NASA Earth Day 2014

NASA Image and Video Library

2014-04-22

Students listen intently while NASA's Director, Earth Science Division, Mike Freilich, speaks at NASA's Earth Day event. The event took place at Union Station in Washington, DC on April 22, 2014. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

NASA Sun Earth

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-12-08

CME blast and subsequent impact at Earth -- This illustration shows a CME blasting off the Sun’s surface in the direction of Ea CME blast and subsequent impact at Earth -- This illustration shows a CME blasting off the Sun’s surface in the direction of Earth. This left portion is composed of an EIT 304 image superimposed on a LASCO C2 coronagraph. Two to four days later, the CME cloud is shown striking and beginning to be mostly deflected around the Earth’s magnetosphere. The blue paths emanating from the Earth’s poles represent some of its magnetic field lines. The magnetic cloud of plasma can extend to 30 million miles wide by the time it reaches earth. These storms, which occur frequently, can disrupt communications and navigational equipment, damage satellites, and even cause blackouts. (Objects in the illustration are not drawn to scale.) Credit: NASA/GSFC/SOHO/ESA To learn more go to the SOHO website: sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/home.html To learn more about NASA's Sun Earth Day go here: sunearthday.nasa.gov/2010/index.php

Mississippi Sound remote sensing study. [NASA Earth Resources Laboratory seasonal experiments

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Atwell, B. H.; Thomann, G. C.

1973-01-01

A study of the Mississippi Sound was initiated in early 1971 by personnel of NASA Earth Resources Laboratory. Four separate seasonal experiments consisting of quasi-synoptic remote and surface measurements over the entire area were planned. Approximately 80 stations distributed throughout Mississippi Sound were occupied. Surface water temperature and secchi extinction depth were measured at each station and water samples were collected for water quality analyses. The surface distribution of three water parameters of interest from a remote sensing standpoint - temperature, salinity and chlorophyll content - are displayed in map form. Areal variations in these parameters are related to tides and winds. A brief discussion of the general problem of radiative measurements of water temperature is followed by a comparison of remotely measured temperatures (PRT-5) to surface vessel measurements.

The AGI-ASU-NASA Triad Program for K-12 Earth and Space Science Education

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pacheco, H. A.; Semken, S. C.; Taylor, W.; Benbow, A. E.

2011-12-01

The NASA Triad program of the American Geological Institute (AGI) and Arizona State University School of Earth and Space Exploration (ASU SESE) is a three-part effort to promote Earth and space science literacy and STEM education at the national level, funded by NASA through a cooperative agreement starting in 2010. NASA Triad comprises (1) infusion of NASA STEM content into AGI's secondary Earth science curricula; (2) national lead teacher professional development workshops; and (3) an online professional development guide for teachers running NASA STEM workshops. The Triad collaboration draws on AGI's inquiry-based curriculum and teacher professional-development resources and workforce-building programs; ASU SESE's spectrum of research in Mars and Moon exploration, astrobiology, meteoritics, Earth systems, and cyberlearning; and direct access to NASA facilities and dynamic education resources. Triad milestones to date include integration of NASA resources into AGI's print and online curricula and two week-long, national-scale, teacher-leader professional development academies in Earth and space sciences presented at ASU Dietz Museum in Tempe and NASA Johnson Space Flight Center in Houston. Robust front-end and formative assessments of these program components, including content gains, teacher-perceived classroom relevance, teacher-cohort lesson development, and teacher workshop design, have been conducted. Quantitative and qualitative findings from these assessment activities have been applied to identify best and most effective practices, which will be disseminated nationally and globally through AGI and NASA channels.

NASA's Earth Science Enterprise: 1998 Education Catalog

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1998-01-01

This catalog presents a reference guide to NASA Earth science education programs and products. The topics include: 1) Student Support (Elementary and Secondary, Undergraduate and Graduate, Postgraduate, and Postdoctorate); 2) Teacher/Faculty Preparation and Enhancement; 3) Systemic Change; 4) Curriculum Support; and 5) Resources.

Bridging the Gap Between NASA Earth Observations and Decision Makers Through the NASA Develop National Program

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Remillard, C. M.; Madden, M.; Favors, J.; Childs-Gleason, L.; Ross, K. W.; Rogers, L.; Ruiz, M. L.

2016-06-01

The NASA DEVELOP National Program bridges the gap between NASA Earth Science and society by building capacity in both participants and partner organizations that collaborate to conduct projects. These rapid feasibility projects highlight the capabilities of satellite and aerial Earth observations. Immersion of decision and policy makers in these feasibility projects increases awareness of the capabilities of Earth observations and contributes to the tools and resources available to support enhanced decision making. This paper will present the DEVELOP model, best practices, and two case studies, the Colombia Ecological Forecasting project and the Miami-Dade County Ecological Forecasting project, that showcase the successful adoption of tools and methods for decision making. Through over 90 projects each year, DEVELOP is always striving for the innovative, practical, and beneficial use of NASA Earth science data.

NASA's Earth Observing Data and Information System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mitchell, Andrew E.; Behnke, Jeanne; Lowe, Dawn; Ramapriyan, H. K.

2009-01-01

NASA's Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) has been a central component of NASA Earth observation program for over 10 years. It is one of the largest civilian science information system in the US, performing ingest, archive and distribution of over 3 terabytes of data per day much of which is from NASA s flagship missions Terra, Aqua and Aura. The system supports a variety of science disciplines including polar processes, land cover change, radiation budget, and most especially global climate change. The EOSDIS data centers, collocated with centers of science discipline expertise, archive and distribute standard data products produced by science investigator-led processing systems. Key to the success of EOSDIS is the concept of core versus community requirements. EOSDIS supports a core set of services to meet specific NASA needs and relies on community-developed services to meet specific user needs. EOSDIS offers a metadata registry, ECHO (Earth Observing System Clearinghouse), through which the scientific community can easily discover and exchange NASA s Earth science data and services. Users can search, manage, and access the contents of ECHO s registries (data and services) through user-developed and community-tailored interfaces or clients. The ECHO framework has become the primary access point for cross-Data Center search-and-order of EOSDIS and other Earth Science data holdings archived at the EOSDIS data centers. ECHO s Warehouse Inventory Search Tool (WIST) is the primary web-based client for discovering and ordering cross-discipline data from the EOSDIS data centers. The architecture of the EOSDIS provides a platform for the publication, discovery, understanding and access to NASA s Earth Observation resources and allows for easy integration of new datasets. The EOSDIS also has developed several methods for incorporating socioeconomic data into its data collection. Over the years, we have developed several methods for determining

NASA Earth Day 2014

NASA Image and Video Library

2014-04-22

An attendee of NASA's Earth Day event observes the glow from a bracelet that is part of an exhibit at the event. The Earth Day event took place at Union Station in Washington, DC on April 22, 2014. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

NASA'S Water Resources Element Within the Applied Sciences Program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Toll, David; Doorn, Bradley; Engman, Edwin

2010-01-01

The NASA Applied Sciences Program works within NASA Earth sciences to leverage investment of satellite and information systems to increase the benefits to society through the widest practical use of NASA research results. Such observations provide a huge volume of valuable data in both near-real-time and extended back nearly 50 years about the Earth's land surface conditions such as land cover type, vegetation type and health, precipitation, snow, soil moisture, and water levels and radiation. Observations of this type combined with models and analysis enable satellite-based assessment of numerous water resources management activities. The primary goal of the Earth Science Applied Science Program is to improve future and current operational systems by infusing them with scientific knowledge of the Earth system gained through space-based observation, model results, and development and deployment of enabling technologies, systems, and capabilities. Water resources is one of eight elements in the Applied Sciences Program and it addresses concerns and decision making related to water quantity and water quality. With increasing population pressure and water usage coupled with climate variability and change, water issues are being reported by numerous groups as the most critical environmental problems facing us in the 21st century. Competitive uses and the prevalence of river basins and aquifers that extend across boundaries engender political tensions between communities, stakeholders and countries. Mitigating these conflicts and meeting water demands requires using existing resources more efficiently. The potential crises and conflicts arise when water is competed among multiple uses. For example, urban areas, environmental and recreational uses, agriculture, and energy production compete for scarce resources, not only in the Western U.S. but throughout much of the U.S. but also in many parts of the world. In addition to water availability issues, water quality related

NASA's future Earth observation plans

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Neeck, Steven P.; Paules, Granville E.; McCuistion Ramesh, J. D.

2004-11-01

NASA's Science Mission Directorate, working with its domestic and international partners, provides accurate, objective scientific data and analysis to advance our understanding of Earth system processes. Learning more about these processes will enable improved prediction capability for climate, weather, and natural hazards. Earth interactions occur on a continuum of spatial and temporal scales ranging from short-term weather to long-term climate, and from local and regional to global. Quantitatively describing these changes means precisely measuring from space scores of biological and geophysical parameters globally. New missions that SMD will launch in the coming decade will complement the first series of the Earth Observing System. These next generation systematic measurement missions are being planned to extend or enhance the record of science-quality data necessary for understanding and predicting global change. These missions include the NPOESS Preparatory Project, Ocean Surface Topography Mission, Global Precipitation Measurement, Landsat Data Continuity Mission, and an aerosol polarimetry mission called Glory. New small explorer missions will make first of a kind Earth observations. The Orbiting Carbon Observatory will measure sources and sinks of carbon to help the Nation and the world formulate effective strategies to constrain the amount of this greenhouse gas in the atmosphere. Aquarius will measure ocean surface salinity which is key to ocean circulation in the North Atlantic that produces the current era's mild climate in northern Europe. HYDROS will measure soil moisture globally. Soil moisture is critical to agriculture and to managing fresh water resources. NASA continues to design, develop and launch the Nation's civilian operational environmental satellites, in both polar and geostationary orbits, by agreement with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). NASA plans to develop an advanced atmospheric sounder, GIFTS, for

Evolving Metadata in NASA Earth Science Data Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mitchell, A.; Cechini, M. F.; Walter, J.

2011-12-01

NASA's effort to continually evolve its data systems led ECHO to enhancing the method in which it receives inventory metadata from the data centers to allow for multiple metadata formats including ISO 19115. ECHO's metadata model will also be mapped to the NASA-specific convention for ingesting science metadata into the ECHO system. As NASA's new Earth Science missions and data centers are migrating to the ISO 19115 standards, EOSDIS is developing metadata management resources to assist in the reading, writing and parsing ISO 19115 compliant metadata. To foster interoperability with other agencies and international partners, NASA is working to ensure that a common ISO 19115 convention is developed, enhancing data sharing capabilities and other data analysis initiatives. NASA is also investigating the use of ISO 19115 standards to encode data quality, lineage and provenance with stored values. A common metadata standard across NASA's Earth Science data systems promotes interoperability, enhances data utilization and removes levels of uncertainty found in data products.

NASA Center for Computational Sciences: History and Resources

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2000-01-01

The Nasa Center for Computational Sciences (NCCS) has been a leading capacity computing facility, providing a production environment and support resources to address the challenges facing the Earth and space sciences research community.

NASA Earth Day 2014

NASA Image and Video Library

2014-04-22

NASA's Administrator, Charles Bolden, conducts an experiment using circuits at NASA's Earth Day event. The event took place at Union Station in Washington, DC on April 22, 2014. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

NASA Earth Day 2014

NASA Image and Video Library

2014-04-22

NASA's Administrator, Charles Bolden watches as some students conduct an experiment with a balloon at NASA's Earth Day event. The event took place at Union Station in Washington, DC on April 22, 2014. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

NASA Tools for Climate Impacts on Water Resources

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Toll, David; Doorn, Brad

2010-01-01

Climate and environmental change are expected to fundamentally alter the nation's hydrological cycle and water availability. Satellites provide global or near-global coverage using instruments, allowing for consistent, well-calibrated, and equivalent-quality data of the Earth system. A major goal for NASA climate and environmental change research is to create multi-instrument data sets to span the multi-decadal time scales of climate change and to combine these data with those from modeling and surface-based observing systems to improve process understanding and predictions. NASA and Earth science data and analyses will ultimately enable more accurate climate prediction, and characterization of uncertainties. NASA's Applied Sciences Program works with other groups, including other federal agencies, to transition demonstrated observational capabilities to operational capabilities. A summary of some of NASA tools for improved water resources management will be presented.

The Earth Resources Data Project

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Harwood, P.

1981-01-01

The Council of State Planning Agencies, in consultation with the National Governor's Association and NASA, initiated the Earth Resources Data Project to encourage the appropriate application of cost-effective science and technology to state natural resources issues and problems. This project was established to provide a focal point for identifying those issues associated with state use of remote sensing and related technology. One project goal is to elevate to the consciousness of state policy and program officials new technologies, such as LANDSAT, by association with major issues to which policy officials are attuned. The project assists the coordination between the states and NASA and promotes communication on those issues. A related project objective is to encourage technical assistance opportunities for states that will promote better use of remote sensing and natural resources data in state programs.

NASA Earth Resources Survey Symposium. Volume 1-B: Geology, Information Systems and Services

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1975-01-01

A symposium was conducted on the practical applications of earth resources survey technology including utilization and results of data from programs involving LANDSAT, the Skylab earth resources experiment package, and aircraft. Topics discussed include geological structure, landform surveys, energy and extractive resources, and information systems and services.

NASA CORE: Central Operation of Resources for Educators-Educational Materials Catalog

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1998-01-01

The NASA Central Operation of Resources for Educators (CORE), established in cooperation with Lorain County Joint Vocational School, serves as the worldwide distribution center for NASA-produced educational materials. For a minimal charge, CORE will provide a valuable service to educators unable to visit one of the NASA Educator Resource Centers by making NASA educational audiovisual materials available through its mail order service. Through CORE's distribution network, the public has access to more than 200 videocassette, slide, and CD-ROM programs, chronicling NASA!s state-of-the-art research and technology. Through the use of these curriculum supplement materials, teachers can provide their students with the latest in aerospace information. NASAs educational materials on aeronautics and space provide a springboard for classroom discussion of life science, physical science, astronomy, energy, Earth resources, environment, mathematics, and career education.

NASA Earth Day 2014

NASA Image and Video Library

2014-04-22

Students listen intently while an exhibitor conducts an experiment at NASA's Earth Day event. The event took place at Union Station in Washington, DC on April 22, 2014. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

NASA Earth Day 2014

NASA Image and Video Library

2014-04-22

Students listen intently while Astronaut John Mace Grunsfeld speaks at NASA's Earth Day event. The event took place at Union Station in Washington, DC on April 22, 2014. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

Tools You Can Use! E/PO Resources for Scientists and Faculty to Use and Contribute To: EarthSpace and the NASA SMD Scientist Speaker’s Bureau

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Buxner, Sanlyn; Shupla, C.; CoBabe-Ammann, E.; Dalton, H.; Shipp, S.

2013-10-01

The Planetary Science Education and Public Outreach (E/PO) Forum has helped to create two tools that are designed to help scientists and higher-education science faculty make stronger connections with their audiences: EarthSpace, an education clearinghouse for the undergraduate classroom; and NASA SMD Scientist Speaker’s Bureau, an online portal to help bring science - and scientists - to the public. Are you looking for Earth and space science higher education resources and materials? Come explore EarthSpace, a searchable database of undergraduate classroom materials for faculty teaching Earth and space sciences at both the introductory and upper division levels! In addition to classroom materials, EarthSpace provides news and information about educational research, best practices, and funding opportunities. All materials submitted to EarthSpace are peer reviewed, ensuring that the quality of the EarthSpace materials is high and also providing important feedback to authors. Your submission is a reviewed publication! Learn more, search for resources, join the listserv, sign up to review materials, and submit your own at http://www.lpi.usra.edu/earthspace. Join the new NASA SMD Scientist Speaker’s Bureau, an online portal to connect scientists interested in getting involved in E/PO projects (e.g., giving public talks, classroom visits, and virtual connections) with audiences! The Scientist Speaker’s Bureau helps educators and institutions connect with NASA scientists who are interested in giving presentations, based upon the topic, logistics, and audience. The information input into the database will be used to help match scientists (you!) with the requests being placed by educators. All Earth and space scientists funded by NASA - and/or engaged in active research using NASA’s science - are invited to become part of the Scientist Speaker’s Bureau. Submit your information into the short form at http://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/speaker.

Sun-Earth Day: Growth and Impact of NASA E/PO Program

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hawkins, I.; Thieman, J.

2004-12-01

Over the past six years, the NASA Sun-Earth Connection Education Forum has sponsored and coordinated education public outreach events to highlight NASA Sun-Earth Connection research and discoveries. Our strategy involves using celestial phenomena, such as total solar eclipses and the Transit of Venus to celebrate Sun-Earth Day, a popular Education and Public Outreach international program. Sun-Earth Day also focuses attention on Equinoxes and Solstices to engage K-12 schools and the general public in space science activities, demonstrations, and interactions with space scientists. In collaboration with partners that include the Exploratorium, Maryland Science Center, NASA Connect, Sun-Earth Connection missions, Ideum, and others, we produce webcasts, other multi-media, and print resources for use by school and informal educators nation-wide. We provide training and professional development to K-12 educators, museum personnel, amateur astronomers, Girl Scout leaders, etc., so they can implement their own outreach programs taking advantage of our resources. A coordinated approach promotes multiple programs occurring each year under a common theme. We will report lessons learned from several years of experience, and strategies for growth and sustainability. We will also share our plans for "Ancient Observatories - Timeless Knowledge" our theme for Sun-Earth Day 2005, which will feature solar alignments at ancient sites that mark the equinoxes and/or solstices. The video and webcast programming will feature several sites including: Chaco Canyon (New Mexico), Hovenweep (Utah), and Chichen Itza (Mexico). Many of these sites present unique opportunities to develop authentic cultural connections to Native Americans, highlighting the importance of the Sun across the ages.

Bridging the Gap between Earth Science and Students: An Integrated Approach using NASA Earth Science Climate Data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Alston, Erica J.; Chambers, Lin H.; Phelps, Carrie S.; Oots, Penny C.; Moore, Susan W.; Diones, Dennis D.

2007-01-01

Under the auspices of the Department of Education's No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, beginning in 2007 students will be tested in the science area. There are many techniques that educators can employ to teach students science. The use of authentic materials or in this case authentic data can be an engaging alternative to more traditional methods. An Earth science classroom is a great place for the integration of authentic data and science concepts. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has a wealth of high quality Earth science data available to the general public. For instance, the Atmospheric Science Data Center (ASDC) at NASA s Langley Research Center houses over 800 Earth science data sets related to Earth's radiation budget, clouds, aerosols and tropospheric chemistry. These data sets were produced to increase academic understanding of the natural and anthropogenic factors that influence global climate; however, a major hurdle in using authentic data is the size of the data and data documentation. To facilitate the use of these data sets for educational purposes, the Mentoring and inquirY using NASA Data on Atmospheric and Earth science for Teachers and Amateurs (MY NASA DATA) project has been established to systematically support educational activities at all levels of formal and informal education. The MY NASA DATA project accomplishes this by reducing these large data holdings to microsets that are easily accessible and explored by K-12 educators and students though the project's Web page. MY NASA DATA seeks to ease the difficulty in understanding the jargon-heavy language of Earth science. This manuscript will show how MY NASA DATA provides resources for NCLB implementation in the science area through an overview of the Web site, the different microsets available, the lesson plans and computer tools, and an overview of educational support mechanisms.

Using NASA Products of the Water Cycle for Improved Water Resources Management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Toll, D. L.; Doorn, B.; Engman, E. T.; Lawford, R. G.

2010-12-01

NASA Water Resources works within the Earth sciences and GEO community to leverage investments of space-based observation and modeling results including components of the hydrologic cycle into water resources management decision support tools for the goal towards the sustainable use of water. These Earth science hydrologic related observations and modeling products provide a huge volume of valuable data in both near-real-time and extended back nearly 50 years. Observations of this type enable assessment of numerous water resources management issues including water scarcity, extreme events of drought and floods, and water quality. Examples of water cycle estimates make towards the contributions to the water management community include snow cover and snowpack, soil moisture, evapotranspiration, precipitation, streamflow and ground water. The availability of water is also contingent on the quality of water and hence water quality is an important part of NASA Water Resources. Water quality activities include both nonpoint source (agriculture land use, ecosystem disturbances, impervious surfaces, etc.) and direct remote sensing ( i.e., turbidity, algae, aquatic vegetation, temperature, etc.). . The NASA Water Resources Program organizes its projects under five functional themes: 1) stream-flow and flood forecasting; 2) water consumptive use and irrigation (includes evapotranspiration); 3) drought; 4) water quality; and 5) climate impacts on water resources. Currently NASA Water Resources is supporting 21 funded projects with 11 additional projects being concluded. To maximize the use of NASA water cycle measurements end to projects are supported with strong links with decision support systems. The NASA Water Resources Program works closely with other government agencies NOAA, USDA-FAS, USGS, AFWA, USAID, universities, and non-profit, international, and private sector organizations. International water cycle applications include: 1) Famine Early Warning System Network

NASA and the National Climate Assessment: Promoting awareness of NASA Earth science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leidner, A. K.

2014-12-01

NASA Earth science observations, models, analyses, and applications made significant contributions to numerous aspects of the Third National Climate Assessment (NCA) report and are contributing to sustained climate assessment activities. The agency's goal in participating in the NCA was to ensure that NASA scientific resources were made available to understand the current state of climate change science and climate change impacts. By working with federal agency partners and stakeholder communities to develop and write the report, the agency was able to raise awareness of NASA climate science with audiences beyond the traditional NASA community. To support assessment activities within the NASA community, the agency sponsored two competitive programs that not only funded research and tools for current and future assessments, but also increased capacity within our community to conduct assessment-relevant science and to participate in writing assessments. Such activities fostered the ability of graduate students, post-docs, and senior researchers to learn about the science needs of climate assessors and end-users, which can guide future research activities. NASA also contributed to developing the Global Change Information System, which deploys information from the NCA to scientists, decision makers, and the public, and thus contributes to climate literacy. Finally, NASA satellite imagery and animations used in the Third NCA helped the pubic and decision makers visualize climate changes and were frequently used in social media to communicate report key findings. These resources are also key for developing educational materials that help teachers and students explore regional climate change impacts and opportunities for responses.

NASA Benefits Earth

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Robinson, Julie A.

2009-01-01

This slide presentation reviews several ways in which NASA research has benefited Earth and made life on Earth better. These innovations include: solar panels, recycled pavement, thermometer pill, invisible braces for straightening teeth, LASIK, aerodynamic helmets and tires for bicycles, cataract detection, technology that was used to remove Anthrax spores from mail handling facilities, study of atomic oxygen erosion of materials has informed the restoration of artwork, macroencapsulation (a potential mechanism to deliver anti cancer drugs to specific sites), and research on a salmonella vaccine. With research on the International Space Station just beginning, there will be opportunities for entrepreneurs and other government agencies to access space for their research and development. As well as NASA continuing its own research on human health and technology development.

NASA Remote Sensing Technologies for Improved Integrated Water Resources Management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Toll, D. L.; Doorn, B.; Searby, N. D.; Entin, J. K.; Lee, C. M.

2014-12-01

This presentation will emphasize NASA's water research, applications, and capacity building activities using satellites and models to contribute to water issues including water availability, transboundary water, flooding and droughts for improved Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM). NASA's free and open exchange of Earth data observations and products helps engage and improve integrated observation networks and enables national and multi-national regional water cycle research and applications that are especially useful in data sparse regions of most developing countries. NASA satellite and modeling products provide a huge volume of valuable data extending back over 50 years across a broad range of spatial (local to global) and temporal (hourly to decadal) scales and include many products that are available in near real time (see earthdata.nasa.gov). To further accomplish these objectives NASA works to actively partner with public and private groups (e.g. federal agencies, universities, NGO's, and industry) in the U.S. and international community to ensure the broadest use of its satellites and related information and products and to collaborate with regional end users who know the regions and their needs best. Key objectives of this talk will highlight NASA's Water Resources and Capacity Building Programs with their objective to discover and demonstrate innovative uses and practical benefits of NASA's advanced system technologies for improved water management in national and international applications. The event will help demonstrate the strong partnering and the use of satellite data to provide synoptic and repetitive spatial coverage helping water managers' deal with complex issues. The presentation will also demonstrate how NASA is a major contributor to water tasks and activities in GEOSS (Global Earth Observing System of Systems) and GEO (Group on Earth Observations).

Langley's DEVELOP Team Applies NASA's Earth Observations to Address Environmental Issues Across the Country and Around the Globe

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Childs, Lauren M.; Miller, Joseph E.

2011-01-01

The DEVELOP National Program was established over a decade ago to provide students with experience in the practical application of NASA Earth science research results. As part of NASA's Applied Sciences Program, DEVELOP focuses on bridging the gap between NASA technology and the public through projects that innovatively use NASA Earth science resources to address environmental issues. Cultivating a diverse and dynamic group of students and young professionals, the program conducts applied science research projects during three terms each year (spring, summer, and fall) that focus on topics ranging from water resource management to natural disasters.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Earth Science Research for Energy Management. Part 1; Overview of Energy Issues and an Assessment of the Potential for Application of NASA Earth Science Research

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zell, E.; Engel-Cox, J.

2005-01-01

Effective management of energy resources is critical for the U.S. economy, the environment, and, more broadly, for sustainable development and alleviating poverty worldwide. The scope of energy management is broad, ranging from energy production and end use to emissions monitoring and mitigation and long-term planning. Given the extensive NASA Earth science research on energy and related weather and climate-related parameters, and rapidly advancing energy technologies and applications, there is great potential for increased application of NASA Earth science research to selected energy management issues and decision support tools. The NASA Energy Management Program Element is already involved in a number of projects applying NASA Earth science research to energy management issues, with a focus on solar and wind renewable energy and developing interests in energy modeling, short-term load forecasting, energy efficient building design, and biomass production.

NASA's Earth Science Data Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ramapriyan, H. K.

2015-01-01

NASA's Earth Science Data Systems (ESDS) Program has evolved over the last two decades, and currently has several core and community components. Core components provide the basic operational capabilities to process, archive, manage and distribute data from NASA missions. Community components provide a path for peer-reviewed research in Earth Science Informatics to feed into the evolution of the core components. The Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) is a core component consisting of twelve Distributed Active Archive Centers (DAACs) and eight Science Investigator-led Processing Systems spread across the U.S. The presentation covers how the ESDS Program continues to evolve and benefits from as well as contributes to advances in Earth Science Informatics.

NASA Earth Resources Survey Symposium. Volume 1-A: Agriculture, environment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1975-01-01

A number of papers dealing with the practical application of imagery obtained from remote sensors on LANDSAT satellites, the Skylab Earth resources experiment package, and aircraft to problems in agriculture and the environment were presented. Some of the more important topics that were covered included: range management and resources, environmental monitoring and management, crop growth and inventory, land management, multispectral band scanners, forest management, mapping, marshlands, strip mining, water quality and pollution, ecology.

NASA's Earth science flight program status

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Neeck, Steven P.; Volz, Stephen M.

2010-10-01

NASA's strategic goal to "advance scientific understanding of the changing Earth system to meet societal needs" continues the agency's legacy of expanding human knowledge of the Earth through space activities, as mandated by the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958. Over the past 50 years, NASA has been the world leader in developing space-based Earth observing systems and capabilities that have fundamentally changed our view of our planet and have defined Earth system science. The U.S. National Research Council report "Earth Observations from Space: The First 50 Years of Scientific Achievements" published in 2008 by the National Academy of Sciences articulates those key achievements and the evolution of the space observing capabilities, looking forward to growing potential to address Earth science questions and enable an abundance of practical applications. NASA's Earth science program is an end-to-end one that encompasses the development of observational techniques and the instrument technology needed to implement them. This includes laboratory testing and demonstration from surface, airborne, or space-based platforms; research to increase basic process knowledge; incorporation of results into complex computational models to more fully characterize the present state and future evolution of the Earth system; and development of partnerships with national and international organizations that can use the generated information in environmental forecasting and in policy, business, and management decisions. Currently, NASA's Earth Science Division (ESD) has 14 operating Earth science space missions with 6 in development and 18 under study or in technology risk reduction. Two Tier 2 Decadal Survey climate-focused missions, Active Sensing of CO2 Emissions over Nights, Days and Seasons (ASCENDS) and Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT), have been identified in conjunction with the U.S. Global Change Research Program and initiated for launch in the 2019

Understanding MSFC/Earth Science Office Within NASA

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rickman, Doug

2010-01-01

This slide presentation reviews the role of the Marshal's Earth Science Office (ESO) and the relationship of the office to the NASA administration, the National Research Council and NASA's Science Directorate. The presentation also reviews the strategic goals for Earth Science, and briefly reviews the ESO's international partners that NASA is cooperating with.

Remote Sensing of Earth Resources (1970-1973 Supplement): A Literature Survey with Indexes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1975-01-01

This literature survey cites 4930 reports, articles and other documents that were announced between March 1970 and December 1973 in Scientific and Technical Aerospace Reports (STAR) or in International Aerospace Abstracts (IAA). This publication supplements Remote Sensing of Earth Resources (NASA-SP-7036) that cited documents announced between January 1962 and February 1970. Beginning in 1974, a quarterly publication, Earth Resources, A Continuing Bibliography (NASA-SP-7041) was initiated. The first issue, NASA-SP-7041(01), was published in June covering the document announced between January 1974 and March 1974. The coverage includes documents related to the identification and evaluation by means of sensors in spacecraft and aircraft of vegetation, minerals, and other natural resources, and the techniques and potentialities of surveying and keeping up-to-date inventories of such riches. It encompasses studies of such natural phenomena as earthquakes, volcanoes, ocean currents and magnetic fields; and such cultural phenomena as cities, transportation networks, and irrigation systems. Descriptions of the components and use of remote sensing and geophysical instrumentation, their subsystems, observational procedures, signature and analyses and interpretive techniques for gathering data are also included. Reports generated under NASA's Earth Resources Survey Program and announced during the period covered by this bibliography are included.

Study of on-board compression of earth resources data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Habibi, A.

1975-01-01

The current literature on image bandwidth compression was surveyed and those methods relevant to compression of multispectral imagery were selected. Typical satellite multispectral data was then analyzed statistically and the results used to select a smaller set of candidate bandwidth compression techniques particularly relevant to earth resources data. These were compared using both theoretical analysis and simulation, under various criteria of optimality such as mean square error (MSE), signal-to-noise ratio, classification accuracy, and computational complexity. By concatenating some of the most promising techniques, three multispectral data compression systems were synthesized which appear well suited to current and future NASA earth resources applications. The performance of these three recommended systems was then examined in detail by all of the above criteria. Finally, merits and deficiencies were summarized and a number of recommendations for future NASA activities in data compression proposed.

NASA's Earth Science Data Systems Standards Process Experiences

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ullman, Richard E.; Enloe, Yonsook

2007-01-01

NASA has impaneled several internal working groups to provide recommendations to NASA management on ways to evolve and improve Earth Science Data Systems. One of these working groups is the Standards Process Group (SPC). The SPG is drawn from NASA-funded Earth Science Data Systems stakeholders, and it directs a process of community review and evaluation of proposed NASA standards. The working group's goal is to promote interoperability and interuse of NASA Earth Science data through broader use of standards that have proven implementation and operational benefit to NASA Earth science by facilitating the NASA management endorsement of proposed standards. The SPC now has two years of experience with this approach to identification of standards. We will discuss real examples of the different types of candidate standards that have been proposed to NASA's Standards Process Group such as OPeNDAP's Data Access Protocol, the Hierarchical Data Format, and Open Geospatial Consortium's Web Map Server. Each of the three types of proposals requires a different sort of criteria for understanding the broad concepts of "proven implementation" and "operational benefit" in the context of NASA Earth Science data systems. We will discuss how our Standards Process has evolved with our experiences with the three candidate standards.

Earth resources research data facility R and D file. Volume 1: Documentary data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1971-01-01

Cumulative listings of the R and D file data are presented. All Earth Resources Program information available at the Manned Spacecraft Center is in Vol. 1. Sensor data collected during flights over NASA test sites and from missions flown by subcontractors supporting the Earth Resources Survey Program are included in Vol. 2.

NASA SMD and DPS Resources for Higher Education Faculty

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Buxner, Sanlyn; Grier, Jennifer; Meinke, Bonnie; Schneider, Nick; Low, Rusty; Schultz, Greg; Manning, James; Fraknoi, Andrew; Gross, Nicholas

2015-11-01

The NASA Education and Public Outreach Forums have developed and provided resources for higher education for the past six years through a cooperative agreement with NASA’s Science Mission Directorate. Collaborations with science organizations, including AAS’s Division of Planetary Sciences, have resulted in more tools, professional training opportunities, and dissemination of resources for teaching in the undergraduate classroom. Resources have been developed through needs assessments of the community and with input from scientists and undergraduate instructors. All resources are freely available.NASA Wavelength (nasawavelength.org) is a collection of digital peer reviewed Earth and space science resources for formal and informal educators of all levels. All resources were developed through funding of the NASA Science Mission Directorate and have undergone a peer-review process through which educators and scientists ensure the content is accurate and useful in an educational setting. Within NASA Wavelength are specific lists of activities and resources for higher education faculty. Additionally, several resources have been developed for introductory college classrooms. The DPS Discovery slide sets are 3-slide presentations that can be incorporated into college lectures to keep classes apprised of the fast moving field of planetary science (http://dps.aas.org/education/dpsdisc). The “Astro 101 slide sets”, developed by the Astro Forum, are presentations 5-7 slides in length on a new development or discovery from a NASA Astrophysics mission relevant to topics in introductory astronomy courses of discoveries not yet in textbooks. Additional resources guides are available for Astro 101 courses and include cosmology and exoplanets. (https://www.astrosociety.org/education/resources-for-the-higher-education-audience/).Professional development opportunities are available to faculty to increase content knowledge and pedagogical tools. These include workshops at

NASA's Current Earth Science Program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Charles, Leslie Bermann

1998-01-01

NASA's Earth science program is a scientific endeavor whose goal is to provide long-term understanding of the Earth as an integrated system of land, water, air and life. A highly developed scientific knowledge of the Earth system is necessary to understand how the environment affects humanity, and how humanity may be affecting the environment. The remote sensing technologies used to gather the global environmental data used in such research also have numerous practical applications. Current applications of remote sensing data demonstrate their practical benefits in areas such as the monitoring of crop conditions and yields, natural disasters and forest fires; hazardous waste clean up; and tracking of vector-borne diseases. The long-term availability of environmental data is essential for the continuity of important research and applications efforts. NASA's Earth observation program has undergone many changes in the recent past.

NASA Earth Science Education Collaborative

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schwerin, T. G.; Callery, S.; Chambers, L. H.; Riebeek Kohl, H.; Taylor, J.; Martin, A. M.; Ferrell, T.

2016-12-01

The NASA Earth Science Education Collaborative (NESEC) is led by the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies with partners at three NASA Earth science Centers: Goddard Space Flight Center, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and Langley Research Center. This cross-organization team enables the project to draw from the diverse skills, strengths, and expertise of each partner to develop fresh and innovative approaches for building pathways between NASA's Earth-related STEM assets to large, diverse audiences in order to enhance STEM teaching, learning and opportunities for learners throughout their lifetimes. These STEM assets include subject matter experts (scientists, engineers, and education specialists), science and engineering content, and authentic participatory and experiential opportunities. Specific project activities include authentic STEM experiences through NASA Earth science themed field campaigns and citizen science as part of international GLOBE program (for elementary and secondary school audiences) and GLOBE Observer (non-school audiences of all ages); direct connections to learners through innovative collaborations with partners like Odyssey of the Mind, an international creative problem-solving and design competition; and organizing thematic core content and strategically working with external partners and collaborators to adapt and disseminate core content to support the needs of education audiences (e.g., libraries and maker spaces, student research projects, etc.). A scaffolded evaluation is being conducted that 1) assesses processes and implementation, 2) answers formative evaluation questions in order to continuously improve the project; 3) monitors progress and 4) measures outcomes.

NASA Earthdata Forums: An Interactive Venue for Discussions of NASA Data and Earth Science

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hearty, Thomas J., III; Acker, James; Meyer, Dave; Northup, Emily A.; Bagwell, Ross E.

2017-01-01

We demonstrate how students and teachers can register to use the NASA Earthdata Forums. The NASA Earthdata forums provide a venue where registered users can pose questions regarding NASA Earth science data in a moderated forum, and have their questions answered by data experts and scientific subject matter experts connected with NASA Earth science missions and projects. Since the forums are also available for research scientists to pose questions and discuss pertinent topics, the NASA Earthdata Forums provide a unique opportunity for students and teachers to gain insight from expert scientists and enhance their knowledge of the many different ways that NASA Earth observations can be used in research and applications.

3D Online Visualization and Synergy of NASA A-Train Data Using Google Earth

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chen, Aijun; Kempler, Steven; Leptoukh, Gregory; Smith, Peter

2010-01-01

This poster presentation reviews the use of Google Earth to assist in three dimensional online visualization of NASA Earth science and geospatial data. The NASA A-Train satellite constellation is a succession of seven sun-synchronous orbit satellites: (1) OCO-2 (Orbiting Carbon Observatory) (will launch in Feb. 2013), (2) GCOM-W1 (Global Change Observation Mission), (3) Aqua, (4) CloudSat, (5) CALIPSO (Cloud-Aerosol Lidar & Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations), (6) Glory, (7) Aura. The A-Train makes possible synergy of information from multiple resources, so more information about earth condition is obtained from the combined observations than would be possible from the sum of the observations taken independently

Teaching Earth System Science Using Climate Educational Modules Based on NASA and NOAA Resources

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ramirez, P. C.; LaDochy, S.; Patzert, W. C.; Willis, J. K.

