report University of Puerto Rico

Mayagüez I. NARRATIVE The University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez (UPRM) has established the Partnership for Spatial and Computational Research (PaSCoR) with the main goal of strengthening and integrating research & undergraduate MSET academic programs. This program is being developed in strong collaboration with industry. The principal objective of PaSCoR is to provide an “alternative track” or “option” for undergraduate students in various MSET programs in the areas of remote sensing, geographic information systems, global positioning systems, data visualization, animation and analysis, and other related topics. This track or option will provide the student with non-traditional learning experiences in the new courses to be developed and those to be revised in four MSET programs (Electrical Engineering, Geology, Mathematics and Agricultural Sciences) throughout their undergraduate experience. The program also provides students with mentoring and research experiences during regular semesters and Summer internships in local and national facilities and universities. With this program we aim to attract and retain students in these MSET programs and provide a focus for preparing students for careers and graduate studies in these areas. The above-mentioned goals and objectives will be achieved basically through five (5) components or tasks, namely, Curriculum Development, Undergraduate Research, Partnerships, Outreach and Assessment. These components are described henceforth. Curriculum The interdisciplinary curriculum will consist of a continuous progression of courses spanning the student’s entire academic career. This curriculum will make extensive use of active learning techniques and integrate laboratory experience for hands-on activities. Therefore, existing laboratory facilities will be enhanced and expanded to accommodate both the new curriculum and the addition students to register for the option. At the freshman level, the freshman year course, University 101, which the entire freshman class (2200 students) takes, is being revised to include concepts of RS/GIS. This will give freshmen students the opportunity to become aware of this technology and motivate them to consider taking the alternative curriculum tracks.

U PR M ayagüez - N ASA

PaSCoR First Annual Report – March 31, 1999 2

Ten (10) new courses are in the process of being created at the ECE Department (Electrical & Computer Engineering, Mathematics, Geology and Agricultural Sciences. In addition, seven (7) courses are to be revised at these departments to include concepts and applications of RS/DIS. Diagram 1 shows the curriculum model.

Freshman year course

Introduction to RSIntroduction to GIS

2 electives(program)

undergradresearch.

Diagram 1: Model Curriculum Alternative Track RS/GIS

Stud

ent s

kills

and

kn

owle

ge

IntegratedLabactivities

The RS/GIS Curriculum Certificate: The RS/GIS track will consist of 12 credit hours of required courses and 6 credit-hours of undergraduate research in an area related to RS/GIS. Upon completion of these 18 credit-hours, the department will issue the student a CERTIFICATE in RS/GIS. Undergraduate Research

As mentioned before, integrated to the curriculum, PaSCoR students electing to complete the RS/GIS certificate, will be required to participate in undergraduate research starting very early in their SMET programs, and ending with an equivalent of 6 credit-hours of undergraduate research during their sophomore and senior years. Approximately 45 freshmen students and 35 advanced undergraduate students will be selected to participate in the undergraduate research and mentorship program each year. In addition, the advanced students will be placed in Summer internships provided by PaSCoR partners.

Partnerships One of PaSCoR objectives is to develop partnerships with industry, government and other institutions to advise, support and provide guidance to this novel curriculum. Basically, we want their support in our effort to enhance the following areas: ! Development of an environment to foster the active participation of undergraduate

students in research projects and projects dealing with state-of-the-art technology. ! Development of new laboratories and the improvement of the existing ones to facilitate

the work to be done by professors and students.


! Development of a closer interaction between ECE faculty, students, and partners.

Our partners will assist our undertaking in various ways, some of which are: ! Providing input and critique to our curriculum. ! Providing student projects. ! Assisting in the evaluation of student projects. ! Providing experts for lectures, seminars and workshops ! Providing summer internships for faculty and students. ! Providing jobs for our graduates.

Possible industry partners identified so far are: Raytheon, Trimble, Caribbean Pictometry, Inc., and Vexcel Corporation. UPR-Mayagüez formally collaborates with these and other companies.

In addition to identifying partners for student/faculty internships and student projects, we have created and PaSCoR Advisory Board, with the mission to provide guidance to the project’s leaders and assess the project’s outcomes. The following individuals have agreed to serve in this Board:

University:

Dr. Andrew Bernat, University of Texas – El Paso

Dr. Gerald Engel, University of Conneticut

Dr. John Lamancusa, Penn State University

Industry:

Mr. Wayne Johnson, Raytheon Company (agreed to serve as Advisory Board Coordinator)

Dr. Antonio Santiago Vázquez, CSA

Government:

Dr. Nestor Ortiz, Sandia National Laboratories

Ms. Maria M. Irizarry, US Geological Survey

Mr. José Valenzuela, Puerto Rico Planning Board

Outreach

Outreach activities to disseminate PaSCoR program results and the RS/GIS curriculum track and certificate:

! Poster, brochure and video


! Workshops, seminars and presentations to department heads, faculty, students and other interested parties.

! Curricular materials dissemination to other MSET faculty through the PR-AMP program.

! A web page.

! A CD-ROM with all the curricular materials.

! Formal papers and presentations about the PaSCoR program. II. MEASURABLE RESULTS This part of the Annual Report presents a summary of major results in the project focus areas, as well as detailed information from each faculty/task. Feedback from the Advisory Board as well as the overall project assessment results appear in the respective sections. Summary Of Measurable Results 1998-99 • Curriculum Development (and Workshops/Seminars offered) # Courses developed or revised (or in progress of being developed or revised):

$ INEL 5XXX Introduction to Image Processing (Dr. Hamed Parsiani) $ INEL 5XXX Introduction to Field Pattern Recognition ( Dr. Luis Jimenez) $ INEL 5995 Image Processing (Dr. Luis Jimenez) $ MATE 4061 Numerical Analysis (Dr. Robert Acar) $ CFIT 3005 Plant Sciences (Dr. Luis Olivieri) $ Summer Freshman Workshop Experience (Dr. Rosa Buxeda) $ PROC 4026 Seminar (Dr. Luis Olivieri) $ GEO 3XXX Images of Earth (Dr. Pamela Jansma) $ GEO 3045 Introductory Laboratory (Dr. Pamela Jansma) $ UNIV 101 University (Dr. Rosa Buxeda) $ INEL 5995: Introduction to Remote Sensing - INEL 43xx- Introduction to Remote

Sensing (Dr. Ramón Vásquez) • Undergraduate Research & Infrastructure Development # 34 Advanced undergraduate students participating from 6 SMET programs (Engineering:

electrical, computer; Geology, Agricultural Sciences, Mathematics and Biology) # 45 freshman students from 12 SMET programs (Engineering: electrical, computer, civil,

industrial, chemical, mechanical; Geology, Agricultural Sciences, Mathematics, Biology, Physics, Biotechnology)

# 29 UPRM Summer internships, 5 US Summer internships # Agricultural Sciences LARSIP Extension established # ECE LARSIP facilities enhanced # Student Research Poster Presentation at the Advisory Board Meeting • Outreach and Partnerships # PaSCoR Project Advisory Board created and provided valuable feedback on all of the

project’s tasks.


# 6 Partners identified for Summer internships (USGS, Ohio State University, Mississippi State University, Stennis Space Center, University of Miami, JPL)

# PaSCoR Web page developed (http://www.ece.uprm.edu/pascor/) # PaSCoR brochure and flyer developed. # PaSCoR newsletter initiated. # T-Shirts with PaSCoR logo distributed to participating students. # Ten student recruitment presentation meetings, more than 200 students attending. # Publications:

$ Luis Jimenez, et al, Partially supervised detection using band subset selection in hyperspectral data, SPIE Conference Proceedings, Orlando, FL, April, 1999.

$ Lueny Morell, et al, PaSCoR Curriculum Model, ADMI 99 Conference, Duluth, MN, June 1999

$ Ramón Vázquez et al, The establishment of a PhD program in ECE at UPRM, ADMI 99 Conference, Duluth, MN, June 1999

$ Vidya Manian and Ramon Vasquez, ” Multiresolution edge detection algorithm applied to SAR images,” accepted for presentation and publication in the proceedings of IEEE International conference on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, IGARSS’99, June’99, Hamburg, Germany.

$ Vidya Manian and Ramon Vasquez, ” Texture techniques applied to remote sensing images,” accepted for presentation and publication in the proceedings of The Imaging and Geospatial Information Society National Conference, ASPRS’99, May’99, Portland, Oregon.

$ Vidya Manian and Ramon Vasquez, ” On remote sensing image classification and segmentation using a toolbox,” accepted for presentation and publication in the proceedings of Fourth International Airborne Remote Sensing Conference, ERIM’99, June’99, Ottawa, Canada.

$ Luis O. Jimenez, Jorge Rivera, “On the Integration of Spatial and Spectral Information in Unsupervised Classification for Multispectral and Hyperspectral Data,” submitted at The EOS/SPIE Symposium on Remote Sensing, Florence, Italy.

Assessment # Overall Project Assessment Strategy developed # Assessment metrics and tools developed # Project Activity Assessment:

An overall project activity assessment tool was developed in order to assess each task. The form was distributed to all participating faculty, students and staff related to the project. Twenty six (26) students and four (4) faculty answered the survey. Following are some highlights of survey responses:

About PaSCoR courses (agree or strongly agree):

• 100% believe that PaSCoR courses are interesting; 85% would recommend courses to others

• 85% believe that these courses develop teamwork, problem-solving and communication skills

About experiences in undergraduate research:


• 100% of respondents think the experience provides valuable problem-solving and scientific methodology experience to students

• 87% believe that it provides an opportunity to meet students & faculty from other disciplines

• 97% believe the experience motivates students to pursue graduate studies.

• 100% think that the experience establishes a good student-mentor relationship

About Outreach: • 85% agree or strongly agree that the web page provides timely

information about the program • 52% believe that the posters, brochures & other media developed

provide information about the program About Partnerships:

• Most respondents (16) did not have an opinion at the moment regarding this task.

