Dr. Arthur Wright Mansfield, Chief Scientist of the NASA Search and Rescue Mission, Dies

Dr. Arthur Wright Mansfield, 60, of Rockville, Maryland, died on Tuesday, November 6, 2001 of cancer at the Suburban Hospital in Bethesda, Maryland.

Dr. Mansfield served as the Chief Scientist for the NASA Search and Rescue Mission Office at Goddard. Over the last eight years, Dr. Mansfield was leading efforts to develop a fully polarimetric Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) system for search and rescue and a state-of-the-art Interferometric SAR system for terrain elevation extraction and coherent change detection applications. Based on original research and development conducted by Dr. Mansfield, these systems involved the design and implementation of sophisticated data processing and motion compensation algorithms, polarimetric-based automatic target detection techniques for locating crashed aircraft, and advanced interferometric processing methods for targeting applications and generating highly accurate digital terrain elevation maps.

Dr. Mansfield, had over twenty-five years of experience in applied mathematics, space systems, and signal processing in both research and development and operations environments. He was a recognized national expert in digital signal processing, especially synthetic aperture radar (SAR), specializing in the development and implementation of state-of-the-art radar processing algorithms. Co-holder of three U.S. Patents, he authored over 20 published papers describing original work and significant contributions in the fields of SAR auto-focusing, Interferometric SAR (IFSAR), SAR data compression and motion compensation. He was a member of several honor and professional societies, including Phi Beta Kappa, Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE), and the International Society for Optical Engineering (SPIE).

Since 1995, Dr. Mansfield was a consultant to government agencies and private companies, including NASA, U. S. Navy, U. S. Air Force, Science Applications International Corporation, User Systems Inc., BAE Systems, Computer Sciences Corporation and QSS Group Inc. He designed and implemented the portable SAR processor software for the Open Skies SAR in 1995. "As the Chief Scientist of the NASA Search and Rescue Mission Office, his contributions were numerous and invaluable in the past eight years. His original research and development in SAR polarimetry and interferometry placed the Search and Rescue Mission's SAR program on the map in the radar and search and rescue communities." David W. Affens, the Search and Rescue Mission Manager, continued by saying, he was "the heart of our radar program."

Dr. Mansfield, a member of Christ Episcopal Church in Rockville, Maryland, is survived by his wife Linda Buchanan Mansfield of Jacksonville, Florida, and step children Bill, Britt and Carson Garoni. Dr. Mansfield was predeceased by his beloved brother Anthony R. Mansfield who died on October 16, 2001. At the request of his wife, Linda, memorial contributions should be sent to Christ Episcopal Church, 107 South Washington Street, Rockville, Maryland, 20850, and/or Montgomery County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA), P. O. Box 637, Washington Grove, Maryland, 20880.