2011-12-01

The Earth System Science Education Alliance (ESSEA) recently developed a set of climate related educational modules to be used by K-12 teachers. These modules incorporate recent NASA and NOAA resources in Earth Science education. In the summer of 2011, these modules were tested by in-service teachers in courses held at several college campuses. At California State University, Los Angeles, we reviewed two climate modules: The Great Ocean Conveyer Belt and Abrupt Climate Change (http://essea.strategies.org/module.php?module_id=148) and Sulfur Dioxide: Its Role in Climate Change (http://essea.strategies.org/module.php?module_id=168). For each module, 4-6 teachers formed a cohort to complete assignments and unit assessments and to evaluate the effectiveness of the module for use in their classroom. Each module presented the teachers with a task that enabled them to research and better understand the science behind the climate related topic. For The Great Ocean Conveyer Belt, teachers are tasked with evaluating the impacts of the slowing or stopping of the thermohaline circulation on climate. In the same module teachers are charged with determining the possibilities of an abrupt climate shift during this century such as happened in the past. For the Sulfur Dioxide module teachers investigated the climate implications of the occurrence of several major volcanic eruptions within a short time period, as well as the feasibility of using sulfates to geoengineer climate change. In completing module assignments, teachers must list what they already know about the topic as well as formulate questions that still need to be addressed. Teachers then model the related interactions between spheres comprising the earth system (atmosphere-lithosphere, for example) to evaluate possible environmental impacts. Finally, teachers applied their research results to create lesson plans for their students. At a time when climate change and global warming are important topics in science

ECHO Responds to NASA's Earth Science User Community

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pfister, Robin; Ullman, Richard; Wichmann, Keith; Perkins, Dorothy C. (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

Over the past decade NASA has designed, built, evolved, and operated the Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) Information Management System (IMS) in order to provide user access to NASA's Earth Science data holdings. During this time revolutionary advances in technology have driven changes in NASA's approach to providing an IMS service. This paper will describe NASA's strategic planning and approach to build and evolve the EOSDIS IMS and to serve the evolving needs of NASA's Earth Science community. It discusses the original strategic plan and how lessons learned help to form a new plan, a new approach and a new system. It discusses the original technologies and how they have evolved to today.

NASA Applied Sciences Program. Overview Presentation; Discovering and Demonstrating Innovative and Practical Applications of Earth Science

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Irwin, Daniel

2010-01-01

Goal 1: Enhance Applications Research Advance the use of NASA Earth science in policy making, resource management and planning, and disaster response. Key Actions: Identify priority needs, conduct applied research to generate innovative applications, and support projects that demonstrate uses of NASA Earth science. Goal 2: Increase Collaboration Establish a flexible program structure to meet diverse partner needs and applications objectives. Key Actions: Pursue partnerships to leverage resources and risks and extend the program s reach and impact. Goal 3:Accelerate Applications Ensure that NASA s flight missions plan for and support applications goals in conjunction with their science goals, starting with mission planning and extending through the mission life cycle. Key Actions: Enable identification of applications early in satellite mission lifecycle and facilitate effective ways to integrate end-user needs into satellite mission planning

ERISTAR: Earth Resources Information Storage, Transformation, Analysis, and Retrieval

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1972-01-01

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) have sponsored faculty fellowship programs in systems engineering design for the past several years. During the summer of 1972 four such programs were conducted by NASA, with Auburn University cooperating with Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC). The subject for the Auburn-MSFC design group was ERISTAR, an acronym for Earth Resources Information Storage, Transformation, Analysis and Retrieval, which represents an earth resources information management network of state information centers administered by the respective states and linked to federally administered regional centers and a national center. The considerations for serving the users and the considerations that must be given to processing data from a variety of sources are described. The combination of these elements into a national network is discussed and an implementation plan is proposed for a prototype state information center. The compatibility of the proposed plan with the Department of Interior plan, RALI, is indicated.

NASA/NOAA: Earth Science Electronic Theater 1999

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hasler, A. Fritz

1999-01-01

The Electronic Theater (E-theater) presents visualizations which span the period from the original Suomi/Hasler animations of the first ATS-1 GEO weather satellite images in 1966 to the latest 1999 NASA Earth Science Vision for the next 25 years. Hot off the SGI-Onyx Graphics-Supercomputer are NASA's visualizations of Hurricanes Mitch, Georges, Fran and Linda. These storms have been recently featured on the covers of National Geographic, Time, Newsweek and Popular Science. Highlights will be shown from the NASA hurricane visualization resource video tape that has been used repeatedly this season on National and International network TV. Results will be presented from a new paper on automatic wind measurements in Hurricane Luis from 1-min GOES images that appeared in the November BAMS. The visualizations are produced by the NASA Goddard Visualization and Analysis Laboratory (VAL/912), and Scientific Visualization Studio (SVS/930), as well as other Goddard and NASA groups using NASA, NOAA, ESA, and NASDA Earth science datasets. Visualizations will be shown from the Earth Science E-Theater 1999 recently presented in Tokyo, Paris, Munich, Sydney, Melbourne, Honolulu, Washington, New York, and Dallas. The presentation Jan 11-14 at the AMS meeting in Dallas used a 4-CPU SGI/CRAY Onyx Infinite Reality Super Graphics Workstation with 8 GB RAM and a Terabyte Disk at 3840 X 1024 resolution with triple synchronized BarcoReality 9200 projectors on a 60ft wide screen. Visualizations will also be featured from the new Earth Today Exhibit which was opened by Vice President Gore on July 2, 1998 at the Smithsonian Air & Space museum in Washington, as well as those presented for possible use at the American Museum of Natural History (NYC), Disney EPCOT, and other venues. New methods are demonstrated for visualizing, interpreting, comparing, organizing and analyzing immense HyperImage remote sensing datasets and three dimensional numerical model results. We call the data from many

The DEVELOP National Program: Building Dual Capacity in Decision Makers and Young Professionals Through NASA Earth Observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Childs, L. M.; Rogers, L.; Favors, J.; Ruiz, M.

2012-12-01

Through the years, NASA has played a distinct/important/vital role in advancing Earth System Science to meet the challenges of environmental management and policy decision making. Within NASA's Earth Science Division's Applied Sciences' Program, the DEVELOP National Program seeks to extend NASA Earth Science for societal benefit. DEVELOP is a capacity building program providing young professionals and students the opportunity to utilize NASA Earth observations and model output to demonstrate practical applications of those resources to society. Under the guidance of science advisors, DEVELOP teams work in alignment with local, regional, national and international partner organizations to identify the widest array of practical uses for NASA data to enhance related management decisions. The program's structure facilitates a two-fold approach to capacity building by fostering an environment of scientific and professional development opportunities for young professionals and students, while also providing end-user organizations enhanced management and decision making tools for issues impacting their communities. With the competitive nature and growing societal role of science and technology in today's global workplace, DEVELOP is building capacity in the next generation of scientists and leaders by fostering a learning and growing environment where young professionals possess an increased understanding of teamwork, personal development, and scientific/professional development and NASA's Earth Observation System. DEVELOP young professionals are partnered with end user organizations to conduct 10 week feasibility studies that demonstrate the use of NASA Earth science data for enhanced decision making. As a result of the partnership, end user organizations are introduced to NASA Earth Science technologies and capabilities, new methods to augment current practices, hands-on training with practical applications of remote sensing and NASA Earth science, improved remote

NASA and Earth Science Week: a Model for Engaging Scientists and Engineers in Education and Outreach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schwerin, T. G.; deCharon, A.; Brown de Colstoun, E. C.; Chambers, L. H.; Woroner, M.; Taylor, J.; Callery, S.; Jackson, R.; Riebeek, H.; Butcher, G. J.

2014-12-01

Earth Science Week (ESW) - the 2nd full week in October - is a national and international event to help the public, particularly educators and students, gain a better understanding and appreciation for the Earth sciences. The American Geosciences Institute (AGI) organizes ESW, along with partners including NASA, using annual themes (e.g., the theme for 2014 is Earth's Connected Systems). ESW provides a unique opportunity for NASA scientists and engineers across multiple missions and projects to share NASA STEM, their personal stories and enthusiasm to engage and inspire the next generation of Earth explorers. Over the past five years, NASA's ESW campaign has been planned and implemented by a cross-mission/cross-project group, led by the NASA Earth Science Education and Pubic Outreach Forum, and utilizing a wide range of media and approaches (including both English- and Spanish-language events and content) to deliver NASA STEM to teachers and students. These included webcasts, social media (blogs, twitter chats, Google+ hangouts, Reddit Ask Me Anything), videos, printed and online resources, and local events and visits to classrooms. Dozens of NASA scientists, engineers, and communication and education specialists contribute and participate each year. This presentation will provide more information about this activity and offer suggestions and advice for others engaging scientists and engineers in education and outreach programs and events.

The NASA Earthdata Forums - An Interactive Venue for Discussions of NASA Data and Earth Science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hearty, T. J., III; Acker, J. G.; Meyer, D. L.; Northup, E. A.; Bagwell, R.

2017-12-01

In this presentation, we will demonstrate how students and teachers can register to use the NASA Earthdata Forums. The NASA Earthdata forums provide a venue where registered users can pose questions regarding NASA Earth science data in a moderated forum, and have their questions answered by data experts and scientific subject matter experts connected with NASA Earth science missions and projects. Since the forums are also available for research scientists to pose questions and discuss pertinent topics, the NASA Earthdata Forums provide a unique opportunity for students and teachers to gain insight from expert scientists and enhance their knowledge of the many different ways that NASA Earth observations can be used in research and applications.

Ensuring Credibility of NASA's Earth Science Data (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maiden, M. E.; Ramapriyan, H. K.; Mitchell, A. E.; Berrick, S. W.; Walter, J.; Murphy, K. J.

2013-12-01

The summary description of the Fall 2013 AGU session on 'Data Curation, Credibility, Preservation Implementation, and Data Rescue to Enable Multi-Source Science' identifies four attributes needed to ensure credibility in Earth science data records. NASA's Earth Science Data Systems Program has been working on all four of these attributes: transparency, completeness, permanence, and ease of access and use, by focusing on them and upon improving our practices of them, over many years. As far as transparency or openness, NASA was in the forefront of free and open sharing of data and associated information for Earth observations. The US data policy requires such openness, but allows for the recoup of the marginal cost of distribution of government data and information - but making the data available with no such charge greatly increases their usage in scientific studies and the resultant analyses hasten our collective understanding of the Earth system. NASA's currently available Earth observations comprise primarily those obtained from satellite-borne instruments, suborbital campaigns, and field investigations. These data are complex and must be accompanied by rich metadata and documentation to be understandable. To enable completeness, NASA utilizes standards for data format, metadata content, and required documentation for any data that are ingested into our distributed Earth Observing System Data and Information System, or EOSDIS. NASA is moving to a new metadata paradigm, primarily to enable a fuller description of data quality and fit-for-purpose attributes. This paradigm offers structured approaches for storing quality measures in metadata that include elements such as Positional Accuracy, Lineage and Cloud Cover. NASA exercises validation processes for the Earth Science Data Systems Program to ensure users of EOSDIS have a predictable level of confidence in data as well as assessing the data viability for usage and application. The Earth Science Data Systems

Learning More About Our Earth: An Exploration of NASA's Contributions to Earth Science Through Remote Sensing Technologies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lindsay, Francis

2017-01-01

NASA is commonly known for its pioneering work in space exploration and the technological advancements that made access to space possible. NASA is now increasingly known for the agency's research and technologies that support the Earth sciences. This is a presentation focusing on NASA's Earth science efforts told mostly through the technological innovations NASA uses to achieve a greater understanding of the Earth, making it possible to explore the Earth as a system. Enabling this science is NASA's fleet of over two dozen Earth science spacecraft, supported by aircraft, ships and ground observations. NASA's Earth Observing System (EOS) is a coordinated series of polar-orbiting and low inclination satellites for long-term global observations of the land surface, biosphere, solid Earth, atmosphere, and oceans. With the launching of the three flagship satellite missions, Terra, Aqua and Aura, beginning in 1999, NASA's initial Mission to Planet Earth made it possible to measure aspects of the environment that touch the lives of every person around the world. NASA harnessing the unique space-based platform means, fortunately, no planet is better studied than the one we actually live on.

The Role and Evolution of NASA's Earth Science Data Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ramapriyan, H. K.

2015-01-01

One of the three strategic goals of NASA is to Advance understanding of Earth and develop technologies to improve the quality of life on our home planet (NASA strategic plan 2014). NASA's Earth Science Data System (ESDS) Program directly supports this goal. NASA has been launching satellites for civilian Earth observations for over 40 years, and collecting data from various types of instruments. Especially since 1990, with the start of the Earth Observing System (EOS) Program, which was a part of the Mission to Planet Earth, the observations have been significantly more extensive in their volumes, variety and velocity. Frequent, global observations are made in support of Earth system science. An open data policy has been in effect since 1990, with no period of exclusive access and non-discriminatory access to data, free of charge. NASA currently holds nearly 10 petabytes of Earth science data including satellite, air-borne, and ground-based measurements and derived geophysical parameter products in digital form. Millions of users around the world are using NASA data for Earth science research and applications. In 2014, over a billion data files were downloaded by users from NASAs EOS Data and Information System (EOSDIS), a system with 12 Distributed Active Archive Centers (DAACs) across the U. S. As a core component of the ESDS Program, EOSDIS has been operating since 1994, and has been evolving continuously with advances in information technology. The ESDS Program influences as well as benefits from advances in Earth Science Informatics. The presentation will provide an overview of the role and evolution of NASAs ESDS Program.

Near-Earth Asteroid Prospector and the Commercial Development of Space Resources

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Benson, Jim

1998-01-01

With the recent bad news that there may be little or no budget money for NASA to continue funding programs aimed at the human exploration of space beyond Earth's orbit, it becomes even more important for other initiatives to be considered. SpaceDev is the world' s first commercial space exploration company, and enjoys the strong support of Dan Goldin, Wes Huntress, Carl Pilcher, Alan Ladwig, and others at NASA headquarters. SpaceDev is also supported by such scientists as Jim Arnold, Paul Coleman, John Lewis, Steve Ostro, and many others. Taxpayers cannot be expected to carry the entire burden of exploration, construction, and settlement. The private sector must be involved, and the SpaceDev Near Earth Asteroid Prospector (NEAP) venture may provide a good example of how governments and the private sector can cooperate to accomplish these goals. SpaceDev believes that the utilization of in situ resources will take place on near-Earth asteroids before the Moon or Mars because many NEOs are energetically closer than the Moon or Mars and have a highly concentrated composition. SpaceDev currently expects to perform the following three missions: NEAP (science data gathering); NEAP 2, near-Earth asteroid or short-term comet sample return mission; and NEAP 3, in situ fuel production or resource extraction and utilization. These missions could pioneer the way for in situ resources for construction.

NASA's Earth Science Enterprise's Water and Energy Cycle Focus Area

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Entin, J. K.

2004-05-01

Understanding the Water and Energy cycles is critical towards improving our understanding of climate change, as well as the consequences of climate change. In addition, using results from water and energy cycle research can help improve water resource management, agricultural efficiency, disaster management, and public health. To address this, NASA's Earth Science Enterprise (ESE) has an end-to-end Water and Energy Cycle Focus Area, which along with the ESE's other five focus areas will help NASA answer key Earth Science questions. In an effort to build upon the pre-existing discipline programs, which focus on precipitation, radiation sciences, and terrestrial hydrology, NASA has begun planning efforts to create an implementation plan for integrative research to improve our understanding of the water and energy cycles. The basics of this planning process and the core aspects of the implementation plan will be discussed. Roadmaps will also be used to show the future direction for the entire focus area. Included in the discussion, will be aspects of the end-to-end nature of the Focus Area that encompass current and potential actives to extend research results to operational agencies to enable improved performance of policy and management decision support systems.

NASA Remote Sensing Applications for Archaeology and Cultural Resources Management

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Giardino, Marco J.

2008-01-01

NASA's Earth Science Mission Directorate recently completed the deployment of the Earth Observation System (EOS) which is a coordinated series of polar-orbiting and low inclination satellites for long-term global observations of the land surface, biosphere, solid Earth, atmosphere, and oceans. One of the many applications derived from EOS is the advancement of archaeological research and applications. Using satellites, manned and unmanned airborne platform, NASA scientists and their partners have conducted archaeological research using both active and passive sensors. The NASA Stennis Space Center (SSC) located in south Mississippi, near New Orleans, has been a leader in space archaeology since the mid-1970s. Remote sensing is useful in a wide range of archaeological research applications from landscape classification and predictive modeling to site discovery and mapping. Remote sensing technology and image analysis are currently undergoing a profound shift in emphasis from broad classification to detection, identification and condition of specific materials, both organic and inorganic. In the last few years, remote sensing platforms have grown increasingly capable and sophisticated. Sensors currently in use, including commercial instruments, offer significantly improved spatial and spectral resolutions. Paired with new techniques of image analysis, this technology provides for the direct detection of archaeological sites. As in all archaeological research, the application of remote sensing to archaeology requires a priori development of specific research designs and objectives. Initially targeted at broad archaeological issues, NASA space archaeology has progressed toward developing practical applications for cultural resources management (CRM). These efforts culminated with the Biloxi Workshop held by NASA and the University of Mississippi in 2002. The workshop and resulting publication specifically address the requirements of cultural resource managers through

Exploiting Untapped Information Resources in Earth Science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ramachandran, R.; Fox, P. A.; Kempler, S.; Maskey, M.

2015-12-01

One of the continuing challenges in any Earth science investigation is the amount of time and effort required for data preparation before analysis can begin. Current Earth science data and information systems have their own shortcomings. For example, the current data search systems are designed with the assumption that researchers find data primarily by metadata searches on instrument or geophysical keywords, assuming that users have sufficient knowledge of the domain vocabulary to be able to effectively utilize the search catalogs. These systems lack support for new or interdisciplinary researchers who may be unfamiliar with the domain vocabulary or the breadth of relevant data available. There is clearly a need to innovate and evolve current data and information systems in order to improve data discovery and exploration capabilities to substantially reduce the data preparation time and effort. We assert that Earth science metadata assets are dark resources, information resources that organizations collect, process, and store for regular business or operational activities but fail to utilize for other purposes. The challenge for any organization is to recognize, identify and effectively utilize the dark data stores in their institutional repositories to better serve their stakeholders. NASA Earth science metadata catalogs contain dark resources consisting of structured information, free form descriptions of data and pre-generated images. With the addition of emerging semantic technologies, such catalogs can be fully utilized beyond their original design intent of supporting current search functionality. In this presentation, we will describe our approach of exploiting these information resources to provide novel data discovery and exploration pathways to science and education communities

NASA Earthdata Webinar: Improving Accessibility and Use of NASA Earth Science Data

Atmospheric Science Data Center

2015-05-08

... Webinar: Improving Accessibility and Use of NASA Earth Science Data Friday, May 8, 2015 Many of the NASA Langley Atmospheric Science Data Center (ASDC) Distributed Active Archive Center (DAAC) ...

Teaching Inquiry using NASA Earth-System Science: Lessons Learned for Blended, Scaffolded Professional Development

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ellis, T. D.; TeBockhorst, D.

2013-12-01

Teaching Inquiry using NASA Earth-System Science (TINES) is a NASA EPOESS funded program exploring blended professional development for pre- and in-service educators to learn how to conduct meaningful inquiry lessons and projects in the K-12 classroom. This project combines trainings in GLOBE observational protocols and training in the use of NASA Earth Science mission data in a backward-faded scaffolding approach to teaching and learning about scientific inquiry. It also features a unique partnership with the National Science Teachers Association Learning Center to promote cohort building and blended professional development with access to NSTA's collection of resources. In this presentation, we will discuss lessons learned in year one and two of this program and how we plan to further develop this program over the next two years.

NASA's EOSDIS Approach to Big Earth Data Challenges

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lowe, D. R.; Behnke, J.; Murphy, K. J.

2014-12-01

Over the past 20 years, NASA has been committed to making our Earth Science data more useable and accessible, not only to the community of NASA science researchers, but also to the world-wide public research community. The data collected by NASA's remote sensing instruments represent a significant public investment in research. NASA holds these data in a public trust to promote comprehensive, long-term Earth science research. The Earth Observing System Data & Information System (EOSDIS) was established to meet this goal. From the beginning, NASA employed a free, open and non-discriminatory data policy to maximize the global utilization of the products derived from NASA's observational data and related analyses. EOSDIS is designed to ingest, process, archive, and distribute data in a multi-mission environment. The system supports a wide variety of Earth science disciplines, including cryosphere, land cover change, radiation budget, atmosphere dynamics and composition, as well as inter-disciplinary research, including global climate change. A distributed architecture was adopted to ensure discipline-specific support for the science data, while also leveraging standards and establishing policies and tools to enable interdisciplinary research, and analysis across multiple instruments. Over the past 2 decades the EOSDIS has evolved substantially. Today's EOSDIS is a tightly coupled, yet heterogeneous system designed to meet the requirements of a diverse user community. The system was scaled to expand to meet the ever-growing volume of data (currently ~10 petabytes), and the exponential increase in user demand that has occurred over the past 15 years. We will present how the EOSDIS has evolved to support the variety and volume of NASA's Earth Science data.

Understanding our Changing Planet: NASA's Earth Science Enterprise

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Forehand, Lon; Griner, Charlotte (Editor); Greenstone, Renny (Editor)

1999-01-01

NASA has been studying the Earth and its changing environment by observing the atmosphere, oceans, land, ice, and snow and their influence on climate and weather since the agency's creation. This study has lead to a new approach to understanding the interaction of the Earth's systems, Earth System Science. The Earth Science Enterprise, NASA's comprehensive program for Earth System Science, uses satellites and other tools to intensively study the Earth. The Earth Science Enterprise has three main components: (1) a series of Earth-observing satellites, (2) an advanced data system and (3) teams of scientist who study the data. Key areas of study include: (1) clouds, (2) water and energy cycles, (3) oceans, (4) chemistry of the atmosphere, (5) land surface, water and ecosystems processes; (6) glaciers and polar ice sheets, and (7) the solid earth.

Earth: Earth Science and Health

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Maynard, Nancy G.

2001-01-01

A major new NASA initiative on environmental change and health has been established to promote the application of Earth science remote sensing data, information, observations, and technologies to issues of human health. NASA's Earth Sciences suite of Earth observing instruments are now providing improved observations science, data, and advanced technologies about the Earth's land, atmosphere, and oceans. These new space-based resources are being combined with other agency and university resources, data integration and fusion technologies, geographic information systems (GIS), and the spectrum of tools available from the public health community, making it possible to better understand how the environment and climate are linked to specific diseases, to improve outbreak prediction, and to minimize disease risk. This presentation is an overview of NASA's tools, capabilities, and research advances in this initiative.

NASA Earth Science Update with Information Science Technology

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Halem, Milton

2000-01-01

This viewgraph presentation gives an overview of NASA earth science updates with information science technology. Details are given on NASA/Earth Science Enterprise (ESE)/Goddard Space Flight Center strategic plans, ESE missions and flight programs, roles of information science, ESE goals related to the Minority University-Space Interdisciplinary Network, and future plans.

Depending on Partnerships to Manage NASA's Earth Science Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Behnke, J.; Lindsay, F. E.; Lowe, D. R.

2015-12-01

NASA's Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) has been a central component of the NASA Earth observation program since the 1990's.The data collected by NASA's remote sensing instruments represent a significant public investment in research, providing access to a world-wide public research community. From the beginning, NASA employed a free, open and non-discriminatory data policy to maximize the global utilization of the products derived from NASA's observational data and related analyses. EOSDIS is designed to ingest, process, archive, and distribute data in a multi-mission environment. The system supports a wide variety of Earth science disciplines, including cryosphere, land cover change, radiation budget, atmosphere dynamics and composition, as well as inter-disciplinary research, including global climate change. To this end, EOSDIS has collocated NASA Earth science data and processing with centers of science discipline expertise located at universities, other government agencies and NASA centers. Commercial industry is also part of this partnership as it focuses on developing the EOSDIS cross-element infrastructure. The partnership to develop and operate EOSDIS has made for a robust, flexible system that evolves continuously to take advantage of technological opportunities. The centralized entrance point to the NASA Earth Science data collection can be found at http://earthdata.nasa.gov. A distributed architecture was adopted to ensure discipline-specific support for the science data, while also leveraging standards and establishing policies and tools to enable interdisciplinary research, and analysis across multiple instruments. Today's EOSDIS is a loosely coupled, yet heterogeneous system designed to meet the requirements of both a diverse user community and a growing collection of data to be archived and distributed. The system was scaled to expand to meet the ever-growing volume of data (currently ~10 petabytes), and the exponential

NASA's mission to planet Earth: Earth observing system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1993-01-01

The topics covered include the following: global climate change; radiation, clouds, and atmospheric water; the ocean; the troposphere - greenhouse gases; land cover and the water cycle; polar ice sheets and sea level; the stratosphere - ozone chemistry; volcanoes; the Earth Observing System (EOS) - how NASA will support studies of global climate change?; research and assessment - EOS Science Investigations; EOS Data and Information System (EOSDIS); EOS observations - instruments and spacecraft; a national international effort; and understanding the Earth System.

Improving the Interoperability and Usability of NASA Earth Observation Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Walter, J.; Berrick, S. W.; Murphy, K. J.; Mitchell, A. E.; Tilmes, C.

2014-12-01

NASA's Earth Science Data and Information System Project (ESDIS) is charged with managing, maintaining, and evolving NASA's Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) and is responsible for processing, archiving, and distributing NASA Earth Science data. The system supports a multitude of missions and serves diverse science research and other user communities. While NASA has made, and continues to make, great strides in the discoverability and accessibility of its earth observation data holdings, issues associated with data interoperability and usability still present significant challenges to realizing the full scientific and societal benefits of these data. This concern has been articulated by multiple government agencies, both U.S. and international, as well as other non-governmental organizations around the world. Among these is the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy who, in response, has launched the Big Earth Data Initiative and the Climate Data Initiative to address these concerns for U.S. government agencies. This presentation will describe NASA's approach for addressing data interoperability and usability issues with our earth observation data.

A Global Perspective: NASA's Prediction of Worldwide Energy Resources (POWER) Project

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zhang, Taiping; Stackhouse, Paul W., Jr.; Chandler, William S.; Hoell, James M.; Westberg, David; Whitlock, Charles H.

2007-01-01

The Prediction of the Worldwide Energy Resources (POWER) Project, initiated under the NASA Science Mission Directorate Applied Science Energy Management Program, synthesizes and analyzes data on a global scale that are invaluable to the renewable energy industries, especially to the solar and wind energy sectors. The POWER project derives its data primarily from NASA's World Climate Research Programme (WCRP)/Global Energy and Water cycle Experiment (GEWEX) Surface Radiation Budget (SRB) project (Version 2.9) and the Global Modeling and Assimilation Office (GMAO) Goddard Earth Observing System (GEOS) assimilation model (Version 4). The latest development of the NASA POWER Project and its plans for the future are presented in this paper.

NASA Earth Science Image Analysis for Climate Change Decisions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hilderbrand, Peter H.

2011-01-01

This talk will briefly outline the ways in which NASA observes the Earth, then describes the NASA satellite measurements, and then proceeds to show how these measurements are used to understand the changes that are occurring as Earth's climate warms.

Lessons from NASA Applied Sciences Program: Success Factors in Applying Earth Science in Decision Making

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Friedl, L. A.; Cox, L.

2008-12-01

The NASA Applied Sciences Program collaborates with organizations to discover and demonstrate applications of NASA Earth science research and technology to decision making. The desired outcome is for public and private organizations to use NASA Earth science products in innovative applications for sustained, operational uses to enhance their decisions. In addition, the program facilitates the end-user feedback to Earth science to improve products and demands for research. The Program thus serves as a bridge between Earth science research and technology and the applied organizations and end-users with management, policy, and business responsibilities. Since 2002, the Applied Sciences Program has sponsored over 115 applications-oriented projects to apply Earth observations and model products to decision making activities. Projects have spanned numerous topics - agriculture, air quality, water resources, disasters, public health, aviation, etc. The projects have involved government agencies, private companies, universities, non-governmental organizations, and foreign entities in multiple types of teaming arrangements. The paper will examine this set of applications projects and present specific examples of successful use of Earth science in decision making. The paper will discuss scientific, organizational, and management factors that contribute to or impede the integration of the Earth science research in policy and management. The paper will also present new methods the Applied Sciences Program plans to implement to improve linkages between science and end users.

Monitoring Building Energy Systems at NASA Centers Using NASA Earth Science data, CMIP5 climate data products and RETScreen Expert Clean Energy Tool

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stackhouse, P. W., Jr.; Ganoe, R. E.; Westberg, D. J.; Leng, G. J.; Teets, E.; Hughes, J. M.; De Young, R.; Carroll, M.; Liou, L. C.; Iraci, L. T.; Podolske, J. R.; Stefanov, W. L.; Chandler, W.

2016-12-01

The NASA Climate Adaptation Science Investigator team is devoted to building linkages between NASA Earth Science and those within NASA responsible for infrastructure assessment, upgrades and planning. One of the focus areas is assessing NASA center infrastructure for energy efficiency, planning to meet new energy portfolio standards, and assessing future energy needs. These topics intersect at the provision of current and predicted future weather and climate data. This presentation provides an overview of the multi-center effort to access current building energy usage using Earth science observations, including those from in situ measurements, satellite measurement analysis, and global model data products as inputs to the RETScreen Expert, a clean energy decision support tool. RETScreen® Expert, sponsored by Natural Resources Canada (NRCan), is a tool dedicated to developing and providing clean energy project analysis software for the feasibility design and assessment of a wide range of building projects that incorporate renewable energy technologies. RETScreen Expert requires daily average meteorological and solar parameters that are available within less than a month of real-time. A special temporal collection of meteorological parameters was compiled from near-by surface in situ measurements. These together with NASA data from the NASA CERES (Clouds and Earth's Radiance Energy System)/FLASHFlux (Fast Longwave and SHortwave radiative Fluxes) provides solar fluxes and the NASA GMAO (Global Modeling and Assimilation Office) GEOS (Goddard Earth Observing System) operational meteorological analysis are directly used for meteorological input parameters. Examples of energy analysis for a few select buildings at various NASA centers are presented in terms of the energy usage relationship that these buildings have with changes in their meteorological environment. The energy requirements of potential future climates are then surveyed for a range of changes using the most

NASA information resources management handbook

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1992-01-01

This National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Handbook (NHB) implements recent changes to Federal laws and regulations involving the acquisition, management, and use of Federal Information Processing (FIP) resources. This document defines NASA's Information Resources Management (IRM) practices and procedures and is applicable to all NASA personnel. The dynamic nature of the IRM environment requires that the controlling management practices and procedures for an Agency at the leading edge of technology, such as NASA, must be periodically updated to reflect the changes in this environment. This revision has been undertaken to accommodate changes in the technology and the impact of new laws and regulations dealing with IRM. The contents of this document will be subject to a complete review annually to determine its continued applicability to the acquisition, management, and use of FIP resources by NASA. Updates to this document will be accomplished by page changes. This revision cancels NHB 2410.1D, dated April 1985.

Global Reach: A View of International Cooperation in NASA's Earth Science Enterprise

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2004-01-01

Improving life on Earth and understanding and protecting our home planet are foremost in the Vision and Mission of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). NASA's Earth Science Enterprise end eavors to use the unique vantage point of space to study the Earth sy stem and improve the prediction of Earth system change. NASA and its international partners study Earth's land, atmosphere, ice, oceans, a nd biota and seek to provide objective scientific knowledge to decisi onmakers and scientists worldwide. This book describes NASA's extensi ve cooperation with its international partners.

NASA's Future Active Remote Sensing Missing for Earth Science

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hartley, Jonathan B.

2000-01-01

Since the beginning of space remote sensing of the earth, there has been a natural progression widening the range of electromagnetic radiation used to sense the earth, and slowly, steadily increasing the spatial, spectral, and radiometric resolution of the measurements. There has also been a somewhat slower trend toward active measurements across the electromagnetic spectrum, motivated in part by increased resolution, but also by the ability to make new measurements. Active microwave instruments have been used to measure ocean topography, to study the land surface. and to study rainfall from space. Future NASA active microwave missions may add detail to the topographical studies, sense soil moisture, and better characterize the cryosphere. Only recently have active optical instruments been flown in space by NASA; however, there are currently several missions in development which will sense the earth with lasers and many more conceptual active optical missions which address the priorities of NASA's earth science program. Missions are under development to investigate the structure of the terrestrial vegetation canopy, to characterize the earth's ice caps, and to study clouds and aerosols. Future NASA missions may measure tropospheric vector winds and make vastly improved measurements of the chemical components of the earth's atmosphere.

Nasa s near earth object program office

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yeomans, D.; Chamberlin, A.; Chesley, S.; Chodas, P.; Giorgini, J.; Keesey, M.

In 1998, NASA formed the Near-Earth Object Program Office at JPL to provide a focal point for NASA's efforts to discover and monitor the motions of asteroids and comets that can approach the Earth. This office was charged with 1.) facilitating communication between the near-Earth object (NEO) community and the public, 2.) helping coordinate the search efforts for NEOs, 3.) monitoring the progress in finding NEOs at NASA -supported sites, and 4.) monitoring the future motions of all known NEOs and cataloging their orbits. There are far more near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) than near-Earth comets and one of the driving motivations for NASA's NEO Program is the Spaceguard Goal to find 90% of the NEAs larger than one kilometer by 2008. While the total population of NEAs is not clearly established, the consensus opinion seems to be that the total population of NEAs larger than one kilometer is about 1000 (with a range of perhaps 800 - 1200). By April 2002, nearly 60% of the total population of large NEAs had been discovered and while the discovery rate will likely drop off as the easy ones are found, these early discovery efforts are encouraging. The five NASA-supported NEO discovery teams are the Lincoln Laboratory Near-Earth Asteroid Research effort (LINEAR, Grant Stokes, Principal Investigator), the Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking team at JPL (NEAT, Eleanor Helin, P.I.), the Lowell Observatory Near-Earth Object Search (LONEOS, E. Bowell, P.I.), and two discovery teams near Tucson Arizona - the Spacewatch effort (R. McMillan, P.I.) and the Catalina Sky Survey group (S. Larson, P.I.). Mention should also be made of the Japanese Spaceguard discovery site at Bisei Japan (S. Isobe, P.I.). A substantial portion of the critical follow-up observations necessary to secure the orbits of NEOs and provide information on their physical characteristics is provided by a group of very sophisticated amateur astronomers who might better be described as unfunded professionals. After nearly two

Tools for Scientist Engagement in E/PO: NASA SMD Community Workspace and Online Resources

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dalton, H.; Shipp, S. S.; Grier, J.; Gross, N. A.; Buxner, S.; Bartolone, L.; Peticolas, L. M.; Woroner, M.; Schwerin, T. G.

2014-12-01

The Science Mission Directorate (SMD) Science Education and Public Outreach (E/PO) Forums are here to help you get involved in E/PO! The Forums have been developing several online resources to support scientists who are - or who are interested in becoming - involved in E/PO. These include NASA Wavelength, EarthSpace, and the SMD E/PO online community workspace. NASA Wavelength is the one-stop shop of all peer-reviewed NASA education resources to find materials you - or your audiences - can use. Browse by audience (pre-K through 12, higher education, and informal education) or topic, or choose to search for something specific by keyword and audience. http://nasawavelength.org. EarthSpace, an online clearinghouse of Earth and space materials for use in the higher education classroom, is driven by a powerful search engine that allows you to browse the collection of resources by science topic, audience, type of material or key terms. All materials are peer-reviewed before posting, and because all submissions receive a digital object identifier (doi), submitted materials can be listed as publications. http://www.lpi.usra.edu/earthspace. The SMD E/PO online community workspace contains many resources for scientists. These include one-page guides on how to get involved, tips on how to make the most of your time spent on E/PO, and sample activities, as well as news on funding, policy, and what's happening in the E/PO community. The workspace also provides scientists and the public pathways to find opportunities for participation in E/PO, to learn about SMD E/PO projects and their impacts, to connect with SMD E/PO practitioners, and to explore resources to improve professional E/PO practice, including literature reviews, information about the Next Generation Science Standards, and best practices in evaluation and engaging diverse audiences. http://smdepo.org.

NASA's Van Allen Probes Discover a Surprise Circling Earth

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-12-08

On Aug. 31, 2012, a giant prominence on the sun erupted, sending out particles and a shock wave that traveled near Earth. This event may have been one of the causes of a third radiation belt that appeared around Earth a few days later, a phenomenon that was observed for the very first time by the newly-launched Van Allen Probes. This image of the prominence before it erupted was captured by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). Credit: NASA/SDO/AIA/Goddard Space Flight Center To read more go to: www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/rbsp/news/third-belt.html NASA image use policy. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Find us on Instagram

NASA's Earth Science Research and Environmental Predictions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hilsenrath, E.

2004-01-01

NASA Earth Science program began in the 1960s with cloud imaging satellites used for weather observations. A fleet of satellites are now in orbit to investigate the Earth Science System to uncover the connections between land, Oceans and the atmosphere. Satellite systems using an array of active and passive remote sensors are used to search for answers on how is the Earth changing and what are the consequences for life on Earth? The answer to these questions can be used for applications to serve societal needs and contribute to decision support systems for weather, hazard, and air quality predictions and mitigation of adverse effects. Partnerships with operational agencies using NASA's observational capabilities are now being explored. The system of the future will require new technology, data assimilation systems which includes data and models that will be used for forecasts that respond to user needs.

Replacement of SSE (Release 6) with NASA's Prediction of Worldwide Energy Resource (POWER) Project GIS-enabled Web Data Portal:

Atmospheric Science Data Center

2018-03-15

... effort has been developed under the Prediction Of Worldwide Energy Resource (POWER) Project funded largely by NASA Earth Applied Sciences ... to NASA's satellite and modeling analysis for Renewable Energy, Sustainable Buildings and Agroclimatology applications.  A new POWER ...