A. CURRICULUM AND UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH Individual departments’ (with the respective faculty) report results in these areas follow henceforth.

Electric and Computer Engineering Dr. Ramón Vásquez INEL 5995: Introduction to Remote Sensing (to be offered in Fall 1999) Catalog Data: INEL 43xx- Introduction to Remote Sensing. Three credit hours. History and Scope of Remote Sensing. Electromagnetic Radiation. Image acquisition. Image Analysis. Applications Textbook: James B. Campbell, Introduction to Remote Sensing. 2nd Edition,Guilford, 1996. Reference: Julio Sanchez and Maria P. Canton, Space Image Processing. CRC, 1999. Coordinator: Ramon E. Vasquez, Professor of ECE. Goals: This course is designed to give sophomore in science, mathematics and engineering the background and fundamentals in remote sensing its components and applications. Prerequisite by topic:


1. pre-calculus 2. chemistry 3. basic programming techniques

Topics:

1. History and scope of Remote Sensing (2 classes) 2. Electromagnetic Radiation (3 classes) 3. Photographic sensors (2 classes) 4. Digital data (2 classes) 5. Land observation Satellites (4 classes) 6. Active Microwave and Thermal Radiation (4 classes) 7. Image Interpretation and resolution ( 8 classes) 8. Image analysis (12 classes) 9. Applications (5 classes) 10. Exams (3 classes)

Computer Usage: Homework problem using basic Remote Sensing packages. Student Research:

SIMPil implementation of statistical texture algorithms

Student: Jorge Colon Advisor: Ramón Vásquez

Parallel SIMD (Single Instruction Multiple Data) implementations speed up sequential processing techniques and are especially useful in image processing applications. This project utilizes a parallel architecture called SIMPiL (SIMD Pixel Processor), to implement a texture feature extraction method based on second-order gray level statistics. The co-occurrence matrix for regions of size 8x8 over an image are computed in parallel using 64 processors for each window. The implementation will also compute relevant features such as mean, variance, entropy and contrast from the matrices, in parallel. The speed of the algorithm in parallel will be compared with that of a sequential MATLAB based implementation. Work In Progress: The student is currently learning the SIMPiL architecture and to program using assembly language instructions. The design of the parallel algorithm for computing the co-occurrence matrix is being done in psuedocode and will then be converted to software.

SIMPiL implementation of image transform algorithms

Student: Vanessa Ortiz Advisor: Ramón Vásquez


The Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT) is used in image compression as it has very good energy compaction properties. It decorrelates the image pixels and compacts the energy in very few coefficients. In an image compression process, this transform is computed over windowed regions of size 8x8. This process is repeated over an image of size say 256 x 256, with a moving window. The sequential process of the transform computation can be speeded up by parallel SIMD (Single Instruction Multiple Data) implementation. The SIMPiL (SIMD Pixel Processor) architecture will be used for this purpose, the transform will be simulated on an array of processors. As the final transform coefficients are going to be less than the number of pixels in each window (64 pixels), due to the energy compaction, the communication time will also be reduced. This project’s aim is to evaluate the reduction in time of computation of DCT from a sequential to a parallel implementation. Work In Progress: The student is currently learning the SIMPiL architecture and to program using assembly language instructions. The design of the parallel algorithm for the DCT is being done in psuedocode and will then be converted to software. Comparative Study of the Changes in Vegetation on the Hispaniola Island due to

Deforestation and the Recent Effects of Hurricane Georges Nivia Colón Díaz

Undergraduate Student

Advisor: Ramón Vásquez Espinosa

Abstract

Remote sensing means the sensing of the Earth's surface from space by making use of the properties of electromagnetic waves emitted reflected or diffracted by the sensed objects. It is the acquisition of information about an object without being in physical contact with it. The purpose is to improve natural resources management, land use and the protection of the environment. Fields of study that use remote sensing are geology, mathematics, engineering, meteorology, agriculture and others to watch environmental phenomena, sea surface temperature, eddies, currents, clouds, and others. Our world changes every day. Vegetation during years has been changing also. Possible reasons of deforestation are climate phenomena and humans. Vegetation index is a technique developed to study qualitatively and quantitatively the vegetation using spectral measures by satellites. It is the combination of spectral bands whose function is to heighten the vegetation contribution in function of the spectral answer of a surface and to attenuate other factors such as ground lightning, atmosphere and others. Using the vegetation index and remote sensing we can predict or measure the deforestation due to climate phenomena and/or human beings, we can watch changes in vegetation and study vegetation stress over some specific area. The purpose of the study is based on the concern for the weather phenomena that affects our forests, our health, environments, the world deforestation, hurricanes, and others. The area of study is the Hispaniola Island. Polar satellite images were processed to obtain the vegetation index during three consecutive years. Changes in vegetation can be seen.


Work In Progress: The student is further expanding the study of the vegetation index using more images from other sensors over the Hispaniola islands. This will help in quantitative results about the change in vegetation and will also develop a model for analyzing vegetation in other areas.

IMPLEMENTATION OF STOCHASTIC FEATURE EXTRACTION METHODS

Marcel Castro, Undergraduate Student Advisors: Ramon Vasquez and Vidya Manian

Abstract - In this research we use a texture based auto-regressive feature extraction method to be used in image segmentation. The parameters obtained from the auto-regressive models are used to identify the different textured regions in an image. The processes are suited to implementation by Least Squares Estimates (LSE). This least square estimates obtain parameters for a two dimensional auto-regressive model on a given texture through an adaptive learning procedure, and segments an input image into regions with the learned textures. Work In Progress: The student is working on the LSE. Once the algorithm design is completed, texture features can be extracted from an image on implementation of the method in C or Matlab.

Clustering methods for multispectral image processing Jorge J. Sánchez Ruiz- Undergraduate Student

Advisor: Dr. Ramón Vásquez Much effort has been devoted on optimizing methods for cluster analysis, which is basically a process of partitioning the image space into a set of groups or subregions, such that patterns belonging to the same group are more similar to each other than are patterns belonging to different groups. For example, assessing the probable number of clusters within unknown data sets (unsupervised approach), is one of the subjects of investigation in this matter. The purpose of this work is to take an insight on both the supervised and unsupervised cluster analysis, considering other works that have already been made, and obtain my own results to see if any improvement can be made on these previously used methods. Work in Progress: The student is understanding the process of cluster analysis for image classification. A simple K-means cluster will first be implemented to study its performance in classifying texture based images.

Web Page for PaSCoR and Texture System Analysis

for Applications in Remote Sensing Roger Hernández Gandarillas


Advisor: Dr. Ramón Vásquez


The design consists of a layout of the web page for PaSCoR. The layout should include definition of goals of the group, current projects in progress, enlist tools that are already developed, enlist all publications made and the people involved in the projects. The design should then be implemented in any commercial browser available. For results of this work see http://www.ece.uprm.edu/pascor. The tools that are developed for texture analysis should be applied to Remote Sensing images and study their performance. Any Remote Sensing image type can be chosen. The basis of the analysis methodology is to study the algorithmic structure and then implement it using suitable software. Work In Progress: The student is learning about remote sensing images, their formats and characteristics and also the software ENVI in which the algorithms will be written.

Parallel Implementation of a Genetic Algorithm based on Image Classifiers

Michel Diaz, Undergraduate Student Advisor: Dr Ramon Vasquez

Abstract Genetic Algorithms (GA) and Genetic Programming (GP) are very useful search techniques to obtain optimal solutions for a wide range of problems. Sequential hardware architecture provides only one processor in which all tasks (in this case population) are being evaluated sequentially, only one at a time. To compare performances in this work, sequential hardware architecture Genetic Algorithm will be implemented to parallel hardware architecture. This way the processors can evaluate simultaneously the population and obtain an optimal result faster. Work In Progress: The student is learning the construction of a genetic algorithm first to perform a sequential classification of an image. Once the performance of the algorithm is satisfactory, it will be implemented in parallel. Dr. Hamed Parsiani INEL 5XXX MWF 10:30-11:30AM , a new course with syllabus in progress. “Introduction to Image Processing”, Textbook: “Digital Image Processing”, by Rafael G. Gonzalez, 1992, Addison Wesley Reference: “Fundamentals of Digital Image Processing”, by Anil K. Jain, Prentice Hall, 1989. Starting Jan. 99, the “Introduction to Image Processing” ( course is being prepared and taught to 7 students, five of which are PaSCoR project students. The course syllabus is being prepared, the concepts covered or in progress are: - Linear Systems Definitions and Properties - Convolution Operation - Fourier Transform - Z Transform - Matrix Operations - Random Signals


- Autocorrelation - Encoding and Decoding for Iterated Block Matching Fractals - Encoding and Decoding for Weighted Finite Automata Fractals - Subband Coding Algorithm - Wavelet concept - Wavelet filter families Undergraduate Research Projects: 1. Theoretical Comparison Between Fractals and Wavelets- José R. Del Toro Durán, Abstract: The close connection between fractal image compression and wavelet transform coding will be demonstrated. Multiresolution analysis of the mappings used in fractal image compression will be analyzed. This analysis will provide a non-iterative transform domain decoding algorithm and suggests a new transform domain encoding method, which can be extended to wavelets. A new wavelet/non-iterative Fractal algorithm will be developed in C-language and used to compress satellite images, to achieve a near lossless result. Work in Progress: Presently, the student is learning the two methods of Iterated block Matching Fractals and Wavelet Decomposition . The C-language algorithms for both methods are available which will be used in my research. These algorithms are: 1) Iterated Block Matching Fractals algorithm which uses multiple iterations to recover the

image at the decoder. It encodes the image by specifying parameters of a contraction mapping, approximating each range block in a partition of the image with an affine transformation of the Domain Block, exploiting similar patterns between such blocks.

2) Wavelet Decomposition algorithm which produces a Multiresolution analysis of any image. The analysis is performed by projecting the image onto a self -similar basis. It decomposes the signal into coarse approximations and details. The algorithm reconstructs the exact image from the decomposed data. The algorithm can use any filter family such as Daubechies, Haar, or Coiflet.

