The top screen showing the hydrogen maser and cesium clocks in an adjacent isolated room used for realization of the timescale for research purposes. Students presenting their work to the USNO and Microchip Inc., visitors. (Photo: University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa)

The University of Alabama, with the support of the National Science Foundation (NSF), has established a program unlike any other in the country. It focuses on positioning, navigation, timing, and frequency (PNTF) as its own discipline, with a special emphasis on precise timing.

The Alabama Collaborative for Contemporary Education in Precision Timing (ACCEPT) is an NSF Research Traineeship (NRT) program designed to train the next generation of graduate (master’s and Ph.D.) degree holders in PNTF.

ACCEPT provides interdisciplinary training and education for physics, engineering, mathematics and computer science majors. The school hopes to make it a graduate program eventually. Enrollees are awarded a fellowship that includes a $34,000/yr stipend.

“The ACCEPT program was created because industry and government officials told us they could never find enough people in this field,” said Adam Hauser, the program’s executive director, who is also an associate professor of physics and astronomy at the university. According to Hauser “It is the only program in the nation directly addressing a larger scale workforce development in precision timing.”

Left to right: Dr. LeClair, Dr. Hauser and Dr. Bandi founded and run the ACCEPT PNT program at University of Alabama. (Photo: University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa)

ACCEPT’s Technical Director — also billed as “Time Lord” — is Thejesh Bandi, an associate professor. He reinforces Hauser’s message about the scarcity of focused talent in the area. “This field is greying,” he says. “We need young minds who will also bring in fresh ideas.”

Hauser describes the program as “a flexible multidisciplinary course curricula that includes professional development, and real-world training with our industry and government partners.”

The program’s “interdisciplinary” nature is reflected in the ACCEPT team. In addition to physics and astronomy, faculty from mathematics, electrical and computer, civil, aerospace, and mechanical engineering, as well as the communications and higher education departments, are included.

This diversity of expertise is needed for ACCEPT’s ‘holistic education” approach founded on four pillars.

1. Industry-Directed Curriculum: First, because the goal is to supply qualified graduates to fill critical national needs in industry, the foundational curriculum is based on and will continue to evolve with input from commercial entities in the PNTF space. In addition to several government agencies and labs, the ACCEPT Advisory Board includes representatives from SpectraDynamics, Aerospace Corporation, Raytheon Technologies, Microchip Technologies, L3Harris Technologies, OEWaves, Inc, Safran S.A., Northrop Grumman Corporation and the Resilient Navigation and Timing (RNT) Foundation.
2. Sustained Industry & Community Immersion: The program’s major focus is moving beyond academia. Internships and PNTF professional community events are mandatory. Students attend the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Time and Frequency Division’s time and frequency seminar each year. In their second year, they begin attending the Institute of Navigation’s annual Precise Time and Time Interval (PTTI) meeting. As their research and professional skills mature, they are expected to progress from attendees to poster presenters and speakers.
3. Professional Development: Reinforcing preparation for moving beyond the classroom, ACCEPT trains students to “… effectively work across academic, policy, governmental and industry sectors,” according to Hauser. “They need to be able to advocate as a professional to a larger audience effectively.” This means including students in programs like the university’s Speaking Studio and Capstone Center for Student Success. Communication skills, teamwork and ethics are particular focus areas.
4. Research: Bandi’s Research Quantime Lab is hosted by Professor Patrick LeClair’s Department of Physics and Astronomy. “Research projects for ACCEPT fellows and trainees are designed in conjunction with our government and industrial partners and focus on cutting-edge innovations that solve today’s problems in currently used technologies,” Le Clair said.

The lab strongly focuses on Quantum Engineering research, though there are also opportunities in Characterization and Calibration, Networking and Synchronization, and research into Precision Devices.

Click here for more information about applying for an ACCEPT fellowship or becoming an industry partner.

<p>The post ACCEPT: University of Alabama prepping next generation of PNTF experts first appeared on GPS World.</p>

Image: TCarta

TCarta Marine has introduced a Global Satellite Derived Bathymetry (G-SDB) product line developed with a new seafloor depth measurement technique that leverages Machine Learning and NASA ICESat-2 laser data. According to the company, this G-SDB offering covers the entire Red Sea, with additional sets rolled out through the end of this year.

The commercial TCarta G-SDB data sets and the seafloor measurement workflow that produces them were made possible through a Small Business Innovation Research Grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF).

According to TCarta, G-SDB data sets contain bathymetric measurements to depths of more than 30 meters, depending on water clarity, at 10-meter resolution. The depth values for every 10-meter pixel are the combined result of numerous measurements, resulting in accuracy within 10% of depth or less, and providing a seamless water bottom surface map. G-SDB will be available globally for all oceans and seas, as well as large freshwater lakes where water conditions permit.

“The new satellite-derived bathymetry technology extracts seafloor measurements by integrating multiple SDB algorithms and sensor types at scale and over broad geographic areas with a degree of confidence in data accuracy not previously possible,” said TCarta president Kyle Goodrich.

TCarta launched Project Trident with NSF funding in 2018 with the goal of refining traditional satellite-derived bathymetry technology to extend its application into areas where it had not typically been successful, usually due to the turbidity or clarity of the water column. TCarta developed the new method using machine learning to iteratively evaluate Sentinel 2A/B multispectral satellite images, and even individual pixels within images, to select the sharpest and clearest ones for application of SDB extraction.

“Thanks to the power and speed of cloud computing, we run the extraction algorithm repeatedly and on multiple satellite images acquired over the same geographic area on different dates. This dramatically increased the accuracy confidence in each depth measurement and minimizes data gaps,” Goodrich said.

To further enhance the accuracy of the SDB measurements, TCarta developed an artificial intelligence-based technique for leveraging ICESat-2 data to train the SDB algorithm and validate results. Designed for polar ice elevation and tree canopy measurements, the ICESat-2 satellite carries a laser that captures remarkably accurate bathymetric data, the company said.

TCarta Marine is a global provider of hydrospatial solutions. The TCarta product lines include high-resolution satellite-derived water depth and seafloor map products as well as 90- and 30-meter GIS-ready bathymetric data aggregated from numerous information sources.

<p>The post TCarta unveils Global Satellite Derived Bathymetry product line first appeared on GPS World.</p>