Overview of NASA's Earth Science Data Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

McDonald, Kenneth

2004-01-01

For over the last 15 years, NASA's Earth Science Enterprise (ESE) has devoted a tremendous effort to design and build the Earth Observing System (EOS) Data and Information System (EOSDIS) to acquire, process, archive and distribute the data of the EOS series of satellites and other ESE missions and field programs. The development of EOSDIS began with an early prototype to support NASA data from heritage missions and progressed through a formal development process to today's system that supports the data from multiple missions including Landsat 7, Terra, Aqua, SORCE and ICESat. The system is deployed at multiple Distributed Active Archive Centers (DAACs) and its current holdings are approximately 4.5 petabytes. The current set of unique users requesting EOS data and information products exceeds 2 million. While EOSDIS has been the centerpiece of NASA's Earth Science Data Systems, other initiatives have augmented the services of EOSDIS and have impacted its evolution and the future directions of data systems within the ESE. ESDIS had an active prototyping effort and has continued to be involved in the activities of the Earth Science Technology Office (ESTO). In response to concerns from the science community that EOSDIS was too large and monolithic, the ESE initiated the Earth Science Information Partners (ESP) Federation Experiment that funded a series of projects to develop specialized products and services to support Earth science research and applications. Last year, the enterprise made 41 awards to successful proposals to the Research, Education and Applications Solutions Network (REASON) Cooperative Agreement Notice to continue and extend the ESP activity. The ESE has also sponsored a formulation activity called the Strategy for the Evolution of ESE Data Systems (SEEDS) to develop approaches and decision support processes for the management of the collection of data system and service providers of the enterprise. Throughout the development of its earth science

Welcome to NASA's Earth Science Enterprise. Version 3

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2001-01-01

There are strong scientific indications that natural change in the Earth system is being accelerated by human intervention. As a result, planet Earth faces the possibility of rapid environmental changes that would have a profound impact on all nations. However, we do not fully understand either the short-term effects of our activities, or their long-term implications - many important scientific questions remain unanswered. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is working with the national and international scientific communities to establish a sound scientific basis for addressing these critical issues through research efforts coordinated under the U.S. Global Change Research Program, the International Geosphere-Biosphere Program, and the World Climate Research Program. The Earth Science Enterprise is NASA's contribution to the U.S. Global Change Research Program. NASA's Earth Science Enterprise will use space- and surface-based measurement systems to provide the scientific basis for understanding global change. The space-based components will provide a constellation of satellites to monitor the Earth from space. A major component of the Earth Science Enterprise is the Earth Observing System (EOS). The overall objective of the EOS Program is to determine the extent, causes, and regional consequences of global climate change. EOS will provide sustained space-based observations that will allow researchers to monitor climate variables over time to determine trends. A constellation of EOS satellites will acquire global data, beginning in 1998 and extending well into the 21st century.

NASA'S Earth Science Data Stewardship Activities

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lowe, Dawn R.; Murphy, Kevin J.; Ramapriyan, Hampapuram

2015-01-01

NASA has been collecting Earth observation data for over 50 years using instruments on board satellites, aircraft and ground-based systems. With the inception of the Earth Observing System (EOS) Program in 1990, NASA established the Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS) Project and initiated development of the Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS). A set of Distributed Active Archive Centers (DAACs) was established at locations based on science discipline expertise. Today, EOSDIS consists of 12 DAACs and 12 Science Investigator-led Processing Systems (SIPS), processing data from the EOS missions, as well as the Suomi National Polar Orbiting Partnership mission, and other satellite and airborne missions. The DAACs archive and distribute the vast majority of data from NASA’s Earth science missions, with data holdings exceeding 12 petabytes The data held by EOSDIS are available to all users consistent with NASA’s free and open data policy, which has been in effect since 1990. The EOSDIS archives consist of raw instrument data counts (level 0 data), as well as higher level standard products (e.g., geophysical parameters, products mapped to standard spatio-temporal grids, results of Earth system models using multi-instrument observations, and long time series of Earth System Data Records resulting from multiple satellite observations of a given type of phenomenon). EOSDIS data stewardship responsibilities include ensuring that the data and information content are reliable, of high quality, easily accessible, and usable for as long as they are considered to be of value.

Enhancing Undergraduate Education with NASA Resources

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Manning, James G.; Meinke, Bonnie; Schultz, Gregory; Smith, Denise Anne; Lawton, Brandon L.; Gurton, Suzanne; Astrophysics Community, NASA

2015-08-01

The NASA Astrophysics Science Education and Public Outreach Forum (SEPOF) coordinates the work of NASA Science Mission Directorate (SMD) Astrophysics EPO projects and their teams to bring cutting-edge discoveries of NASA missions to the introductory astronomy college classroom. Uniquely poised to foster collaboration between scientists with content expertise and educators with pedagogical expertise, the Forum has coordinated the development of several resources that provide new opportunities for college and university instructors to bring the latest NASA discoveries in astrophysics into their classrooms.To address the needs of the higher education community, the Astrophysics Forum collaborated with the astrophysics E/PO community, researchers, and introductory astronomy instructors to place individual science discoveries and learning resources into context for higher education audiences. The resulting products include two “Resource Guides” on cosmology and exoplanets, each including a variety of accessible resources. The Astrophysics Forum also coordinates the development of the “Astro 101” slide set series. The sets are five- to seven-slide presentations on new discoveries from NASA astrophysics missions relevant to topics in introductory astronomy courses. These sets enable Astronomy 101 instructors to include new discoveries not yet in their textbooks in their courses, and may be found at: https://www.astrosociety.org/education/resources-for-the-higher-education-audience/.The Astrophysics Forum also coordinated the development of 12 monthly “Universe Discovery Guides,” each featuring a theme and a representative object well-placed for viewing, with an accompanying interpretive story, strategies for conveying the topics, and supporting NASA-approved education activities and background information from a spectrum of NASA missions and programs. These resources are adaptable for use by instructors and may be found at: http://nightsky.jpl.nasa

NASA Captures 'EPIC' Earth Image

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-12-08

A NASA camera on the Deep Space Climate Observatory satellite has returned its first view of the entire sunlit side of Earth from one million miles away. This color image of Earth was taken by NASA’s Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC), a four megapixel CCD camera and telescope. The image was generated by combining three separate images to create a photographic-quality image. The camera takes a series of 10 images using different narrowband filters -- from ultraviolet to near infrared -- to produce a variety of science products. The red, green and blue channel images are used in these color images. The image was taken July 6, 2015, showing North and Central America. The central turquoise areas are shallow seas around the Caribbean islands. This Earth image shows the effects of sunlight scattered by air molecules, giving the image a characteristic bluish tint. The EPIC team is working to remove this atmospheric effect from subsequent images. Once the instrument begins regular data acquisition, EPIC will provide a daily series of Earth images allowing for the first time study of daily variations over the entire globe. These images, available 12 to 36 hours after they are acquired, will be posted to a dedicated web page by September 2015. The primary objective of DSCOVR, a partnership between NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the U.S. Air Force, is to maintain the nation’s real-time solar wind monitoring capabilities, which are critical to the accuracy and lead time of space weather alerts and forecasts from NOAA. For more information about DSCOVR, visit: www.nesdis.noaa.gov/DSCOVR/

How NASA Sees the Earth and Its Climate

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

BrowndeColstoun, Eric

2012-01-01

NASA Research Addresses Broad Questions: (1) How are global ecosystems changing? (2) What changes are occurring in global land cover and land use and what are their causes? (3) How is the Earth s surface being transformed and how can such information be used to predict future changes? (4) What are the consequences of land cover and land use change for the sustainability of ecosystems and economic productivity? NASA uses the view from above to monitor our changing home. Different satellites help us study the various systems of the Earth. No one system can do it all. NASA tools and science helps us to understand how the planet is changing and what the changes mean for us.

NASA International Environmental Partnerships

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lewis, Pattie; Valek, Susan

2010-01-01

For nearly five decades, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has been preeminent in space exploration. NASA has landed Americans on the moon, robotic rovers on Mars, and led cooperative scientific endeavors among nations aboard the International Space Station. But as Earth's population increases, the environment is subject to increasing challenges and requires more efficient use of resources. International partnerships give NASA the opportunity to share its scientific and engineering expertise. They also enable NASA to stay aware of continually changing international environmental regulations and global markets for materials that NASA uses to accomplish its mission. Through international partnerships, NASA and this nation have taken the opportunity to look globally for solutions to challenges we face here on Earth. Working with other nations provides NASA with collaborative opportunities with the global science/engineering community to explore ways in which to protect our natural resources, conserve energy, reduce the use of hazardous materials in space and earthly applications, and reduce greenhouse gases that potentially affect all of Earth's inhabitants. NASA is working with an ever-expanding list of international partners including the European Union, the European Space Agency and, especially, the nation of Portugal. Our common goal is to foster a sustainable future in which partners continue to explore the universe while protecting our home planet's resources for future generations. This brochure highlights past, current, and future initiatives in several important areas of international collaboration that can bring environmental, economic, and other benefits to NASA and the wider international space community.

Web Map Apps using NASA's Earth Observing Fleet

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boller, R. A.; Baynes, K.; Pressley, N. N.; Thompson, C. K.; Cechini, M. F.; Schmaltz, J. E.; Alarcon, C.; De Cesare, C.; Gunnoe, T.; Wong, M. M.; King, B. A.; Roberts, J. T.; Rodriguez, J.; De Luca, A. P.; King, J.

2016-12-01

Through the miracle of open web mapping services for satellite imagery, a garden of new applications has sprouted to monitor the planet across a variety of domains. The Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS) provide free and open access to full resolution imagery captured by NASA's Earth observing fleet. Spanning 15+ years and running through as recently as "a few hours ago", GIBS aims to provide a general-purpose window into NASA's vast archive of the planet. While the vast nature of this archive can be daunting, many domain-specific applications have been built to meet the needs of their respective communities. This presentation will demonstrate a diverse set of these new applications which can take planetarium visitors into (virtual) orbit, guide fire resource managers to hotspots, help anglers find their next catch, illustrate global air quality patterns to local regulators, and even spur a friendly competition to find clouds which are shaped the most like cats. We hope this garden will continue to grow and will illustrate upcoming upgrades to GIBS which may open new pathways for development.

NASA historical data book. Volume 4: NASA resources 1969-1978

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gawdiak, Ihor Y.; Fedor, Helen

1994-01-01

This is Volume 4, NASA Resources 1969-1978, of a series providing a 20-year statistical summary of NASA programs. This series is an important component of NASA published historical reference works, used by NASA personnel, managers, external researchers, and other government agencies. This volume combines statistical data of the component facilities with the data of the parent installation.

NASA historical data book. Volume 1: NASA resources 1958-1968

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vannimmen, Jane; Bruno, Leonard C.; Rosholt, Robert L.

1988-01-01

This is Volume 1, NASA Resources 1958-1968, of a multi-volume series providing a 20-year compilation of summary statistical and other data descriptive of NASA's programs in aeronautics and manned and unmanned spaceflight. This series is an important component of NASA published historical reference works, used by NASA personnel, managers, external researchers, and other government agencies.

The NASA Space Shuttle Earth Observations Office

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Helfert, Michael R.; Wood, Charles A.

1989-01-01

The NASA Space Shuttle Earth Observations Office conducts astronaut training in earth observations, provides orbital documentation for acquisition of data and catalogs, and analyzes the astronaut handheld photography upon the return of Space Shuttle missions. This paper provides backgrounds on these functions and outlines the data constraints, organization, formats, and modes of access within the public domain.

NASA's Earth Venture-1 (EV-1) Airborne Science Investigations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Guillory, A.; Denkins, T.; Allen, B. Danette; Braun, Scott A.; Crawford, James H.; Jensen, Eric J.; Miller, Charles E.; Moghaddam, Mahta; Maring, Hal

2011-01-01

In 2010, NASA announced the first Earth Venture (EV-1) selections in response to a recommendation made by the National Research Council for low-cost investigations fostering innovation in Earth science. The five EV-1 investigations span the Earth science focus areas of atmosphere, weather, climate, water and energy and, carbon and represent earth science researchers from NASA as well as other government agencies, academia and industry from around the world. The EV-1 missions are: 1) Airborne Microwave Observatory of Subcanopy and Subsurface (AirMOSS), 2) Airborne Tropical Tropopause Experiment (ATTREX), 3) Carbon in Arctic Reservoirs Vulnerability Experiment (CARVE), 4) Deriving Information on Surface Conditions from Column and Vertically Resolved Observations Relevant to Air Quality (DISCOVER-AQ), and 5) Hurricane And Severe Storm Sentinel (HS3). The Earth Venture missions are managed out of the Earth System Science Pathfinder (ESSP) Program Office (Allen, et. al. 2010b)

Building Knowledge Graphs for NASA's Earth Science Enterprise

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, J.; Lee, T. J.; Ramachandran, R.; Shi, R.; Bao, Q.; Gatlin, P. N.; Weigel, A. M.; Maskey, M.; Miller, J. J.

2016-12-01

Inspired by Google Knowledge Graph, we have been building a prototype Knowledge Graph for Earth scientists, connecting information and data in NASA's Earth science enterprise. Our primary goal is to advance the state-of-the-art NASA knowledge extraction capability by going beyond traditional catalog search and linking different distributed information (such as data, publications, services, tools and people). This will enable a more efficient pathway to knowledge discovery. While Google Knowledge Graph provides impressive semantic-search and aggregation capabilities, it is limited to search topics for general public. We use the similar knowledge graph approach to semantically link information gathered from a wide variety of sources within the NASA Earth Science enterprise. Our prototype serves as a proof of concept on the viability of building an operational "knowledge base" system for NASA Earth science. Information is pulled from structured sources (such as NASA CMR catalog, GCMD, and Climate and Forecast Conventions) and unstructured sources (such as research papers). Leveraging modern techniques of machine learning, information retrieval, and deep learning, we provide an integrated data mining and information discovery environment to help Earth scientists to use the best data, tools, methodologies, and models available to answer a hypothesis. Our knowledge graph would be able to answer questions like: Which articles discuss topics investigating similar hypotheses? How have these methods been tested for accuracy? Which approaches have been highly cited within the scientific community? What variables were used for this method and what datasets were used to represent them? What processing was necessary to use this data? These questions then lead researchers and citizen scientists to investigate the sources where data can be found, available user guides, information on how the data was acquired, and available tools and models to use with this data. As a proof of

Advanced Information Technology Investments at the NASA Earth Science Technology Office

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Clune, T.; Seablom, M. S.; Moe, K.

2012-12-01

The NASA Earth Science Technology Office (ESTO) regularly makes investments for nurturing advanced concepts in information technology to enable rapid, low-cost acquisition, processing and visualization of Earth science data in support of future NASA missions and climate change research. In 2012, the National Research Council published a mid-term assessment of the 2007 decadal survey for future spacemissions supporting Earth science and applications [1]. The report stated, "Earth sciences have advanced significantly because of existing observational capabilities and the fruit of past investments, along with advances in data and information systems, computer science, and enabling technologies." The report found that NASA had responded favorably and aggressively to the decadal survey and noted the role of the recent ESTO solicitation for information systems technologies that partnered with the NASA Applied Sciences Program to support the transition into operations. NASA's future missions are key stakeholders for the ESTO technology investments. Also driving these investments is the need for the Agency to properly address questions regarding the prediction, adaptation, and eventual mitigation of climate change. The Earth Science Division has championed interdisciplinary research, recognizing that the Earth must be studied as a complete system in order toaddress key science questions [2]. Information technology investments in the low-mid technology readiness level (TRL) range play a key role in meeting these challenges. ESTO's Advanced Information Systems Technology (AIST) program invests in higher risk / higher reward technologies that solve the most challenging problems of the information processing chain. This includes the space segment, where the information pipeline begins, to the end user, where knowledge is ultimatelyadvanced. The objectives of the program are to reduce the risk, cost, size, and development time of Earth Science space-based and ground

NASA's Earth Science Flight Program Meets the Challenges of Today and Tomorrow

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ianson, Eric E.

2016-01-01

NASA's Earth science flight program is a dynamic undertaking that consists of a large fleet of operating satellites, an array of satellite and instrument projects in various stages of development, a robust airborne science program, and a massive data archiving and distribution system. Each element of the flight program is complex and present unique challenges. NASA builds upon its successes and learns from its setbacks to manage this evolving portfolio to meet NASA's Earth science objectives. NASA fleet of 16 operating missions provide a wide range of scientific measurements made from dedicated Earth science satellites and from instruments mounted to the International Space Station. For operational missions, the program must address issues such as an aging satellites operating well beyond their prime mission, constellation flying, and collision avoidance with other spacecraft and orbital debris. Projects in development are divided into two broad categories: systematic missions and pathfinders. The Earth Systematic Missions (ESM) include a broad range of multi-disciplinary Earth-observing research satellite missions aimed at understanding the Earth system and its response to natural and human-induced forces and changes. Understanding these forces will help determine how to predict future changes, and how to mitigate or adapt to these changes. The Earth System Science Pathfinder (ESSP) program provides frequent, regular, competitively selected Earth science research opportunities that accommodate new and emerging scientific priorities and measurement capabilities. This results in a series of relatively low-cost, small-sized investigations and missions. Principal investigators whose scientific objectives support a variety of studies lead these missions, including studies of the atmosphere, oceans, land surface, polar ice regions, or solid Earth. This portfolio of missions and investigations provides opportunity for investment in innovative Earth science that enhances

Embracing Open Source for NASA's Earth Science Data Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Baynes, Katie; Pilone, Dan; Boller, Ryan; Meyer, David; Murphy, Kevin

2017-01-01

The overarching purpose of NASAs Earth Science program is to develop a scientific understanding of Earth as a system. Scientific knowledge is most robust and actionable when resulting from transparent, traceable, and reproducible methods. Reproducibility includes open access to the data as well as the software used to arrive at results. Additionally, software that is custom-developed for NASA should be open to the greatest degree possible, to enable re-use across Federal agencies, reduce overall costs to the government, remove barriers to innovation, and promote consistency through the use of uniform standards. Finally, Open Source Software (OSS) practices facilitate collaboration between agencies and the private sector. To best meet these ends, NASAs Earth Science Division promotes the full and open sharing of not only all data, metadata, products, information, documentation, models, images, and research results but also the source code used to generate, manipulate and analyze them. This talk focuses on the challenges to open sourcing NASA developed software within ESD and the growing pains associated with establishing policies running the gamut of tracking issues, properly documenting build processes, engaging the open source community, maintaining internal compliance, and accepting contributions from external sources. This talk also covers the adoption of existing open source technologies and standards to enhance our custom solutions and our contributions back to the community. Finally, we will be introducing the most recent OSS contributions from NASA Earth Science program and promoting these projects for wider community review and adoption.

Advances in the NASA Earth Science Division Applied Science Program

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Friedl, L.; Bonniksen, C. K.; Escobar, V. M.

2016-12-01

The NASA Earth Science Division's Applied Science Program advances the understanding of and ability to used remote sensing data in support of socio-economic needs. The integration of socio-economic considerations in to NASA Earth Science projects has advanced significantly. The large variety of acquisition methods used has required innovative implementation options. The integration of application themes and the implementation of application science activities in flight project is continuing to evolve. The creation of the recently released Earth Science Division, Directive on Project Applications Program and the addition of an application science requirement in the recent EVM-2 solicitation document NASA's current intent. Continuing improvement in the Earth Science Applications Science Program are expected in the areas of thematic integration, Project Applications Program tailoring for Class D missions and transfer of knowledge between scientists and projects.

WCS Challenges for NASA's Earth Science Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cantrell, S.; Swentek, L.; Khan, A.

2017-12-01

In an effort to ensure that data in NASA's Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) is available to a wide variety of users through the tools of their choice, NASA continues to focus on exposing data and services using standards based protocols. Specifically, this work has focused recently on the Web Coverage Service (WCS). Experience has been gained in data delivery via GetCoverage requests, starting out with WCS v1.1.1. The pros and cons of both the version itself and different implementation approaches will be shared during this session. Additionally, due to limitations with WCS v1.1.1's ability to work with NASA's Earth science data, this session will also discuss the benefit of migrating to WCS 2.0.1 with EO-x to enrich this capability to meet a wide range of anticipated user needs This will enable subsetting and various types of data transformations to be performed on a variety of EOS data sets.

NASA's Van Allen Probes Discover a Surprise Circling Earth

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-12-08

Two giant swaths of radiation, known as the Van Allen Belts, surrounding Earth were discovered in 1958. In 2012, observations from the Van Allen Probes showed that a third belt can sometimes appear. The radiation is shown here in yellow, with green representing the spaces between the belts. Credit: NASA/Van Allen Probes/Goddard Space Flight Center To read more go to: www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/rbsp/news/third-belt.html NASA image use policy. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Find us on Instagram

NASA's Earth Science Flight Program overview

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Neeck, Steven P.; Volz, Stephen M.

2011-11-01

NASA's Earth Science Division (ESD) conducts pioneering work in Earth system science, the interdisciplinary view of Earth that explores the interaction among the atmosphere, oceans, ice sheets, land surface interior, and life itself that has enabled scientists to measure global and climate changes and to inform decisions by governments, organizations, and people in the United States and around the world. The ESD makes the data collected and results generated by its missions accessible to other agencies and organizations to improve the products and services they provide, including air quality indices, disaster management, agricultural yield projections, and aviation safety. In addition to four missions now in development and 14 currently operating on-orbit, the ESD is now developing the first tier of missions recommended by the 2007 Earth Science Decadal Survey and is conducting engineering studies and technology development for the second tier. Furthermore, NASA's ESD is planning implementation of a set of climate continuity missions to assure availability of key data sets needed for climate science and applications. These include a replacement for the Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO), OCO-2, planned for launch in 2013; refurbishment of the SAGE III atmospheric chemistry instrument to be hosted by the International Space Station (ISS) as early as 2014; and the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Follow-On (GRACE FO) mission scheduled for launch in 2016. The new Earth Venture (EV) class of missions is a series of uncoupled, low to moderate cost, small to medium-sized, competitively selected, full orbital missions, instruments for orbital missions of opportunity, and sub-orbital projects.

Tools for Engaging Scientists in Education and Public Outreach: Resources from NASA's Science Mission Directorate Forums

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Buxner, S.; Grier, J.; Meinke, B. K.; Gross, N. A.; Woroner, M.

2014-12-01

The NASA Science Education and Public Outreach (E/PO) Forums support the NASA Science Mission Directorate (SMD) and its E/PO community by enhancing the coherency and efficiency of SMD-funded E/PO programs. The Forums foster collaboration and partnerships between scientists with content expertise and educators with pedagogy expertise. We will present tools to engage and resources to support scientists' engagement in E/PO efforts. Scientists can get connected to educators and find support materials and links to resources to support their E/PO work through the online SMD E/PO community workspace (http://smdepo.org) The site includes resources for scientists interested in E/PO including one page guides about "How to Get Involved" and "How to Increase Your Impact," as well as the NASA SMD Scientist Speaker's Bureau to connect scientists to audiences across the country. Additionally, there is a set of online clearinghouses that provide ready-made lessons and activities for use by scientists and educators: NASA Wavelength (http://nasawavelength.org/) and EarthSpace (http://www.lpi.usra.edu/earthspace/). The NASA Forums create and partner with organizations to provide resources specifically for undergraduate science instructors including slide sets for Earth and Space Science classes on the current topics in astronomy and planetary science. The Forums also provide professional development opportunities at professional science conferences each year including AGU, LPSC, AAS, and DPS to support higher education faculty who are teaching undergraduate courses. These offerings include best practices in instruction, resources for teaching planetary science and astronomy topics, and other special topics such as working with diverse students and the use of social media in the classroom. We are continually soliciting ways that we can better support scientists' efforts in effectively engaging in E/PO. Please contact Sanlyn Buxner (buxner@psi.edu) or Jennifer Grier (jgrier@psi.edu) to

NASA Earth Science Research and Applications Using UAVs

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Guillory, Anthony R.

2003-01-01

The NASA Earth Science Enterprise sponsored the UAV Science Demonstration Project, which funded two projects: the Altus Cumulus Electrification Study (ACES) and the UAV Coffee Harvest Optimization experiment. These projects were intended to begin a process of integrating UAVs into the mainstream of NASA s airborne Earth Science Research and Applications programs. The Earth Science Enterprise is moving forward given the positive science results of these demonstration projects to incorporate more platforms with additional scientific utility into the program and to look toward a horizon where the current piloted aircraft may not be able to carry out the science objectives of a mission. Longer duration, extended range, slower aircraft speed, etc. all have scientific advantages in many of the disciplines within Earth Science. The challenge we now face are identifying those capabilities that exist and exploiting them while identifying the gaps. This challenge has two facets: the engineering aspects of redesigning or modifying sensors and a paradigm shift by the scientists.

NASA's SMD Cross-Forum Resources for Supporting Scientist Engagement in Education and Public Outreach Activities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Buxner, S.; Cobabe-Ammann, E. A.; Hsu, B. C.; Sharma, M.; Peticolas, L. M.; Schwerin, T. G.; Shipp, S. S.; Smith, D.

2012-12-01

Sharing the excitement of ongoing scientific discoveries is an important aspect of scientific activity for researchers. Directly engaging scientists in education and public outreach (E/PO) activities has the benefit of directly connecting the public to those who engage in scientific activities. A shortage of training in education methods, public speaking, and working with various public audiences increases barriers to engaging scientists in these types in E/PO activities. NASA's Science Mission Directorate (SMD) Education and Public forums (astrophysics, earth science, heliophysics, and planetary science) support scientists currently involved in E/PO and who are interested in becoming involved in E/PO through a variety of avenues. Over the past three years, the forums have developed a variety of resources to help engage scientists in education and public outreach. We will showcase the following resources developed through the SMD E/PO cross-forum efforts: Professional development resources for writing NASA SMD E/PO proposals (webinars and other online tools), ongoing professional development at scientific conferences to increase scientist engagement in E/PO activities, toolkits for scientists interested in best practices in E/PO (online guides for K-12 education and public outreach), toolkits to inform scientists of science education resources developed within each scientific thematic community, EarthSpace (a community web space where instructors can find and share about teaching space and earth sciences in the undergraduate classroom, including class materials news and funding opportunities, and the latest education research, http://www.lpi.usra.edu/earthspace/), thematic resources for teaching about SMD science topics, and an online database of scientists interested in connecting with education programs. Learn more about the Forum and find resources at http://smdepo.org/.

An Integrated and Collaborative Approach for NASA Earth Science Data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Murphy, K.; Lowe, D.; Behnke, J.; Ramapriyan, H.; Behnke, J.; Sofinowski, E.

2012-01-01

Earth science research requires coordination and collaboration across multiple disparate science domains. Data systems that support this research are often as disparate as the disciplines that they support. These distinctions can create barriers limiting access to measurements, which could otherwise enable cross-discipline Earth science. NASA's Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) is continuing to bridge the gap between discipline-centric data systems with a coherent and transparent system of systems that offers up to date and engaging science related content, creates an active and immersive science user experience, and encourages the use of EOSDIS earth data and services. The new Earthdata Coherent Web (ECW) project encourages cohesiveness by combining existing websites, data and services into a unified website with a common look and feel, common tools and common processes. It includes cross-linking and cross-referencing across the Earthdata site and NASA's Distributed Active Archive Centers (DAAC), and by leveraging existing EOSDIS Cyber-infrastructure and Web Service technologies to foster re-use and to reduce barriers to discovering Earth science data (http://earthdata.nasa.gov).

Open NASA Earth Exchange (OpenNEX): A Public-Private Partnership for Climate Change Research

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nemani, R. R.; Lee, T. J.; Michaelis, A.; Ganguly, S.; Votava, P.

2014-12-01

NASA Earth Exchange (NEX) is a data, computing and knowledge collaborative that houses satellite, climate and ancillary data where a community of researchers can come together to share modeling and analysis codes, scientific results, knowledge and expertise on a centralized platform with access to large supercomputing resources. As a part of broadening the community beyond NASA-funded researchers, NASA through an agreement with Amazon Inc. made available to the public a large collection of Climate and Earth Sciences satellite data. The data, available through the Open NASA Earth Exchange (OpenNEX) platform hosted by Amazon Web Services (AWS) public cloud, consists of large amounts of global land surface imaging, vegetation conditions, climate observations and climate projections. In addition to the data, users of OpenNEX platform can also watch lectures from leading experts, learn basic access and use of the available data sets. In order to advance White House initiatives such as Open Data, Big Data and Climate Data and the Climate Action Plan, NASA over the past six months conducted the OpenNEX Challenge. The two-part challenge was designed to engage the public in creating innovative ways to use NASA data and address climate change impacts on economic growth, health and livelihood. Our intention was that the challenges allow citizen scientists to realize the value of NASA data assets and offers NASA new ideas on how to share and use that data. The first "ideation" challenge, closed on July 31st attracted over 450 participants consisting of climate scientists, hobbyists, citizen scientists, IT experts and App developers. Winning ideas from the first challenge will be incorporated into the second "builder" challenge currently targeted to launch mid-August and close by mid-November. The winner(s) will be formally announced at AGU in December of 2014. We will share our experiences and lessons learned over the past year from OpenNEX, a public-private partnership for

Atmosphere Kits: Hands-On Learning Activities with a Foundation in NASA Earth Science Missions.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Teige, V.; McCrea, S.; Damadeo, K.; Taylor, J.; Lewis, P. M., Jr.; Chambers, L. H.

2016-12-01

The Science Directorate (SD) at NASA Langley Research Center provides many opportunities to involve students, faculty, researchers, and the citizen science community in real world science. The SD Education Team collaborates with the education community to bring authentic Earth science practices and real-world data into the classroom, provide the public with unique NASA experiences, engaging activities, and advanced technology, and provide products developed and reviewed by science and education experts. Our goals include inspiring the next generation of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) professionals and improving STEM literacy by providing innovative participation pathways for educators, students, and the public. The SD Education Team has developed Atmosphere activity kits featuring cloud and aerosol learning activities with a foundation in NASA Earth Science Missions, the Next Generation Science Standards, and The GLOBE Program's Elementary Storybooks. Through cloud kit activities, students will learn how to make estimates from observations and how to categorize and classify specific cloud properties, including cloud height, cloud cover, and basic cloud types. The purpose of the aerosol kit is to introduce students to aerosols and how they can affect the colors we see in the sky. Students will engage in active observation and reporting, explore properties of light, and model the effects of changing amounts/sizes or aerosols on sky color and visibility. Learning activity extensions include participation in ground data collection of environmental conditions and comparison and analysis to related NASA data sets, including but not limited to CERES, CALIPSO, CloudSat, and SAGE III on ISS. This presentation will provide an overview of multiple K-6 NASA Earth Science hands-on activities and free resources will be available.

Web Map Apps using NASA's Earth Observing Fleet

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Boller, R.; Baynes, K.; Pressley, N.; Thompson, C.; Cechini, M.; Schmaltz, J.; Alarcon, C.; De Cesare, C.; Gunnoe, T.; Wong, M.;

Customizing NASA's Earth Science Research Products for addressing MENA Water Challenges

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Habib, Shahid

2012-01-01

As projected by IPCC 2007 report, by the end of this century the Middle East North Mrica (MENA) region is projected to experience an increase of 3 C to 5 C rise in mean temperatures and a 20% decline in precipitation. This poses a serious problem for this geographic zone especially when majority of the hydrological consumption is for the agriculture sector and the remaining amount is for domestic consumption. In late 2011, the World Bank, USAID and NASA have joined hands to establishing integrated, modem, up to date NASA developed capabilities for various countries in the MENA region for addressing water resource issues and adapting to climate change impacts for improved decision making for societal benefits. The main focus of this undertaking is to address the most pressing societal issues which can be modeled and solved by utilizing NASA Earth Science remote sensing data products and hydrological models. The remote sensing data from space is one of the best ways to study such complex issues and further feed into the decision support systems. NASA's fleet of Earth Observing satellites offer a great vantage point from space to look at the globe and provide vital signs necessary to maintain healthy and sustainable ecosystem. NASA has over fifteen satellites and thirty instruments operating on these space borne platforms and generating over 2000 different science products on a daily basis. Some of these products are soil moisture, global precipitation, aerosols, cloud cover, normalized difference vegetation index, land cover/use, ocean altimetry, ocean salinity, sea surface winds, sea surface temperature, ozone and atmospheric gasses, ice and snow measurements, and many more. All of the data products, models and research results are distributed via the Internet freely through out the world. This project will utilize several NASA models such as global Land Data Assimilation System (LDAS) to generate hydrological states and fluxes in near real time. These LDAS products

NASA Earth Remote Sensing Programs: An Overview with Special Emphasis on the NASA/JAXA Led Global Precipitation Measurement Mission

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stocker, Erich Franz

2009-01-01

This slide presentation gives an overview of NASA's operations monitoring the earth from space. It includes information on NASA's administrative divisions and key operating earth science missions with specific information on the Landsat satellites, Seastar spacecraft, and the TRMM satellite.

76 FR 21073 - NASA Advisory Council; Science Committee; Earth Science Subcommittee; Meeting

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-04-14

... NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION [Notice: (11-040)] NASA Advisory Council; Science Committee; Earth Science Subcommittee; Meeting AGENCY: National Aeronautics and Space Administration. ACTION... amended, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announces a meeting of the Earth Science...

75 FR 65673 - NASA Advisory Council; Science Committee; Earth Science Subcommittee; Meeting

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-10-26

... NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION [Notice: (10-141)] NASA Advisory Council; Science Committee; Earth Science Subcommittee; Meeting AGENCY: National Aeronautics and Space Administration. ACTION... amended, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announces a meeting of the Earth Science...

77 FR 27253 - NASA Advisory Council; Science Committee; Earth Science Subcommittee; Meeting

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-05-09

... NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION [Notice (12-033)] NASA Advisory Council; Science Committee; Earth Science Subcommittee; Meeting AGENCY: National Aeronautics and Space Administration. ACTION... amended, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announces a meeting of the Earth Science...

77 FR 58412 - NASA Advisory Council; Science Committee; Earth Science Subcommittee; Meeting

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-09-20

... NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION [Notice 12-075] NASA Advisory Council; Science Committee; Earth Science Subcommittee; Meeting AGENCY: National Aeronautics and Space Administration. ACTION... amended, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announces a meeting of the Earth Science...

78 FR 52216 - NASA Advisory Council; Science Committee; Earth Science Subcommittee; Meeting

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-08-22

... NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION [Notice: 13- 099] NASA Advisory Council; Science Committee; Earth Science Subcommittee; Meeting AGENCY: National Aeronautics and Space Administration. ACTION... amended, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announces a meeting of the Earth Science...

78 FR 18373 - NASA Advisory Council; Science Committee; Earth Science Subcommittee; Meeting

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-03-26

... NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION [Notice 13-031] NASA Advisory Council; Science Committee; Earth Science Subcommittee; Meeting AGENCY: National Aeronautics and Space Administration. ACTION... amended, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announces a meeting of the Earth Science...

76 FR 49508 - NASA Advisory Council; Science Committee; Earth Science Subcommittee; Meeting

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-08-10

... NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION [Notice 11-073] NASA Advisory Council; Science Committee; Earth Science Subcommittee; Meeting AGENCY: National Aeronautics and Space Administration. ACTION... amended, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announces a meeting of the Earth Science...

75 FR 41899 - NASA Advisory Council; Science Committee; Earth Science Subcommittee; Meeting

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-07-19

... NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION [Notice: (10-082)] NASA Advisory Council; Science Committee; Earth Science Subcommittee; Meeting AGENCY: National Aeronautics and Space Administration. ACTION... amended, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announces a meeting of the Earth Science...

77 FR 12086 - NASA Advisory Council; Science Committee; Earth Science Subcommittee; Meeting

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-02-28

... NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION [Notice 12-018] NASA Advisory Council; Science Committee; Earth Science Subcommittee; Meeting AGENCY: National Aeronautics and Space Administration. ACTION... amended, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announces a meeting of the Earth Science...

Connecting NASA science and engineering with earth science applications

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The National Research Council (NRC) recently highlighted the dual role of NASA to support both science and applications in planning Earth observations. This Editorial reports the efforts of the NASA Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission to integrate applications with science and engineering i...

Flagstaff, Arizona seen in Earth Resources Experiments package

NASA Image and Video Library

1974-02-01

SL4-93-067 (16 Nov. 1973-8 Feb. 1974) --- A spectacular winter view of the Flagstaff, Arizona area is seen in this Skylab 4 Earth Resources Experiments package S190-B (five-inch earth terrain camera) infrared photograph taken from the Skylab space station in Earth orbit. Included in the scene are the San Francisco Mountains, Oak Creek Canyon, Painted Desert and Meteor Crater. The infrared picture depicts in red living vegetation, in white the snow, and in bright blue the water. Major features identified in this photograph are Humphrey's peak, top center, Flagstaff at foot of the peak, Sunset Crater volcanic field with numerous vents and craters right of Flagstaff and Meteor Crater (right center). Within the mountainous areas several clear areas generally rectangular are visible and represent the areas where lumbering has removed the forest. The thin white line extending from left corner to Sunset Crater fields is the power transmission line cleared area. Roads are subdued and are not easily visible. Photo credit: NASA

From a Million Miles Away, NASA Camera Shows Moon Crossing Face of Earth

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-08-05

This animation shows images of the far side of the moon, illuminated by the sun, as it crosses between the DISCOVR spacecraft's Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) camera and telescope, and the Earth - one million miles away. Credits: NASA/NOAA A NASA camera aboard the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) satellite captured a unique view of the moon as it moved in front of the sunlit side of Earth last month. The series of test images shows the fully illuminated “dark side” of the moon that is never visible from Earth. The images were captured by NASA’s Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC), a four megapixel CCD camera and telescope on the DSCOVR satellite orbiting 1 million miles from Earth. From its position between the sun and Earth, DSCOVR conducts its primary mission of real-time solar wind monitoring for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Read more: www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/from-a-million-miles-away-na... NASA image use policy. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Find us on Instagram

From a Million Miles Away, NASA Camera Shows Moon Crossing Face of Earth

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-12-08

This animation still image shows the far side of the moon, illuminated by the sun, as it crosses between the DISCOVR spacecraft's Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) camera and telescope, and the Earth - one million miles away. Credits: NASA/NOAA A NASA camera aboard the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) satellite captured a unique view of the moon as it moved in front of the sunlit side of Earth last month. The series of test images shows the fully illuminated “dark side” of the moon that is never visible from Earth. The images were captured by NASA’s Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC), a four megapixel CCD camera and telescope on the DSCOVR satellite orbiting 1 million miles from Earth. From its position between the sun and Earth, DSCOVR conducts its primary mission of real-time solar wind monitoring for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Read more: www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/from-a-million-miles-away-na... NASA image use policy. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Find us on Instagram

NASA/NOAA Earth Science Electronic Theater 1999. Earth Science Observations, Analysis and Visualization: Roots in the 60s: Vision for the Next Millennium

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hasler, Fritz

1999-01-01

The Etheater presents visualizations which span the period from the original Suomi/Hasler animations of the first ATS-1 GEO weather satellite images in 1966 ....... to the latest 1999 NASA Earth Science Vision for the next 25 years. Hot off the SGI-Onyx Graphics-Supercomputer are NASA's visualizations of Hurricanes Mitch, Georges, Fran and Linda. These storms have been recently featured on the covers of National Geographic, Time, Newsweek and Popular Science. Highlights will be shown from the NASA hurricane visualization resource video tape in standard and HDTV that has been used repeatedly this season on National and International network TV. Results will be presented from a new paper on automatic wind measurements in Hurricane Luis from 1-min GOES images that appeared in the November BAMS.