2. A more exact method for lossless image compression using suboptimal, adaptive multiplicative autoregressive models- Norman Lopez Matos Abstract: A more exact, efficient, lossless, predictive image compression scheme is introduced, based on suboptimal, multiplicative autoregressive models. The results will be used in a comparative experimental study with previously proposed schemes to improve compression and speed of computation of lossless image coding. An improvement of this method will be implemented in c-language. Work in Progress: The mathematical implementation and testing of the published lossless compression method by M. Das is accomplished. This work will be implemented in MATLAB, then the improvement of this method proposed by Dr. Parsiani will be implemented and tested. The final improved lossless compression algorithm will be developed in C- language.


3. New fractal image compression based on the second order of Taylor series expansion- Omar Robles Maldonado, Abstract: Image block estimation by the process of exploiting self-similarities in an image is a crucial step in iterated block matching fractal image compression. The conventional method employs a first order of Taylor series expansion to approximate an image block, called a range block, by using a larger block from the same image, called a domain block. It is proposed to use a higher order of Taylor series expansion to approximate the range blocks so that a higher quality image can be obtained with about the same compression ratio, as compared with the conventional method. Work in Progress: The second order of Taylor series is mathematically applied to the Iterated block matching fractals, and the equation of the range estimate based on the best domain match is determined. MATLAB will be used for implementing and testing of the second order of Taylor series expansion using small images. Then, the iterated block matching fractals algorithm will be updated using the second order of Taylor series expansion . The complete algorithm will be available in c-language. 4. The implementation of a fast technique for identifying zerotrees in the Embedded Zerotree Wavelet algorithm- Domingo Cruz Abstract: The embedded Zerotree wavelet (EZW) algorithm is a good technique for image compression algorithm. It consists of a fast technique for identifying zerotrees for all dominants passes in the encoding process. The most important part of the process is initializing a data structure called zerotree and completing it in a bit Wise-Oring. This process can be performed in parallel with the wavelet transform operation and thus is efficient for both hardware and software implementations. Work in Progress: Zerotree coding provides a compact multiresolution of significance maps, which are binary maps indicating the positions of the significant coefficients. Zerotrees allow the successful prediction of insignificant coefficients across the scales. The understanding of wavelet decomposition algorithm and identifying Zerotree and producing significance maps are in progress. Successive -approximation quantization needs to be studied in order to properly compress the wavelet decomposition data using Zerotree concept. 5. Iterated Block Matching using Least Square Method- Santos Lopez Abstract In this project the least square approximation concept will be used to improve the iterated block matching fractals algorithm. The present algorithm uses Taylor series approximation to calculate the block matching parameters, called contrast and luminance factors . The same parameters could be determined more accurately using the first order or second order least square estimation concept. The higher accuracy will improve the compressed image quality. Work in Progress: The least square method for both first order and second order have been studied, and mathematically implemented. MATLAB will be used to test the results. The iterated block


matching fractals will be updated using the new method. The final program will be available in C-language. Summer Internship: Norman Lopez Matos is selected for industrial summer internship program, his research interest is Image processing and compression applied to satellite images. Dr. Luis Jimenez Design of New Approved Courses. These courses were designed last year, submitted to the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department and were approved. INEL 5995: Pattern Recognition and Image Analysis (to be offered in Fall 1999) Catalog Data: INEL 5XXX – An introduction to the field of Pattern Recognition: Statistical Decision Making, Nonparametric Decision Making, Clustering, Artificial Neural Networks, Learning Techniques, Evaluation of a Classification Rule, and Image Analysis. Textbook: Earl Gose, Richard Johnsonbaugh, Steve Jost, Pattern Recognition and Image

Analysis, Prentice Hall, 1996. Reference: Morton Nadler, Eric P. Smith, Pattern Recognition Engineering, John Wiley and

Sons, 1993. Goals: Introduce the students to the fundamental concepts of pattern recognition, provide them the ability to design pattern recognition’s based algorithms to analyze signals and images. Topics: 1. Introduction (2 classes) 2. Matrix Algebra Review (4 classes) 3. Probability Review (4 classes) 4. Statistical Decision Making (6 classes) 5. Nonparametric Decision Making (5 classes) 6. Clustering (5 classes) 7. Artificial Neural Network (6 classes) 8. Processing of Waveforms and Images Analysis (7 classes) 9. Advance Topics (4 classes) 10. Test (2 classes) Computer Usage Students will write and run programs using a Matlab, C or C++.


Laboratory Projects None None ABET category content: Engineering Science: 2 credits Engineering Design: 1 credit INEL 5995: Image Processing (to be offered in Spring 2000).

Catalog Data: INEL 53XX - Image Processing. Three credit hours. Mathematical representation of 2-D digital signals. 2-D filter design. Image coding standards. Image filtering, enhancement and compression. Prerequisite: INEL 5309

Textbook: R. C. Gonzalez and R. E. Woods, Digital Image Processing, Addison

Wesley, 1992

Reference: A. K. Jain, Fundamentals of Digital Image Processing, Prentice Hall, 1989.

M. Sonka, Image Processing, Analysis and Machine Vision, 2nd Ed. PWS Publishing, 1999

Coordinator: Luis Jimenez, Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer

Engineering Goals: This course is designed to give seniors in electrical engineering the

background and fundamentals in 2-D digital signal processing and filter design, and image processing.

Prerequisites by topic: 1. Linear signals and systems 2.1-D Fourier and Z Transforms 3. Basic programming techniques Topics:

1. 2-D Signals and Systems ( 7 classes) 2. 2-D Fourier and Z transforms ( 5 classes) 3. 2-D Filter Design ( 8 classes) 4. Image coding standards. ( 3 classes) 5. Image filtering, enhancement, and edge detection ( 10 classes) 6. Image compression ( 3 classes) 7. Introduction to computer vision (3 classes) 8. Applications (3 classes) 9. Exams (3 classes)

Computer Usage: Homework problems using basic DSP software packages


ABET category content: Engineering Science: 1.5 credits Engineering Design : 1.5 credits

Prepared by: Shawn Hunt and Luis O. Jimenez, July 1998 Seminars and Workshop: 1. Introduction to Remote Sensing. Offered Fall semester, open to any student and faculty

member. Around 10 students and 1 faculty member participated. 2. Introduction to Image Analysis. Offered Fall semester, open to any student and faculty

member. Around 10 students and 1 faculty member participated. Infrastructure Development: New computers PC installed in LARSIP. Proposal of an Engineering Research Center with the topic of Subsurface Imaging. This is in collaboration with Northeastern University, RPI and Boston University. Our responsability is in the use of Remote Sensing for the environment. This center will enhance our existing capabilities, our graduate and undergraduate research. 3. Undergraduate Research: Students: Cesar Santiago, Hector Velasquez, Jorge Rivera, Mabel Ramirez, Laura Santos Campis, Roberto Hernandez, Eladio Rodriguez. Research: Matlab Toolbox on Pattern Recognition and Image Analysis. This Toolbox will be used for research and educational purposes. At this stage it contains a block of unsupervised pattern recognition. This includes a Graphical User Interface, Image Visualization tools, clustering algorithms such as c-means, c-means and covaroiances, Fuzzy c-means. This Toolbox contains the algorithms for integration of spatial and spectral data, and some decision fusion methods. Integration of Spatial and Spectral Information: In this research project the students applied different mechanisms of integrating the spectral and the spatial information in an unsupervised algorithm.


Future Work: It is in plan a development of a Matlab Toolbox that has the algorithms for Supervised Pattern Recognition. We will construct interfaces to read and write image formats such as GIF, TIFF, JPEG, etc. All the algorithms will be implemented in C/C++. This will enable the use of our algorithms in softwares packages such as IDL/ENVI. More work in the areas of integrating spatial and spectral information will be done. Publications Luis O. Jimenez*, Miguel Velez, Yamil Chaar, Felix Fontan, Cesar Santiago, Roberto Hernandez, “Partially supervised detection using band subset selection in hyperspectral data,” to be presented at SPIE Conference, Orlando, Florida, April 6, 1999. Luis O. Jimenez, Jorge Rivera, “On the Integration of Spatial and Spectral Information in Unsupervised Classification for Multispectral and Hyperspectral Data,” submitted at The EOS/SPIE Symposium on Remote Sensing, Florence, Italy. Mathemathics Dr. Robert Acar Curriculum development: MATE 4061, Numerical Analysis. Revised the syllabus to include topics in the mathematics of signal processing (chapter 12 of Heath) for section 181; the same might be done for sections 121, 131 which are taught by a different instructor. Included two new project themes, one about implementing the DFT in image processing, another about spline interpolation in image processing. 75 students were impacted . Note: this semester, atypically, only 3 sections are being taught in the computer lab. Ordinarily, that number is 6. Informal seminar lectures on some mathematics of image processing (starting end of March). Topics including integral transforms, function spaces, calculus of variations and elementary convexity, finite difference methods for the solution of partial differential equations.