Earth Science Applications Showcase

NASA Image and Video Library

2014-08-05

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden speaks with young professionals about their project on New England water resources during the annual DEVELOP Earth Science Application Showcase at NASA headquarters Tuesday, August 5, 2014. The Earth Science Applications Showcase highlights the work of over 150 participants in the 10-week DEVELOP program that started in June. The DEVELOP Program bridges the gap between NASA Earth science and society, building capacity in both its participants and partner organizations, to better prepare them to handle the challenges that face our society and future generations. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

Welcome to NASA's Earth Science Enterprise: Educational CD-ROM Activity Supplement

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1999-01-01

Since its inception in 1958, NASA has been studying the Earth and its changing environment by observing the atmosphere, oceans, land, ice, and snow, and their influence on weather and climate. We now understand that the key to gaining a better understanding of the global environment is exploring how the Earth's systems of air, land, water, and life interact with each other. This approach-called Earth Systems Science-blends together fields like meteorology, oceanography, geology, and biology. In 1991, NASA launched a more comprehensive program to study the Earth as an integrated environmental system. They call it NASA's Earth Science Enterprise. A major component of the Earth Science Enterprise is the Earth Observing System (EOS). EOS is series of satellites to be launched over the next two decades that will be used to intensively study the Earth, with the hopes of expanding our under- standing of how natural processes affect us, and how we might be affecting them. Such studies will yield improved weather forecasts, tools for managing agriculture and forests, information for fishermen and local planners, and, eventually, the ability to predict how the climate will change in the future. Today's program is laying the foundation for long-term environmental and climate monitoring and prediction. Potentially, this will provide the understanding needed in the future to support difficult decisions regarding the Earth's environment.

Expedition Earth and Beyond: Using NASA Data Resources and Integrated Educational Strategies to Promote Authentic Research in the Classroom

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Graffi, Paige Valderrama; Stefanov, William; Willis, Kim; Runco, Sue

2009-01-01

Teachers in today s classrooms are bound by state required skills, education standards, and high stakes testing. How can they gain skills and confidence to replace units or individual activities with curriculum that incorporates project and inquiry-based learning and promotes authentic research in the classroom? The key to promoting classroom authentic research experiences lies in educator professional development that is structured around teacher needs. The Expedition Earth and Beyond Program is a new geosciences program based at the NASA Johnson Space Center designed to engage, inspire and educate teachers and students in grades 5-14. The program promotes authentic research experiences for classrooms and uses strategies that will help NASA reach its education goals while still allowing educators to teach required standards. Teachers will have access to experts in terrestrial and planetary remote sensing and geoscience; this will enhance their use of content, structure, and relevant experiences to gain the confidence and skills they need to actively engage students in authentic research experiences. Integrated and powerful educational strategies are used to build skills and confidence in teachers. The strategies are as follows: 1) creating Standards-aligned, inquiry-based curricular resources as ready-to-use materials that can be modified by teachers to fit their unique classroom situation; 2) providing ongoing professional development opportunities that focus on active experiences using curricular materials, inquiry-based techniques and expanding content knowledge; 3) connecting science experts to classrooms to deepen content knowledge and provide relevance to classroom activities and real world applications; 4) facilitating students sharing research with their peers and scientists reinforcing their active participation and contributions to research. These components of the Expedition Earth and Beyond Education Program will be enhanced by providing exciting and

Expedition Earth and Beyond: Using NASA data resources and integrated educational strategies to promote authentic research in the classroom

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Graff, P. V.; Stefanov, W.; Willis, K.; Runco, S.

2009-12-01

Teachers in today’s classrooms are bound by state required skills, education standards, and high stakes testing. How can they gain skills and confidence to replace units or individual activities with curriculum that incorporates project and inquiry-based learning and promotes authentic research in the classroom? The key to promoting classroom authentic research experiences lies in educator professional development that is structured around teacher needs. The Expedition Earth and Beyond Program is a new geosciences program based at the NASA Johnson Space Center designed to engage, inspire and educate teachers and students in grades 5-14. The program promotes authentic research experiences for classrooms and uses strategies that will help NASA reach its education goals while still allowing educators to teach required standards. Teachers will have access to experts in terrestrial and planetary remote sensing and geoscience; this will enhance their use of content, structure, and relevant experiences to gain the confidence and skills they need to actively engage students in authentic research experiences. Integrated and powerful educational strategies are used to build skills and confidence in teachers. The strategies are as follows: 1) creating Standards-aligned, inquiry-based curricular resources as ready-to-use materials that can be modified by teachers to fit their unique classroom situation; 2) providing ongoing professional development opportunities that focus on active experiences using curricular materials, inquiry-based techniques and expanding content knowledge; 3) connecting science experts to classrooms to deepen content knowledge and provide relevance to classroom activities and real world applications; 4) facilitating students sharing research with their peers and scientists reinforcing their active participation and contributions to research. These components of the Expedition Earth and Beyond Education Program will be enhanced by providing exciting and

Monitoring Drought Conditions in the Navajo Nation Using NASA Earth Observations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ly, Vickie; Gao, Michael; Cary, Cheryl; Turnbull-Appell, Sophie; Surunis, Anton

2016-01-01

The Navajo Nation, a 65,700 sq km Native American territory located in the southwestern United States, has been increasingly impacted by severe drought events and changes in climate. These events are coupled with a lack of domestic water infrastructure and economic resources, leaving approximately one-third of the population without access to potable water in their homes. Current methods of monitoring drought are dependent on state-based monthly Standardized Precipitation Index value maps calculated by the Western Regional Climate Center. However, these maps do not provide the spatial resolution needed to illustrate differences in drought severity across the vast Nation. To better understand and monitor drought events and drought regime changes in the Navajo Nation, this project created a geodatabase of historical climate information specific to the area, and a decision support tool to calculate average Standardized Precipitation Index values for user-specified areas. The tool and geodatabase use Tropical Rainfall Monitoring Mission (TRMM) and Global Precipitation Monitor (GPM) observed precipitation data and Parameter-elevation Relationships on Independent Slopes Model modeled historical precipitation data, as well as NASA's modeled Land Data Assimilation Systems deep soil moisture, evaporation, and transpiration data products. The geodatabase and decision support tool will allow resource managers in the Navajo Nation to utilize current and future NASA Earth observation data for increased decision-making capacity regarding future climate change impact on water resources.

Reuse of Software Assets for the NASA Earth Science Decadal Survey Missions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mattmann, Chris A.; Downs, Robert R.; Marshall, James J.; Most, Neal F.; Samadi, Shahin

2010-01-01

Software assets from existing Earth science missions can be reused for the new decadal survey missions that are being planned by NASA in response to the 2007 Earth Science National Research Council (NRC) Study. The new missions will require the development of software to curate, process, and disseminate the data to science users of interest and to the broader NASA mission community. In this paper, we discuss new tools and a blossoming community that are being developed by the Earth Science Data System (ESDS) Software Reuse Working Group (SRWG) to improve capabilities for reusing NASA software assets.

NASA Data for Water Resources Applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Toll, David; Houser, Paul; Arsenault, Kristi; Entin, Jared

2004-01-01

Water Management Applications is one of twelve elements in the Earth Science Enterprise National Applications Program. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center is supporting the Applications Program through partnering with other organizations to use NASA project results, such as from satellite instruments and Earth system models to enhance the organizations critical needs. The focus thus far has been: 1) estimating water storage including snowpack and soil moisture, 2) modeling and predicting water fluxes such as evapotranspiration (ET), precipitation and river runoff, and 3) remote sensing of water quality, including both point source (e.g., turbidity and productivity) and non-point source (e.g., land cover conversion such as forest to agriculture yielding higher nutrient runoff). The objectives of the partnering cover three steps of: 1) Evaluation, 2) Verification and Validation, and 3) Benchmark Report. We are working with the U.S. federal agencies including the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) and the Department of Agriculture (USDA). We are using several of their Decision Support Systems (DSS) tools. This includes the DSS support tools BASINS used by EPA, Riverware and AWARDS ET ToolBox by USBR and SWAT by USDA and EPA. Regional application sites using NASA data across the US. are currently being eliminated for the DSS tools. The current NASA data emphasized thus far are from the Land Data Assimilation Systems WAS) and MODIS satellite products. We are currently in the first two steps of evaluation and verification validation. Water Management Applications is one of twelve elements in the Earth Science Enterprise s National Applications Program. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center is supporting the Applications Program through partnering with other organizations to use NASA project results, such as from satellite instruments and Earth system models to enhance the organizations critical needs. The focus thus far has been: 1

Take off with NASA's Kepler Mission!: The Search for Other "Earths"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Koch, David; DeVore, Edna K.; Gould, Alan; Harman, Pamela

2009-01-01

Humans have long wondered about life in the universe. Are we alone? Is Earth unique? What is it that makes our planet a habitable one, and are there others like Earth? NASA's Kepler Mission seeks the answers to these questions. Kepler is a space-based, specially designed 0.95 m aperture telescope. Launching in 2009, Kepler is NASA's first mission…

NASA's Earth Resources Laboratory - Seventeen years of using remotely sensed satellite data in land applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cashion, Kenneth D.; Whitehurst, Charles A.

1987-01-01

The activities of the Earth Resources Laboratoy (ERL) for the past seventeen years are reviewed with particular reference to four typical applications demonstrating the use of remotely sensed data in a geobased information system context. The applications discussed are: a fire control model for the Olympic National Park; wildlife habitat modeling; a resource inventory system including a potential soil erosion model; and a corridor analysis model for locating routes between geographical locations. Some future applications are also discussed.

The MY NASA DATA Project: Preparing Future Earth and Environmental Scientists, and Future Citizens

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chambers, L. H.; Phelps, C. S.; Phipps, M.; Holzer, M.; Daugherty, P.; Poling, E.; Vanderlaan, S.; Oots, P. C.; Moore, S. W.; Diones, D. D.

2008-12-01

For the past 5 years, the MY NASA DATA (MND) project at NASA Langley has developed and adapted tools and materials aimed at enabling student access to real NASA Earth science satellite data. These include web visualization tools including Google Earth capabilities, but also GPS and graphing calculator exercises, Excel spreadsheet analyses, and more. The project team, NASA scientists, and over 80 classroom science teachers from around the country, have created over 85 lesson plans and science fair project ideas that demonstrate NASA satellite data use in the classroom. With over 150 Earth science parameters to choose from, the MND Live Access Server enables scientific inquiry on numerous interconnected Earth and environmental science topics about the Earth system. Teachers involved in the project report a number of benefits, including networking with other teachers nationwide who emphasize data collection and analysis in the classroom, as well as learning about other NASA resources and programs for educators. They also indicate that the MND website enhances the inquiry process and facilitates the formation of testable questions by students (a task that is typically difficult for students to do). MND makes science come alive for students because it allows them to develop their own questions using the same data scientists use. MND also provides educators with a rich venue for science practice skills, which are often overlooked in traditional curricula as teachers concentrate on state and national standards. A teacher in a disadvantaged school reports that her students are not exposed to many educational experiences outside the classroom. MND allows inner city students to be a part of NASA directly. They are able to use the same information that scientists are using and this gives them inspiration. In all classrooms, the MND microsets move students out of their local area to explore global data and then zoom back into their homes realizing that they are a part of the

The NASA Earth Science Flight Program: an update

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Neeck, Steven P.

2015-10-01

Earth's changing environment impacts every aspect of life on our planet and climate change has profound implications on society. Studying Earth as a single complex system is essential to understanding the causes and consequences of climate change and other global environmental concerns. NASA's Earth Science Division (ESD) shapes an interdisciplinary view of Earth, exploring interactions among the atmosphere, oceans, ice sheets, land surface interior, and life itself. This enables scientists to measure global and climate changes and to inform decisions by government, other organizations, and people in the United States and around the world. The data collected and results generated are accessible to other agencies and organizations to improve the products and services they provide, including air quality indices, disaster prediction and response, agricultural yield projections, and aviation safety. ESD's Flight Program provides the space based observing systems and infrastructure for mission operations and scientific data processing and distribution that support NASA's Earth science research and modeling activities. The Flight Program currently has 21 operating Earth observing space missions, including the recently launched Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission, the Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2), the Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission, and the International Space Station (ISS) RapidSCAT and Cloud-Aerosol Transport System (CATS) instruments. The ESD has 22 more missions and instruments planned for launch over the next decade. These include first and second tier missions from the 2007 Earth Science Decadal Survey, Climate Continuity missions and selected instruments to assure availability of key climate data sets, operational missions to ensure sustained land imaging provided by the Landsat system, and small-sized competitively selected orbital missions and instrument missions of opportunity belonging to the Earth Venture (EV) Program. Some

NASA's Earth Observations of the Global Environment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

King, Michael D.

2005-01-01

A birds eye view of the Earth from afar and up close reveals the power and magnificence of the Earth and juxtaposes the simultaneous impacts and powerlessness of humankind. The NASA Electronic Theater presents Earth science observations and visualizations in an historical perspective. Fly in from outer space to Africa and Cape Town. See the latest spectacular images from NASA & NOAA remote sensing missions like Meteosat, TRMM, Landsat 7, and Terra, which will be visualized and explained in the context of global change. See visualizations of global data sets currently available from Earth orbiting satellites, including the Earth at night with its city lights, aerosols from biomass burning in the Middle East and Africa, and retreat of the glaciers on Mt. Kilimanjaro. See the dynamics of vegetation growth and decay over Africa over 17 years. New visualization tools allow us to roam & zoom through massive global mosaic images including Landsat and Terra tours of Africa and South America, showing land use and land cover change from Bolivian highlands. Spectacular new visualizations of the global atmosphere & oceans are shown. See massive dust storms sweeping across Africa and across the Atlantic to the Caribbean and Amazon basin. See ocean vortexes and currents that bring up the nutrients to feed tiny phytoplankton and draw the fish, pant whales and fisher- man. See how the ocean blooms in response to these currents and El Nino/La Nifia. We will illustrate these and other topics with a dynamic theater-style presentation, along with animations of satellite launch deployments and orbital mapping to highlight aspects of Earth observations from space.

NASA's Space Lidar Measurements of Earth and Planetary Surfaces

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Abshire, James B.

2010-01-01

A lidar instrument on a spacecraft was first used to measure planetary surface height and topography on the Apollo 15 mission to the Moon in 1971, The lidar was based around a flashlamp-pumped ruby laser, and the Apollo 15-17 missions used them to make a few thousand measurements of lunar surface height from orbit. With the advent of diode pumped lasers in the late 1980s, the lifetime, efficiency, resolution and mass of lasers and space lidar all improved dramatically. These advances were utilized in NASA space missions to map the shape and surface topography of Mars with > 600 million measurements, demonstrate initial space measurements of the Earth's topography, and measured the detailed shape of asteroid. NASA's ICESat mission in Earth orbit just completed its polar ice measurement mission with almost 2 billion measurements of the Earth's surface and atmosphere, and demonstrated measurements to Antarctica and Greenland with a height resolution of a few em. Space missions presently in cruise phase and in operation include those to Mercury and a topographic mapping mission of the Moon. Orbital lidar also have been used in experiments to demonstrate laser ranging over planetary distances, including laser pulse transmission from Earth to Mars orbit. Based on the demonstrated value of the measurements, lidar is now the preferred measurement approach for many new scientific space missions. Some missions planned by NASA include a planetary mission to measure the shape and dynamics of Europa, and several Earth orbiting missions to continue monitoring ice sheet heights, measure vegetation heights, assess atmospheric CO2 concentrations, and to map the Earth surface topographic heights with 5 m spatial resolution. This presentation will give an overview of history, ongoing work, and plans for using space lidar for measurements of the surfaces of the Earth and planets.

NASA's Earth Observing Data and Information System - Supporting Interoperability through a Scalable Architecture (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mitchell, A. E.; Lowe, D. R.; Murphy, K. J.; Ramapriyan, H. K.

2011-12-01

Initiated in 1990, NASA's Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) is currently a petabyte-scale archive of data designed to receive, process, distribute and archive several terabytes of science data per day from NASA's Earth science missions. Comprised of 12 discipline specific data centers collocated with centers of science discipline expertise, EOSDIS manages over 6800 data products from many science disciplines and sources. NASA supports global climate change research by providing scalable open application layers to the EOSDIS distributed information framework. This allows many other value-added services to access NASA's vast Earth Science Collection and allows EOSDIS to interoperate with data archives from other domestic and international organizations. EOSDIS is committed to NASA's Data Policy of full and open sharing of Earth science data. As metadata is used in all aspects of NASA's Earth science data lifecycle, EOSDIS provides a spatial and temporal metadata registry and order broker called the EOS Clearing House (ECHO) that allows efficient search and access of cross domain data and services through the Reverb Client and Application Programmer Interfaces (APIs). Another core metadata component of EOSDIS is NASA's Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) which represents more than 25,000 Earth science data set and service descriptions from all over the world, covering subject areas within the Earth and environmental sciences. With inputs from the ECHO, GCMD and Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission metadata models, EOSDIS is developing a NASA ISO 19115 Best Practices Convention. Adoption of an international metadata standard enables a far greater level of interoperability among national and international data products. NASA recently concluded a 'Metadata Harmony Study' of EOSDIS metadata capabilities/processes of ECHO and NASA's Global Change Master Directory (GCMD), to evaluate opportunities for improved data access and use, reduce

NASA's Earth Observing Data and Information System - Supporting Interoperability through a Scalable Architecture (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mitchell, A. E.; Lowe, D. R.; Murphy, K. J.; Ramapriyan, H. K.

2013-12-01

Initiated in 1990, NASA's Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) is currently a petabyte-scale archive of data designed to receive, process, distribute and archive several terabytes of science data per day from NASA's Earth science missions. Comprised of 12 discipline specific data centers collocated with centers of science discipline expertise, EOSDIS manages over 6800 data products from many science disciplines and sources. NASA supports global climate change research by providing scalable open application layers to the EOSDIS distributed information framework. This allows many other value-added services to access NASA's vast Earth Science Collection and allows EOSDIS to interoperate with data archives from other domestic and international organizations. EOSDIS is committed to NASA's Data Policy of full and open sharing of Earth science data. As metadata is used in all aspects of NASA's Earth science data lifecycle, EOSDIS provides a spatial and temporal metadata registry and order broker called the EOS Clearing House (ECHO) that allows efficient search and access of cross domain data and services through the Reverb Client and Application Programmer Interfaces (APIs). Another core metadata component of EOSDIS is NASA's Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) which represents more than 25,000 Earth science data set and service descriptions from all over the world, covering subject areas within the Earth and environmental sciences. With inputs from the ECHO, GCMD and Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission metadata models, EOSDIS is developing a NASA ISO 19115 Best Practices Convention. Adoption of an international metadata standard enables a far greater level of interoperability among national and international data products. NASA recently concluded a 'Metadata Harmony Study' of EOSDIS metadata capabilities/processes of ECHO and NASA's Global Change Master Directory (GCMD), to evaluate opportunities for improved data access and use, reduce

Transforming Science Data for GIS: How to Find and Use NASA Earth Observation Data Without Being a Rocket Scientist

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bagwell, Ross; Peters, Byron; Berrick, Stephen

2017-01-01

NASAs Earth Observing System Data Information System (EOSDIS) manages Earth Observation satellites and the Distributed Active Archive Centers (DAACs), where the data is stored and processed. The challenge is that Earth Observation data is complicated. There is plenty of data available, however, the science teams have had a top-down approach: define what it is you are trying to study -select a set of satellite(s) and sensor(s), and drill down for the data.Our alternative is to take a bottom-up approach using eight environmental fields of interest as defined by the Group on Earth Observations (GEO) called Societal Benefit Areas (SBAs): Disaster Resilience (DR) Public Health Surveillance (PHS) Energy and Mineral Resource Management (EMRM) Water Resources Management (WRM) Infrastructure and Transport Management (ITM) Sustainable Urban Development (SUD) Food Security and Sustainable Agriculture (FSSA) Biodiversity and Ecosystems Sustainability (BES).

MY NASA DATA: Making Earth Science Data Accessible to the K-12 Community

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chambers, L. H.; Alston, E. J.; Diones, D. D.; Moore, S. W.; Oots, P. C.; Phelps, C. S.

2006-12-01

intends to create a community of data explorers. A MY NASA DATA e-mentor network provides opportunities for educators, students, and citizens to engage in dialog about the questions they encounter. The website hosts a collection of data-based lesson plans that have been written by teachers for use in their own classrooms. A new portion of the website, launched this summer, invites submission of student research projects that use our resources. Finally, we are continually seeking additional Earth System Science datasets that can be offered to our audience through the MY NASA DATA LAS interface.

Accessing Earth Science Data Visualizations through NASA GIBS & Worldview

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cechini, M. F.; Boller, R. A.; Baynes, K.; Wong, M. M.; King, B. A.; Schmaltz, J. E.; De Luca, A. P.; King, J.; Roberts, J. T.; Rodriguez, J.; Thompson, C. K.; Pressley, N. N.

2017-12-01

For more than 20 years, the NASA Earth Observing System (EOS) has operated dozens of remote sensing satellites collecting nearly 15 Petabytes of data that span thousands of science parameters. Within these observations are keys the Earth Scientists have used to unlock many things that we understand about our planet. Also contained within these observations are a myriad of opportunities for learning and education. The trick is making them accessible to educators and students in convenient and simple ways so that effort can be spent on lesson enrichment and not overcoming technical hurdles. The NASA Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS) system and NASA Worldview website provide a unique view into EOS data through daily full resolution visualizations of hundreds of earth science parameters. For many of these parameters, visualizations are available within hours of acquisition from the satellite. For others, visualizations are available for the entire mission of the satellite. Accompanying the visualizations are visual aids such as color legends, place names, and orbit tracks. By using these visualizations, educators and students can observe natural phenomena that enrich a scientific education. This poster will provide an overview of the visualizations available in NASA GIBS and Worldview and how they are accessed. We invite discussion on how the visualizations can be used or improved for educational purposes.

Packaging a Successful NASA Mission to Reach a Large Audience with a Small Budget. Earth's Dynamic Space: Solar-Terrestrial Physics and NASA's Polar Mission

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fox, Nicola J.; Goldberg, Richard; Barnes, Robin J.; Sigwarth, John B.; Beisser, Kerri B.; Moore, Thomas E.; Hoffman, Robert A.; Russell, Christopher T.; Scudder, Jack D.; Spann, James F.

2004-01-01

To showcase the on-going and wide-ranging scope of the Polar science discoveries, the Polar science team has created a one-stop shop for a thorough introduction to geospace physics, in the form of a DVD with supporting website. The DVD, Earth's Dynamic Space: Solar-Terrestrial Physics & NASA's Polar Mission, can be viewed as an end-to-end product or split into individual segments and tailored to lesson plans. Capitalizing on the Polar mission and its amazing science return, the Polar team created an exciting multi-use DVD intended for audiences ranging from a traditional classroom and after school clubs, to museums and science centers. The DVD tackles subjects such as the aurora, the magnetosphere and space weather, whilst highlighting the science discoveries of the Polar mission. This platform introduces the learner to key team members as well as the science principles. Dramatic visualizations are used to illustrate the complex principles that describe Earth's dynamic space. In order to produce such a wide-ranging product on a shoe-string budget, the team poured through existing NASA resources to package them into the Polar story. Team members also created visualizations using Polar data to complement the NASA stock footage. Scientists donated their time to create and review scripts to make this a real team effort, working closely with the award winning audio-visual group at JHU/Applied Physics Laboratory. The team was excited to be invited to join NASA's Sun-Earth Day 2005 E/PO program and the DVD will be distributed as part of the supporting educational packages.

Digest of NASA earth observation sensors

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Drummond, R. R.

1972-01-01

A digest of technical characteristics of remote sensors and supporting technological experiments uniquely developed under NASA Applications Programs for Earth Observation Flight Missions is presented. Included are camera systems, sounders, interferometers, communications and experiments. In the text, these are grouped by types, such as television and photographic cameras, lasers and radars, radiometers, spectrometers, technology experiments, and transponder technology experiments. Coverage of the brief history of development extends from the first successful earth observation sensor aboard Explorer 7 in October, 1959, through the latest funded and flight-approved sensors under development as of October 1, 1972. A standard resume format is employed to normalize and mechanize the information presented.

Using NASA Space Imaging Technology to Teach Earth and Sun Topics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Verner, E.; Bruhweiler, F. C.; Long, T.

2011-12-01

We teach an experimental college-level course, directed toward elementary education majors, emphasizing "hands-on" activities that can be easily applied to the elementary classroom. This course, Physics 240: "The Sun-Earth Connection" includes various ways to study selected topics in physics, earth science, and basic astronomy. Our lesson plans and EPO materials make extensive use of NASA imagery and cover topics about magnetism, the solar photospheric, chromospheric, coronal spectra, as well as earth science and climate. In addition we are developing and will cover topics on ecosystem structure, biomass and water on Earth. We strive to free the non-science undergraduate from the "fear of science" and replace it with the excitement of science such that these future teachers will carry this excitement to their future students. Hands-on experiments, computer simulations, analysis of real NASA data, and vigorous seminar discussions are blended in an inquiry-driven curriculum to instill confident understanding of basic physical science and modern, effective methods for teaching it. The course also demonstrates ways how scientific thinking and hands-on activities could be implemented in the classroom. We have designed this course to provide the non-science student a confident basic understanding of physical science and modern, effective methods for teaching it. Most of topics were selected using National Science Standards and National Mathematics Standards that are addressed in grades K-8. The course focuses on helping education majors: 1) Build knowledge of scientific concepts and processes; 2) Understand the measurable attributes of objects and the units and methods of measurements; 3) Conduct data analysis (collecting, organizing, presenting scientific data, and to predict the result); 4) Use hands-on approaches to teach science; 5) Be familiar with Internet science teaching resources. Here we share our experiences and challenges we face while teaching this course.

In-Situ Resource Utilization for Space Exploration: Resource Processing, Mission-Enabling Technologies, and Lessons for Sustainability on Earth and Beyond

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hepp, A. F.; Palaszewski, B. A.; Landis, G. A.; Jaworske, D. A.; Colozza, A. J.; Kulis, M. J.; Heller, R. S.

2015-01-01

As humanity begins to reach out into the solar system, it has become apparent that supporting a human or robotic presence in transit andor on station requires significant expendable resources including consumables (to support people), fuel, and convenient reliable power. Transporting all necessary expendables is inefficient, inconvenient, costly, and, in the final analysis, a complicating factor for mission planners and a significant source of potential failure modes. Over the past twenty-five years, beginning with the Space Exploration Initiative, researchers at the NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC), academic collaborators, and industrial partners have analyzed, researched, and developed successful solutions for the challenges posed by surviving and even thriving in the resource limited environment(s) presented by near-Earth space and non-terrestrial surface operations. In this retrospective paper, we highlight the efforts of the co-authors in resource simulation and utilization, materials processing and consumable(s) production, power systems and analysis, fuel storage and handling, propulsion systems, and mission operations. As we move forward in our quest to explore space using a resource-optimized approach, it is worthwhile to consider lessons learned relative to efficient utilization of the (comparatively) abundant natural resources and improving the sustainability (and environment) for life on Earth. We reconsider Lunar (and briefly Martian) resource utilization for potential colonization, and discuss next steps moving away from Earth.

In-Situ Resource Utilization for Space Exploration: Resource Processing, Mission-Enabling Technologies, and Lessons for Sustainability on Earth and Beyond

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hepp, A. F.; Palaszewski, B. A.; Landis, G. A.; Jaworske, D. A.; Colozza, A. J.; Kulis, M. J.; Heller, Richard S.

2014-01-01

As humanity begins to reach out into the solar system, it has become apparent that supporting a human or robotic presence in transit and/or on station requires significant expendable resources including consumables (to support people), fuel, and convenient reliable power. Transporting all necessary expendables is inefficient, inconvenient, costly, and, in the final analysis, a complicating factor for mission planners and a significant source of potential failure modes. Over the past twenty-five years, beginning with the Space Exploration Initiative, researchers at the NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC), academic collaborators, and industrial partners have analyzed, researched, and developed successful solutions for the challenges posed by surviving and even thriving in the resource limited environment(s) presented by near-Earth space and non-terrestrial surface operations. In this retrospective paper, we highlight the efforts of the co-authors in resource simulation and utilization, materials processing and consumable(s) production, power systems and analysis, fuel storage and handling, propulsion systems, and mission operations. As we move forward in our quest to explore space using a resource-optimized approach, it is worthwhile to consider lessons learned relative to efficient utilization of the (comparatively) abundant natural resources and improving the sustainability (and environment) for life on Earth. We reconsider Lunar (and briefly Martian) resource utilization for potential colonization, and discuss next steps moving away from Earth.

NASA's Earth Science Enterprise: 1998 Education Catalog

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1998-01-01

The goals of the Earth Science Enterprise (ESE) are to expand the scientific knowledge of the Earth system; to widely disseminate the results of the expanded knowledge; and to enable the productive use of this knowledge. This catalog provides information about the Earth Science education programs and the resources available for elementary through university levels.

Improving Access to NASA Earth Science Data through Collaborative Metadata Curation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sisco, A. W.; Bugbee, K.; Shum, D.; Baynes, K.; Dixon, V.; Ramachandran, R.

2017-12-01

The NASA-developed Common Metadata Repository (CMR) is a high-performance metadata system that currently catalogs over 375 million Earth science metadata records. It serves as the authoritative metadata management system of NASA's Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS), enabling NASA Earth science data to be discovered and accessed by a worldwide user community. The size of the EOSDIS data archive is steadily increasing, and the ability to manage and query this archive depends on the input of high quality metadata to the CMR. Metadata that does not provide adequate descriptive information diminishes the CMR's ability to effectively find and serve data to users. To address this issue, an innovative and collaborative review process is underway to systematically improve the completeness, consistency, and accuracy of metadata for approximately 7,000 data sets archived by NASA's twelve EOSDIS data centers, or Distributed Active Archive Centers (DAACs). The process involves automated and manual metadata assessment of both collection and granule records by a team of Earth science data specialists at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center. The team communicates results to DAAC personnel, who then make revisions and reingest improved metadata into the CMR. Implementation of this process relies on a network of interdisciplinary collaborators leveraging a variety of communication platforms and long-range planning strategies. Curating metadata at this scale and resolving metadata issues through community consensus improves the CMR's ability to serve current and future users and also introduces best practices for stewarding the next generation of Earth Observing System data. This presentation will detail the metadata curation process, its outcomes thus far, and also share the status of ongoing curation activities.

Multi-Instrument Tools and Services to Access NASA Earth Science Data from the GSFC Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kempler, Steve; Leptoukh, Greg; Lynnes, Chris

2010-01-01

The presentation purpose is to describe multi-instrument tools and services that facilitate access and usability of NASA Earth science data at Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). NASA's Earth observing system includes 14 satellites. Topics include EOSDIS facilities and system architecture, and overview of GSFC Earth Science Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC) mission, Mirador data search, Giovanni, multi-instrument data exploration, Google Earth[TM], data merging, and applications.

Exposing NASA's Earth Observations to the Applications Community and Public

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boller, R. A.; Baynes, K.; Pressley, N. N.; Thompson, C. K.; Schmaltz, J. E.; King, B. A.; Wong, M. M.; Rice, Z.; Gunnoe, T.; Roberts, J. T.; Rodriguez, J.; De Luca, A. P.; King, J.

2017-12-01

NASA's Earth Observing System (EOS) generates a wealth of data products which are generally intended for scientific research. In recent years, however, this data has also become more accessible to the applications community and public through the Worldview app and Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS). These mapping interfaces provide historical and near real-time access to NASA's Earth observations for a wide range of uses. This presentation will focus on how the applications community, public, and media use these interfaces for decision-making, leisure, and anything in between.

Exposing NASA's Earth Observations to the Applications Community and Public

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Boller, R.; Baynes, K.; Pressley, N.; Thompson, C.; Cechini, M.; Schmaltz, J.; Wong, M.; King, B.; Rice, Z.; Sprague, J.;

Wind energy prospecting: socio-economic value of a new wind resource assessment technique based on a NASA Earth science dataset

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vanvyve, E.; Magontier, P.; Vandenberghe, F. C.; Delle Monache, L.; Dickinson, K.

2012-12-01

Wind energy is amongst the fastest growing sources of renewable energy in the U.S. and could supply up to 20 % of the U.S power production by 2030. An accurate and reliable wind resource assessment for prospective wind farm sites is a challenging task, yet is crucial for evaluating the long-term profitability and feasibility of a potential development. We have developed an accurate and computationally efficient wind resource assessment technique for prospective wind farm sites, which incorporates innovative statistical techniques and the new NASA Earth science dataset MERRA. This technique produces a wind resource estimate that is more accurate than that obtained by the wind energy industry's standard technique, while providing a reliable quantification of its uncertainty. The focus now is on evaluating the socio-economic value of this new technique upon using the industry's standard technique. Would it yield lower financing costs? Could it result in lower electricity prices? Are there further down-the-line positive consequences, e.g. job creation, time saved, greenhouse gas decrease? Ultimately, we expect our results will inform efforts to refine and disseminate the new technique to support the development of the U.S. renewable energy infrastructure. In order to address the above questions, we are carrying out a cost-benefit analysis based on the net present worth of the technique. We will describe this approach, including the cash-flow process of wind farm financing, how the wind resource assessment factors in, and will present current results for various hypothetical candidate wind farm sites.

The Communication Strategy of NASA's Earth Observatory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Simmon, R.; Ward, K.; Riebeek, H.; Allen, J.; Przyborski, P.; Scott, M.; Carlowicz, M. J.

2010-12-01

Climate change is a complex, multi-disciplinary subject. Accurately conveying this complexity to general audiences, while still communicating the basic facts, is challenging. Our approach is to combine climate change information with a wide range of Earth system science topics, illustrated by satellite imagery and data visualizations. NASA's Earth Observatory web site (earthobservatory.nasa.gov) uses the broad range of NASA's remote sensing technologies, data, and research to communicate climate change science. We serve two primary audiences: the "attentive public" --people interested in and willing to seek out information about science, technology, and the environment--and media. We cover the breadth of Earth science, with information about climate change integrated with stories about weather, geology, oceanography, and solar flares. Current event-driven imagery is used as a hook to draw readers. We then supply links to supplemental information, either about current research or the scientific basics. We use analogies, carefully explain jargon or acronyms, and build narratives which both attract readers and make information easier to remember. These narratives are accompanied by primers on topics like energy balance or the water cycle. Text is carefully integrated with illustrations and state-of-the-art data visualizations. Other site features include a growing list of climate questions and answers, addressing common misconceptions about global warming and climate change. Maps of global environmental parameters like temperature, rainfall, and vegetation show seasonal change and long-term trends. Blogs from researchers in the field provide a look at the day-to-day process of science. For the media, public domain imagery is supplied at full resolution and links are provided to primary sources.

Summer Workshop on Near-Earth Resources

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Arnold, J. R. (Editor); Duke, M. B. (Editor)

1978-01-01

The possible large scale use of extraterrestrial resources was addressed, either to construct structures in space or to return to Earth as supplements for terrestrial resources. To that end, various specific recommendations were made by the participants in the summer study on near-Earth resources, held at La Jolla, California, 6 to 13 August, 1977. The Moon and Earth-approaching asteroids were considered. Summaries are included of what is known about their compositions and what needs to be learned, along with recommendations for missions designed to provide the needed data. Tentative schedules for these projects are also offered.

Mission Adaptive UAS Platform for Earth Science Resource Assessment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dunagan, S.; Fladeland, M.; Ippolito, C.; Knudson, M.

2015-01-01

NASA Ames Research Center has led a number of important Earth science remote sensing missions including several directed at the assessment of natural resources. A key asset for accessing high risk airspace has been the 180 kg class SIERRA UAS platform, providing mission durations of up to 8 hrs at altitudes up to 3 km. Recent improvements to this mission capability are embodied in the incipient SIERRA-B variant. Two resource mapping problems having unusual mission characteristics requiring a mission adaptive capability are explored here. One example involves the requirement for careful control over solar angle geometry for passive reflectance measurements. This challenges the management of resources in the coastal ocean where solar angle combines with sea state to produce surface glint that can obscure the ocean color signal. Furthermore, as for all scanning imager applications, the primary flight control priority to fly the UAS directly to the next waypoint should compromise with the requirement to minimize roll and crab effects in the imagery. A second example involves the mapping of natural resources in the Earth's crust using precision magnetometry. In this case the vehicle flight path must be oriented to optimize magnetic flux gradients over a spatial domain having continually emerging features, while optimizing the efficiency of the spatial mapping task. These requirements were highlighted in several recent Earth Science missions including the October 2013 OCEANIA mission directed at improving the capability for hyperspectral reflectance measurements in the coastal ocean, and the Surprise Valley Mission directed at mapping sub-surface mineral composition and faults, using high-sensitivity magentometry. This paper reports the development of specific aircraft control approaches to incorporate the unusual and demanding requirements to manage solar angle, aircraft attitude and flight path orientation, and efficient (directly geo-rectified) surface and sub

NASA's Earth Science Data Systems - Lessons Learned and Future Directions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ramapriyan, Hampapuram K.

2010-01-01

In order to meet the increasing demand for Earth Science data, NASA has significantly improved the Earth Science Data Systems over the last two decades. This improvement is reviewed in this slide presentation. Many Earth Science disciplines have been able to access the data that is held in the Earth Observing System (EOS) Data and Information System (EOSDIS) at the Distributed Active Archive Centers (DAACs) that forms the core of the data system.

Teaching Inquiry using NASA Earth-System Science: Preparing Pre- and Inservice K-12 Educators to Use Authentic Inquiry in the Classroom

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ellis, T. D.; Tebockhorst, D.

2012-12-01

Teaching Inquiry using NASA Earth-System Science (TINES) is a comprehensive program to train and support pre-service and in-service K-12 teachers, and to provide them with an opportunity to use NASA Earth Science mission data and Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) observations to incorporate scientific inquiry-based learning in the classroom. It uses an innovative blended-learning professional development approach that combines a peer-reviewed pedagogical technique called backward-faded scaffolding (BFS), which provides a more natural entry path to understanding the scientific process, with pre-workshop online content learning and in-situ and online data resources from NASA and GLOBE. This presentation will describe efforts to date, share our impressions and evaluations, and discuss the effectiveness of the BFS approach to both professional development and classroom pedagogy.

New NASA 3D Animation Shows Seven Days of Simulated Earth Weather

NASA Image and Video Library

2014-08-11

This visualization shows early test renderings of a global computational model of Earth's atmosphere based on data from NASA's Goddard Earth Observing System Model, Version 5 (GEOS-5). This particular run, called Nature Run 2, was run on a supercomputer, spanned 2 years of simulation time at 30 minute intervals, and produced Petabytes of output. The visualization spans a little more than 7 days of simulation time which is 354 time steps. The time period was chosen because a simulated category-4 typhoon developed off the coast of China. The 7 day period is repeated several times during the course of the visualization. Credit: NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio Read more or download here: svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/goto?4180 NASA image use policy. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Find us on Instagram

AGI's Earth Science Week and Education Resources Network: Connecting Teachers to Geoscience Organizations and Classroom Resources that Support NGSS Implementation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Robeck, E.; Camphire, G.; Brendan, S.; Celia, T.

2016-12-01

There exists a wide array of high quality resources to support K-12 teaching and motivate student interest in the geosciences. Yet, connecting teachers to those resources can be a challenge. Teachers working to implement the NGSS can benefit from accessing the wide range of existing geoscience resources, and from becoming part of supportive networks of geoscience educators, researchers, and advocates. Engaging teachers in such networks can be facilitated by providing them with information about organizations, resources, and opportunities. The American Geoscience Institute (AGI) has developed two key resources that have great value in supporting NGSS implement in these ways. Those are Earth Science Week, and the Education Resources Network in AGI's Center for Geoscience and Society. For almost twenty years, Earth Science Week, has been AGI's premier annual outreach program designed to celebrate the geosciences. Through its extensive web-based resources, as well as the physical kits of posters, DVDs, calendars and other printed materials, Earth Science Week offers an array of resources and opportunities to connect with the education-focused work of important geoscience organizations such as NASA, the National Park Service, HHMI, esri, and many others. Recently, AGI has initiated a process of tagging these and other resources to NGSS so as to facilitate their use as teachers develop their instruction. Organizing Earth Science Week around themes that are compatible with topics within NGSS contributes to the overall coherence of the diverse array of materials, while also suggesting potential foci for investigations and instructional units. More recently, AGI has launched its Center for Geoscience and Society, which is designed to engage the widest range of audiences in building geoscience awareness. As part of the Center's work, it has launched the Education Resources Network (ERN), which is an extensive searchable database of all manner of resources for geoscience

NASA Spacecraft Images One of Earth Iceberg Incubators

NASA Image and Video Library

2012-04-13

Acquired by NASA Terra spacecraft, this image shows the west coast of Greenland, one of Earth premiere incubators for icebergs -- large blocks of land ice that break off from glaciers or ice shelves and float in the ocean.

Web Coverage Service Challenges for NASA's Earth Science Data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cantrell, Simon; Khan, Abdul; Lynnes, Christopher

2017-01-01

In an effort to ensure that data in NASA's Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) is available to a wide variety of users through the tools of their choice, NASA continues to focus on exposing data and services using standards based protocols. Specifically, this work has focused recently on the Web Coverage Service (WCS). Experience has been gained in data delivery via GetCoverage requests, starting out with WCS v1.1.1. The pros and cons of both the version itself and different implementation approaches will be shared during this session. Additionally, due to limitations with WCS v1.1.1 ability to work with NASA's Earth science data, this session will also discuss the benefit of migrating to WCS 2.0.1 with EO-x to enrich this capability to meet a wide range of anticipated user's needs This will enable subsetting and various types of data transformations to be performed on a variety of EOS data sets.

NASA strategic plan

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1995-01-01

NASA's Plan summarizes the Agency's vision, mission, and values. Specific goals are listed for each externally focused Enterprise: Mission to Planet Earth, Aeronautics, Human Exploration and Development of Space, Space Science, and Space Technology. These Enterprises satisfy the needs of customers external to NASA. The Strategic Functions (Space Communications, Human Resources, and Physical Resources) are necessary in order to meet the goals of the Enterprises. The goals of these Functions are also presented. All goals must be met while adhering to the discussed values and operating principles of NASA. A final section outlines the implementing strategy.

75 FR 8997 - NASA Advisory Council; Science Committee; Earth Science Subcommittee; Meeting

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-02-26

... NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION [Notice (10-021)] NASA Advisory Council; Science...: Notice of meeting. SUMMARY: The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announces a meeting of the Earth Science Subcommittee of the NASA Advisory Council (NAC). This Subcommittee reports to...

Mobile Bay, Alabama area seen in Skylab 4 Earth Resources Experiment Package

NASA Image and Video Library

1974-02-01

SL4-92-300 (February 1974) --- A near vertical view of the Mobile Bay, Alabama area is seen in this Skylab 4 Earth Resources Experiments Package S190-B (five-inch earth terrain camera) photograph taken from the Skylab space station in Earth orbit. North of Mobile the Tombigbee and Alabama Rivers join to form the Mobile River. Detailed configuration of the individual stream channels and boundaries can be defined as the Mobile River flows into Mobile Bay, and thence into the Gulf of Mexico. The Mobile River Valley with its numerous stream channels is a distinct light shade in contrast to the dark green shade of the adjacent areas. The red coloration of Mobile Bay reflects the sediment load carried into the Bay by the rivers. Variations in red color indicate sediment load and the current paths within Mobile Bay. The waterly movement of the along shore currents at the mouth of Mobile Bay is shown by the contrasting light blue of the sediment-laden current and the blue of the Gulf predominately. Agricultural areas east and west of Mobile Bay are characterized by a rectangular pattern in green to white shades. Color variations may reflect the type and growth cycle of crops. Agricultural areas (light gray-greens) are also clearly visible in other parts of the photograph. Interstate 10 extends from near Pascagoula, Mississippi eastward through Mobile to the outskirts of Pensacola, Florida. Analysis of the EREP photographic data will be undertaken by the U.S. Corps of Engineers to determine bay dynamic processes. Federal agencies participating with NASA on the EREP project are the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Interior, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Corps of Engineers. All EREP photography is available to the public through the Department of Interior's Earth Resources Observations Systems Data Center, Sioux Falls, South Dakota. 57198 Photo credit: NASA

Network Performance Measurements for NASA's Earth Observation System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Loiacono, Joe; Gormain, Andy; Smith, Jeff

2004-01-01

NASA's Earth Observation System (EOS) Project studies all aspects of planet Earth from space, including climate change, and ocean, ice, land, and vegetation characteristics. It consists of about 20 satellite missions over a period of about a decade. Extensive collaboration is used, both with other US. agencies (e.g., National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOA), United States Geological Survey (USGS), Department of Defense (DoD), and international agencies (e.g., European Space Agency (ESA), Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)), to improve cost effectiveness and obtain otherwise unavailable data. Scientific researchers are located at research institutions worldwide, primarily government research facilities and research universities. The EOS project makes extensive use of networks to support data acquisition, data production, and data distribution. Many of these functions impose requirements on the networks, including throughput and availability. In order to verify that these requirements are being met, and be pro-active in recognizing problems, NASA conducts on-going performance measurements. The purpose of this paper is to examine techniques used by NASA to measure the performance of the networks used by EOSDIS (EOS Data and Information System) and to indicate how this performance information is used.

NREL, NASA, and UCL Team Up to Make Lithium-Ion Batteries Safer on Earth

Science.gov Websites

and in Space | News | NREL NREL, NASA, and UCL Team Up to Make Lithium-Ion Batteries Safer on Earth and in Space NREL, NASA, and UCL Team Up to Make Lithium-Ion Batteries Safer on Earth and in Space . NREL joined forces with NASA in finding new, more precise ways to trigger internal short circuits

Technology Readiness Level Assessment Process as Applied to NASA Earth Science Missions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Leete, Stephen J.; Romero, Raul A.; Dempsey, James A.; Carey, John P.; Cline, Helmut P.; Lively, Carey F.

2015-01-01

Technology assessments of fourteen science instruments were conducted within NASA using the NASA Technology Readiness Level (TRL) Metric. The instruments were part of three NASA Earth Science Decadal Survey missions in pre-formulation. The Earth Systematic Missions Program (ESMP) Systems Engineering Working Group (SEWG), composed of members of three NASA Centers, provided a newly modified electronic workbook to be completed, with instructions. Each instrument development team performed an internal assessment of its technology status, prepared an overview of its instrument, and completed the workbook with the results of its assessment. A team from the ESMP SEWG met with each instrument team and provided feedback. The instrument teams then reported through the Program Scientist for their respective missions to NASA's Earth Science Division (ESD) on technology readiness, taking the SEWG input into account. The instruments were found to have a range of TRL from 4 to 7. Lessons Learned are presented; however, due to the competition-sensitive nature of the assessments, the results for specific missions are not presented. The assessments were generally successful, and produced useful results for the agency. The SEWG team identified a number of potential improvements to the process. Particular focus was on ensuring traceability to guiding NASA documents, including the NASA Systems Engineering Handbook. The TRL Workbook has been substantially modified, and the revised workbook is described.

Let Our Powers Combine! Harnessing NASA's Earth Observatory Natural Event Tracker (EONET) in Worldview

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wong, Min Minnie; Ward, Kevin; Boller, Ryan; Gunnoe, Taylor; Baynes, Kathleen; King, Benjamin

2016-01-01

Constellations of NASA Earth Observing System (EOS) satellites orbit the earth to collect images and data about the planet in near real-time. Within hours of satellite overpass, you can discover where the latest wildfires, severe storms, volcanic eruptions, and dust and haze events are occurring using NASA's Worldview web application. By harnessing a repository of curated natural event metadata from NASA Earth Observatory's Natural Event Tracker (EONET), Worldview has moved natural event discovery to the forefront and allows users to select events-of-interest from a curated list, zooms to the area, and adds the most relevant imagery layers for that type of natural event. This poster will highlight NASA Worldviews new natural event feed functionality.

NASA's Earth Imagery Service as Open Source Software

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

De Cesare, C.; Alarcon, C.; Huang, T.; Roberts, J. T.; Rodriguez, J.; Cechini, M. F.; Boller, R. A.; Baynes, K.

2016-12-01

The NASA Global Imagery Browse Service (GIBS) is a software system that provides access to an archive of historical and near-real-time Earth imagery from NASA-supported satellite instruments. The imagery itself is open data, and is accessible via standards such as the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC)'s Web Map Tile Service (WMTS) protocol. GIBS includes three core software projects: The Imagery Exchange (TIE), OnEarth, and the Meta Raster Format (MRF) project. These projects are developed using a variety of open source software, including: Apache HTTPD, GDAL, Mapserver, Grails, Zookeeper, Eclipse, Maven, git, and Apache Commons. TIE has recently been released for open source, and is now available on GitHub. OnEarth, MRF, and their sub-projects have been on GitHub since 2014, and the MRF project in particular receives many external contributions from the community. Our software has been successful beyond the scope of GIBS: the PO.DAAC State of the Ocean and COVERAGE visualization projects reuse components from OnEarth. The MRF source code has recently been incorporated into GDAL, which is a core library in many widely-used GIS software such as QGIS and GeoServer. This presentation will describe the challenges faced in incorporating open software and open data into GIBS, and also showcase GIBS as a platform on which scientists and the general public can build their own applications.

NASA's Earth Observatory: Success Story or Work in Progress?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Herring, D. D.

2004-12-01

After a series of failures and setbacks in a variety of public communications strategies explored, and then despite internal pressure not to build it, a prototype for NASA's Earth Observatory (http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov) was built in the spring of 1998. With no budget and roughly one full-time equivalent (FTE) in personnel, the site was launched in April 1999. Aimed primarily at the "science attentive public," the Earth Observatory is an interactive Web-based magazine focusing on the subjects of climatic and environmental change, with an emphasis on the use of satellite remote sensors to study our planet. Within one year after launch, the site was selected by Popular Science as one of the Web's 50 best, while subscriptions jumped to about 12,000 readers worldwide. Fast forward to 2004, the Earth Observatory core team has grown to 5.5 FTE and enjoys contributions from all across the agency as well as a number of NASA-affiliated agencies and institutions. The site's success hinges on the partnerships that have grown up around it over the years. As a testament to the outstanding content published today in the Earth Observatory, the site was also selected by Scientific American as one of the Web's 50 best, and has twice been nominated by the International Academy of the Digital Arts and Sciences for their annual Webby Awards--in both the "Education" and "Science" categories--winning the Webby once and the People's Voice Award twice. Still, the Earth Observatory is a work in progress as there remain some developmental goals it has yet to attain. In this talk, site founder and Chief Editor David Herring will give a brief tour of the site while elaborating on some of its developmental history, lessons learned along the way, and a brief look ahead at some exciting new developments on its horizon.

NASA's Earth Observatory: 16 Years of Communicating with and for Scientists

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ward, K.; Carlowicz, M. J.; Allen, J.; Voiland, A.; Przyborski, P.; Hansen, K.; Stevens, J.

2015-12-01

For the past 16 years NASA's Earth Observatory website has featured stories that are driven by strong visualization and in-depth reporting and storytelling. The Earth Observatory Image of the Day is published 365 days a year and is a syndication staple for major news outlets, science-related publications, blogs and social media outlets. The daily publication pace requires that we cover a wide range of topics within NASA's portfolio of Earth science research. To meet our deadlines, and to do so competently and with the authority that a NASA-branded publication warrants, we have developed relationships with scientists from throughout the agency who both provide us with ideas for stories and review our content for accuracy. This symbiotic relationship insures that the Earth Observatory has a quality product that is syndicated, repurposed and sourced throughout popular media, resulting in science content reaching the public that might not otherwise be reported. We will discuss how we have developed our relationships and processes over the years, how we work with scientists to see the potential stories in their data, and how we package and promote these stories and visualizations for maximum exposure and reuse.

Evolution of NASA's Near-Earth Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Flaherty, Roger; Stocklin, Frank; Weinberg, Aaron

2006-01-01

NASA's Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS) is now in its 23rd year of operations and its spacecraft fleet includes three second-generation spacecraft launched since the year 2000; a figure illustrates the first generation TDRSS spacecraft. During this time frame the TDRSS has provided communications relay support to a broad range of missions, with emphasis on low-earth-orbiting (LEO) spacecraft that include unmanned science spacecraft (e.g., Hubble Space Telescope), and human spaceflight (Space Shuttle and Space Station). Furthermore, the TDRSS has consistently demonstrated its uniqueness and adaptability in several ways. First, its S- and K-band services, combined with its multi-band/steerable single-access (SA) antennas and ground-based configuration flexibility, have permitted the mission set to expand to unique users such as scientific balloons and launch vehicles. Second, the bent-pipe nature of the system has enabled the introduction of new/improved services via technology insertion and upgrades at each of the ground terminals; a specific example here is the Demand Access Service (DAS), which, for example, is currently providing science-alert support to NASA science missions Third, the bent-pipe nature of the system, combined with the flexible ground-terminal signal processing architecture has permitted the demonstration/vaIidation of new techniques/services/technologies via a real satellite channel; over the past 10+ years these have, for example, included demonstrations/evaluations of emerging modulation/coding techniques. Given NASA's emerging Exploration plans, with missions beginning later this decade and expanding for decades to come, NASA is currently planning the development of a seamless, NASA-wide architecture that must accommodate missions from near-earth to deep space. Near-earth elements include Ground-Network (GN) and Near-Earth Relay (NER) components and both must efficiently and seamlessly support missions that encompass: earth

Mission EarthFusing GLOBE with NASA Assets to Build SystemicInnovation in STEM Education

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Czajkowski, K. P.; Garik, P.; Padgett, D.; Darche, S.; Struble, J.; Adaktilou, N.

2016-12-01

Mission Earth is a project funded through the NASA CAN that is developing a systematic embedding of NASA assets that is being implemented by a partnership of organizations across the US. Mission Earth brings together scientists and science educators to develop a K-12 "Earth as a system" curriculum progression following research-based best practices. GLOBE and NASA assets will be infused into the curricula of schools along the K-12 continuum, leveraging existing partnerships and networks and supported through state departments of education and targeting underrepresented groups, as a systemic, effective, and sustainable approach to meeting NASA's science education objectives. This presentation will discuss plans for the Mission Earth project and successes and lessons learned in the first year. Mission Earth is developing curricular materials to support vertically integrated learning progressions. It develops models of professional development utilizing sustainable infrastructures. It will support STEM careers focusing on career technical education (CTE). And, it will engage undergraduate education majors through pre-service courses and engineering students through engineering challenges.

NASA Tech Briefs, November/December 1986, Special Edition

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1986-01-01

Topics: Computing: The View from NASA Headquarters; Earth Resources Laboratory Applications Software: Versatile Tool for Data Analysis; The Hypercube: Cost-Effective Supercomputing; Artificial Intelligence: Rendezvous with NASA; NASA's Ada Connection; COSMIC: NASA's Software Treasurehouse; Golden Oldies: Tried and True NASA Software; Computer Technical Briefs; NASA TU Services; Digital Fly-by-Wire.

NASA/NOAA: Earth Science Electronic Theater 1999. Earth Science Observations, Analysis and Visualization: Roots in the 60s - Vision for the Next Millennium

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hasler, A. Fritz

1999-01-01

The Etheater presents visualizations which span the period from the original Suomi/Hasler animations of the first ATS-1 GEO weather satellite images in 1966, to the latest 1999 NASA Earth Science Vision for the next 25 years. Hot off the SGI-Onyx Graphics-Supercomputer are NASA''s visualizations of Hurricanes Mitch, Georges, Fran and Linda. These storms have been recently featured on the covers of National Geographic, Time, Newsweek and Popular Science. Highlights will be shown from the NASA hurricane visualization resource video tape that has been used repeatedly this season on National and International network TV. Results will be presented from a new paper on automatic wind measurements in Hurricane Luis from 1-min GOES images that appeared in the November BAMS. The visualizations are produced by the NASA Goddard Visualization & Analysis Laboratory, and Scientific Visualization Studio, as well as other Goddard and NASA groups using NASA, NOAA, ESA, and NASDA Earth science datasets. Visualizations will be shown from the Earth Science ETheater 1999 recently presented in Tokyo, Paris, Munich, Sydney, Melbourne, Honolulu, Washington, New York, and Dallas. The presentation Jan 11-14 at the AMS meeting in Dallas used a 4-CPU SGI/CRAY Onyx Infinite Reality Super Graphics Workstation with 8 GB RAM and a Terabyte Disk at 3840 X 1024 resolution with triple synchronized BarcoReality 9200 projectors on a 60ft wide screen. Visualizations will also be featured from the new Earth Today Exhibit which was opened by Vice President Gore on July 2, 1998 at the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum in Washington, as well as those presented for possible use at the American Museum of Natural History (NYC), Disney EPCOT, and other venues. New methods are demonstrated for visualizing, interpreting, comparing, organizing and analyzing immense HyperImage remote sensing datasets and three dimensional numerical model results. We call the data from many new Earth sensing satellites, Hyper

TERSSE. Definition of the total earth resources system for the shuttle era. Volume 9: Earth resources shuttle applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Alverado, U.

1975-01-01

The use of the space shuttle for the Earth Resources Program is discussed. Several problems with respect to payload selection, integration, and mission planning were studied. Each of four shuttle roles in the sortie mode were examined and projected into an integrated shuttle program. Several representative Earth Resources missions were designed which would use the shuttle sortie as a platform and collectively include the four shuttle roles. An integrated flight program based on these missions was then developed for the first two years of shuttle flights. A set of broad implications concerning the uses of the shuttle for Earth Resources studies resulted.

77 FR 67027 - NASA Advisory Council; Science Committee; Earth Science Subcommittee; Meeting

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-11-08

... NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION [Notice 12- 091] NASA Advisory Council; Science... amended, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announces a meeting of the Earth Science Subcommittee of the [[Page 67028

Opportunities for Small Satellites in NASA's Earth System Science Pathfinder (ESSP) Program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Peri, Frank; Law, Richard C.; Wells, James E.

2014-01-01

NASA's Earth Venture class (EV) of missions are competitively selected, Principal Investigator (PI) led, relatively low cost and narrowly focused in scientific scope. Investigations address a full spectrum of earth science objectives, including studies of the atmosphere, oceans, land surface, polar ice regions, and solid Earth. EV has three program elements: EV-Suborbital (EVS) are suborbital/airborne investigations; EV-Mission (EVM) element comprises small complete spaceborne missions; and EV-Instrument (EVI) element develops spaceborne instruments for flight as Missions-of-Opportunity (MoO). To ensure the success of EV, frequent opportunities for selecting missions has been established in NASA's Earth Science budget. This paper will describe those opportunities and how the management approach of each element is tailored according to the specific needs of the element.

NASA strategic plan

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1994-01-01

The NASA Strategic Plan is a living document. It provides far-reaching goals and objectives to create stability for NASA's efforts. The Plan presents NASA's top-level strategy: it articulates what NASA does and for whom; it differentiates between ends and means; it states where NASA is going and what NASA intends to do to get there. This Plan is not a budget document, nor does it present priorities for current or future programs. Rather, it establishes a framework for shaping NASA's activities and developing a balanced set of priorities across the Agency. Such priorities will then be reflected in the NASA budget. The document includes vision, mission, and goals; external environment; conceptual framework; strategic enterprises (Mission to Planet Earth, aeronautics, human exploration and development of space, scientific research, space technology, and synergy); strategic functions (transportation to space, space communications, human resources, and physical resources); values and operating principles; implementing strategy; and senior management team concurrence.

Mission Adaptive Uas Capabilities for Earth Science and Resource Assessment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dunagan, S.; Fladeland, M.; Ippolito, C.; Knudson, M.; Young, Z.

2015-04-01

Unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) are important assets for accessing high risk airspace and incorporate technologies for sensor coordination, onboard processing, tele-communication, unconventional flight control, and ground based monitoring and optimization. These capabilities permit adaptive mission management in the face of complex requirements and chaotic external influences. NASA Ames Research Center has led a number of Earth science remote sensing missions directed at the assessment of natural resources and here we describe two resource mapping problems having mission characteristics requiring a mission adaptive capability extensible to other resource assessment challenges. One example involves the requirement for careful control over solar angle geometry for passive reflectance measurements. This constraint exists when collecting imaging spectroscopy data over vegetation for time series analysis or for the coastal ocean where solar angle combines with sea state to produce surface glint that can obscure the signal. Furthermore, the primary flight control imperative to minimize tracking error should compromise with the requirement to minimize aircraft motion artifacts in the spatial measurement distribution. A second example involves mapping of natural resources in the Earth's crust using precision magnetometry. In this case the vehicle flight path must be oriented to optimize magnetic flux gradients over a spatial domain having continually emerging features, while optimizing the efficiency of the spatial mapping task. These requirements were highlighted in recent Earth Science missions including the OCEANIA mission directed at improving the capability for spectral and radiometric reflectance measurements in the coastal ocean, and the Surprise Valley Mission directed at mapping sub-surface mineral composition and faults, using high-sensitivity magnetometry. This paper reports the development of specific aircraft control approaches to incorporate the unusual and

Observing the Earth from Afar with NASA's Worldview

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wong, Min Minnie; Boller, Ryan; Baynes, Kathleen; King, Benjamin; Rice, Zachary

2017-01-01

NASA's Worldview interactive web map application delivers global, near real-time imagery from NASA's fleet of Earth Observing System (EOS) satellites. Within hours of satellite overpass, discover where the latest wildfires, severe storms, volcanic eruptions, dust and haze, ice shelves calving as well as many other events are occurring around the world. Near real-time imagery is made available in Worldview through the Land, Atmosphere Near real-time Capability for EOS (LANCE) via the Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS). This poster will explore new near real-time imagery available in Worldview, the current ways in which the imagery is used in research, the news and social media and future improvements to Worldview that will enhance the availability and viewing of NASA EOS imagery.

Observing the Earth from afar with NASA's Worldview

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wong, M. M.; Boller, R. A.; King, B. A.; Baynes, K.; Rice, Z.

2017-12-01

NASA's Worldview interactive web map application delivers global, near real-time imagery from NASA's fleet of Earth Observing System (EOS) satellites. Within hours of satellite overpass, discover where the latest wildfires, severe storms, volcanic eruptions, dust and haze, ice shelves calving as well as many other events are occurring around the world. Near real-time imagery is made available in Worldview through the Land Atmosphere Near real-time Capability for EOS (LANCE) via the Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS). This poster will explore new near real-time imagery available in Worldview, the current ways in which the imagery is used in research, the news and social media and future improvements to Worldview that will enhance the availability and viewing of NASA EOS imagery.

Images of Earth and Space: The Role of Visualization in NASA Science

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1996-01-01

Fly through the ocean at breakneck speed. Tour the moon. Even swim safely in the boiling sun. You can do these things and more in a 17 minute virtual journey through Earth and space. The trek is by way of colorful scientific visualizations developed by the NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center's Scientific Visualization Studio and the NASA HPCC Earth and Space Science Project investigators. Various styles of electronic music and lay-level narration provide the accompaniment.

Lidar Past, Present, and Future in NASA's Earth and Space Science Programs

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Einaudi, Franco; Schwemmer, Geary K.; Gentry, Bruce M.; Abshire, James B.

2004-01-01

Lidar is firmly entrenched in the family of remote sensing technologies that NASA is developing and using. Still a relatively new technology, lidar should continue to experience significant advances and progress. Lidar is used in each one of the major research themes, including planetary exploration, in the Earth Sciences Directorate at Goddard Space Flight Center. NASA has and will continue to generate new lidar applications from ground, air and space for both Earth science and planetary exploration.

NASA's Water Solutions Using Remote Sensing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Toll, David

2012-01-01

NASA Water Resources works within Earth sciences to leverage investments of space-based observation, model results, and development and deployment of enabling technologies, systems, and capabilities into water resources management decision support tools for the sustainable use of water. Earth science satellite observations and modelling products provide a huge volume of valuable data in both near-real-time and extended back nearly 50 years about the Earth's land surface conditions such as land cover type, vegetation type and health, precipitation, snow, soil moisture, and water levels and radiation. Observations of this type combined with models and analysis enable satellite-based assessment of the water cycle. With increasing population pressure and water usage coupled with climate variability and change, water issues are being reported by numerous groups as the most critical environmental problems facing us in the 21st century. Competitive uses and the prevalence of river basins and aquifers that extend across boundaries engender political tensions between communities, stakeholders and countries. The NASA Water Resources Program has the objective to provide NASA products to help deal with these issues with the goal for the sustainable use of water. The Water Resources program organizes its projects under five functional themes: 1) stream-flow and flood forecasting; 2) water consumptive use (includes evapotranspiration) and irrigation; 3) drought; 4) water quality; and 5) climate and water resources. NASA primarily works with national and international groups such as other US government agencies (NOAA, EPA, USGS, USAID) and various other groups to maximize the widest use of the water products. A summary of NASA's water activities linked to helping solve issues for developing countries will be highlighted.

EROS: A space program for Earth resources

USGS Publications Warehouse

Metz, G.G.; Wiepking, P.J.

1980-01-01

Within the technology of the space age lies a key to increased knowledge about the resources and environment of the Earth. This key is remote sensing detecting the nature of an object without actually touching it. Although the photographic camera is the most familiar remote-sensing device, other instrument systems, such as scanning radiometers and radar, also can produce photographs and images. On the basis of the potential of this technology, and in response to the critical need for greater knowledge of the Earth and its resources, the Department of the Interior established the Earth Resources Observation Systems (EROS) Program to gather and use remotely sensed data collected by satellite and aircraft of natural and manmade features on the Earth's surface.

NASA In-Situ Resource Utilization Project-and Seals Challenges

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sacksteder, Kurt; Linne, Diane

2006-01-01

A viewgraph presentation on NASA's In-Situ Resource Utilization Project and Seals Challenges is shown. The topics include: 1) What Are Space Resources?; 2) Space Resource Utilization for Exploration; 3) ISRU Enables Affordable, Sustainable & Flexible Exploration; 4) Propellant from the Moon Could Revolutionize Space Transportation; 5) NASA ISRU Capability Roadmap Study, 2005; 6) Timeline for ISRU Capability Implementation; 7) Lunar ISRU Implementation Approach; 8) ISRU Technical-to-Mission Capability Roadmap; 9) ISRU Resources & Products of Interest; and 10) Challenging Seals Requirements for ISRU.

The Echoes of Earth Science

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2006-01-01

NASA s Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) acquires, archives, and manages data from all of NASA s Earth science satellites, for the benefit of the Space Agency and for the benefit of others, including local governments, first responders, the commercial remote sensing industry, teachers, museums, and the general public. EOSDIS is currently handling an extraordinary amount of NASA scientific data. To give an idea of the volume of information it receives, NASA s Terra Earth-observing satellite, just one of many NASA satellites sending down data, sends it hundreds of gigabytes a day, almost as much data as the Hubble Space Telescope acquires in an entire year, or about equal to the amount of information that could be found in hundreds of pickup trucks filled with books. To make EOSDIS data completely accessible to the Earth science community, NASA teamed up with private industry in 2000 to develop an Earth science "marketplace" registry that lets public users quickly drill down to the exact information they need. It also enables them to publish their research and resources alongside of NASA s research and resources. This registry is known as the Earth Observing System ClearingHOuse, or ECHO. The charter for this project focused on having an infrastructure completely independent from EOSDIS that would allow for more contributors and open up additional data access options. Accordingly, it is only fitting that the term ECHO is more than just an acronym; it represents the functionality of the system in that it can echo out and create interoperability among other systems, all while maturing with time as industry technologies and standards change and improve.

Earth resources-regional transfer activity contracts review

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bensko, J., Jr.; Daniels, J. L.; Downs, S. W., Jr.; Jones, N. L.; Morton, R. R.; Paludan, C. T.

1977-01-01

A regional transfer activity contracts review held by the Earth Resources Office was summarized. Contracts in the earth resources field primarily directed toward applications of satellite data and technology in solution of state and regional problems were reviewed. A summary of the progress of each contract was given in order to share experiences of researchers across a seven state region. The region included Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and North Carolina. Research in several earth science disciplines included forestry, limnology, water resources, land use, geology, and mathematical modeling. The use of computers for establishment of information retrieval systems was also emphasized.

From a Million Miles Away, NASA Camera Shows Moon Crossing Face of Earth

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-08-05

This animation still image shows the far side of the moon, illuminated by the sun, as it crosses between the DISCOVR spacecraft's Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) camera and telescope, and the Earth - one million miles away. Credits: NASA/NOAA A NASA camera aboard the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) satellite captured a unique view of the moon as it moved in front of the sunlit side of Earth last month. The series of test images shows the fully illuminated “dark side” of the moon that is never visible from Earth. The images were captured by NASA’s Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC), a four megapixel CCD camera and telescope on the DSCOVR satellite orbiting 1 million miles from Earth. From its position between the sun and Earth, DSCOVR conducts its primary mission of real-time solar wind monitoring for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

NASA's Big Earth Data Initiative Accomplishments

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Klene, Stephan A.; Pauli, Elisheva; Pressley, Natalie N.; Cechini, Matthew F.; McInerney, Mark

2017-01-01

The goal of NASA's effort for BEDI is to improve the usability, discoverability, and accessibility of Earth Observation data in support of societal benefit areas. Accomplishments: In support of BEDI goals, datasets have been entered into Common Metadata Repository(CMR), made available via the Open-source Project for a Network Data Access Protocol (OPeNDAP), have a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) registered for the dataset, and to support fast visualization many layers have been added in to the Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS).

NASA's Big Earth Data Initiative Accomplishments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Klene, S. A.; Pauli, E.; Pressley, N. N.; Cechini, M. F.; McInerney, M.

2017-12-01

The goal of NASA's effort for BEDI is to improve the usability, discoverability, and accessibility of Earth Observation data in support of societal benefit areas. Accomplishments: In support of BEDI goals, datasets have been entered into Common Metadata Repository(CMR), made available via the Open-source Project for a Network Data Access Protocol (OPeNDAP), have a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) registered for the dataset, and to support fast visualization many layers have been added in to the Global Imagery Browse Service(GIBS)

Experiences in Bridging the Gap Between Science and Decision Making at NASAs GSFC Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kempler, S.; Teng, W.; Friedl, L.; Lynnes, C.

2008-12-01

In recognizing the significance of NASA remote sensing Earth science data in monitoring and better understanding our planet's natural environment, NASA has implemented the 'Decision Support Through Earth Science Research Results' program to solicit "proposals that develop and demonstrate innovative and practicable applications of NASA Earth science observations and research"that focus on improving decision making activities", as stated in the NASA ROSES-2008, A.18 solicitation. This very successful program has yielded several monitoring, surveillance, and decision support systems through collaborations with benefiting organizations in the areas of agriculture, air quality, disaster management, ecosystems, public health, water resources, and aviation weather. The Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC) has participated in this program on two projects (one complete, one ongoing), and has had opportune ad hoc collaborations gaining much experience in the formulation, management, development, and implementation of decision support systems utilizing NASA Earth science data. Coupling this experience with the GES DISC's total understanding and vast experience regarding Earth science missions and resulting data and information, including data structures, data usability and interpretation, data interoperability, and information management systems, the GES DISC is in the unique position to more readily identify challenges that come with bringing science data to decision makers. These challenges consist of those that can be met within typical science data usage frameworks, as well as those challenges that arise when utilizing science data for previously unplanned applications, such as decision support systems. The purpose of this presentation is to share GES DISC decision support system project experiences in regards to system sustainability, required data quality (versus timeliness), data provider understanding how

NASA Earth Observations (NEO): Data Imagery for Education and Visualization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ward, K.

2008-12-01

NASA Earth Observations (NEO) has dramatically simplified public access to georeferenced imagery of NASA remote sensing data. NEO targets the non-traditional data users who are currently underserved by functionality and formats available from the existing data ordering systems. These users include formal and informal educators, museum and science center personnel, professional communicators, and citizen scientists. NEO currently serves imagery from 45 different datasets with daily, weekly, and/or monthly temporal resolutions, with more datasets currently under development. The imagery from these datasets is produced in coordination with several data partners who are affiliated either with the instrument science teams or with the respective data processing center. NEO is a system of three components -- website, WMS (Web Mapping Service), and ftp archive -- which together are able to meet the wide-ranging needs of our users. Some of these needs include the ability to: view and manipulate imagery using the NEO website -- e.g., applying color palettes, resizing, exporting to a variety of formats including PNG, JPEG, KMZ (Google Earth), GeoTIFF; access the NEO collection via a standards-based API (WMS); and create customized exports for select users (ftp archive) such as Science on a Sphere, NASA's Earth Observatory, and others.

Understanding the Role of Biology in the Global Environment: NASA'S Mission to Planet Earth

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Townsend, William F.

1996-01-01

NASA has long used the unique perspective of space as a means of expanding our understanding of how the Earth's environment functions. In particular, the linkages between land, air, water, and life-the elements of the Earth system-are a focus for NASA's Mission to Planet Earth. This approach, called Earth system science, blends together fields like meteorology, biology, oceanography, and atmospheric science. Mission to Planet Earth uses observations from satellites, aircraft, balloons, and ground researchers as the basis for analysis of the elements of the Earth system, the interactions between those elements, and possible changes over the coming years and decades. This information is helping scientists improve our understanding of how natural processes affect us and how we might be affecting them. Such studies will yield improved weather forecasts, tools for managing agriculture and forests, information for fishermen and local planners, and, eventually, an enhanced ability to predict how the climate will change in the future. NASA has designed Mission to Planet Earth to focus on five primary themes: Land Cover and Land Use Change; Seasonal to Interannual Climate Prediction; Natural Hazards; Long-Term Climate Variability; and Atmosphere Ozone.

The NASA Earth Science Program and Small Satellites

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Neeck, Steven P.