* Correspondence: Email: [email protected], Tel. (787) 832-4040 x3031, x 3510, Fax. (787) 831-7564


Undergraduate research: recruited 5 students who started working on various problems in image processing. Concurrently, they are learning topics in numerical analysis ranging from optimization to numerical solution of partial differential equations; they are also learning about Matlab and its image processing tools. The students are: Luis Perez Natal Wilma Perez Romero Juan Ramos Barreto Miguel Rosa Lebron Jessica Vale Figueroa Outreach:Gave four 10-mn presentations presenting and promoting the Pascor project: three to freshmen students enrolled in Univ 101, and one to Math majors. Gave three 15-mn presentation of research interests to prospective research students. Agricultural Sciences Dr. Luis Olivieri The following course was revised CFIT 3005, Plant Sciences, Department of Agronomy. The revision included a one-hour presentation of the technologies of remote sensing, geographic information systems (GIS), and Global Positioning Systems (GPS). 120 undergraduate students from the 7 departments of the College of Agricultural Sciences are currently registered. The course is a requirement for all students in the CAS Evidence of action taken (syllables and module) N/A: This year is the first year that the technologies were introduced to the course so the syllabus was not modified. Seminars and Workshops: PROC 4026: Seminar. February 23, 1999. Department of Crop Protection. Introduction to remote sensing, geographic information systems (GIS), and Global Positioning Systems (GPS) and their applications to plant protection. A total of 42 professors and students assisted the seminar. The idea was to create awareness of the importance and application of the technologies to their area of interest. 6 hours (3hours on Jan 21 and 3 hours on Jan 29) Introduction to remote sensing, geographic information systems (GIS), and Global Positioning Systems (GPS) to the students of the PaSCoR project at the College of Agricultural Sciences so they would have the basic knowledge in the technologies. The PaSCoR students at the College of Agricultural Sciences are meeting once a week for 2 hours to discuss achievements for the week and goals for the following week.


Seminar (30 minutes/week as part of the weekly meeting). The PaSCoR students at the College of Agricultural Sciences, as part of the weekly meeting, are discussing scientific papers and newspaper articles related to areas of interest. Infrastructure Development: Room 314 of the Building B was assigned for the development of the LARSIP extension of the College of Agricultural Sciences. The area was originally a storage area that was emptied, cleaned, and prepared for this task. The laboratory was established with the assistance of the College of Agricultural Sciences and the College of Engineering. On March 15, 1999, the LARSIP extension of the College of Agricultural Sciences was officially inaugurated during the visit of the PaSCoR Advisory Board meeting. The laboratory has 3 computers running Windows NT. They also have the ARCView 3.01b software. We are in the process of purchasing the ERDAS Imagine software, a digitizing table and additional equipment. The goal is to have the lab. fully operational by the end of the semester.2. Undergraduate Research: Student: Liliseth Mora, Dept. of Animal Sciences. Research Project: Evaluation of biological and chemical parameters for major streams and rivers in Puerto Rico and their relation to agricultural activities. Grant number: NCC5-340 Summary of Activities: The student is collecting water quality data already available and will utilized GIS technology to seek for potential correlation between water quality and agricultural activities within the watershed. Besides Luis Olivieri, advisor of the student, two professors from the Department of Agronomy and Soils of the UPRM are assisting in the project. This project will generate data that will be utilized in a larger proposal. Student: Nayely Martinez, Dept. of Biology (only student in a department out of the College of Agricultural Sciences. Grant number: NCC5-340 Summary of Activities: The project will generate needed data to assist in the implementation of management practices that will result in the conservation of the natural resources. It will validate technology that uses remote sensing and GIS to generate and present the data required by a non point source pollution model. Personnel from the P.R. Department of Natural Resources and Environment are assisting in the project. Student: Anwar Morales, Department of Agricultural Engineering. Grant number: NCC5-340 Summary of Activities: Locating and collecting available data from the Jobos Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (JBNERR). The idea of the project is to develop a centralized data bank of available data in a digital format so it could be used as a tool by the personnel in the management of watershed and in the decision making process. The project is in the process of


locating and converting data (tables and maps) in hardcopy format into digital form. The project is being assisted by the research coordinator of the JBNERR Student: Lionel Cruz, Department of Agricultural Engineering Grant number: NCC5-340 Summary of Activities: The student is going to develop a land use classification over time of the JBNERR watershed using Landsat image classification. The information that is going to be generated will be used as a tool in the development of management plans and in the decision making process. The project is being assisted by the research coordinator of the JBNERR. Student: Roy Ruiz, Department of Agronomy and Soils. Grant number: NCC5-340 Summary of Activities: The project is developing a 1:240,000 scale map of highly erodible soils for P.R. The process will involves the use of the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) that is a well known model that is used to estimate soil erosion from agricultural areas. This work will be the basis for a more detail map (1:20,000). The project is being coordinated with the assistance of the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. Presentations and/or publications The projects were presented in a poster session at the PaSCoR Advisory Board Meeting on March 15, 1999. Summer internships: The College of Agricultural Sciences is still in the process of identifying places for internship such as the School of Natural Resources at The Ohio State University. Summer 1999 Undergraduate Freshmen Hands-on Training and Orientation (Planned for July 26 to July 30, 1999). For the undergraduate research, the College of Agricultural Sciences is looking for topics of relevant application for P.R. We have established unofficial partnership with personnel within the Department of Agronomy and Soils and state and federal agencies. Geology Dr. Pamela E. Jansma Associate Professor, Department of Geology, University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, Visiting Researcher, Centre National de Recherche Scientifique, Geosciences Azur, Sophia Antipolis, France Curriculum and Infrastructure Development Course development Course: Images of Earth, 3xxx, Department of Geology Action: New


Number of students this semester: Not offered, on sabbatical leave Evidence of action taken: Syllabus Course: Introductory Laboratory, 3045, Department of Geology Action: Revised module Number of students this semester: 31 Evidence of action taken: Laboratory exercise Infrastructure Development No funding for Geology component for infrastructure development in this year’s budget. Undergraduate Research a. Students and Projects Student: Monica Aponte Project: GPS geodetic constraints on strain accumulation in the northeastern Caribbean (co-sponsored by NSF-EAR) Student: Daniel Lao Davila Project: Shallow seismicity and GPS-determined surface deformation in the northeastern Caribbean (co-sponsored by NSF-EAR) Student: Sheila Rivera Project: Identification of strike-slip faults in the Dominican Republic from multispectral images and laser altimetry profiles Student: Martin Hanzlik Valentin Project: A remote sensing investigation of the Enriquillo Fault Zone, Haiti b. Summer internships NSF-Earth Sciences Division, Research Experience for Undergraduates: Monica Aponte and Daniel Lao Davila c. Summer 1999 Undergraduate Freshmen (Prepas) Hands-on Training and Orientation (Planned for July 26 to July 30, 1999) On sabbatical leave and presenting a paper at the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics meeting in Birmingham, United Kingdom from July 18-30, 1999. Outcomes Assessment


a. Study Goals and Objectives, project tasks The goal of the Geology component of PASCoR is to increase undergraduate student understanding of the application of remote sensing techniques to the solution of Earth Science problems. The primary means to achieve the goal is promotion of undergraduate involvement in research through faculty mentoring at UPRM and internships at national laboratories and doctoral universities in the United States with outstanding programs in the Geosciences that emphasize Global Positioning System (GPS) geodesy and space-based remote sensing. Objectives include: fostering independence, confidence, critical thinking, and creativity in undergraduate students with an eye toward enhancing their quantitative and computer skills to prepare them for the pursuit of advanced degrees or entry into the marketplace. Faculty mentoring is accomplished by supervising undergraduate students to conduct independent research on Earth Science problems using remote sensing and space geodetic techniques. The students pursue small projects that are designed to solve specific problems or integrate data as part of larger research efforts conducted by the faculty mentor and supported by external funds. The benefits to this approach are numerous, including facilitating the publication and presentation of student results by placing them within an overall scientific context, furnishing additional financial support for the purchase of materials necessary to complete the task, and teaching students the importance and benefits of teamwork. As part of mentoring, the students will be encouraged to participate in summer internships. Some internships will be given at UPRM with funding from other sources to accommodate non-traditional students with mitigating circumstances which may prevent them from leaving the island. The hope is to motivate students to pursue advanced degrees in SMET fields. One of the ways to expose undergraduates to the fields of remote sensing and Earth Sciences is by introducing them to the topics early in their careers. This is being done by creating a new undergaduate course, Images of Earth (Geol 3xxx), for non-majors, and by modifying an existing course, Introductory Laboratory (Geol 3047) for majors, to include a module on the utility of the Internet for remote sensing applications to Earth Sciences. In addition, a new course is being created for senior students who have completed most of the requirements for the remote sensing certificate. This capstone course will focus on ground-verification of remote sensing data and acquisition of Global Positioning System (GPS) measurements in the circum-Caribbean. Another important aspect of fostering a learning environment of excellence is the proper infrastructure. Existing computer facilities in the Department of Geology for remote sensing are state-of-the-art. Demand, however, is high. To this end, additional computing hardware and software will be purchased. b. Develop draft of Assessment Strategy The assessment strategy for the Geology component will measure the efficacy of mentoring, student research projects, existing infrastructure, the introduction of new courses, and the revisions of existing curricula.


Mentoring: Students will complete evaluation forms each semester concerning their research projects and the interaction with their faculty supervisor. Student research projects: Success of research projects can be measured in two ways. First, the benefit of the student can be assessed directly by student input on an evaluation form and indirectly by student desire to pursue either a summer internship or an advanced degree. Second, the presentation of the work at local, regional, and national meetings and the eventual publication of results can gauge the success of the project itself. Existing infrastructure: Adequacy of infrastructure will be determined by questionnaire. Introduction of new courses: Success of new courses in stimulating interest will be estimated by the number of students who take an additional course in remote sensing and space geodesy later in their careers and by the level of applications for entrance into the PASCoR certificate program. (Applications should be used as the yardstick, not admittance, as the program will be competitive and not all students who are interested will be accommodated). Revisions of existing curricula: The effectiveness of the new module designed for curricular revision of an existing course, GEOL 3047-Introductory Laboratory, will be assessed by the responses to a questionnaire distributed to students prior to the exercise to identify their existing knowledge and interest in the Internet, computers, Earth Sciences and Remote Sensing. A second questionnaire and evaluation form will be handed out after the module is completed to measure the success of the exercise in increasing awareness and enthusiasm for the Internet, computers, Earth Sciences and Remote Sensing and to rate the module itself as an assigment. Freshman Curriculum Component Dr. Rosa Buxeda

Objective

Activity

Date

Outcome

Disseminate PaSCoR Program to the Freshman Population at Univ course

1. Meeting with the Dean of Student at UPR-RUM coordinate course innovation

July 1998 Vilma López (university staff) was assign as liaison.

2. PASCOR presentation to faculty teaching the univ course with emphasis in project goals, objective and course impact.

August 1998

9 of 12 (75%) of Univ faculty was exposed to PASCOR program.

3. Design a PASCOR presentation for

September 1998

PaSCoR Program was presented 103


freshman student to be use at univ course.

freshman population freshman students.

4. Using cooperative learning freshman students at three sessions of unive course were exposed to PASCOR project

November 1998

Addendum 1

5. Open seminar about PASCOR project to the freshman student was offered.

December 1998

Addendum 2

Nuture a freshman team to enter PASCOR

1. Selection of freshman student interested in PasCoR Program. Selection criterias included: GPA, IGS; interviews and mathematics performance.

February-March 1999

Addedum 3

2. Design and coordinate a PasCor Summer Experience for freshman student (see addendum 4)

March-July 1999

Pending

3. Meeting with PasCoR faculty to design the program for PasCoR Summer Experience for freshman students.

March 1999

Pending

4. Meeting with PasCoR upper level student in research that will be mentor for the freshman team.

April 1999 Pending

5. Learning styles workshop for all PasCoR students to determing the student profile.

April 1999 Pending

6. Meeting with selected freshman student to initiate a mentor relation with upper level research students.

April 1999 Pending


B. OUTREACH & PARTNERSHIPS ACTIVITIES Dr. Jorge Ivan Velez Arocho This progress report includes the activities developed between July 1998 and March 1999 for the Outreach and Advisory Board Partners components of the project. The project is following the proposed schedule and will complete the 1998-1999 activities on June 30, 1999. Activities Proposed in the Strategic Plan for the Outreach and Advisory Board Component for the Period of July 1998-March 1999 and its current status. Objectives Activities Date Resources

needed Status: March 1999

Create awareness among students PaSCoR

Organize Student Workshops Recruit first year students for 1999 Prepare PaSCoR T-shirts

August 1998 January 1999

Undergraduate student Funds for materials and coffee breaks Funds for T-shirts

Finished

Create awareness among Faculty of PaSCoR

Organize Faculty Workshops

November 1998 March 1999

Undergraduate student Funds for materials and coffee breaks

Finished

Create awareness of PaSCoR objectives, activities and faculty

1. Develop a Web Page with information of PaSCoR

2. Newsletter

to be distributed to local stakeholders

October 1998 At the end of each semester September 1998

Computer and undergraduate student

Finished See Appendix

Promote the integration of

Develop a Strategic Plan

February 1999 Meeting meals and materials



the outreach effort within the PaSCoR team

for PaSCoR

Integrate the Stakeholders to PaSCoR

Organize the PaSCoR Advisory Board

March 1999

Meeting meals and materials


Outcomes - Outreach • First year recruitment: thirty five new students were recruited to participate in PaSCoR. • Ten presentations were made to students from July 1998 to March 1999. A total of 200

students participated in these presentations. • A Strategic Plan (with the project mission,vision, goals/objectives and strategies) was

developed and presented to the Advisory Board and the Campus ABET 2000 committee. See Appendix for a copy of the Strategic Plan.

• A page in the Internet was developed (http://www.ece.uprm.edu/pascor/) to disseminate

PaSCoR information.

• A brochure was prepared and distributed to prospective students. See Appendix for a copy of the brochure.

• Fliers were prepared and distributed to the different university departments describing the

PaSCoR project. • T-shirts were made for PaSCoR students to create recognition of the PaSCoR project. • Undergraduate students presented their research in a poster session during the Advsiory

Board Meeting held March 15, 1999 (see Appendix) Other papers 1. Vidya Manian and Ramon Vasquez, ” Multiresolution edge detection algorithm applied to

SAR images,” accepted for presentation and publication in the proceedings of IEEE International conference on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, IGARSS’99, June’99, Hamburg, Germany.

2. Vidya Manian and Ramon Vasquez, ” Texture techniques applied to remote sensing images,” accepted for presentation and publication in the proceedings of The Imaging and Geospatial Information Society National Conference, ASPRS’99, May’99, Portland, Oregon.

3. Vidya Manian and Ramon Vasquez, ” On remote sensing image classification and segmentation using a toolbox,” accepted for presentation and publication in the proceedings


of Fourth International Airborne Remote Sensing Conference, ERIM’99, June’99, Ottawa, Canada.

4. Lueny Morell, et al, “The PaSCoR Curriculum Model”, ADMI 99 Conference, Duluth, MN, June 1999

5. Ramón Vázquez et al, “The establishment of a PhD program in ECE at UPRM”, ADMI 99 Conference, Duluth, MN, June 1999

Outcomes - Advisory Board As mentioned before, an Advisory Board was formed with representatives of the industrial sector and the government. See Appendix for a complete list of the Advisory Board and the Agenda of its first meeting. This meeting was very successful. The participants evaluated the PaSCoR Strategic Plan, participated with the Executive Committee in a meeting with the Chancellor and the Dean of Engineering to discuss the progress of the project and planned the focus of their involvement with PaSCoR. The Board’s Feedback appears in the Appendix. III. EVALUATION AND ASSESSMENT ACTIVITIES Prof. Lueny Morell A. PROJECT ASSESSMENT STRATEGY AND REPORT A project outcomes assessment strategy has been developed, based on the project’s Strategic Plan. Formative and summative research methods will be used to determine the project’s strengths, opportunities for improvement and participant outcomes. This strategy will assess the effectiveness of the project’s activities to determine impact on students, faculty, curriculum, research & development growth and overall achievement and satisfaction of proposed goals and objectives. Professor Lueny Morell, project Co-PI and assessment coordinator, will oversee all program evaluation activities associated with this project. An Assessment Committee has been created with the following members:

! Dr. Rosa Buxeda (first year coordinator) ! Dr. Jorge Vélez (outreach coordinator) ! Dr. Luis Olivieri (researcher) ! Mr. Wayne Johnson (industrial partner).

This Committee will have the charter to design and implement the project’s assessment strategy. A graduate student will help the coordinator in data collection activities, assessment tools design, administration, data analysis and other evaluation activities developed. It will also be the responsibility of the Coordinator to disseminate results through publications and presentations in national and international conferences. In order to have comprehensive and valid results, the assessment plan has the following elements:


! Internal (self-assessments) ! External (outside the project) ! Multiple criteria (variety of modes and viewpoints) ! Holistic (integrated) ! Qualitative and quantitative components.

The assessment strategy being developed will go through the following steps:

1. Study the project’s goals, tasks, expected outcomes and measurable outcomes/metrics/performance indicators, as per the Project’s Strategic Plan. Status: done.

2. Develop specific criteria for each of the metrics/performance indicators identified. Status: in-progress.

3. Develop assessment tools and data collection methods. Status: in-progress. 4. Establish the assessment schedule (for formative and summative assessments). 5. Conduct assessments as per schedule. 6. Analyze assessment data. 7. Prepare assessment reports to different constituents (to provide feedback for process

re-engineering as needed throughout the project duration, and other purposes). Performance indicators already identified: 1. Course Development

! Number of new courses created ! Number of courses revised to include RS-GIS modules/activities ! Number of faculty participating in course development (formal courses & developing

modules for SMET courses) ! Student learning outcomes, including development of 'soft' skills. ! PaSCoR Engineering courses' compliance with ABET 2000 ! Quality of courses ! Number of students obtaining the RS-GIS certificate per year ! Number of students/graduates placed in jobs related to RS-GIS !

2. Undergraduate Research ! Number of faculty mentors ! Number of undergraduate students participating ! Number of Summer internships ! Quality of student research activity ! Use of existing laboratory facilities

3. Partnerships ! Number of industry, government and other institutions collaborating in research,

Summer internships and other activities ! Number of student projects provided by industry (& other) partners ! Number of experts brought to the classroom for lectures, seminars and workshops

4. Outreach


! Web-page ! Newsletter ! Brochures and posters distributed ! Recruitment activities carried ! Number of peer-reviewed publications, books, citations, presentations per researcher

and students per year ! Additional external funds obtained per year ! Number of industrial collaborations/contacts made by researchers ! Curricular materials dissemination to other institutions ! Production of a CD-ROM with curricular material

5. Other ! Infrastructure development (laboratory facilities enhanced and created) ! Equipment purchases ! Donations !

Assessment Tools Developed 1. Overall Project Assessment Matrix 2. Project Activity Assessment Form 3. Evaluation of Student Performance in Summer Internships 4. Course Development Evaluation Form 5. Oral Presentations Assessment Form 6. Report Assessment Form 7. Assessment of Teamwork Experiences B. PROJECT ACTIVITY ASSESSMENT RESULTS An overall project activity assessment tool was developed in order to assess each task. The form was distributed to all participating faculty, students and staff related to the project. Twenty six (26) students and four (4) faculty answered the survey. Following are some highlights of survey responses: About PaSCoR courses (agree or strongly agree):

• 100% believe that PaSCoR courses are interesting; 85% would recommend courses to others

• 85% believe that these courses develop teamwork, problem-solving and communication skills

About experiences in undergraduate research:

• 100% of respondents think the experience provides valuable problem-solving and scientific methodology experience to students


• 87% believe that it provides an opportunity to meet students & faculty from other disciplines

• 97% believe the experience motivates students to pursue graduate studies. • 100% think that the experience establishes a good student-mentor relationship

About Outreach:

• 85% agree or strongly agree that the web page provides timely information about the program

• 52% believe that the posters, brochures & other media developed provide information about the program

About Partnerships:

• Most respondents (16) did not have an opinion at the moment regarding this task.