2015-01-01

Earth's changing environment impacts every aspect of life on our planet and climate change has profound implications on society. Studying Earth as a single complex system is essential to understanding the causes and consequences of climate change and other global environmental concerns. NASA's Earth Science Division (ESD) shapes an interdisciplinary view of Earth, exploring interactions among the atmosphere, oceans, ice sheets, land surface interior, and life itself. This enables scientists to measure global and climate changes and to inform decisions by Government, other organizations, and people in the United States and around the world. The data collected and results generated are accessible to other agencies and organizations to improve the products and services they provide, including air quality indices, disaster prediction and response, agricultural yield projections, and aviation safety. ESD's Flight Program provides the spacebased observing systems and supporting infrastructure for mission operations and scientific data processing and distribution that support NASA's Earth science research and modeling activities. The Flight Program currently has 21 operating Earth observing space missions, including the recently launched Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission, the Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2), the Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission, and the International Space Station (ISS) RapidSCAT and Cloud-Aerosol Transport System (CATS) instruments. The ESD has 22 more missions and instruments planned for launch over the next decade. These include first and second tier missions from the 2007 Earth Science Decadal Survey, Climate Continuity missions to assure availability of key climate data sets, and small-sized competitively selected orbital missions and instrument missions of opportunity belonging to the Earth Venture (EV) Program. Small satellites (500 kg or less) are critical contributors to these current and future satellite missions

NASA Earth Observations Track the Gulf Oil Spill

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jones, Jason B.; Childs, Lauren

2010-01-01

The NASA Applied Sciences Program created the Gulf of Mexico Initiative (GOMI) in 2007 "to enhance the region s ability to recover from the devastating hurricanes of 2005 and to address its coastal management issues going into the future." The GOMI utilizes NASA Earth science assets to address regional priorities defined by the Gulf of Mexico Alliance, a partnership formed by the states of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas, along with 13 federal agencies and 4 regional organizations to promote regional collaboration and enhance the ecological and economic health of the Gulf of Mexico. NASA's GOMI is managed by the Applied Science and Technology Project Office at Stennis Space Center and has awarded over $18 million in Gulf of Mexico research since 2008. After the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, GOMI personnel assisted members of the Gulf of Mexico Alliance with obtaining NASA remote sensing data for use in their oil spill response efforts.

NASA's Global Change Master Directory: Discover and Access Earth Science Data Sets, Related Data Services, and Climate Diagnostics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Aleman, Alicia; Olsen, Lola; Ritz, Scott; Morahan, Michael; Cepero, Laurel; Stevens, Tyler

2011-01-01

NASA's Global Change Master Directory provides the scientific community with the ability to discover, access, and use Earth science data, data-related services, and climate diagnostics worldwide. The GCMD offers descriptions of Earth science data sets using the Directory Interchange Format (DIF) metadata standard; Earth science related data services are described using the Service Entry Resource Format (SERF); and climate visualizations are described using the Climate Diagnostic (CD) standard. The DIF, SERF and CD standards each capture data attributes used to determine whether a data set, service, or climate visualization is relevant to a user's needs. Metadata fields include: title, summary, science keywords, service keywords, data center, data set citation, personnel, instrument, platform, quality, related URL, temporal and spatial coverage, data resolution and distribution information. In addition, nine valuable sets of controlled vocabularies have been developed to assist users in normalizing the search for data descriptions. An update to the GCMD's search functionality is planned to further capitalize on the controlled vocabularies during database queries. By implementing a dynamic keyword "tree", users will have the ability to search for data sets by combining keywords in new ways. This will allow users to conduct more relevant and efficient database searches to support the free exchange and re-use of Earth science data. http://gcmd.nasa.gov/

Earth Science Microwave Remote Sensing at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kim, Edward; Busalacchi, Antonio J. (Technical Monitor)

2000-01-01

The Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) was established as NASA's first space flight center in 1959. Its 12,000 personnel are active in the Earth and space sciences, astronomy, space physics, tracking and communications. GSFC's mission is to expand our knowledge of the Earth and its environment, the solar system, and the universe through observations from space. The main Goddard campus is located in Greenbelt, Maryland, USA, just north of Washington, D.C. The Wallops Flight Facility (operational since 1945), located on the Atlantic coast of Virginia was consolidated with the Goddard Space Flight Center in 1982. Wallops is now NASA's principal facility for management and implementation of suborbital research programs, and supports a wide variety of airborne science missions as well. As the lead Center for NASA's Earth Science Enterprise (ESE)--a long-term, coordinated research effort to study the Earth as a global environmental system--GSFC scientists and engineers are involved in a wide range of Earth Science remote sensing activities. Their activities range from basic geoscience research to the development of instruments and technology for space missions, as well as the associated Calibration/Validation (Cal/Val) work. The shear breadth of work in these areas precludes an exhaustive description here. Rather, this article presents selected brief overviews of microwave-related Earth Science applications and the ground-based, airborne, and space instruments that are in service, under development, or otherwise significantly involving GSFC. Likewise, contributing authors are acknowledged for each section, but the results and projects they describe represent the cumulative efforts of many persons at GSFC as well as at collaborating institutions. For further information, readers are encouraged to consult the listed websites and references.

NASA/NOAA/AMS Earth Science Electronic Theatre

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hasler, Fritz; Pierce, Hal; Einaudi, Franco (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

The NASA/NOAA/AMS Earth Science Electronic Theater presents Earth science observations and visualizations in a historical perspective. Fly in from outer space to Florida and the KSC Visitor's Center. Go back to the early weather satellite images from the 1960s see them contrasted with the latest International global satellite weather movies including killer hurricanes & tornadic thunderstorms. See the latest spectacular images from NASA and NOAA remote sensing missions like GOES, NOAA, TRMM, SeaWiFS, Landsat 7, & new Terra which will be visualized with state-of-the art tools. Shown in High Definition TV resolution (2048 x 768 pixels) are visualizations of hurricanes Lenny, Floyd, Georges, Mitch, Fran and Linda. See visualizations featured on covers of magazines like Newsweek, TIME, National Geographic, Popular Science and on National & International Network TV. New Digital Earth visualization tools allow us to roam & zoom through massive global images including a Landsat tour of the US, with drill-downs into major cities using 1 m resolution spy-satellite technology from the Space Imaging IKONOS satellite, Spectacular new visualizations of the global atmosphere & oceans are shown. See massive dust storms sweeping across Africa. See ocean vortexes and currents that bring up the nutrients to feed tiny plankton and draw the fish, giant whales and fisherman. See the how the ocean blooms in response to these currents and El Nino/La Nina climate changes. The demonstration is interactively driven by a SGI Octane Graphics Supercomputer with dual CPUs, 5 Gigabytes of RAM and Terabyte disk using two projectors across the super sized Universe Theater panoramic screen.

NASA Earth Sciences Data Support System and Services for the Northern Eurasia Earth Science Partnership Initiative

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Leptoukh, Gregory

2006-01-01

The presentation describes the recently awarded ACCESS project to provide data management of NASA remote sensing data for the Northern Eurasia Earth Science Partnership Initiative (NEESPI). The project targets integration of remote sensing data from MODIS, and other NASA instruments on board US-satellites (with potential expansion to data from non-US satellites), customized data products from climatology data sets (e.g., ISCCP, ISLSCP) and model data (e.g., NCEP/NCAR) into a single, well-architected data management system. It will utilize two existing components developed by the Goddard Earth Sciences Data & Information Services Center (GES DISC) at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center: (1) online archiving and distribution system, that allows collection, processing and ingest of data from various sources into the online archive, and (2) user-friendly intelligent web-based online visualization and analysis system, also known as Giovanni. The former includes various kinds of data preparation for seamless interoperability between measurements by different instruments. The latter provides convenient access to various geophysical parameters measured in the Northern Eurasia region without any need to learn complicated remote sensing data formats, or retrieve and process large volumes of NASA data. Initial implementation of this data management system will concentrate on atmospheric data and surface data aggregated to coarse resolution to support collaborative environment and climate change studies and modeling, while at later stages, data from NASA and non-NASA satellites at higher resolution will be integrated into the system.

NASA's Earth Observing Data and Information System - Near-Term Challenges

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Behnke, Jeanne; Mitchell, Andrew; Ramapriyan, Hampapuram

2018-01-01

NASA's Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) has been a central component of the NASA Earth observation program since the 1990's. EOSDIS manages data covering a wide range of Earth science disciplines including cryosphere, land cover change, polar processes, field campaigns, ocean surface, digital elevation, atmosphere dynamics and composition, and inter-disciplinary research, and many others. One of the key components of EOSDIS is a set of twelve discipline-based Distributed Active Archive Centers (DAACs) distributed across the United States. Managed by NASA's Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS) Project at Goddard Space Flight Center, these DAACs serve over 3 million users globally. The ESDIS Project provides the infrastructure support for EOSDIS, which includes other components such as the Science Investigator-led Processing systems (SIPS), common metadata and metrics management systems, specialized network systems, standards management, and centralized support for use of commercial cloud capabilities. Given the long-term requirements, and the rapid pace of information technology and changing expectations of the user community, EOSDIS has evolved continually over the past three decades. However, many challenges remain. Challenges addressed in this paper include: growing volume and variety, achieving consistency across a diverse set of data producers, managing information about a large number of datasets, migration to a cloud computing environment, optimizing data discovery and access, incorporating user feedback from a diverse community, keeping metadata updated as data collections grow and age, and ensuring that all the content needed for understanding datasets by future users is identified and preserved.

Overview of NASA Technology Development for In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Linne, Diane L.; Sanders, Gerald B.; Starr, Stanley O.; Eisenman, David J.; Suzuki, Nantel H.; Anderson, Molly S.; O'Malley, Terrence F.; Araghi, Koorosh R.

2017-01-01

In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) encompasses a broad range of systems that enable the production and use of extraterrestrial resources in support of future exploration missions. It has the potential to greatly reduce the dependency on resources transported from Earth (e.g., propellants, life support consumables), thereby significantly improving the ability to conduct future missions. Recognizing the critical importance of ISRU for the future, NASA is currently conducting technology development projects in two of its four mission directorates. The Advanced Exploration Systems Division in the Agency's Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate has initiated a new project for ISRU Technology focused on component, subsystem, and system maturation in the areas of water volatiles resource acquisition, and water volatiles and atmospheric processing into propellants and other consumable products. The Space Technology Mission Directorate is supporting development of ISRU component technologies in the areas of Mars atmosphere acquisition, including dust management, and oxygen production from Mars atmosphere for propellant and life support consumables. Together, these two coordinated projects are working towards a common goal of demonstrating ISRU technology and systems in preparation for future flight applications.

Online Analysis Enhances Use of NASA Earth Science Data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Acker, James G.; Leptoukh, Gregory

2007-01-01

Giovanni, the Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC) Interactive Online Visualization and Analysis Infrastructure, has provided researchers with advanced capabilities to perform data exploration and analysis with observational data from NASA Earth observation satellites. In the past 5-10 years, examining geophysical events and processes with remote-sensing data required a multistep process of data discovery, data acquisition, data management, and ultimately data analysis. Giovanni accelerates this process by enabling basic visualization and analysis directly on the World Wide Web. In the last two years, Giovanni has added new data acquisition functions and expanded analysis options to increase its usefulness to the Earth science research community.

Ablative Heat Shield Studies for NASA Mars/Earth Return Entry Vehicles

DTIC Science & Technology

1990-09-01

RETURN ENTRY VEHICLES by Michael K. Hamm September, 1990 NASA Thesis Advisor: William D. Henline Thesis Co-Advisor: Max F. Platzer Approved for public...STUDIES FOR NASA MARS/EARTH RETURN ENTRY VEHICLES (UNCLASSIFIED) 12. PERSONAL AUTHOR(S) Harm, Michael, K. 13a TYPE OF REPORT 13b TIME COVERED 14 DATE OF...theoretical values. The tests were performed to ascertain if RSI type materials could be used for entry vehicles proposed in NASA Mars missions. 20

Enabling Earth Science Measurements with NASA UAS Capabilites

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Albertson, Randal; Schoenung, Susan; Fladeland, Matthew M.; Cutler, Frank; Tagg, Bruce

2015-01-01

NASA's Airborne Science Program (ASP) maintains a fleet of manned and unmanned aircraft for Earth Science measurements and observations. The unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) range in size from very large (Global Hawks) to medium (SIERRA, Viking) and relatively small (DragonEye). UAS fly from very low (boundary layer) to very high altitude (stratosphere). NASA also supports science and applied science projects using UAS operated by outside companies or agencies. The aircraft and accompanying data and support systems have been used in numerous investigations. For example, Global Hawks have been used to study both hurricanes and atmospheric composition. SIERRA has been used to study ice, earthquake faults, and coral reefs. DragonEye is being used to measure volcanic emissions. As a foundation for NASA's UAS work, Altair and Ikkana not only flew wildfires in the Western US, but also provided major programs for the development of real-time data download and processing capabilities. In early 2014, an advanced L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) also flew for the first time on Global Hawk, proving the utility of UAVSAR, which has been flying successfully on a manned aircraft. In this paper, we focus on two topics: 1) the results of a NASA program called UAS-Enabled Earth Science, in which three different science teams flew (at least) two different UAS to demonstrate platform performance, airspace integration, sensor performance, and applied science results from the data collected; 2) recent accomplishments with the high altitude, long-duration Global Hawks, especially measurements from several payload suites consisting of multiple instruments. The latest upgrades to data processing, communications, tracking and flight planning systems will also be described.

Current NASA Earth Remote Sensing Observations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Luvall, Jeffrey C.; Sprigg, William A.; Huete, Alfredo; Pejanovic, Goran; Nickovic, Slobodan; Ponce-Campos, Guillermo; Krapfl, Heide; Budge, Amy; Zelicoff, Alan; Myers, Orrin;

Data Preservation -Progress in NASA's Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ramapriyan, H. K.

2013-12-01

NASA's Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) has been operational since August 1994, processing, archiving and distributing data from a variety of Earth science missions. The data sources include instruments on-board satellites and aircraft and field campaigns. In addition, EOSDIS manages socio-economic data. The satellite missions whose data are managed by EOSDIS range from the Nimbus series of the 1960s and 1970s to the EOS series launched during 1997 through 2004 to the Suomi National Polar Partnership (SNPP) launched in October 2011. Data from future satellite missions such as the Decadal Survey missions will also be archived and distributed by EOSDIS. NASA is not legislatively mandated to preserve data permanently as are other agencies such as USGS, NOAA and NARA. However, NASA must preserve all the data and associated content beyond the lives of NASA's missions to meet NASA's near-term objective of supporting active scientific research. Also, NASA must ensure that the data and associated content are preserved for transition to permanent archival agencies. The term preservation implies ensuring long-term protection of bits, readability, understandability, usability and reproducibility of results. To ensure preservation of bits, EOSDIS makes sure that data are backed-up adequately. Periodically, the risk of data loss is assessed and corrective action is taken as needed. Data are copied to more modern media on a routine basis to ensure readability. For some of the oldest data within EOSDIS, we have had to go through special data rescue efforts. Data from very old media have been restored and film data have been scanned and digitized. For example, restored data from the Nimbus missions are available for ftp access at the Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC). The Earth Science Data and Information System Project, which is responsible for EOSDIS, has been active within the Data Stewardship and Preservation

From Soup to Nuts: How Terra has enabled the growth of NASA Earth science communication

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ward, K.; Carlowicz, M. J.; Allen, J.; Voiland, A.; Przyborski, P.

2014-12-01

The birth of NASA's Earth Observatory website in 1999 closely mirrored the launch of Terra and over the years its growth has paralleled that of the Earth Observing System (EOS) program. With the launch of Terra, NASA gained an extraordinary platform that not only promised new science capabilities but gave us the data and imagery for telling the stories behind the science. The Earth Observatory Group was founded to communicate these stories to the public. We will present how we have used the capabilities of all the Terra instruments over the past 15 years to expand the public's knowledge of NASA Earth science. The ever-increasing quantity and quality of Terra data, combined with technological improvements to data availability and services has allowed the Earth Observatory and, as a result, the greater science-aware media, to greatly expand the visibility of NASA data and imagery. We will offer thoughts on best practices in using these multi-faceted instruments for public communication and we will share how we have worked with Terra science teams and affiliated systems to see the potential stories in their data and the value of providing the data in a timely fashion. Terra has allowed us to tell the stories of our Earth today like never before.

NASA's In-Situ Resource Utilization Project: Current Accomplishments and Exciting Future Plans

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Larson, William E.; Sanders, Gerald B.; Sacksteder, Kurt R.

2010-01-01

The utilization of Space resources has been identified in publications for over 40 years for its potential as a "game changing" technology for the human exploration of Space. It is called "game changing" because of the mass leverage possible when local resources at the exploration destination arc used to reduce or even eliminate resources that are brought from the Earth. NASA, under the Exploration Technology Development Program has made significant investments in the development of Space resource utilization technologies as a part of the In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) project. Over the last four years, the ISRU project has taken what was essentially an academic topic with lots of experimentation but little engineering and produced near-full-scale systems that have been demonstrated. In 2008 & again in early 2010, systems that could produce oxygen from lunar soils (or their terrestrial analogs) were tested at a lunar analog site on a volcano in Hawaii. These demonstrations included collaborations with International Partners that made significant contributions to the tests. The proposed federal budget for Fiscal Year 2011 encourages the continued development and demonstration of ISRU. However it goes beyond what the project is currently doing and directs that the scope of the project be expanded to cover destinations throughout the inner solar system with the potential for night demonstrations. This paper will briefly cover the past accomplishments of the ISRU project then move to a di scussion of the plans for the project's future as NASA moves to explore a new paradigm for Space Exploration that includes orbital fuel depots and even refueling on other planetary bodies in the solar system.

Plan for Living on a Restless Planet Sets NASA's Solid Earth Agenda

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Solomon, Sean C.; Baker, Victor R.; Bloxham, Jeremy; Booth, Jeffrey; Donnellan, Andrea; Elachi, Charles; Evans, Diane; Rignot, Eric; Burbank, Douglas; Chao, Benjamin F.; Chave, Alan; Gillespie, Alan; Herring, Thomas; Jeanloz, Raymond; LaBrecque, John; Minster, Bernard; Pittman, Walter C., III; Simons, Mark; Turcotte, Donald L.; Zoback, Mary Lou C.

What are the most important challenges facing solid Earth science today and over the next two decades? And what is the best approach for NASA, in partnership with other agencies, to address those challenges? A new report, Living on a Restless Planet, provides a blueprint for answering these questions. The top priority for a new spacecraft mission in the area of solid Earth science over the next 5 years, according to this report, is a satellite dedicated to Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR). At the request of NASA, the Solid Earth Science Working Group (SESWG) developed a strategy for the highest priority objectives in solid Earth science for the space agency over the next 25 years. The strategy addresses six challenges that are of fundamental scientific importance, have strong implications for society, and are amenable to substantial progress through a concerted series of scientific observations from space.

NASA Laser Remote Sensing Technology Needs for Earth Science in the Next Decade and Beyond

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Trait, David M.; Neff, Jon M.; Valinia, Azita

2007-01-01

In late 2005 the NASA Earth Science Technology Office convened a working group to review decadal-term technology needs for Earth science active optical remote sensing objectives. The outcome from this effort is intended to guide future NASA investments in laser remote sensing technologies. This paper summarizes the working group findings and places them in context with the conclusions of the National Research Council assessment of Earth science needs, completed in 2007.

NASA's Evolution to K(sub a)- Band Space Communications for Near-Earth Spacecraft

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

McCarthy, Kevin P.; Stocklin, Frank J.; Geldzahler, Barry J.; Friedman, Daniel E.; Celeste, Peter B.

2010-01-01

Over the next several years, NASA plans to launch multiple earth-science missions which will send data from low-Earth orbits to ground stations at 1-3 Gbps, to achieve data throughputs of 5-40 terabits per day. These transmission rates exceed the capabilities of S-band and X-band frequency allocations used for science probe downlinks in the past. Accordingly, NASA is exploring enhancements to its space communication capabilities to provide the Agency's first Ka-band architecture solution for next generation missions in the near-earth regime. This paper describes the proposed Ka-band solution's drivers and concept, constraints and analyses which shaped that concept, and expansibility for future needs

Educator Resource Center for NASA Langley Research Center

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bridgford, Todd; Koltun, Nick R.

2003-01-01

The goal of the ERCN is to provide expertise and facilities to help educators access and utilize science, mathematics, and technology instructional products aligned with national standards and appropriate state frameworks and based on NASA s unique mission and results. The NASA Langley s Office of Education has established the service area for this ERC to be the five states of Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia. This educational grant activity is associated with NASA s Mission to inspire the next generation of explorers.. .as only NASA can. The communication of NASA s knowledge is the prime role of this ERC. Functioning as a dissemination system of instructional materials and support for pre-college education programs we have met the NASA Education ERCN Program's goal. The following ERCN objectives have been accomplished: Demonstrate and facilitate the use of NASA educational products and technologies in print, video and web based formats. Examples include but are not limited to NASA approved Educator s Guides with Activities based on national standards for appropriate subjects and grade levels. We have demonstrated the use videotape series in analogue format and the new digital video instructional systems along with the use of NASA TV. The promotion of web page based resources such as the new NASA Portal web and the ability to download print resources is continuously facilitated in workshops. This objective has been completed by educator contacts that include on-site visits, phone requests, postal mail requests, e-mail requests, fax requests and workshops offered.

Personal, Informal and Relatable: Engaging Wide Audiences in Climate Science with Nasa's Earth Right Now Blog

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tenenbaum, L. F.; Shaftel, H.; Jackson, R.

2014-12-01

There is no such thing as a non-scientist, but there are some who have yet to acknowledge their inner science spark. Aiming to ignite and fan the flame of curiosity, promote dialogue and attempt to make climate science personal and relevant to everyday life, NASA's Global Climate Change website http://climate.nasa.gov/ and Earth Right Now campaign http://www.nasa.gov/content/earth-right-now/ partnered together this year to launch the Earth Right Now blog http://climate.nasa.gov/blog. It quickly became one of the most popular blogs in all of NASA social media, receiving thousands of likes per week, and frequent comments as well as thoughtful and respectful discussions about climate change. Social media platforms such as blogs have become popular vehicles for engaging large swaths of the public in new exciting ways. NASA's Earth Right Now blog has become a powerful platform for engaging both scientists and the science-curious in constructive, fruitful conversations about the complex topic of climate science. We continue to interact and have ongoing dialogue with our readers by making the scientific content both accessible and engaging for diverse populations.

Earth resources sensor data handling system: NASA JSC version

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1974-01-01

The design of the NASA JSC data handling system is presented. Data acquisition parameters and computer display formats and the flow of image data through the system, with recommendations for improving system efficiency are discussed along with modifications to existing data handling procedures which will allow utilization of data duplication techniques and the accurate identification of imagery.

Citizen Science in Libraries: Results and Insights from a Unique NASA Collaboration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Janney, D. W.; Schwerin, T. G.; Riebeek Kohl, H.; Dusenbery, P.; LaConte, K.; Taylor, J.; Weaver, K. L. K.

2017-12-01

Libraries are local community centers and hubs for learning, with more and more libraries responding to the need to increase science literacy and support 21st century skills by adding STEM programs and resources for patrons of all ages. A collaboration has been developed between two NASA Science Mission Directorate projects - the NASA Earth Science Education Collaborative and NASA@ My Library - each bringing unique STEM assets and networks to support library staff and bring authentic STEM experiences and resources to learners in public library settings. The collaboration used Earth Day 2017 as a high profile event to engage and support 100 libraries across the U.S. (>50% serving rural communities), in developing locally-relevant programs and events that incorporated cloud observing and resources using NASA GLOBE Observer (GO) citizen science program. GO cloud observations are helping NASA scientists understand clouds from below (the ground) and above (from space). Clouds play an important role in transferring energy from the Sun to different parts of the Earth system. Because clouds can change rapidly, scientists need frequent observations from citizen scientists. Insights from the library focus groups and evaluation include promising practices, requested resources, programming ideas and approaches, particularly approaches to leveraging NASA subject matter experts and networks, to support local library programming.

TERSSE: Definition of the Total Earth Resources System for the Shuttle Era. Volume 4: The Role of the Shuttle in the Earth Resources Program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1974-01-01

The potential of the space shuttle as a platform for captive earth resources payloads in the sortie mode, and as a launch and services vehicle for automated earth resources spacecraft is examined. The capabilities of the total space transportation system which are pertinent to earth resources sorties and automated spacecraft are included.

Replacement of SSE with NASA's POWER Project GIS-enabled Web Data Portal

Atmospheric Science Data Center

2018-04-30

Replacement of SSE with NASA's POWER Project GIS-enabled Web Data Portal Friday, March ... 2018 Replacement of SSE (Release 6) with NASA's Prediction of Worldwide Energy Resource (POWER) Project GIS-enabled Web ... Worldwide Energy Resource (POWER) Project funded largely by NASA Earth Applied Sciences program.   The new POWER web portal ...

Value of Earth Observations: NASA Activities with Socioeconomic Analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Friedl, L.

2016-12-01

There is greater emphasis internationally on the social and economic benefits that organizations can derive from applications of Earth observations. A growing set of qualitative, anecdotal examples on the uses of Earth observations across a range of sectors can be complemented by the quantitative substantiation of the socioeconomic benefits. In turn, the expanding breadth of environmental data available and the awareness of their beneficial applications to inform decisions can support new products and services. To support these efforts, there are needs to develop impact assessments, populate the literature, and develop familiarity in the Earth science community with the terms, concepts and methods to assess impacts. Within NASA, the Earth Science Division's Applied Sciences Program has initiated and supported numerous activities in recent years to quantify the socioeconomic benefits from Earth observations applications and to build familiarity within the Earth science community. This paper will present an overview of measuring socioeconomic impacts of Earth observations and how the measures can be translated into a value of Earth observation information. It will address key terms, techniques, principles and applications of socioeconomic impact analyses. It will also discuss activities to support analytic techniques, expand the literature, and promote broader skills and capabilities.

NASA Earth Resources Survey Symposium. Volume 1-D: Water resources

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1975-01-01

Conference papers on water resources and management are summarized. Summaries cover land use, flood control and prediction, watersheds and the effects of snow melt, soil moisture content, and the usefulness of satellite remote sensors in detecting ground and surface water.

User data dissemination concepts for earth resources

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Davies, R.; Scott, M.; Mitchell, C.; Torbett, A.

1976-01-01

Domestic data dissemination networks for earth-resources data in the 1985-1995 time frame were evaluated. The following topics were addressed: (1) earth-resources data sources and expected data volumes, (2) future user demand in terms of data volume and timeliness, (3) space-to-space and earth point-to-point transmission link requirements and implementation, (4) preprocessing requirements and implementation, (5) network costs, and (6) technological development to support this implementation. This study was parametric in that the data input (supply) was varied by a factor of about fifteen while the user request (demand) was varied by a factor of about nineteen. Correspondingly, the time from observation to delivery to the user was varied. This parametric evaluation was performed by a computer simulation that was based on network alternatives and resulted in preliminary transmission and preprocessing requirements. The earth-resource data sources considered were: shuttle sorties, synchronous satellites (e.g., SEOS), aircraft, and satellites in polar orbits.

A NASA Space Sleuth Hunts the Trail of Earth Water

NASA Image and Video Library

2009-08-13

This vertical profile view from the Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer TES instrument on NASA Aura satellite depicts the distribution of water vapor molecules over Earth tropics across one transect of the satellite orbit on January 6, 2006.

Management Approach for NASA's Earth Venture-1 (EV-1) Airborne Science Investigations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Guillory, Anthony R.; Denkins, Todd C.; Allen, B. Danette

2013-01-01

The Earth System Science Pathfinder (ESSP) Program Office (PO) is responsible for programmatic management of National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Science Mission Directorate's (SMD) Earth Venture (EV) missions. EV is composed of both orbital and suborbital Earth science missions. The first of the Earth Venture missions is EV-1, which are Principal Investigator-led, temporally-sustained, suborbital (airborne) science investigations costcapped at $30M each over five years. Traditional orbital procedures, processes and standards used to manage previous ESSP missions, while effective, are disproportionally comprehensive for suborbital missions. Conversely, existing airborne practices are primarily intended for smaller, temporally shorter investigations, and traditionally managed directly by a program scientist as opposed to a program office such as ESSP. In 2010, ESSP crafted a management approach for the successful implementation of the EV-1 missions within the constructs of current governance models. NASA Research and Technology Program and Project Management Requirements form the foundation of the approach for EV-1. Additionally, requirements from other existing NASA Procedural Requirements (NPRs), systems engineering guidance and management handbooks were adapted to manage programmatic, technical, schedule, cost elements and risk. As the EV-1 missions are nearly at the end of their successful execution and project lifecycle and the submission deadline of the next mission proposals near, the ESSP PO is taking the lessons learned and updated the programmatic management approach for all future Earth Venture Suborbital (EVS) missions for an even more flexible and streamlined management approach.

Facilitating NASA Earth Science Data Processing Using Nebula Cloud Computing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, A.; Pham, L.; Kempler, S.; Theobald, M.; Esfandiari, A.; Campino, J.; Vollmer, B.; Lynnes, C.

2011-12-01

Cloud Computing technology has been used to offer high-performance and low-cost computing and storage resources for both scientific problems and business services. Several cloud computing services have been implemented in the commercial arena, e.g. Amazon's EC2 & S3, Microsoft's Azure, and Google App Engine. There are also some research and application programs being launched in academia and governments to utilize Cloud Computing. NASA launched the Nebula Cloud Computing platform in 2008, which is an Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) to deliver on-demand distributed virtual computers. Nebula users can receive required computing resources as a fully outsourced service. NASA Goddard Earth Science Data and Information Service Center (GES DISC) migrated several GES DISC's applications to the Nebula as a proof of concept, including: a) The Simple, Scalable, Script-based Science Processor for Measurements (S4PM) for processing scientific data; b) the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) data process workflow for processing AIRS raw data; and c) the GES-DISC Interactive Online Visualization ANd aNalysis Infrastructure (GIOVANNI) for online access to, analysis, and visualization of Earth science data. This work aims to evaluate the practicability and adaptability of the Nebula. The initial work focused on the AIRS data process workflow to evaluate the Nebula. The AIRS data process workflow consists of a series of algorithms being used to process raw AIRS level 0 data and output AIRS level 2 geophysical retrievals. Migrating the entire workflow to the Nebula platform is challenging, but practicable. After installing several supporting libraries and the processing code itself, the workflow is able to process AIRS data in a similar fashion to its current (non-cloud) configuration. We compared the performance of processing 2 days of AIRS level 0 data through level 2 using a Nebula virtual computer and a local Linux computer. The result shows that Nebula has significantly

The Role of NASA Observations in Understanding Earth System Change

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fladeland, Matthew M.

2009-01-01

This presentation will introduce a non-technical audience to NASA Earth science research goals and the technologies used to achieve them. The talk will outline the primary science focus areas and then provide overviews of current and planned missions, in addition to instruments, aircraft, and other technologies that are used to turn data into useful information for scientists and policy-makers. This presentation is part of an Earth Day symposium at the University of Mary.

Earth-Like Exoplanets: The Science of NASA's Navigator Program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lawson, Peter R. (Editor); Traub, Wesley A. (Editor)

2006-01-01

This book outlines the exoplanet science content of NASA's Navigator Program, and it identifies the exoplanet research priorities. The goal of Navigator Program missions is to detect and characterize Earth-like planets in the habitable zone of nearby stars and to search for signs of life on those planets.

NASA's Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Behnke, Jeanne

2017-01-01

EOSDIS is a data system created by NASA to manage its collection of Earth Science data. This presentation is a brief description of the data system provided to the general user community. The presentation reviews the data types, management and software development techniques in use to organize the system.

Resources and References for Earth Science Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wall, Charles A.; Wall, Janet E.

1976-01-01

Listed are resources and references for earth science teachers including doctoral research, new textbooks, and professional literature in astronomy, space science, earth science, geology, meteorology, and oceanography. (SL)

NASA Radar Captures Earth Deformation from 2010 Baja Calif. Quake

NASA Image and Video Library

2011-03-04

This radar image from NASA Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle Synthetic Aperture Radar UAVSAR shows the deformed Earth caused by a 7.2 earthquake in Mexico state of Baja California and parts of the American Southwest on April 4, 2010.

Packaging a successful NASA mission to reach a large audience within a small budget. Earth's Dynamic Space: Solar-Terrestrial Physics & NASA's Polar Mission

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fox, N. J.; Goldberg, R.; Barnes, R. J.; Sigwarth, J. B.; Beisser, K. B.; Moore, T. E.; Hoffman, R. A.; Russell, C. T.; Scudder, J.; Spann, J. F.; Newell, P. T.; Hobson, L. J.; Gribben, S. P.; Obrien, J. E.; Menietti, J. D.; Germany, G. G.; Mobilia, J.; Schulz, M.

2004-12-01

To showcase the on-going and wide-ranging scope of the Polar science discoveries, the Polar science team has created a one-stop shop for a thorough introduction to geospace physics, in the form of a DVD with supporting website. The DVD, Earth's Dynamic Space: Solar-Terrestrial Physics & NASA's Polar Mission, can be viewed as an end-to-end product or split into individual segments and tailored to lesson plans. Capitalizing on the Polar mission and its amazing science return, the Polar team created an exciting multi-use DVD intended for audiences ranging from a traditional classroom and after school clubs, to museums and science centers. The DVD tackles subjects such as the aurora, the magnetosphere and space weather, whilst highlighting the science discoveries of the Polar mission. This platform introduces the learner to key team members as well as the science principles. Dramatic visualizations are used to illustrate the complex principles that describe Earth’s dynamic space. In order to produce such a wide-ranging product on a shoe-string budget, the team poured through existing NASA resources to package them into the Polar story, and visualizations were created using Polar data to complement the NASA stock footage. Scientists donated their time to create and review scripts in order to make this a real team effort, working closely with the award winning audio-visual group at JHU/Applied Physics Laboratory. The team was excited to be invited to join NASA’s Sun-Earth Day 2005 E/PO program and the DVD will be distributed as part of the supporting educational packages.

A GLOBAL ASSESSMENT OF SOLAR ENERGY RESOURCES: NASA's Prediction of Worldwide Energy Resources (POWER) Project

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, T.; Stackhouse, P. W., Jr.; Chandler, W.; Hoell, J. M.; Westberg, D.; Whitlock, C. H.

2010-12-01

NASA's POWER project, or the Prediction of the Worldwide Energy Resources project, synthesizes and analyzes data on a global scale. The products of the project find valuable applications in the solar and wind energy sectors of the renewable energy industries. The primary source data for the POWER project are NASA's World Climate Research Project (WCRP)/Global Energy and Water cycle Experiment (GEWEX) Surface Radiation Budget (SRB) project (Release 3.0) and the Global Modeling and Assimilation Office (GMAO) Goddard Earth Observing System (GEOS) assimilation model (V 4.0.3). Users of the POWER products access the data through NASA's Surface meteorology and Solar Energy (SSE, Version 6.0) website (http://power.larc.nasa.gov). Over 200 parameters are available to the users. The spatial resolution is 1 degree by 1 degree now and will be finer later. The data covers from July 1983 to December 2007, a time-span of 24.5 years, and are provided as 3-hourly, daily and monthly means. As of now, there have been over 18 million web hits and over 4 million data file downloads. The POWER products have been systematically validated against ground-based measurements, and in particular, data from the Baseline Surface Radiation Network (BSRN) archive, and also against the National Solar Radiation Data Base (NSRDB). Parameters such as minimum, maximum, daily mean temperature and dew points, relative humidity and surface pressure are validated against the National Climate Data Center (NCDC) data. SSE feeds data directly into Decision Support Systems including RETScreen International clean energy project analysis software that is written in 36 languages and has greater than 260,000 users worldwide.

NASA In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) Technology and Development Project Overview

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sanders, Gerald B.; Lason, William E.; Sacksteder, Kurt R.; Mclemore, Carole; Johnson, Kenneth

2008-01-01

Since the Vision for Space Exploration (VSE) was released in 2004, NASA, in conjunction with international space agencies, industry, and academia, has continued to define and refine plans for sustained and affordable robotic and human exploration of the Moon and beyond. With the goal of establishing a lunar Outpost on the Moon to extend human presence, pursue scientific activities, use the Moon to prepare for future human missions to Mars, and expand Earth s economic sphere, a change in how space exploration is performed is required. One area that opens up the possibility for the first time of breaking our reliance on Earth supplied consumables and learn to live off the land is In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU). ISRU, which involves the extraction and processing of space resources into useful products, can have a substantial impact on mission and architecture concepts. In particular, the ability to make propellants, life support consumables, and fuel cell reagents can significantly reduce the cost, mass, and risk of sustained human activities beyond Earth. However, ISRU is an unproven capability for human lunar exploration and can not be put in the critical path of lunar Outpost success until it has been proven. Therefore, ISRU development and deployment needs to take incremental steps toward the desired end state. To ensure ISRU capabilities are available for pre-Outpost and Outpost deployment by 2020, and mission and architecture planners are confident that ISRU can meet initial and long term mission requirements, the ISRU Project is developing technologies and systems in three critical areas: (1) Regolith Excavation, Handling and Material Transportation; (2) Oxygen Extraction from Regolith; and (3) Volatile Extraction and Resource Prospecting, and in four development stages: (I) Demonstrate feasibility; (II) Evolve system w/ improved technologies; (III) Develop one or more systems to TRL 6 before start of flight development; and (IV) Flight development for

Toward a Climate OSSE for NASA Earth Sciences

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leroy, S. S.; Collins, W. D.; Feldman, D.; Field, R. D.; Ming, Y.; Pawson, S.; Sanderson, B.; Schmidt, G. A.

2016-12-01

In the Continuity Study, the National Academy of Sciences advised that future space missions be rated according to five categories: the importance of a well-defined scientific objective, the utility of the observation in addressing the scientific objective, the quality with which the observation can be made, the probability of the mission's success, and the mission's affordability. The importance, probability, and affordability are evaluated subjectively by scientific consensus, by engineering review panels, and by cost models; however, the utility and quality can be evaluated objectively by a climate observation system simulation experiment (COSSE). A discussion of the philosophical underpinnings of a COSSE for NASA Earth Sciences will be presented. A COSSE is built upon a perturbed physics ensemble of a sophisticated climate model that can simulate a mission's prospective observations and its well-defined quantitative scientific objective and that can capture the uncertainty associated with each. A strong correlation between observation and scientific objective after consideration of physical uncertainty leads to a high quality. Persistence of a high correlation after inclusion of the proposed measurement error leads to a high utility. There are five criteria that govern that nature of a particular COSSE: (1) whether the mission's scientific objective is one of hypothesis testing or climate prediction, (2) whether the mission is empirical or inferential, (3) whether the core climate model captures essential physical uncertainties, (4) the level of detail of the simulated observations, and (5) whether complementarity or redundancy of information is to be valued. Computation of the quality and utility is done using Bayesian statistics, as has been done previously for multi-decadal climate prediction conditioned on existing data. We advocate for a new program within NASA Earth Sciences to establish a COSSE capability. Creation of a COSSE program within NASA Earth

The first Earth Resources Technology Satellite (ERTS-1)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nordberg, W.