IV. SUMMARY OF BUDGET EXPENDITURES AND PROJECTED END-OF-

GRANT PERFORMANCER PERIOD EXPENDITURES

UNIVERSITY OF PUERTO RICO GRANT TITLE: "PARTNERSHIP FOR SPATIAL AND COMP. RESEARCH"GRANT NO: NCC5-340 PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE: FROM 07/01/98 TO 06/30/99

NASA EXPENDITURE NASA INSTITUTION OTHER FUNDS AWARD OF NASA BALANCE EXPENDITURE EXPENDITURES

(INCLUDING PRIOR FUNDS (CARRYOVER TO (COST SHARING)YEAR CARRYOVER) NEXT YEAR)

1. DIRECT LABORA. SALARIES, WAGES 79,568.00 79,568.00 - 106,445.00 XXXXXXXXXXX

B. FRINGE BENEFITS 7,321.00 7,321.00 - 17,687.00 XXXXXXXXXXX

2. OTHER DIRECT COSTS

A. SUBCONTRACTS - XXXXXXXXXXX

B. CONSULTANTS - XXXXXXXXXXX

C. EQUIPMENT 53,704.00 53,704.00 - XXXXXXXXXXX

D. SUPPLIES 30,000.00 30,000.00 - 20,360.00 XXXXXXXXXXX

E. TRAVEL 38,199.00 38,199.00 - 8,000.00 XXXXXXXXXXX

F. COMUNNICATIONS COSTS - XXXXXXXXXXX (telephone, postage, printing)

G. OTHER 175,000.00 175,000.00 - XXXXXXXXXXX (STUDENT STIPENDS, ETC.)

3. INDIRECT COSTS 48.8% 78,124.00 78,124.00 - XXXXXXXXXXX

4. OTHER APPLICABLE COSTS - XXXXXXXXXXX

5. TOTAL EXPENDITURES 461,916.00 461,916.00 - 152,492.00

EXPENDITURE SUMMARY


V. APPENDIX • Advisory Board Meeting Agenda • Addenda for Freshman Activity • Feedback Comments from the Advisory Board Meeting, March 15, 1999 • Student Poster Session Abstracts • Project Strategic Plan


…from Space

Advisory Board Meeting NASA-UPRM Partnership

March 14-15, 1999 III. Agenda Sunday, March 14, 1999 5:30 PM Pick-Up Visitors at Best Western Resort 6:00 PM Dinner At Vista Bahía Restaurant (Joyudas)* *Participants: Advisory Committee, Executive Committee Members and Researchers Monday, March 15, 1999 Morning 8:30 Registration and Coffee Place: Eugene Francis, Room 2 Physics Building 8:45 Welcome Ramón Vásquez, PaSCoR Director and PI Dr. Zulma Toro, Dean Engineering Faculty Prof. Sylvia Marquéz, Dean Art and Sciences Faculty Dr. Antonio Sotomayor, Dean Agricultural Sciences Faculty 9:25 What is PaSCoR? Ramón Vásquez 9:45 PaSCoR Strategic Plan Jorge Iván Vélez Arocho 10:30 Break


Advisory Board Meeting NASA-UPRM Partnership

March 14-15, 1999 IV. Agenda (Continued) 10:45 Break-out sessions…discussion of Strategic Plan Prof. Lueny Morell and Dr. Jorge I. Vélez Arocho 11:30 Plenary/ Summary 12:30 Business Lunch with Chancellor and Deans* *Participants: Chancellor, Deans and Executive Committee Place: To be Announced

Afternoon 2:30 Inauguration of LARSIP Extension Laboratory at the College of

Agricultural Sciences Luis Olivieri Place: Building B, Room 314

3:30 Poster Session Place: Activities Room, Building D 4:30 Next Meeting Agenda and Date Place: Activities Room, Building D 5:00 Adjourn 6:30 Dinner* *Participants: Advisory Committee,Executive Committee and Researchers

Place: To be Announced


Addenda for Freshmen Experiences Addendum 1 Meetings with Vilma López to used 3 sessions of Univ course to pilot test an activity to expose for Freshman students to PaSCoR opportunities. Students were exposed to the PaSCoR program by using a cooperative learning strategy (to promote team work skills) in which groups of students had a piece of information of the PaSCoR Project and RS GIS technology and needed to put it together to understand the whole. At the end, the LARSIP facilities were visited to expose the students with RS-GIS projects (November 1998).

Outcome: Three sessions of Univ Course were pilot tested. 80 Freshman Students were impacted and the population were distributed as follow: Femenine-43% Masculine 57% Discipline Percent

• Electric Engineering 60 • Computer Engineering 25 • Civil Engineering 8 • Chemical Engineering 3 • Industrial Engineering 1 • Mechanical Engineering 1

Evaluation: 85% were interested in the program Addendum 2 V. General PaSCoR Orientation to all Univ Sessions (December 1998) Outcome:

23 Freshman Year Students were impacted and the population was distributed as follow: Feminine 22% Masculine 88% Discipline Percent

• Electric Engineering 17


• Computer Engineering 9 • Civil Engineering 4 • Industrial Engineering 4 • Mechanical Engineering 45 • Biology 9 • Biotechnology 4 • Mathematics 4 • Agriculture 4

Evaluation: 100% were interested in the program.

Addendum 3 Selection of freshman students to participate in PaSCoR.. Outcome: 41 freshman students applied and 36 of them were selected. The freshman team represent the following disciplines: Discipline Percent

• Business Administration 3 • Sciences 14 • Civil Engineering 5 • Electric Engineering 28 • Computer Engineering 22 • Mechanical Engineering 4 • Industrial Engineering 4 • Chemical Engineering 6


Addendum 4 Future Work For This Semester 1. PaSCoR Freshman Summer Experience (July 26-30) The freshman team will expend 5 days in an intensive hand-on experiences. The objectives are:

• recognize the importance of RS-GIS technology • identify RS-GIS applications • nuture an mentor relation with PaSCoR faculty and upper level students already

involved in active research. • develop team work, written, oral and computer skills.

Activities will included training with equipment at LARSIP, interactive presentation by PaSCoR researchers, workshops in research methodology, teambuilding skills, oral presentations, and poster design, field trips to Pictometry and US Geological Services among others. Assessment of student impact will be performed by a daily electronic reflection on each activity that include communication with an assigned faculty mentor. This reflection on the learning experience will be part of the Student Portfolio. At the end of the week a Poster Session will be used to share the accomplishment of the participants. 2. Design a computer module to disseminate PaSCoR program at the Univ Course.


Advisory Board Comments about PaSCoR Strategic Plan At the First Meeting on March 15, 1999

After the project leaders made the program presentations, participants in the meeting were divided into three (3) subgroups to evaluate and provide feedback regarding the PaSCoR program. All subgroups were asked to group the comments and dialogue into the following major areas: Strengths Improvements Suggestions Opportunities VI. Strengths It was stated that the strategic plan was well laid out and well developed. It was also viewed as an ambitious and innovative strategic plan The plan documents the process, has clear objectives and states that the end result of the process is a Certificate in Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems (RS-GIS) for the undergraduate student supplementing the regular undergraduate degree. The plan also includes and emphasizes the use of practitioner and academic mentors as well as the integrated use of summer experiences in the form of internships or traineeships. The general strength of the overall program is its interdisciplinary scope which will lead to improved communications not only between different disciplines but also between faculty and the students. The closer faculty-students relationship (mentoring) will provide for favorable team work experiences between students which is considered the key to accelerated learning in a sophisticated computer environment. The hands-on experiences provide for an active learning style mode, which is often missing in more traditional and passive learning style mode and is considered very time consuming in terms of overall learning productivity. The use of computer laboratories as a learning tool is an important element of the program. It prepares the undergraduate student for the real world. It enables the student to participate during the internships as a productive and contributing person without extensive additional training at the expense of the Host Company or Governmental Entity. That is why the infrastructure development of the university laboratories continues to expand as part of the PaSCoR Program, including a new Laboratory for Applied Remote Sensing and Image Processing (LARSIP Extension) in the College of Agricultural Sciences.


All of the above taken together address the vision, mission, program outcomes and assessment requirements of the Engineering Accreditation Commission (EAC) of the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) for the year 2000. The ABET homepage states as its vision the following: "ABET will provide world leadership to assure quality and stimulate innovation in engineering, technology and applied science education." Compliance with ABET EAC 2000 is an important aspect of the program and is viewed as an inherent strength of PaSCoR and as such will be a trend setter for other programs in the Science and Technology areas of the University of Puerto Rico. Areas to be improved (not viewed as weaknesses) It was noted that the official college transcript would not recognize and probably will not recognize for a long time to come the new Certificate Degree Program. Even though this is viewed as non-critical, the program should have this kind of official recognition. An added amendment or addendum to the college transcript may be a possible solution and should be pursued at the appropriate time and occasion. When that time comes, the program will be more broadly defined for the traditional student and as such will be more attractive to pursue. The group views that the program could also be of interest to non-traditional students and professionals (e.g., as a continuous education alternative for scientists and engineers). Another area of concern improvement is the apparent lack of incentives for curriculum development. Although faculty receive compensation to work in the program, there is no release time. In the view of the Board, time availability is at least as important to the faculty as salary. The first “crop” of prepared PaSCoR students have gone through the typical syndrome of start-up problems because of the learning curve and the unfortunate events surrounding the hurricane Georges in Puerto Rico during September 1998. These students are involved in an accelerated orientation program concerning RS-GIS prior to their summer internships of 1999. The question was asked: who are the potential industry partners? It was stated that there was a lack of profile of the cooperating organizations. During the coming months the focus will be on placing the PaSCoR student with a cooperating organization. However, the documentation and processing has just begun and has not been finalized yet. The pertinent profiles will be published on the PaSCoR web site together with the names of the selected students. Email addresses will also be published to facilitate communication between the students when away from the campus during the summer. The aim is to use the PaSCoR web site as the communication center and source(of what ?)for all PaSCoR students. Suggestions Certificate


It was suggested that the RS-GIS certificate should be more prominently recognized. It should appear as a note on the college transcript, which signifies official recognition of the program. This should be pursued as a long-term goal. In addition, the certificates should be presented in a formal ceremony to emphasize its importance as a significant achievement of the undergraduate student in the areas of science and engineering. Both faculty and students should give consideration to incorporating portfolios, a selection of representative works, produced during all phases of the program. Details of this incorporation will be developed as a natural byproduct of the program. Non-traditional students Another suggestion involves the expansion of the program horizon and “boundary” to the non-traditional students, particularly the graduated students in need of retraining, because of the changing workplace requirements, which are becoming more and more, information oriented. Expansion of the PaSCoR program as a model is a real possibility and will require a continuous and delicate relationship with non-PaSCoR faculty and administration members. These relationships within the University system (UPR and UPRM) must be developed from the beginning to secure additional funding for possible expansion of the PaSCoR program in areas such as creation of software users’groups (Regional and Island wide) and meetings with NASA Space Centers (Stennis, JPL, Goddard and Kennedy). It was suggested that efforts should be directed to find additional funding for industrial, government and academic mentors. Internship experiences The groups provided suggestions concerning the internship experiences. The entire internship experience should be viewed as a continuous process emphasizing the fact that it is a key element in the life of the student. From the students’ point of view, the experience is an important decision-maker as to whether or not the (Hispanic) student will pursue a career in a science/engineering related discipline. That is an important reason to have a strong connection between the faculty and the industry or government mentor. Since the industry or the government will benefit from the internships, because of direct contact with and accessibility to the university students, a certain amount of cost sharing is appropriate. Outcomes assessment The outcome assessment criteria should be as clear and simple as possible. Only the really important indicators need to be measured and publicized. This implies an honest and open dialogue with the interested parties or stakeholders. As mentioned before, open and frank communication with the administration and senior faculty members will ensure continuous support and understanding of the PaSCoR program, that may lead to future funding opportunities and possible combinations with other science and engineering programs. Therefore, it was suggested to have a two-day annual PaSCoR meeting: one day to meet with the Advisory Board, and a second day to inform invited administration and senior faculty members, NASA, Industry and Government Officials about the status of the PaSCoR program. Role of the Advisory Board Other suggestions included the use and the value of the Advisory Board to promote the PaSCoR program in the industry and government to make use of the talented students at an earlier age in a mutually beneficial way. In other words, industry and government should be encouraged to use


and train the students prior to graduation. To facilitate these experiences a “Home” for PaSCoR students on the Campus should be established for the purpose of exchanging information in the “New World” of PaSCoR, a world of Partnerships and unlimited opportunities not only for the students but also for the faculty, mentors and society in general. The suggestions as described should be included in a tactical implementation plan with a budget and a list of specific activities connected to and incorporated into the objectives and the funding source(s). Opportunities The idea of establishing a ground station at UPRM was briefly discussed. Next Advisory Board Meeting It was agreed to have a mid-year meeting to discuss the project progress in November, 1999, prior to the Frontiers in Education Conference, which is going to be held in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The agenda will include the definition of the partnering institutions' profile and the project assessment strategy.


Advisory Board’s First Visit

March 15, 1999

Book of Abstracts

– NASA Partnership Award for the Integration of

Research into Mathematics, Science, Engineering & Technology Undergraduate

Education (NASA PAIR)

…From Space


First Visit of PaSCoR (Partnership for Spatial and Computational Research) advisory board UNIVERSITY OF PUERTO RICO AT MAYAGÜEZ

Mayagüez Campus

March 15, 1999

SPONSORED BY NASA Partnership Award for the Integration of Research into Mathematics, Science, Engineering & Technology Undergraduate Education (NASA PAIR) University of Puerto Rico at Rio Piedras University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez LARSIP (Laboratory for Applied Remote Sensing and Image Processing


PaSCoR…From Space Advisory Board’s first visit

March 15, 1999

University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez Campus

Advisory Committee

Prof. Andrew Bernat Prof. Gerald Engel University of Texas University of Connecticut Mr. Wayne Johnson Mr. Néstor Ortíz Raytheon Systems Sandía Laboratories

Ms. Maria M. Irizarry US Geological Survey

PaSCoR Executive Committee

Dr. Ramón Vásquez Espinosa Prof. Lueny Morell Principal Investigator Co. Principal Investigator Dr. Rosa Buxeda Dr. Jorge Vélez Arocho Executive Committee Member Executive Committee Member Eng. Pieter Van der Meer Ms. Josefita González PaSCoR Facilitator and Coordinator Program Counselor

PaSCoR Researchers

Dr. Luis O. Jiménez Dr. Hamed Parsiani LARSIP Director Electric and Computer Dept. Prof. Robert Acar Prof. Pamela Jansma Mathematics Dept. Geology Department

Prof. Luis Olivieri Agricultural Sciences Department


UPRM PARTICIPANTS-ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF

Dr. Fred Soltero Harrington Acting Chancellor Mr. Ernesto Quiñones Chancellor’s Assistant Prof. Inoel Rivera López Administration Dean Dr. Omar Ruiz Academic Affairs Dean Dr. José Padovani Students Dean Prof. Sylvia Marquéz de Pirazzi Dean of Arts and Sciences Faculty Dr. Zulma Toro Dean of Engineering Department Dr. Antonio Sotomayor Rios Dean of Agricultural Sciences Faculty Dr. Jaime Pabón Dean of Business Administration Faculty



Department of Geology Laboratory for Applied Remote Sensing and Image Processing

Partnership for Spatial and Computational Research Daniel Lao Dávila


Advisor: Dr. Pamela Jansma

Shallow Seismicity and GPS-determined surface deformation in the northeastern

Caribbean.

Seismicity and marine geophysical survey data indicate that at least two, and possibly three, microplates occupy the diffuse boundary zone between the North American and Caribbean plates in the northeastern Caribbean: 1) the Gonave microplate (GM); 2) the Hispaniola platelet (HP); and 3) the Puerto Rico-northern Virgin Islands block (PRVI). HP is traversed by one to three major strike-slip faults, which suggests that HP may consist of several smaller terranes. In contrast, evidence for major, active, strike-slip faults in PRVI is, arguing for rigid-body behavior of PRVI. This project analyzes GPS-derived velocities for Hispaniola and Puerto Rico and compares them to shallow seismicity to test the validity of the microplates models and to constrain the location of major microplate-bounding features.


Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Laboratory for Applied Remote Sensing and Image Processing

Jessica Vale Figueroa


Advisor: Robert Acar

Experiments with anisotropic diffusion

The idea of multi-scale description of images is to embed the original image in a one-parameter family of derived images obtained by convolving the original image with a Gaussian kernel of variance t. Larger values of t correspond to coarser resolutions. The disadvantage is that, while removing white noise, this tends to blur edges as well. Anisotropic diffusion, by making the conduction coefficient depends on the image and its gradient, attempts to blur transversally to the edges while preserving them. The goal of this work is to experiment with conduction coefficient depending on the size of the gradient as an exponential function. The initial part of the work is to implement finite-difference schemes and study their stability.


University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez Campus Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Laboratory for Applied Remote Sensing and Image Processing Partnership for Spatial and Computational Research

Jose Ramos Barreto

Undergraduate student

Advisor: Robert Acar

Cartoon model for image analysis

One goal of low-level vision is to segment the domain into distinct surface patches belonging to different objects in the scene. A probabilistic approach is to predict how likely a given segmentation is, on the basis of low-level information. The likeliest segmentation is the one that minimizes the total "energy", sum of a prior energy and a data-dependent term. The cartoon model attempts to segment a grey-scale image into smooth shaded regions. The data-dependent term comes from the Ising model, and the prior term incorporates its gradient. The preliminary phase of this project is to implement the Ising model.

University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez Campus Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering


Luis Emit Perez Natal Undergraduate Student

Advisor: Dr. Robert Acar

Interactive methods for image denoising

Variational methods for image denoising consist of minimizing a functional that incorporates both the data and some penalty term. Choosing the penalty term to involve the total variation of the image has the advantage of cleaning speckles without smoothing out the edges. The minimization may be done by a sequence of linear iterations; the convergence rate of the iterates to the denoised image seems to depend on its smoothness. We will try to understand this dependence, starting with simple one-dimensional images.


University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez Campus Department of Geology


Monica M. Aponte Alequin


Advisor: Dr. Pamela Jansma GPS geodetic constraints on strain accumulation in the northeastern Caribbean

One of the fundamental parameters controlling the strain characteristics of subduction zones is the degree of coupling along the plate interface. The seismic coupling coefficient, or the ratio of slip along the plate interface during earthquakes to the total slip as calculated from plate tectonic models over the same time period represents this as calculated from plate tectonic models. Several workers argue for differences in seismic coupling along the Lesser Antilles subduction zones of the eastern Caribbean, with greater amounts of slip accommodated seismically in the south than in the north. Unfortunately, the Lesser Antilles subduction zone is characterized by a low convergence rate and thus has experienced few shallow thrust events during the era of modern seismic instrumentation, making estimates of seismic coupling coefficients difficult and spurious. The nature of locking along the plate interface, however, can be addressed by the analysis of geodetic surface data from overriding plate. The objective of this project is to model GPS geodetic data from sites in the eastern Caribbean to document differences in seismic coupling between the northern and southern segments of the Lesser Antilles arc and to assess if the differences correlate with variations in geologic or tectonic parameters.

University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez Campus Department of Animal Sciences


Liliseth Mora


Advisors: Luis J. Olivieri, Gustavo Martínez, and David Sotomayor Evaluation of biological and chemical parameters for major streams and rivers

in Puerto Rico and their relation to agricultural activities. Agricultural activities have a potential effect in surface and ground water quality. The problem dealing with this effect is that the potential impact has not been established in Puerto Rico. This project will use available data from the U.S. Geological Survey and the Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources, to seek linkages between agricultural activities and their potential impact on the surface water. The project will use GIS technology to analyze the data and present the results. The generated data can be used as a tool to evaluate the potential impact of agricultural activities on surface water quality and develop recommendations based on them.