1973-01-01

The first Earth Resources Technology Satellite (ERTS-1) makes images of the earth's surface in four portions of the electromagnetic spectrum with sufficient spatial resolution and with a minimum of geometric distortions, so that these images may be applied experimentally to the study of geophysical processes relating to earth resources, to the exploration and conservation of these resources, and to the assessments of environmental stresses. During the first six months of operation, ERTS-1 has imaged 6.5 million square kilometers of the earth's surface every day, covering most major land masses and coastal zones as well as both polar regions of this planet. These images as well as the results of their analyses are available to all people throughout the world. Scientific investigators of all countries have been invited to participate in the utilization of ERTS-1 observations. Many of them have already demonstrated the great efficiency, economy, and reliability of making earth surveys from space.

Storms in Space: Bringing NASA Earth-Sun Science Educational Resources to Hearing- Impaired Students.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lowry, K.; Sindt, M.; Jahn, J.

2007-12-01

Using assistive technology, children with hearing loss can actively participate in the hearing world. However, to develop the necessary skills, hearing-impaired students need to be immersed in a language-rich environment which compensates for the lack of "incidental" learning that typifies the language acquisition of their peers with typical hearing. For any subject matter taught in class, this means that the conceptual and language framework of the topic has to be provided in addition to regular class materials. In a collaboration between the Sunshine Cottage School for Deaf Children and the Southwest Research Institute, we are exploring how NASA-developed educational resources covering Space Science topics can be incorporated successfully in blended classrooms containing children with hearing loss and those with typical hearing in grades 3-5. Utilizing the extensive routine language monitoring performed at Sunshine Cottage, student progress is directly monitored during the year as well as from year to year. This allow us to evaluate the effectiveness of the resources used. Since all instruction at Sunshine Cottage is auditory-oral, our experiences in using those materials can be fed back directly into mainstream classrooms of the same grade levels.

NASA Space Engineering Research Center for utilization of local planetary resources

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ramohalli, Kumar; Lewis, John S.

1990-01-01

The University of Arizona and NASA have joined to form the UA/NASA Space Engineering Research Center. The purpose of the Center is to discover, characterize, extract, process, and fabricate useful products from the extraterrestrial resources available in the inner solar system (the moon, Mars, and nearby asteroids). Individual progress reports covering the center's research projects are presented and emphasis is placed on the following topics: propellant production, oxygen production, ilmenite, lunar resources, asteroid resources, Mars resources, space-based materials processing, extraterrestrial construction materials processing, resource discovery and characterization, mission planning, and resource utilization.

Evolution of NASA's Earth Science Digital Object Identifier Registration System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wanchoo, Lalit; James, Nathan

2017-01-01

NASA's Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS) Project has implemented a fully automated system for assigning Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs) to Earth Science data products being managed by its network of 12 distributed active archive centers (DAACs). A key factor in the successful evolution of the DOI registration system over last 7 years has been the incorporation of community input from three focus groups under the NASA's Earth Science Data System Working Group (ESDSWG). These groups were largely composed of DOI submitters and data curators from the 12 data centers serving the user communities of various science disciplines. The suggestions from these groups were formulated into recommendations for ESDIS consideration and implementation. The ESDIS DOI registration system has evolved to be fully functional with over 5,000 publicly accessible DOIs and over 200 DOIs being held in reserve status until the information required for registration is obtained. The goal is to assign DOIs to the entire 8000+ data collections under ESDIS management via its network of discipline-oriented data centers. DOIs make it easier for researchers to discover and use earth science data and they enable users to provide valid citations for the data they use in research. Also for the researcher wishing to reproduce the results presented in science publications, the DOI can be used to locate the exact data or data products being cited.

Nimbus earth resources observations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sabatini, R. R.; Rabchevsky, G. A.; Sissala, J. E.

1971-01-01

The potential for utilizing data gathered by Nimbus satellites to study the earth surface and its physical properties is illustrated. The Nimbus data applicable to investigations of the earth and its resources, and to the problems of resolution and cloud cover are described. Geological, hydrological, and oceanographic applications are discussed. Applications of the data to other fields, such as cartography, agriculture, forestry, and urban analysis are presented. Relevant information is also given on the Nimbus orbit and experiments; surface and atmospheric effects on HRIR and THIR radiation measurements; and noise problems in the AVCS, IDCS, HRIR, and THIR data.

NASA Facts, Observing Earth from Skylab.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Washington, DC. Educational Programs Div.

The process of high-altitude photography and its uses are the topics of this publication. The advantages of color infrared photography over black and white images are discussed, using as evidence a series of skylab photographs. The major portion of this work is devoted to the detection of natural resources of the earth from the analysis of…

Earth resources shuttle imaging radar. [systems analysis and design analysis of pulse radar for earth resources information system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1975-01-01

A report is presented on a preliminary design of a Synthetic Array Radar (SAR) intended for experimental use with the space shuttle program. The radar is called Earth Resources Shuttle Imaging Radar (ERSIR). Its primary purpose is to determine the usefulness of SAR in monitoring and managing earth resources. The design of the ERSIR, along with tradeoffs made during its evolution is discussed. The ERSIR consists of a flight sensor for collecting the raw radar data and a ground sensor used both for reducing these radar data to images and for extracting earth resources information from the data. The flight sensor consists of two high powered coherent, pulse radars, one that operates at L and the other at X-band. Radar data, recorded on tape can be either transmitted via a digital data link to a ground terminal or the tape can be delivered to the ground station after the shuttle lands. A description of data processing equipment and display devices is given.

NASA's Earth Observatory and Visible Earth: Imagery and Science on the Internet

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

King, Michael D.; Simmon, Robert B.; Herring, David D.

2003-01-01

The purpose of NASA s Earth Observatory and Visible Earth Web sites is to provide freely-accessible locations on the Internet where the public can obtain new satellite imagery (at resolutions up to a given sensor's maximum) and scientific information about our home planet. Climatic and environmental change are the sites main foci. As such, they both contain ample data visualizations and time-series animations that demonstrate geophysical parameters of particular scientific interest, with emphasis on how and why they vary over time. An Image Composite Editor (ICE) tool will be added to the Earth Observatory in October 2002 that will allow visitors to conduct basic analyses of available image data. For example, users may produce scatter plots to correlate images; or they may probe images to find the precise unit values per pixel of a given data product; or they may build their own true-color and false-color images using multi- spectral data. In particular, the sites are designed to be useful to the science community, public media, educators, and students.

NASA Earth Exchange (NEX) Supporting Analyses for National Climate Assessments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nemani, R. R.; Thrasher, B. L.; Wang, W.; Lee, T. J.; Melton, F. S.; Dungan, J. L.; Michaelis, A.

2015-12-01

The NASA Earth Exchange (NEX) is a collaborative computing platform that has been developed with the objective of bringing scientists together with the software tools, massive global datasets, and supercomputing resources necessary to accelerate research in Earth systems science and global change. NEX supports several research projects that are closely related with the National Climate Assessment including the generation of high-resolution climate projections, identification of trends and extremes in climate variables and the evaluation of their impacts on regional carbon/water cycles and biodiversity, the development of land-use management and adaptation strategies for climate-change scenarios, and even the exploration of climate mitigation through geo-engineering. Scientists also use the large collection of satellite data on NEX to conduct research on quantifying spatial and temporal changes in land surface processes in response to climate and land-cover-land-use changes. Researchers, leveraging NEX's massive compute/storage resources, have used statistical techniques to downscale the coarse-resolution CMIP5 projections to fulfill the demands of the community for a wide range of climate change impact analyses. The DCP-30 (Downscaled Climate Projections at 30 arcsecond) for the conterminous US at monthly, ~1km resolution and the GDDP (Global Daily Downscaled Projections) for the entire world at daily, 25km resolution are now widely used in climate research and applications, as well as for communicating climate change. In order to serve a broader community, the NEX team in collaboration with Amazon, Inc, created the OpenNEX platform. OpenNEX provides ready access to NEX data holdings, including the NEX-DCP30 and GDDP datasets along with a number of pertinent analysis tools and workflows on the AWS infrastructure in the form of publicly available, self contained, fully functional Amazon Machine Images (AMI's) for anyone interested in global climate change.

User Needs and Assessing the Impact of Low Latency NASA Earth Observation Data Availability on Societal Benefit

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Brown, Molly E.; Carroll, Mark L.; Escobar, Vanessa M.

2014-01-01

Since the advent of NASA's Earth Observing System, knowledge of the practical benefits of Earth science data has grown considerably. The community using NASA Earth science observations in applications has grown significantly, with increasing sophistication to serve national interests. Data latency, or how quickly communities receive science observations after acquisition, can have a direct impact on the applications and usability of the information. This study was conducted to determine how users are incorporating NASA data into applications and operational processes to benefit society beyond scientific research, as well as to determine the need for data latency of less than 12 h. The results of the analysis clearly show the significant benefit to society of serving the needs of the agricultural, emergency response, environmental monitoring and weather communities who use rapidly delivered, accurate Earth science data. The study also showed the potential of expanding the communities who use low latency NASA science data products to provide new ways of transforming data into information. These benefits can be achieved with a clear and consistent NASA policy on product latency.

NASA Earth Sciences Data Support System and Services for the Northern Eurasia Earth Science Partnership Initiative

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Leptoukh, Gregory

2005-01-01

The presentation describes data management of NASA remote sensing data for Northern Eurasia Earth Science Partnership Initiative (NEESPI). Many types of ground and integrative (e.g., satellite, GIs) data will be needed and many models must be applied, adapted or developed for properly understanding the functioning of Northern Eurasia cold and diverse regional system. Mechanisms for obtaining the requisite data sets and models and sharing them among the participating scientists are essential. The proposed project targets integration of remote sensing data from AVHRR, MODIS, and other NASA instruments on board US- satellites (with potential expansion to data from non-US satellites), customized data products from climatology data sets (e.g., ISCCP, ISLSCP) and model data (e.g., NCEPNCAR) into a single, well-architected data management system. It will utilize two existing components developed by the Goddard Earth Sciences Data & Information Services Center (GES DISC) at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center: (1) online archiving and distribution system, that allows collection, processing and ingest of data from various sources into the online archive, and (2) user-friendly intelligent web-based online visualization and analysis system, also known as Giovanni. The former includes various kinds of data preparation for seamless interoperability between measurements by different instruments. The latter provides convenient access to various geophysical parameters measured in the Northern Eurasia region without any need to learn complicated remote sensing data formats, or retrieve and process large volumes of NASA data. Initial implementation of this data management system will concentrate on atmospheric data and surface data aggregated to coarse resolution to support collaborative environment and climate change studies and modeling, while at later stages, data from NASA and non-NASA satellites at higher resolution will be integrated into the system.

Tools to Support the Reuse of Software Assets for the NASA Earth Science Decadal Survey Missions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mattmann, Chris A.; Downs, Robert R.; Marshall, James J.; Most, Neal F.; Samadi, Shahin

2011-01-01

The NASA Earth Science Data Systems (ESDS) Software Reuse Working Group (SRWG) is chartered with the investigation, production, and dissemination of information related to the reuse of NASA Earth science software assets. One major current objective is to engage the NASA decadal missions in areas relevant to software reuse. In this paper we report on the current status of these activities. First, we provide some background on the SRWG in general and then discuss the group s flagship recommendation, the NASA Reuse Readiness Levels (RRLs). We continue by describing areas in which mission software may be reused in the context of NASA decadal missions. We conclude the paper with pointers to future directions.

Skylab experiments. Volume 2: Remote sensing of earth resources

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1973-01-01

This volume covers the broad area of earth resources in which Skylab experiments will be performed. A brief description of the Skylab program, its objectives, and vehicles is included. Section 1 introduces the concept and historical significance of remote sensing, and discusses the major scientific considerations involved in remotely sensing the earth's resources. Sections 2 through 6 provide a description of the individual earth resource sensors and experiments to be performed. Each description includes a discussion of the experiment background and scientific objectives, the equipment involved, and a discussion of significant experiment performance areas.

Project Planet Earth: A Joint Project Between the NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center and the Girl Scouts of Central Maryland

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mattoo, Shana; Remer, Lorraine; Anderson, Terry; Johnson, Courtrina; Lau, William K. M. (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

Scientists of the NASA/GSFC and the staff of the Girl Scouts of Central Maryland (GSCM) have teamed up to introduce more girls and young women to earth system science. The girls now have the opportunity to earn the specially designed Planet Earth Council Patch. The Patch program includes a set of requirements tailored to the specific age level of the girl and the resource material to help the girl complete the requirements. At completion of the requirements the girl is awarded a patch to sew onto the back of her sash or vest. Girls do hands-on physical experiments, practice taking data, visit science centers and perform skits in order to complete the requirements. In addition to the Patch program, Project Planet Earth continues to encourage strong collaboration between the Girl Scouts of Maryland and NASA/GSFC. Girls volunteer at the GSFC visitor center during community events and in turn scientists are called on as keynote speakers and consultants for the Council. A special science interest group is forming for the teenage Girl Scouts of the Council that will network with scientists and help these young women pursue their interests, find internships and make career decisions.

NASA's Earth Observations Program: Past, Present and Future

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

King, Michael D.

1999-01-01

A presentation will be given at the Annual National Awards and President's Invited Lecture. The event is sponsored by the Associated Scientific and Technical Societies, an organization which serves the interests of 40,000 scientists and engineers all over South Africa. A general presentation will be given on the topic of NASA's Earth Observation Program and will be supplemented with visualizations using the NASA/NOAA Earth Science Electronic theater. Included will be space observations with an eye on southern Africa, including Etosha National Park, Namibia, Okavanga Delta, Botswana, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, and Cape Town, the Highveld around Johannesburg, Blyde River Canyon, and the Lowveld of Kruger National Park in South Africa; also included will be some AVHRR imagery of fire occurrence during the dry season, mostly the Miombo woodland of Zambia, Angola, Malawi, and northern Mozambique, supplemented with SeaWiFS imagery for VI, aerosols, clouds, AVHRR fire time series, Landsat TM (and possibly ETM+, if available), and other global data sets. Would also like to include some Terra animations from SVS, including perhaps the launch sequence. The presentation would conclude with some of the ER-2 MAS imagery from Brazil that highlights the capability that we plan to bring to Africa in August 2000.

NASA's Near Earth Asteroid Scout Mission

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Johnson, Les; McNutt, Leslie; Castillo-Rogez, Julie

2017-01-01

NASA is developing solar sail propulsion for a near-term Near Earth Asteroid (NEA) reconnaissance mission and laying the groundwork for their future use in deep space science and exploration missions. The NEA Scout mission, funded by NASA's Advanced Exploration Systems Program and managed by NASA MSFC, will use the sail as primary propulsion allowing it to survey and image one or more NEA's of interest for possible future human exploration. NEA Scout uses a 6U cubesat (to be provided by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory), an 86 m2 solar sail and will weigh less than 14 kilograms. The solar sail for NEA Scout will be based on the technology developed and flown by the NASA NanoSail-D and The Planetary Society's Lightsail-A. Four 7 m stainless steel booms wrapped on two spools (two overlapping booms per spool) will be motor deployed and pull the sail from its stowed volume. The sail material is an aluminized polyimide approximately 3 microns thick. NEA Scout will launch on the Space Launch System (SLS) first mission in 2018 and deploy from the SLS after the Orion spacecraft is separated from the SLS upper stage. The NEA Scout spacecraft will stabilize its orientation after ejection using an onboard cold-gas thruster system. The same system provides the vehicle Delta-V sufficient for a lunar flyby. After its first encounter with the moon, the 86 m2 sail will deploy, and the sail characterization phase will begin. A mechanical Active Mass Translation (AMT) system, combined with the remaining ACS propellant, will be used for sail momentum management. Once the system is checked out, the spacecraft will perform a series of lunar flybys until it achieves optimum departure trajectory to the target asteroid. The spacecraft will then begin its two year-long cruise. About one month before the asteroid flyby, NEA Scout will pause to search for the target and start its approach phase using a combination of radio tracking and optical navigation. The solar sail will provide

NASA Earth Observations Informing Renewable Energy Management and Policy Decision Making

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Eckman, Richard S.; Stackhouse, Paul W., Jr.

2008-01-01

The NASA Applied Sciences Program partners with domestic and international governmental organizations, universities, and private entities to improve their decisions and assessments. These improvements are enabled by using the knowledge generated from research resulting from spacecraft observations and model predictions conducted by NASA and providing these as inputs to the decision support and scenario assessment tools used by partner organizations. The Program is divided into eight societal benefit areas, aligned in general with the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) themes. The Climate Application of the Applied Sciences Program has as one of its focuses, efforts to provide for improved decisions and assessments in the areas of renewable energy technologies, energy efficiency, and climate change impacts. The goals of the Applied Sciences Program are aligned with national initiatives such as the U.S. Climate Change Science and Technology Programs and with those of international organizations including the Group on Earth Observations (GEO) and the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS). Activities within the Program are funded principally through proposals submitted in response to annual solicitations and reviewed by peers.

Communication and Shared Practices are Bringing NASA STEM Resources to Camp Youth

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

LaConte, K.; Shaner, A.; Shipp, S.; Garst, B.; Bialeschki, M. D.; Netting, R.; Erickson, K.

2015-11-01

In 2012, NASA and the American Camp Association (ACA) entered into an alliance to further both organizations' goals and objectives with regard to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. This alliance is providing camp staff—and their young audiences—access to NASA's resources. NASA disseminates resources (e.g., pathways for requesting guest presenters, informal learning lesson plans), conducts ACA professional development (online and at ACA conferences), and coordinates efforts around key events (e.g., spacecraft launches). ACA promotes awareness of NASA resources through their communications and services. Together, the organizations are working to inspire a new generation of scientists, engineers, explorers, educators, and innovators to pursue STEM careers.

NASA's Global Imagery Browse Services - Technologies for Visualizing Earth Science Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cechini, M. F.; Boller, R. A.; Baynes, K.; Schmaltz, J. E.; Thompson, C. K.; Roberts, J. T.; Rodriguez, J.; Wong, M. M.; King, B. A.; King, J.; De Luca, A. P.; Pressley, N. N.

2017-12-01

For more than 20 years, the NASA Earth Observing System (EOS) has collected earth science data for thousands of scientific parameters now totaling nearly 15 Petabytes of data. In 2013, NASA's Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS) formed its vision to "transform how end users interact and discover [EOS] data through visualizations." This vision included leveraging scientific and community best practices and standards to provide a scalable, compliant, and authoritative source for EOS earth science data visualizations. Since that time, GIBS has grown quickly and now services millions of daily requests for over 500 imagery layers representing hundreds of earth science parameters to a broad community of users. For many of these parameters, visualizations are available within hours of acquisition from the satellite. For others, visualizations are available for the entire mission of the satellite. The GIBS system is built upon the OnEarth and MRF open source software projects, which are provided by the GIBS team. This software facilitates standards-based access for compliance with existing GIS tools. The GIBS imagery layers are predominantly rasterized images represented in two-dimensional coordinate systems, though multiple projections are supported. The OnEarth software also supports the GIBS ingest pipeline to facilitate low latency updates to new or updated visualizations. This presentation will focus on the following topics: Overview of GIBS visualizations and user community Current benefits and limitations of the OnEarth and MRF software projects and related standards GIBS access methods and their in/compatibilities with existing GIS libraries and applications Considerations for visualization accuracy and understandability Future plans for more advanced visualization concepts including Vertical Profiles and Vector-Based Representations Future plans for Amazon Web Service support and deployments

NASA Accountability Report

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1997-01-01

NASA is piloting fiscal year (FY) 1997 Accountability Reports, which streamline and upgrade reporting to Congress and the public. The document presents statements by the NASA administrator, and the Chief Financial Officer, followed by an overview of NASA's organizational structure and the planning and budgeting process. The performance of NASA in four strategic enterprises is reviewed: (1) Space Science, (2) Mission to Planet Earth, (3) Human Exploration and Development of Space, and (4) Aeronautics and Space Transportation Technology. Those areas which support the strategic enterprises are also reviewed in a section called Crosscutting Processes. For each of the four enterprises, there is discussion about the long term goals, the short term objectives and the accomplishments during FY 1997. The Crosscutting Processes section reviews issues and accomplishments relating to human resources, procurement, information technology, physical resources, financial management, small and disadvantaged businesses, and policy and plans. Following the discussion about the individual areas is Management's Discussion and Analysis, about NASA's financial statements. This is followed by a report by an independent commercial auditor and the financial statements.

Connecting Teachers and Students with Science Experts: NASA's Expedition Earth and Beyond Program

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Graff, P. V.; Stefanov, W. L.; Willis, K. J.; Runco, S.; McCollum, T.; Baker, M.; Mailhot, M.; Lindgren, C. F.

2010-12-01

Classroom teachers are challenged with engaging and preparing today’s students for the future. Activities are driven by state required skills, education standards, and high stakes testing. How can educators teach required standards and motivate students to not only learn essential skills, but also acquire a sense of intrigue to want to learn more? One way is to allow students to take charge of their learning and conduct student-driven research. NASA’s Expedition Earth and Beyond program, based at the NASA Johnson Space Center, is designed to do just that. The program, developed by both educators and scientists, promotes inquiry-based investigations in classrooms (grades 5-14) by using current NASA data. By combining the expertise of teachers, who understand the everyday challenges of working with students, and scientists, who work with the process of science as they conduct their own research, the result is a realistic and useable means in which to promote authentic research in classrooms. NASA’s Expedition Earth and Beyond Program was created with the understanding that there are three important aspects that enable teachers to implement authentic research experiences in the classroom. These aspects are: 1) Standards-aligned, inquiry based curricular resources and an implementation structure to support student-driven research; 2) Professional development opportunities to learn techniques and strategies to ensure seamless implementation of resources; and 3) Ongoing support. Expedition Earth and Beyond provides all three of these aspects and adds two additional and inspiring motivators. One is the opportunity for student research teams to request new data. Data requested and approved would be acquired by astronauts orbiting Earth on the International Space Station. This aspect is part of the process of science structure and provides a powerful way to excite students. The second, and perhaps more significant motivator, is the creation of connections between

User Metrics in NASA Earth Science Data Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lynnes, Chris

2018-01-01

This presentation the collection and use of user metrics in NASA's Earth Science data systems. A variety of collection methods is discussed, with particular emphasis given to the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ASCI). User sentiment on potential use of cloud computing is presented, with generally positive responses. The presentation also discusses various forms of automatically collected metrics, including an example of the relative usage of different functions within the Giovanni analysis system.

77 FR 55863 - NASA Advisory Council; Science Committee; Earth Science Subcommittee; Applied Sciences Advisory...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-09-11

... NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION [Notice (12-072)] NASA Advisory Council; Science Committee; Earth Science Subcommittee; Applied Sciences Advisory Group Meeting AGENCY: National Aeronautics... the Applied Science Advisory Group. This Subcommittee reports to the Earth Science Subcommittee...

Establishing Esri ArcGIS Enterprise Platform Capabilities to Support Response Activities of the NASA Earth Science Disasters Program

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Molthan, A.; Seepersad, J.; Shute, J.; Carriere, L.; Duffy, D.; Tisdale, B.; Kirschbaum, D.; Green, D. S.; Schwizer, L.

2017-12-01

NASA's Earth Science Disasters Program promotes the use of Earth observations to improve the prediction of, preparation for, response to, and recovery from natural and technological disasters. NASA Earth observations and those of domestic and international partners are combined with in situ observations and models by NASA scientists and partners to develop products supporting disaster mitigation, response, and recovery activities among several end-user partners. These products are accompanied by training to ensure proper integration and use of these materials in their organizations. Many products are integrated along with other observations available from other sources in GIS-capable formats to improve situational awareness and response efforts before, during and after a disaster. Large volumes of NASA observations support the generation of disaster response products by NASA field center scientists, partners in academia, and other institutions. For example, a prediction of high streamflows and inundation from a NASA-supported model may provide spatial detail of flood extent that can be combined with GIS information on population density, infrastructure, and land value to facilitate a prediction of who will be affected, and the economic impact. To facilitate the sharing of these outputs in a common framework that can be easily ingested by downstream partners, the NASA Earth Science Disasters Program partnered with Esri and the NASA Center for Climate Simulation (NCCS) to establish a suite of Esri/ArcGIS services to support the dissemination of routine and event-specific products to end users. This capability has been demonstrated to key partners including the Federal Emergency Management Agency using a case-study example of Hurricane Matthew, and will also help to support future domestic and international disaster events. The Earth Science Disasters Program has also established a longer-term vision to leverage scientists' expertise in the development and delivery of

NASA's Earth Observing System Data and Information System - EOSDIS

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ramapriyan, Hampapuram K.

2011-01-01

This slide presentation reviews the work of NASA's Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS), a petabyte-scale archive of environmental data that supports global climate change research. The Earth Science Data Systems provide end-to-end capabilities to deliver data and information products to users in support of understanding the Earth system. The presentation contains photographs from space of recent events, (i.e., the effects of the tsunami in Japan, and the wildfires in Australia.) It also includes details of the Data Centers that provide the data to EOSDIS and Science Investigator-led Processing Systems. Information about the Land, Atmosphere Near-real-time Capability for EOS (LANCE) and some of the uses that the system has made possible are reviewed. Also included is information about how to access the data, and evolutionary plans for the future of the system.

Sun-Earth Scientists and Native Americans Collaborate on Sun-Earth Day

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ng, C. Y.; Lopez, R. E.; Hawkins, I.

2004-12-01

Sun-Earth Connection scientists have established partnerships with several minority professional societies to reach out to the blacks, Hispanics and Native American students. Working with NSBP, SACNAS, AISES and NSHP, SEC scientists were able to speak in their board meetings and national conferences, to network with minority scientists, and to engage them in Sun-Earth Day. Through these opportunities and programs, scientists have introduced NASA research results as well indigenous views of science. They also serve as role models in various communities. Since the theme for Sun-Earth Day 2005 is Ancient Observatories: Timeless Knowledge, scientists and education specialists are hopeful to excite many with diverse backgrounds. Sun-Earth Day is a highly visible annual program since 2001 that touches millions of students and the general public. Interviews, classroom activities and other education resources are available on the web at sunearthday.nasa.gov.

Facilitating NASA Earth Science Data Processing Using Nebula Cloud Computing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pham, Long; Chen, Aijun; Kempler, Steven; Lynnes, Christopher; Theobald, Michael; Asghar, Esfandiari; Campino, Jane; Vollmer, Bruce

2011-01-01

Cloud Computing has been implemented in several commercial arenas. The NASA Nebula Cloud Computing platform is an Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) built in 2008 at NASA Ames Research Center and 2010 at GSFC. Nebula is an open source Cloud platform intended to: a) Make NASA realize significant cost savings through efficient resource utilization, reduced energy consumption, and reduced labor costs. b) Provide an easier way for NASA scientists and researchers to efficiently explore and share large and complex data sets. c) Allow customers to provision, manage, and decommission computing capabilities on an as-needed bases

Learning from LANCE: Developing a Web Portal Infrastructure for NASA Earth Science Data (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Murphy, K. J.

2013-12-01

NASA developed the Land Atmosphere Near real-time Capability for EOS (LANCE) in response to a growing need for timely satellite observations by applications users, operational agencies and researchers. EOS capabilities originally intended for long-term Earth science research were modified to deliver satellite data products with sufficient latencies to meet the needs of the NRT user communities. LANCE products are primarily distributed as HDF data files for analysis, however novel capabilities for distribution of NRT imagery for visualization have been added which have expanded the user base. Additionally systems to convert data to information such as the MODIS hotspot/active fire data are also provided through the Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS). LANCE services include: FTP/HTTP file distribution, Rapid Response (RR), Worldview, Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS) and FIRMS. This paper discusses how NASA has developed services specifically for LANCE and is taking the lessons learned through these activities to develop an Earthdata Web Infrastructure. This infrastructure is being used as a platform to support development of data portals that address specific science issues for much of EOSDIS data.

NASA Space Imaging is a Great Resource to Teach Science Topics in Professional Development Courses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Verner, E.; Bruhweiler, F. C.; Long, T.; Edwards, S.; Ofman, L.; Brosius, J. W.; Gordon, D.; St Cyr, O. C.; Krotkov, N. A.; Fatoyinbo, T. E.

2013-12-01

Our multi- component project aims to develop and test NASA educational resource materials, provide training for pre- and in-service elementary school teachers in STEM disciplines needed in Washington DC area. We use physics and math in a hands-on enquiry based setting and make extensive use of imagery from NASA space missions (SDO, SOHO, STEREO) to develop instructional modules focusing on grades, PK-8. Our two years of effort culminated in developing three modules: The Sun - the nearest star Students learn about the Sun as the nearest star. Students make outdoor observations during the day and all year round. At night, they observe and record the motion of the moon and stars. Students learn these bodies move in regular and predictable ways. Electricity & Magnetism - From your classroom to the Sun Students investigate electricity and magnetism in the classroom and see large scale examples of these concepts on the Sun's surface, interplanetary space, and the Earth's magnetosphere as revealed from NASA space missions. Solar Energy The Sun is the primary source of energy for Earth's climate system. Students learn about wavelength and frequency and develop skills to do scientific inquiry, including how to use math as a tool. They use optical, UV, EUV, and X-ray images to trace out the energetic processes of the Sun. Each module includes at least one lesson plan, vocabulary, activities and children book for each grade range PK-3; 4-5; 6-8

Evaluating the Potential of NASA's Earth Science Research Results for Improving Future Operational Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Frederick, M. E.; Cox, E. L.; Friedl, L. A.

2006-12-01

NASA's Earth Science Theme is charged with implementing NASA Strategic Goal 3A to "study Earth from space to advance scientific understanding and meet societal needs." In the course of meeting this objective, NASA produces research results, such as scientific observatories, research models, advanced sensor and space system technology, data active archives and interoperability technology, high performance computing systems, and knowledge products. These research results have the potential to serve society beyond their intended purpose of answering pressing Earth system science questions. NASA's Applied Sciences Program systematically evaluates the potential of the portfolio of research results to serve society by conducting projects in partnership with regional/national scale operational partners with the statutory responsibility to inform decision makers. These projects address NASA's National Applications and the societal benefit areas under the IEOS and GEOSS. Prototyping methods are used in two ways in NASA's Applied Sciences Program. The first is part of the National Applications program element, referred to as Integrated Systems Solutions (ISS) projects. The approach for these projects is to use high fidelity prototypes to benchmark the assimilation of NASA research results into our partners' decision support systems. The outcome from ISS projects is a prototype system that has been rigorously tested with the partner to understand the scientific uncertainty and improved value of their modified system. In many cases, these completed prototypes are adopted or adapted for use by the operational partners. The second falls under the Crosscutting Solutions program element, referred to as Rapid Prototyping (RP) experiments. The approach for RP experiments is to use low fidelity prototypes that are low cost and quickly produced to evaluate the potential of the breadth of NASA research results to serve society. The outcome from the set of RP experiments is an

Stewardship of NASA's Earth Science Data and Ensuring Long-Term Active Archives

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ramapriyan, H.; Behnke, J.

2016-12-01

NASA's Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) has been in operation since 1994. EOSDIS manages data from pre-EOS missions dating back to 1960s, EOS missions that started in 1997, and missions from the post-EOS era. Its data holdings come from many different sources - satellite and airborne instruments, in situ measures, field experiments, science investigations, etc. Since the beginning of the EOS Program, NASA has followed an open data policy, with non-discriminatory access to data with no period of exclusive access. NASA has well-established processes for assigning and/or accepting datasets into one of 12 Distributed Active Archive Centers (DAACs) that are parts of EOSDIS. EOSDIS has been evolving through several information technology cycles, adapting to hardware and software changes in the commercial sector. NASA is responsible for maintaining Earth science data as long as users are interested in using them for research and applications, which is well beyond the life of the data gathering missions. For science data to remain useful over long periods of time, steps must be taken to preserve: 1. Data bits with no corruption, 2. Discoverability and access, 3. Readability, 4. Understandability, 5. Usability and 6. Reproducibility of results. NASA's Earth Science data and Information System (ESDIS) Project, along with the 12 EOSDIS Distributed Active Archive Centers (DAACs), has made significant progress in each of these areas over the last decade, and continues to evolve its active archive capabilities. Particular attention is being paid in recent years to ensure that the datasets are "published" in an easily accessible and citable manner through a unified metadata model, a common metadata repository (CMR), a coherent view through the earthdata.gov website, and assignment of Digital Object Identifiers (DOI) with well-designed landing/product information pages.

NASA Langley Teacher Resource Center at the Virginia Air and Space Center

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Maher, Kim L.

1999-01-01

Nation's education goals through expanding and enhancing the scientific an technological competence of students and educators. To help disseminate NASA instructional materials and educational information, NASA's Education Division has established the Educator Resource Center Network. Through this network (ERCN), educators are provided the opportunity to receive free instructional information, materials, consultation, and training workshops on NASA educational products. The Office of Education at NASA Langley Research Center offers an extension of its Precollege Education program by supporting the NASA LARC Educator Resource Center at the Virginia Air & Space Center, the official visitor center for NASA LARC. This facility is the principal distribution point for educators in the five state service region that includes Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, North Carolina and South Carolina. The primary goal, to provide expertise and facilities to help educators access and utilize science, mathematics, and technology instructional products aligned with national standards and appropriate state frameworks and based on NASA's unique mission and results, has been accomplished. This ERC had 15,200 contacts and disseminated over 190,000 instructional items during the period of performance. In addition the manager attended 35 conferences, workshops, and educational meetings as an GR, presenter, or participant. The objective to demonstrate and facilitate the use of educational technologies has been accomplished through the following: The ERC's web page has been developed as a cyber-gateway to a multitude of NASA and other educational resources as well as to Our own database of current resource materials. NASA CORE CD-ROM technology is regularly demonstrated and promoted using the center's computers. NASA TV is available, demonstrated to educators, and used to facilitate the downlinking of NASA educational programming.

Expanding NASA Science Cooperation with New Partners

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Allen, Marc; Bress, Kent

Expanding NASA Science Cooperation with New Partners When NASA was created in 1958, it was given a goal of "cooperation by the United States with other nations and groups of nations in work done pursuant to this Act and in the peaceful application of the results." As science has become increasingly globalized during the past 50 years, NASA and its many partners in space and Earth science research have benefited enormously from pooling ideas, skills, and resources for joint undertakings. The discoveries made have powerfully advanced public awareness of science and its importance all over the world. Today, the U.S. Administra-tion is encouraging NASA to expand its cooperation with new and emerging partners. NASA space and Earth science cooperation is founded on scientist-to-scientist research collaboration. Space missions are very costly and technically challenging, but there are many other important areas for international cooperation. Areas ripe for expansion with new partners include space data sharing, scientist-to-scientist collaborative research, international research program plan-ning and coordination, Earth applications for societal benefit, ground-based measurements for Earth system science, and education and public outreach. This presentation lays out NASA's general principles for international science cooperation, briefly describes each of these opportu-nity areas, and suggests avenues for initiating new cooperative relationships.

75 FR 60484 - NASA Advisory Council; Science Committee; Earth Science Subcommittee; Applied Sciences Advisory...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-09-30

... NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION [Notice: (10-115)] NASA Advisory Council; Science Committee; Earth Science Subcommittee; Applied Sciences Advisory Group Meeting AGENCY: National Aeronautics...) announces a meeting of the Applied Science Advisory Group. This Subcommittee reports to the Earth Science...

Explore Earth Science Datasets for STEM with the NASA GES DISC Online Visualization and Analysis Tool, GIOVANNI

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Z.; Acker, J. G.; Kempler, S. J.

2016-12-01

The NASA Goddard Earth Sciences (GES) Data and Information Services Center (DISC) is one of twelve NASA Science Mission Directorate (SMD) Data Centers that provide Earth science data, information, and services to research scientists, applications scientists, applications users, and students around the world. The GES DISC is the home (archive) of NASA Precipitation and Hydrology, as well as Atmospheric Composition and Dynamics remote sensing data and information. To facilitate Earth science data access, the GES DISC has been developing user-friendly data services for users at different levels. Among them, the Geospatial Interactive Online Visualization ANd aNalysis Infrastructure (GIOVANNI, http://giovanni.gsfc.nasa.gov/) allows users to explore satellite-based data using sophisticated analyses and visualizations without downloading data and software, which is particularly suitable for novices to use NASA datasets in STEM activities. In this presentation, we will briefly introduce GIOVANNI and recommend datasets for STEM. Examples of using these datasets in STEM activities will be presented as well.

Explore Earth Science Datasets for STEM with the NASA GES DISC Online Visualization and Analysis Tool, Giovanni

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Liu, Z.; Acker, J.; Kempler, S.

2016-01-01

The NASA Goddard Earth Sciences (GES) Data and Information Services Center(DISC) is one of twelve NASA Science Mission Directorate (SMD) Data Centers that provide Earth science data, information, and services to users around the world including research and application scientists, students, citizen scientists, etc. The GESDISC is the home (archive) of remote sensing datasets for NASA Precipitation and Hydrology, Atmospheric Composition and Dynamics, etc. To facilitate Earth science data access, the GES DISC has been developing user-friendly data services for users at different levels in different countries. Among them, the Geospatial Interactive Online Visualization ANd aNalysis Infrastructure (Giovanni, http:giovanni.gsfc.nasa.gov) allows users to explore satellite-based datasets using sophisticated analyses and visualization without downloading data and software, which is particularly suitable for novices (such as students) to use NASA datasets in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) activities. In this presentation, we will briefly introduce Giovanni along with examples for STEM activities.