University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez Campus Department of Agricultural Engineering


Lionel Cruz


Advisors: Luis J. Olivieri and Pedro Robles

Agricultural land use inventory over time in the Jobos Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (JBNERR) watershed

Land use inventory is an important part of the data needed in the decision making process and the development of efficient management plans. The area of Jobos Bay at Salinas, Puerto Rico has been going through a series of land use changes during the years that threat on the ecosystem and the quality of the ground water in the area. The objectives of this project are: 1) develop a land use classification for the watershed of the Jobos Bay for different years using remote sensing technology and satellite imagery, and 2) evaluate and compare how the land use has changed over time (land use change detection). This project will generate necessary data required to assist in the management of the Jobos Bay area.

University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez Campus Department of Biology


Nayely Martínez


Advisor: Luis J. Olivieri

Using Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems technology to assess and improve the agricultural nonpoint source pollution (NPS) problems:

NPS modeling. Non point source (NPS) pollution is a big problem in Puerto Rico and is hard to assess. This project will utilize computer modeling, which is a fast and cost effective way, to evaluate NPS pollution at a watershed level. Data already available together with the methodology developed by Olivieri et al. (1990) will be used to automatically generate the parameters required by the Agricultural Non Point Source (AGNPS) pollution model using remote sensing and geographic information system (GIS) technologies. The project will validate the AGNPS model for conditions in Puerto Rico and the data generated can be used as a tool to assist farmers in selecting the best management practices (BMPs) to reduce agricultural NPS pollution.


University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez Campus Department of Agronomy and Soils


Roy Ruiz


Advisors: Luis J. Olivieri and José Castro

Determining Highly Erodible Soils: Developing a map of potential erosion for Puerto Rico

Soil erosion has a major effect on agricultural production and could also affect the water storage capacity of our water bodies. The Revised Universal Soils Loss Equation (RUSLE) is a widely used mathematical model used to access erosion rates. As part of the Food Security Act, the U.S. Department of Agriculture developed a modification to the RUSLE model called erodibility index (EI) to determine highly erodible lands. The objective of this project is to develop a large-scale map of the highly erodible lands using EI model and GIS technology as a tool by the personnel of the USDA NRCS to prioritize these areas.

University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez Campus Department of Agricultural Engineering


Anwar Morales


Advisors: Luis J. Olivieri and Pedro Robles Recollection and development of digital archives of available data for the Jobos

Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (JBNERR) watershed. During the last 30 years, area of the Jobos Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (JBNERR) at Salinas, PR is very active in the area of research. There are 2 problems associated with the data generated by these studies 1) the data was published in hardcopy format and 2) is located at different locations and is not easily accessible. The objectives of this project are to identify and collect relevant available data, convert the data to electronic format, and establish an electronic or digital centralized data bank of relevant available data for the Jobos Bay area. This type of data bank can be used in the development of management plans for the area and by people involved in the decision making process.


University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez Campus Department Electrical and Computer Engineering


Miguel Rosa Lebrón



Ising model for image analysis One goal of low-level vision is to segment the domain into distinct surface patches belonging to different objects in the scene. A probabilistic approach is to predict how likely a given segmentation is, on the basis of low-level information. The likeliest segmentation is the one that minimizes the total “energy," sum of a prior energy and a data-dependent term.

The Ising model was introduced to model phase transitions in statistical physics; in vision, it is used mostly to model bichromatic scenes. The short-term goal of the project is to experiment with various scenes corrupted by various kinds of noise.


Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Laboratory for Applied Remote Sensing and Image Processing

Partnership for Spatial and Computational Research

Wilma I. Pérez Romero Undergraduate Student


Experiments with anisotropic diffusion

The idea of multi-scale description of images is to embed the original image in a one-parameter family of derived images obtained by convolving the original image with a Gaussian kernel of variance t. Larger values of t correspond to coarser resolutions. The disadvantage is that, while removing white noise, this tends to blur edges as well. Anisotropic diffusion, by making the conduction coefficient depends on the image and its gradient, attempts to blur transversally to the edges while preserving them. The goal of this work is to experiment with conduction coefficient depending on the size of the gradient as a rational function. The initial part of the work is to implement finite-difference schemes and study their stability.


University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez Campus Department of Computer and Electrical Engineering


Nivia Colón Díaz


Advisor: Ramón Vásquez Espinosa Comparative Study of the Changes in Vegetation on the Hispaniola Island due to

Deforestation and the Recent Effects of Hurricane George

Remote sensing means the sensing of the Earth's surface from space by making use of the properties of electromagnetic waves emitted reflected or diffracted by the sensed objects. It is the acquisition of information about an object without being in physical contact with it. The purpose is to improve natural resources management, land use and the protection of the environment. Fields of study that use remote sensing are geology, mathematics, engineering, meteorology, agriculture and others to watch environmental phenomena, sea surface temperature, eddies, currents, clouds, and others. Our world changes every day. Vegetation during years has been changing also. Possible reasons of deforestation are climate phenomena and humans. Vegetation index is a technique developed to study qualitatively and quantitatively the vegetation using spectral measures by satellites. It is the combination of spectral bands whose function is to heighten the vegetation contribution in function of the spectral answer of a surface and to attenuate other factors such as ground lightning, atmosphere and others. Using the vegetation index and remote sensing we can predict or measure the deforestation due to climate phenomena and/or human beings, we can watch changes in vegetation and study vegetation stress over some specific area. The purpose of the study is based on the concern for the weather phenomena that affects our forests, our health, environments, the world deforestation, hurricanes, and others. The area of study is the Hispaniola Island. Polar satellite images were processed to obtain the vegetation index during three consecutive years. Changes in vegetation can be seen.

University of Puerto Rico Mayagüez Campus

Department of Computer and Electrical Engineering Laboratory for Applied Remote Sensing and Image Processing


José R. Del Toro Durán Undergraduate Student

Advisor: Dr. Hamed Parsiani

Theoretical Comparison Between Fractals and Wavelets We will demonstrate the close connection between fractal image compression and wavelet transform coding. We will perform multiresolution analysis of the mappings used in fractal image compression. This analysis will provide a non-iterative transform domain-decoding algorithm and suggests a new transform domain encoding method, which can be extended to wavelets. The new wavelet/Fractal algorithm will be used to compress satellite images, to achieve a near lossless result.





Sheila Rivera Undergraduate Student


Identification of strike-slip faults in the Dominican Republic from multispectral

images and laser altimetry profiles

The North America – Caribbean plate boundary runs through the island of Hispaniola. Movement along the plate boundary is taken up by a number of strike-slip faults, including the offshore Hispaniola Deformed Belt and the onshore Septentrional Fault (SF) in the northern Dominican Republic. Active slip on the order of 8-10 mm/yr along SF was estimated from 2 and 3-D elastic models using GPS-derived velocities acquired as part of the CANAPE-project, (Caribbean North American Plate Experiment). The slip rate agrees within error with displacements determined from offset Neogene features in the Cibao Valley. Quantitative modeling of GPS-derived velocities also reveals the necessity of additional displacement in the Dominican Republic south of SF. The emphasis of this study is to use remote sensing images and SLICER laser altimeter data to identify likely sites of potentially active strike-slip faults in the central and southern Dominican Republic.

University of Puerto Rico Mayagüez Campus



Martin Hanzlik Valentin Undergraduate Student


A remote sensing investigation of the Enriquillo Fault Zone, Haiti

The left lateral strike-slip Enriquillo Fault Zone (EFZ) is one of the major structures of the North American-Caribbean plate boundary. The amount of current slip along the EFZ, however, remains controversial, ranging from less than 3 to greater than 10 mm/yr. Where the EFZ crosses the Enriquillo and Cullde-Sac basins in the Dominican Republic, the fault is easily recognized in remote sensing images, including Landsat TM, SPOT panchromatic, ERS radar scenes and Space Shuttle photographs. This project will focus on the use of multiple remote sensing datasets to map features within the left lateral shear zone, such as lineaments, folds, and other structures, and to constrain potential Neogene displacements.




Norman A. López Matos Undergraduate Student


An efficient method for lossless image compression using suboptimal, adaptive

multiplicative autoregressive models. An efficient, lossless, predictive image compression scheme is introduced, based on suboptimal, adaptive multiplicative autoregressive models. A C-algorithm will be developed which will compress satellite images with no loss in quality. The results will be compared with other lossless compression methods.



Omar Robles



Best Estimate of an Image Block Based on Higher Order Taylor Series Expansion

Image block estimation by the process of exploiting self-similarities in an image is a crucial step in iterated block matching fractal image compression. The conventional method employs a first order Taylor series expansion to approximate an image block, called a range block, by using a bigger block from the same image, called a domain block. It is hereby proposed to use a higher order Taylor series expansion to approximate the range blocks so that a higher quality compressed image can be obtained with negligible losses in terms of compression ratio.



Department of Computer and Electrical Engineering Laboratory for Applied Remote Sensing and Image Processing


Noel Rivera Moreno Undergraduate Student

Advisor: Dr. Ramón Vásquez

Image Texture Processing Toolbox in Matlab

This paper presents a image texture processing environment with a Graphical User Interface (GUI) toolbox that maximizes the utility of existing features for performing image classification and segmentation based on texture properties. This tool provides the user the option to perform processes in a user-friendly environment and future expandability. This GUI is created using Matlab.



Michael Díaz García


Advisor: Dr. Ramón Vásquez, Dr. Vidya Manian, Dr. Joel Santos

Parallel implementation of Generic Algorithm Genetic Algorithms are very useful search techniques to obtain near optimal solution for a wide range of problems. Sequential hardware architecture provides only one processor in which all tasks (in this case population) will be evaluated sequentially only one at a time. To obtain a better performance the genetic algorithm will be implemented to parallel hardware architecture. This way the processors can work simultaneously and perform the task faster.

Documents

1999 PaSCoR Annual Report - Engineeringece.uprm.edu/pascor/pascor/Microsoft Word - First Annual Report.pdf · PaSCoR First Annual Report – March 31, 1999 7 1. pre-calculus 2. chemistry