NASA Earth Science Partnerships - The Role and Value of Commercial and Non-Profit Partnerships with Government in the Earth Sciences

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Favors, J.; Cauffman, S.; Ianson, E.; Kaye, J. A.; Friedl, L.; Green, D. S.; Lee, T. J.; Murphy, K. J.; Turner, W.

2017-12-01

NASA's Earth Science Division (ESD) seeks to develop a scientific understanding of the Earth as a dynamic, integrated system of diverse components that interact in complex ways - analogous to the human body. The Division approaches this goal through a coordinated series of satellite and airborne missions, sponsored basic and applied research, and technology development. Integral to this approach are strong collaborations and partnerships with a spectrum of organizations with technical and non-technical expertise. This presentation will focus on a new commercial and non-profit partnership effort being undertaken by ESD to integrate expertise unique to these sectors with expertise at NASA to jointly achieve what neither group could alone. Highlights will include case study examples of joint work with perspectives from both NASA and the partner, building interdisciplinary teams with diverse backgrounds but common goals (e.g., economics and Earth observations for valuing natural capital), partnership successes and challenges in the co-production of science and applications, utilizing partner networks to amplify project outcomes, and how involving partners in defining the project scope drives novel and unique scientific and decision-making questions to arise.

NASA's Coordinated Efforts to Enhance STEM Education: Bringing NASA Science into the Library

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Meinke, B. K.; Thomas, C.; Eyermann, S.; Mitchell, S.; LaConte, K.; Hauck, K.

2015-11-01

Libraries are community-centered, free-access venues serving learners of all ages and backgrounds. Libraries also recognize the importance of science literacy and strive to include science in their programming portfolio. Scientists and educators can partner with local libraries to advance mutual goals of connecting the public to Earth and Space Science. In this interactive Special Interest Group (SIG) discussion, representatives from the NASA Science Mission Directorate (SMD) Education and Public Outreach (EPO) community's library collaborations discussed the opportunities for partnership with public and school libraries; explored the resources, events, and programs available through libraries; explored NASA science programming and professional development opportunities available for librarians; and strategized about the types of support that librarians require to plan and implement programs that use NASA data and resources. We also shared successes, lessons learned, and future opportunities for incorporating NASA science programming into library settings.

NASA Earth Science Disasters Program Response Activities During Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria in 2017

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bell, J. R.; Schultz, L. A.; Molthan, A.; Kirschbaum, D.; Roman, M.; Yun, S. H.; Meyer, F. J.; Hogenson, K.; Gens, R.; Goodman, H. M.; Owen, S. E.; Lou, Y.; Amini, R.; Glasscoe, M. T.; Brentzel, K. W.; Stefanov, W. L.; Green, D. S.; Murray, J. J.; Seepersad, J.; Struve, J. C.; Thompson, V.

2017-12-01

The 2017 Atlantic hurricane season included a series of storms that impacted the United States, and the Caribbean breaking a 12-year drought of landfalls in the mainland United States (Harvey and Irma), with additional impacts from the combination of Irma and Maria felt in the Caribbean. These storms caused widespread devastation resulting in a significant need to support federal partners in response to these destructive weather events. The NASA Earth Science Disasters Program provided support to federal partners including the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the National Guard Bureau (NGB) by leveraging remote sensing and other expertise through NASA Centers and partners in academia throughout the country. The NASA Earth Science Disasters Program leveraged NASA mission products from the GPM mission to monitor cyclone intensity, assist with cyclone center tracking, and quantifying precipitation. Multispectral imagery from the NASA-NOAA Suomi-NPP mission and the VIIRS Day-Night Band proved useful for monitoring power outages and recovery. Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data from the Copernicus Sentinel-1 satellites operated by the European Space Agency were used to create flood inundation and damage assessment maps that were useful for damage density mapping. Using additional datasets made available through the USGS Hazards Data Distribution System and the activation of the International Charter: Space and Major Disasters, the NASA Earth Science Disasters Program created additional flood products from optical and radar remote sensing platforms, along with PI-led efforts to derive products from other international partner assets such as the COSMO-SkyMed system. Given the significant flooding impacts from Harvey in the Houston area, NASA provided airborne L-band SAR collections from the UAVSAR system which captured the daily evolution of record flooding, helping to guide response and mitigation decisions for critical infrastructure and public safety. We

Birmingham and central Alabama area seen in Earth Resources Exp. Package

NASA Image and Video Library

1974-02-01

SL4-93-153 (February 1974) --- A vertical view of the Birmingham and central Alabama area is seen in this Skylab 4 Earth Resources Experiments Package S190-B (five-inch earth terrain camera) infrared photographed taken from the Skylab space station in Earth orbit. Illustrated here is the utility of color infrared film in depicting distribution of living vegetation in the 3,600 square mile Birmingham region. The Birmingham industrial complex, with a population of nearly 850,000, is the light gray area nestled in the valley between the northeast-trending ridges that are prominent topographic features in the southern Appalachian Mountains. The narrow ridges and adjacent valleys reflect folded and faulted sedimentary rocks, indicating the complex geological history of the region. Two major rivers and several reservoirs are easily distinguished in this photograph. Bankhand Lake, formed by a dam on the Black Warrior River, appears as bright blue west of Birmingham. Two lakes are formed by dams on the Goosa River east of Birmingham. Federal and state highways appear as thin white lines and are easily identified. Interstate 65 to Montgomery is the prominent white line extending southward from Birmingham. Power line clearings are visible in the center of the picture along the Goosa River, and can be traced northwestward to northern parts of Birmingham. The predominant deep red color of the picture is due to the reflections from living vegetation. In contrast are the light tan areas that commonly occur as rectangular patterns in the east part of the photograph and represent mature agricultural crops or grazing lands. Analysis of the photographic data from the earth terrain camera will be conducted by Dr. H. Jayroe of the Marshall Space Flight Center in developing analytical techniques. All EREP photography is available to the public through the Department of Interior's Earth Resources Observations Systems Data Center, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, 57198. Photo credit: NASA

Emblem - NASA Skylab (SL) Program

NASA Image and Video Library

1973-04-25

S73-23952 (May 1973) --- This is the official emblem for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Skylab Program. The emblem depicts the United States Skylab space station cluster in Earth orbit with the sun in the background. Skylab will evaluate systems and techniques designed to gather information on Earth resources and environmental problems. Solar telescopes will increase man's knowledge of our sun and the multitude of solar influences on Earth environment. Medical experiments will increase knowledge of man himself and his relationship to his earthly environment and adaptability to spaceflight. Additionally, Skylab will experiment with industrial processes which may be enhanced by the unique weightless, vacuum environment of orbital spaceflight. The 100-ton laboratory complex Skylab space station is composed of the Command/Service Module (CSM), Orbital Workshop (OW), Apollo Telescope Mount (ATM), Multiple Docking Adapter (MDA), and Airlock Module (AM). The NASA insignia design for Skylab is reserved for use by the astronauts and for other official use as the NASA Administrator may authorize. Public availability has been approved only in the form of illustrations by the various news media. When and if there is any change in this policy, which we do not anticipate, it will be publicly announced. Photo credit: NASA

Engaging Scientists in NASA Education and Public Outreach: Tools for Scientist Engagement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Buxner, Sanlyn; Meinke, B. K.; Hsu, B.; Shupla, C.; Grier, J. A.; E/PO Community, SMD

2014-01-01

The NASA Science Education and Public Outreach Forums support the NASA Science Mission Directorate (SMD) and its education and public outreach (E/PO) community through a coordinated effort to enhance the coherence and efficiency of SMD-funded E/PO programs. The Forums foster collaboration between scientists with content expertise and educators with pedagogy expertise. We present tools and resources to support astronomers’ engagement in E/PO efforts. Among the tools designed specifically for scientists are a series of one-page E/PO-engagement Tips and Tricks guides, a sampler of electromagnetic-spectrum-related activities, and NASA SMD Scientist Speaker’s Bureau (http://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/speaker). Scientists can also locate resources for interacting with diverse audiences through a number of online clearinghouses, including: NASA Wavelength, a digital collection of peer-reviewed Earth and space science resources for educators of all levels (http://nasawavelength.org), and EarthSpace (http://www.lpi.usra.edu/earthspace), a community website where faculty can find and share teaching resources for the undergraduate Earth and space sciences classroom. Learn more about the opportunities to become involved in E/PO and to share your science with students, educators, and the general public at http://smdepo.org.

BENNU’S JOURNEY - Early Earth

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-12-08

This is an artist's concept of the young Earth being bombarded by asteroids. Scientists think these impacts could have delivered significant amounts of organic matter and water to Earth. Image Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Conceptual Image Lab The Origins Spectral Interpretation Resource Identification Security -- Regolith Explorer spacecraft (OSIRIS-REx) will travel to a near-Earth asteroid, called Bennu, and bring a sample back to Earth for study. The mission will help scientists investigate how planets formed and how life began, as well as improve our understanding of asteroids that could impact Earth. OSIRIS-REx is scheduled for launch in late 2016. As planned, the spacecraft will reach its asteroid target in 2018 and return a sample to Earth in 2023. Watch the full video: youtu.be/gtUgarROs08 Learn more about NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission and the making of Bennu’s Journey: www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/bennus-journey/ More information on the OSIRIS-REx mission is available at: www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/osiris-rex/index.html www.asteroidmission.org NASA image use policy. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Find us on Instagram

NASA Space Science Resource Catalog

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Teays, T.

2000-05-01

The NASA Office of Space Science Resource Catalog provides a convenient online interface for finding space science products for use in classrooms, science museums, planetariums, and many other venues. Goals in developing this catalog are: (1) create a cataloging system for all NASA OSS education products, (2) develop a system for characterizing education products which is meaningful to a large clientele, (3) develop a mechanism for evaluating products, (4) provide a user-friendly interface to search and access the data, and (5) provide standardized metadata and interfaces to other cataloging and library systems. The first version of the catalog is being tested at the spring 2000 conventions of the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) and the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) and will be released in summer 2000. The catalog may be viewed at the Origins Education Forum booth.

Optimal Reorganization of NASA Earth Science Data for Enhanced Accessibility and Usability for the Hydrology Community

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Teng, William; Rui, Hualan; Strub, Richard; Vollmer, Bruce

2016-01-01

A long-standing "Digital Divide" in data representation exists between the preferred way of data access by the hydrology community and the common way of data archival by earth science data centers. Typically, in hydrology, earth surface features are expressed as discrete spatial objects (e.g., watersheds), and time-varying data are contained in associated time series. Data in earth science archives, although stored as discrete values (of satellite swath pixels or geographical grids), represent continuous spatial fields, one file per time step. This Divide has been an obstacle, specifically, between the Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrologic Science, Inc. and NASA earth science data systems. In essence, the way data are archived is conceptually orthogonal to the desired method of access. Our recent work has shown an optimal method of bridging the Divide, by enabling operational access to long-time series (e.g., 36 years of hourly data) of selected NASA datasets. These time series, which we have termed "data rods," are pre-generated or generated on-the-fly. This optimal solution was arrived at after extensive investigations of various approaches, including one based on "data curtains." The on-the-fly generation of data rods uses "data cubes," NASA Giovanni, and parallel processing. The optimal reorganization of NASA earth science data has significantly enhanced the access to and use of the data for the hydrology user community.

Earth Science Data and Applications for K-16 Education from the NASA Langley Atmospheric Science Data Center

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Phelps, C. S.; Chambers, L. H.; Alston, E. J.; Moore, S. W.; Oots, P. C.

2005-05-01

NASA's Science Mission Directorate aims to stimulate public interest in Earth system science and to encourage young scholars to consider careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. NASA's Atmospheric Science Data Center (ASDC) at Langley Research Center houses over 700 data sets related to Earth's radiation budget, clouds, aerosols and tropospheric chemistry that are being produced to increase academic understanding of the natural and anthropogenic perturbations that influence global climate change. However, barriers still exist in the use of these actual satellite observations by educators in the classroom to supplement the educational process. Thus, NASA is sponsoring the "Mentoring and inquirY using NASA Data on Atmospheric and earth science for Teachers and Amateurs" (MY NASA DATA) project to systematically support educational activities by reducing the ASDC data holdings to `microsets' that can be easily accessible and explored by the K-16 educators and students. The microsets are available via Web site (http://mynasadata.larc.nasa.gov) with associated lesson plans, computer tools, data information pages, and a science glossary. A MY NASA DATA Live Access Server (LAS) has been populated with ASDC data such that users can create custom microsets online for desired time series, parameters and geographical regions. The LAS interface is suitable for novice to advanced users, teachers or students. The microsets may be visual representations of data or text output for spreadsheet analysis. Currently, over 148 parameters from the Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES), Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR), Surface Radiation Budget (SRB), Tropospheric Ozone Residual (TOR) and the International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP) are available and provide important information on clouds, fluxes and cycles in the Earth system. Additionally, a MY NASA DATA OPeNDAP server has been established to facilitate file transfer of

OSIRIS-REx NASA Social

NASA Image and Video Library

2016-09-07

Social media followers were briefed by NASA scientists on asteroids, how they relate to the origins of our solar system and the search for life beyond Earth, during a NASA Social presentation in the Operations Support Building II at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The presentation took place before launch of the agency’s Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer, or OSIRIS-REx spacecraft. From the left, are Dante Lauretta, OSIRIS-REx principal investigator from the University of Arizona at Tucson, and Christina Richey, OSIRIS-REx deputy program scientists at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

NASA's Space Science Programming Possibilities for Planetaria

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Adams, M. L.

2003-01-01

The relationship between NASA and the planetarium community is an important one. Indeed, NASA's Office of Space Science has invested in a study of the Space Science Media Needs of Science Center Professionals. Some of the findings indicate a need for exposure to space science researchers, workshops for museum educators, 'canned' programs, and access to a speakers bureau. We will discuss some of the programs of NASA's Sun-Earth Connection Education Forum, distribute sample multimedia products, explain the role of NASA's Educator Resource Center, and review our contributions to NASA's Education and Public Outreach effort.

Recent Results From The Nasa Earth Science Terra Mission and Future Possibilities

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Salomonson, Vincent V.

2000-01-01

The NASA Earth Sciences Enterprise has made some remarkable strides in recent times in using developing, implementing, and utilizing spaceborne observations to better understand how the Earth works as a coupled, interactive system of the land, ocean, and atmosphere. Notable examples include the Upper Atmosphere Research (UARS) Satellite, the Topology Ocean Experiment (TOPEX) mission, Landsat-7, SeaWiFS, the Tropical Rainfall Monitoring Mission (TRMM), Quickscatt, the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM), and, quite recently, the Terra'/Earth Observing System-1 mission. The Terra mission, for example, represents a major step forward in providing sensors that offer considerable advantages and progress over heritage instruments. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS), the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR), the Measurements of Pollution in the Troposphere (MOPITT), the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emissions and Reflections (ASTER) radiometer, and the Clouds and Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) radiometer are the instruments involved. Early indications in March indicate that each of these instruments are working well and will be augmenting data bases from heritage instruments as well as producing new, unprecedented observations of land, ocean, and atmosphere features. Several missions will follow the Terra mission as the Earth Observing mission systems complete development and go into operation. These missions include EOS PM-1/'Aqua', Icesat, Vegetation Canopy Lidar (VCL), Jason/TOPEX Follow-on, the Chemistry mission, etc. As the Earth Observing systems completes its first phase in about 2004 a wealth of data enabling better understanding of the Earth and the management of its resources will have been provided. Considerable thought is beginning to be placed on what advances in technology can be implemented that will enable further advances in the early part of the 21st century; e.g., in the time from of 2020. Concepts such as

NASA World Wind Near Real Time Data for Earth

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hogan, P.

2013-12-01

Innovation requires open standards for data exchange, not to mention ^access to data^ so that value-added, the information intelligence, can be continually created and advanced by the larger community. Likewise, innovation by academia and entrepreneurial enterprise alike, are greatly benefited by an open platform that provides the basic technology for access and visualization of that data. NASA World Wind Java, and now NASA World Wind iOS for the iPhone and iPad, provides that technology. Whether the interest is weather science or climate science, emergency response or supply chain, seeing spatial data in its native context of Earth accelerates understanding and improves decision-making. NASA World Wind open source technology provides the basic elements for 4D visualization, using Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) protocols, while allowing for customized access to any data, big or small, including support for NetCDF. NASA World Wind includes access to a suite of US Government WMS servers with near real time data. The larger community can readily capitalize on this technology, building their own value-added applications, either open or proprietary. Night lights heat map Glacier National Park

NASA Ames DEVELOP Interns: Helping the Western United States Manage Natural Resources One Project at a Time

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Justice, Erin; Newcomer, Michelle

2010-01-01

The western half of the United States is made up of a number of diverse ecosystems ranging from arid desert to coastal wetlands and rugged forests. Every summer for the past 7 years students ranging from high school to graduate level gather at NASA Ames Research Center (ARC) as part of the DEVELOP Internship Program. Under the guidance of Jay Skiles [Ames Research Center (ARC) - Ames DEVELOP Manager] and Cindy Schmidt [ARC/San Jose State University Ames DEVELOP Coordinator] they work as a team on projects exploring topics including: invasive species, carbon flux, wetland restoration, air quality monitoring, storm visualizations, and forest fires. The study areas for these projects have been in Washington, Utah, Oregon, Nevada, Hawaii, Alaska and California. Interns combine data from NASA and partner satellites with models and in situ measurements to complete prototype projects demonstrating how NASA data and resources can help communities tackle their Earth Science related problems.

Board on Earth Sciences and Resources and its Activities

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schiffries, Craig M.

1997-01-01

The Board will provide oversight of the earth science and resource activities within the National Research Council, provide a review of research and public activities in the solid-earth sciences, and provide analyses and recommendations relevant to the supply, delivery, and associated impacts of and issues related to hydrocarbon, metallic, and non-metallic mineral resources. The Board will monitor the status of the earth sciences, assess the health of the disciplines, and identify research opportunities, and will respond to specific agency requests.

Leveraging Terrestrial Industry for Utilization of Space Resources

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sanders, Gerald B.; Linne, Diane L.; Starr, Stan O.; Boucher, Dale

2017-01-01

NASA's Journey to Mars: Pioneering Next Steps in Space Exploration released in October of 2015 states that NASA is working toward the capability to work, operate, and sustainably live safely beyond Earth. To progress from our current "Earth-Reliant" approach to exploration and eventually become "Earth Independent", we need to first identify resources in space and then learn to use and harvest them to minimize logistics from Earth, reduce costs, and enable sustainable and affordable space transportation and surface operations. Known as In Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU), the collection and conversion of space resources into products such as propellants, fuel cell reactants, and life support consumables can greatly reduce the mass, cost, and risk of space exploration. Also, the ability to perform civil engineering, construction, and manufacturing at sites of exploration can also allow for increased crew safety and sustainable growth in critical infrastructure. Much of what NASA wants to do on the Moon and Mars with respect to harnessing and utilizing space resources has been performed and perfected on Earth over the centuries. While minimizing mass and operating in the vacuum of space may be unique challenges to NASA, both terrestrial industry and NASA face many of the same challenges associated with operating in severe environments, minimizing maintenance and logistics, maximizing performance per unit mass and volume, performing remote and autonomous operations, and integrating hardware from many vendors and countries. In the end, both NASA and terrestrial industry need to obtain a return on the investment for the development and deployment of these capabilities. This paper will first examine what is ISRU and what are the space resources of interest. The paper will than discuss what are NASA's approach, life cycle, and economic considerations for implementing ISRU. The paper will outline the site and infrastructure needs associated with a phased implementation of

Who uses NASA Earth Science Data? Connecting with Users through the Earthdata website and Social Media

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wong, M. M.; Brennan, J.; Bagwell, R.; Behnke, J.

2015-12-01

This poster will introduce and explore the various social media efforts, monthly webinar series and a redesigned website (https://earthdata.nasa.gov) established by National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) project. EOSDIS is a key core capability in NASA's Earth Science Data Systems Program. It provides end-to-end capabilities for managing NASA's Earth science data from various sources - satellites, aircraft, field measurements, and various other programs. It is comprised of twelve Distributed Active Archive Centers (DAACs), Science Computing Facilities (SCFs), data discovery and service access client (Reverb and Earthdata Search), dataset directory (Global Change Master Directory - GCMD), near real-time data (Land Atmosphere Near real-time Capability for EOS - LANCE), Worldview (an imagery visualization interface), Global Imagery Browse Services, the Earthdata Code Collaborative and a host of other discipline specific data discovery, data access, data subsetting and visualization tools. We have embarked on these efforts to reach out to new audiences and potential new users and to engage our diverse end user communities world-wide. One of the key objectives is to increase awareness of the breadth of Earth science data information, services, and tools that are publicly available while also highlighting how these data and technologies enable scientific research.

[Inventories of the Earth. Mineral resource appraisals and the rise of resource economics].

PubMed

Westermann, Andrea

2014-03-01

How do the earth sciences mediate between the natural and social world? This paper explores the question by focusing on the history of nonfuel mineral resource appraisal from the late nineteenth to the mid twentieth century. It argues that earth sciences early on embraced social scientific knowledge, i.e. economic knowledge, in particular, when it came to determining or deposits and estimating the magnitude of mineral reserves. After 1900, assessing national and global mineral reserves and their "life span" or years of supply became ever more important, scaling up and complementing traditional appraisal practices on the level of individual mines or mining and trading companies. As a consequence, economic methods gained new weight for mineral resource estimation. Natural resource economics as an own field of research grew out of these efforts. By way of example, the mineral resource appraisal assigned to the U.S. Materials Policy Commission by President Harry S. Truman in 1951 is analyzed in more detail. Natural resource economics and environmental economics might be interpreted as a strategy to bring down the vast and holistically conceived object of geological and ecological research, the earth, to human scale, and assimilate it into social matters.

Sharing NASA's Scientific Explorations with Communities Across the Country: A Study of Public Libraries Collaborating with NASA STEM Experts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dusenbery, P.; LaConte, K.; Holland, A.; Harold, J. B.; Johnson, A.; Randall, C.; Fitzhugh, G.

2017-12-01

NASA research programs are helping humanity understand the origin and evolution of galaxies, stars, and planets, how our Sun varies and impacts the heliosphere, and defining the conditions necessary to support life beyond Earth. As places that offer their services for free, public libraries have become the "public square" by providing a place where members of a community can gather for information, educational programming, and policy discussions. Libraries are also developing new ways to engage their patrons in STEM learning. The Space Science Institute's (SSI) National Center for Interactive Learning (NCIL) was funded by NASA`s Science Mission Directorate (SMD) to develop and implement a project called NASA@ My Library: A National Earth and Space Science Initiative That Connects NASA, Public Libraries and Their Communities. NCIL's STAR Library Network (STAR_Net) is providing important leverage to expand its community of practice that serves both librarians and STEM professionals. Seventy-five libraries were selected through a competitive application process to receive NASA STEM Facilitation Kits, NASA STEM Backpacks for circulation, financial resources, training, and partnership opportunities. Initial survey data from the 75 NASA@ My Library partners showed that, while they are actively providing programming, few STEM programs connected with NASA science and engineering. With the launch of the initiative - including training, resources, and STEM-related event opportunities - all 75 libraries are engaged in offering NASA-focused programs, including with NASA subject matter experts. This talk will highlight the impacts the initiative is having on both public library partners and many others across the country.

NASA's Earth Science Data Systems: A "Bit of History" and Observations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ramapriyan, H. K.

2008-01-01

NASA has significantly improved its Earth Science Data Systems over the last two decades. Open data policy and inexpensive (or free) availability of data has promoted data usage by broad research and applications communities. Flexibility, accommodation of diversity, evolvability, responsiveness to community feedback are key to success.

Earth Resources: A continuing bibliography with indexes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1981-01-01

This bibliography lists 480 reports, articles, and other documents introduced into the NASA scientific and technical information system. Emphasis is placed on the use of remote sensing and geophysical instrumentation in spacecraft and aircraft to survey and inventory natural resources and urban areas. Subject matter is grouped according to agriculture and forestry, environmental changes and cultural resources, geodesy and cartography, geology and mineral resources, hydrology and water management, data processing and distribution systems, instrumentation and sensors, and economic analysis.

Earth resources: A continuing bibliography with indexes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1985-01-01

This bibliography lists 579 reports, articles, and other documents introduced into the NASA scientific and technical information system. Emphasis is placed on the use of remote sensing and geophysical instrumentation in spacecraft and aircraft to survey and inventory natural resources and urban areas. Subject matter is grouped according to agriculture and forestry, environmental changes and cultural resources, geodesy and cartography, geology and mineral resources, hydrology and water management, data processing and distribution systems, instrumentation and sensors, and economical analysis.

Earth resources, a continuing bibliography with indexes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1984-01-01

This bibliography lists 541 reports, articles and other documents introduced into the NASA scientific and technical information system. Emphasis is placed on the use of remote sensing and geophysical instrumentation in spacecraft and aircraft to survey and inventory natural resources and urban areas. Subject matter is grouped according to agriculture and forestry, environmental changes and cultural resources, geodesy and cartography, geology and mineral resources, hydrology and water management, data processing and distribution systems, instrumentation and sensors, and economic analysis.

Earth Resources: A continuing bibliography (issue 32)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1982-01-01

This bibliography list 580 reports, articles and other documents introduced into the NASA scientific and technical information system. Emphasis is placed on the use of remote sensing and geophysical instrumentation in spacecraft and aircraft to survey and inventory natural resources and urban areas. Subject matter is grouped according to agriculture and forestry, environmental changes and cultural resources, geodesy and cartography, geology and mineral resources, hydrology and water management, data processing and distribution systems, instrumentation and sensors, and economic analysis.

NASA Earth Observations (NEO): Data Access for Informal Education and Outreach

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ward, Kevin; Herring, David

2005-01-01

The NEO (NASA Earth Observations) web space is currently under development with the goal of significantly increasing the demand for NASA remote sensing data while dramatically simplifying public access to georeferenced images. NEO will target the unsophisticated, nontraditional data users who are currently underserved by the existing data ordering systems. These users will include formal and informal educators, museum and science center personnel, professional communicators, and citizen scientists and amateur Earth observers. Users will be able to view and manipulate georeferenced browse imagery and, if they desire, download directly or order the source HDF data from the data provider (e.g., NASA DAAC or science team) via a single, integrated interface. NE0 will accomplish this goal by anticipating users expectations and knowledge level, thus providing an interface that presents material to users in a more simplified manner, without relying upon the jargon/technical terminology that make even the identification of the appropriate data set a significant hurdle. NEO will also act as a gateway that manages users expectations by providing specific details about images and data formats, developing tutorials regarding the manipulation of georeferenced imagery and raw data, links to software tools and ensuring that users are able to get the image they want in the format they want as easily as possible.

Making NASA Earth Observing System Satellite Data Accessible to the K-12 and Citizen Scientist Communities

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Moore, Susan W.; Phelps, Carrie S.; Chambers, Lin H.

2004-01-01

The Atmospheric Sciences Data Center (ASDC) at NASA s Langley Research Center houses over 700 data sets related to Earth s radiation budget, clouds, aerosols and tropospheric chemistry. These data sets are produced to increase academic understanding of the natural and anthropogenic perturbations that influence global climate change. The Mentoring and inquirY using NASA Data on Atmospheric and earth science for Teachers and Amateurs (MY NASA DATA) project has been established to systematically support educational activities at all levels of formal and informal education by reducing these large data holdings to microsets that will be easily explored and understood by the K-12 and the amateur scientist communities

Aura Atmospheric Data Products and Their Availability from NASA Goddard Earth Sciences DAAC

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ahmad, S.; Johnson, J.; Gopalan, A.; Smith, P.; Leptoukh, G.; Kempler, S.

2004-01-01

NASA's EOS-Aura spacecraft was launched successfully on July 15, 2004. The four instruments onboard the spacecraft are the Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS), the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI), the Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES), and the High Resolution Dynamics Limb Sounder (HBDLS). The Aura instruments are designed to gather earth sciences measurements across the ultraviolet, visible, infra-red, thermal and microwave regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. Aura will provide over 70 distinct standard atmospheric data products for use in ozone layer and surface UV-B monitoring, air quality forecast, and atmospheric chemistry and climate change studies (http://eosaura.gsfc.nasa.gov/). These products include earth-atmosphere radiances and solar spectral irradiances; total column, tropospheric, and profiles of ozone and other trace gases, surface W-B flux; clouds and aerosol characteristics; and temperature, geopotential height, and water vapor profiles. The MLS, OMI, and HIRDLS data products will be archived at the NASA Goddard Earth Sciences (GES) Distributed Active Archive Center (DAAC), while data from TES will be archived at NASA Langley Research Center DAAC. Some of the standard products which have gone through quick preliminary checks are already archived at the GES DAAC (http://daac.nsfc.nasa.gov/) and are available to the Aura science team and data validation team members for data validation; and to the application and visualization software developers, for testing their application modules. Once data are corrected for obvious calibration problems and partially validated using in-situ observations, they would be made available to the broader user community. This presentation will provide details of the whole suite of Aura atmospheric data products, and the time line of the availability of the rest of the preliminary products and of the partially validated provisional products. Software and took available for data access, visualization, and data

EarthChem and SESAR: Data Resources and Interoperability for EarthScope Cyberinfrastructure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lehnert, K. A.; Walker, D.; Block, K.; Vinay, S.; Ash, J.

2008-12-01

Data management within the EarthScope Cyberinfrastructure needs to pursue two goals in order to advance and maximize the broad scientific application and impact of the large volumes of observational data acquired by EarthScope facilities: (a) to provide access to all data acquired by EarthScope facilities, and to promote their use by broad audiences, and (b) to facilitate discovery of, access to, and integration of multi-disciplinary data sets that complement EarthScope data in support of EarthScope science. EarthChem and SESAR, the System for Earth Sample Registration, are two projects within the Geoinformatics for Geochemistry program that offer resources for EarthScope CI. EarthChem operates a data portal that currently provides access to >13 million analytical values for >600,000 samples, more than half of which are from North America, including data from the USGS and all data from the NAVDAT database, a web-accessible repository for age, chemical and isotopic data from Mesozoic and younger igneous rocks in western North America. The new EarthChem GEOCHRON database will house data collected in association with GeoEarthScope, storing and serving geochronological data submitted by participating facilities. The EarthChem Deep Lithosphere Dataset is a compilation of petrological data for mantle xenoliths, initiated in collaboration with GeoFrame to complement geophysical endeavors within EarthScope science. The EarthChem Geochemical Resource Library provides a home for geochemical and petrological data products and data sets. Parts of the digital data in EarthScope CI refer to physical samples such as drill cores, igneous rocks, or water and gas samples, collected, for example, by SAFOD or by EarthScope science projects and acquired through lab-based analysis. Management of sample-based data requires the use of global unique identifiers for samples, so that distributed data for individual samples generated in different labs and published in different papers can be

MFE/Magnolia - A joint CNES/NASA mission for the earth magnetic field investigation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Runavot, Josette; Ousley, Gilbert W.

1988-01-01

The joint phase B study in the CNES/NASA MFE/Magnolia mission to study the earth's magnetic field are reported. The scientific objectives are summarized and the respective responsibilities of NASA and CNES are outlined. The MFE/Magnolia structure and power systems, mass and power budgets, attitude control system, instrument platform and boom, tape recorders, rf system, propellant system, and scientific instruments are described.

Board on Earth Sciences and Resources and its activities

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

NONE

1995-06-01

The Board on Earth Sciences and Resources (BESR) coordinates, the National Research Council`s advice to the federal government on solid-earth science issues. The board identifies opportunities for advancing basic research and understanding, reports on applications of earth sciences in such areas as disaster mitigation and resource utilization, and analyzes the scientific underpinnings and credibility of earth science information for resource, environmental and other applications and policy decision. Committees operating under the guidance of the Board conducts studies addressing specific issues within the earth sciences. The current committees are as follows: Committee on Geophysical and Environmental Data; Mapping Sciences Committee; Committeemore » on Seismology; Committee on Geodesy; Rediscovering Geography Committee; Committee on Research Programs of the US Bureau of Mines. The following recent reports are briefly described: research programs of the US Bureau of Mines, first assessment 1994; Mount Rainier, active cascade volcano; the national geomagnetic initiative; reservoir class field demonstration program; solid-earth sciences and society; data foundation for the national spatial infrastructure; promoting the national spatial data infrastructure through partnerships; toward a coordinated spatial data infrastructure for the nation; and charting a course into the digital era; guidance to the NOAA`s nautical charting mission.« less

NASA Earth Observing-1 Keeps Watchful Eye on South American Volcano Copahue

NASA Image and Video Library

2013-06-07

NASA Earth Observing-1 EO-1 spacecraft observed Copahue volcano, a 2965 meter high volcano on the Chile-Argentina border, on Jun. 4, 2013. Having recently displayed signs of unrest, the volcano is under close scrutiny by local volcanologists.

Stewardship of NASA's Earth Science Data and Ensuring Long-Term Active Archives

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ramapriyan, Hampapuram K.; Behnke, Jeanne

2016-01-01

Program, NASA has followed an open data policy, with non-discriminatory access to data with no period of exclusive access. NASA has well-established processes for assigning and or accepting datasets into one of 12 Distributed Active Archive Centers (DAACs) that are parts of EOSDIS. EOSDIS has been evolving through several information technology cycles, adapting to hardware and software changes in the commercial sector. NASA is responsible for maintaining Earth science data as long as users are interested in using them for research and applications, which is well beyond the life of the data gathering missions. For science data to remain useful over long periods of time, steps must be taken to preserve: (1) Data bits with no corruption, (2) Discoverability and access, (3) Readability, (4) Understandability, (5) Usability' and (6). Reproducibility of results. NASAs Earth Science data and Information System (ESDIS) Project, along with the 12 EOSDIS Distributed Active Archive Centers (DAACs), has made significant progress in each of these areas over the last decade, and continues to evolve its active archive capabilities. Particular attention is being paid in recent years to ensure that the datasets are published in an easily accessible and citable manner through a unified metadata model, a common metadata repository (CMR), a coherent view through the earthdata.gov website, and assignment of Digital Object Identifiers (DOI) with well-designed landing product information pages.

Capacity Building for the Access and Application of NASA Earth Science Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Blevins, B.; Prados, A. I.; Hook, E.

2016-12-01

Since 2008, NASA's Applied Remote Sensing Training (ARSET) program has built capacity in applied remote sensing by building awareness, and enabling access and use of NASA Earth science data. To reach decision and policy makers from all sectors, ARSET hosts hands-on workshops and online webinars. With over 70 trainings, reaching more than 6,000 people from 130 countries and 1,600 organizations, ARSET has ample experience with assessing and meeting end-user needs. To meet the spectrum of needs and levels of attendee expertise, ARSET holds trainings for both the novice and experienced end-user. Trainings employ exercises, assignments, and live demonstrations of data access tools to reinforce remote sensing concepts and to facilitate data use and analysis techniques. This program is in a unique position to collect important feedback from thousands of participants each year through formal surveys and informal methods on NASA tools, portals, data formats, and the applications of Earth science data for end-user decision making activities. This information is shared with NASA data centers and program managers to help inform data portal development and to help prioritize the production of new satellite derived data products. This presentation will discuss the challenges that arise in capacity building trainings, the integration of community feedback into the training development cycle, and lessons learned throughout the process.

Human Missions to Near-Earth Asteroids: An Update on NASA's Current Status and Proposed Activities for Small Body Exploration

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Abell, P. A.; Mazanek, D. D.; Barbee, B. W.; Mink, R. G.; Landis, R. R.; Adamo, D. R.; Johnson, L. N.; Yeomans, D. K.; Reeves, D. M.; Larman, K. T.;

Supporting Space Scientists to Engage in Education and Public Outreach Using NASA Resources

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Buxner, Sanlyn; Grier, Jennifer; Schneider, Nick; Manning, James G.; Schultz, Gregory; Low, Rusty; Gross, Nick; Shipp, Stephanie; Smith, Denise Anne; Schwerin, Theresa; Peticolas, Laura

2015-08-01

The NASA Education and Public Outreach (E/PO) Forums support scientists who are involved in E/PO and who wish to be involved. Over the past five years, we have conducted over 30 interviews with planetary scientists, in collaboration with the AAS Division of Planetary Sciences, to better understand their needs, barriers, attitudes, and understanding of education and outreach work. Scientists were asked to describe how they were engaged in E/PO activities, what support they currently had, what resources they were aware of, and what resources they needed to support their engagement of E/PO.Respondents reported that E/PO was important to them, even if they were not actively involved in it themselves. They reported that most of their efforts, other than university teaching, were done on a volunteer basis. Scientists reported barriers to their involvement in E/PO, the most prominent were a lack of time and funding. Some expressed confusion how to get started and a lack of knowledge about resources that could assist them. They reported a need for resources and professional development to support their E/PO work, including information about how to get involved in E/PO and how to work with students in a classroom, training to become a better communicator, strategies to effectively do E/PO, and resources to bring NASA science into their college classrooms.As a result of this work, the NASA SMD Forums have created resources and increased efforts to connect scientists to resources to support their efforts in E/PO including NASA Wavelength (nasawavelength.org) a source of peer reviewed resources for formal and informal educators, resources and tips guides for getting started and partnering in E/PO, and resources to higher education. These resources are available to anyone and can be found on the NASA SMD community site, http://smdepo.org.

Rare Earth Metals: Resourcefulness and Recovery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Shijie

2013-10-01

When we appreciate the digital revolution carried over from the twentieth century with mobile communication and the Internet, and when we enjoy our high-tech lifestyle filled with iDevices, hybrid cars, wind turbines, and solar cells in this new century, we should also appreciate that all of these advanced products depend on rare earth metals to function. Although there are only 136,000 tons of annual worldwide demand, (Cho, Rare Earth Metals, Will We Have Enough?)1 rare earth metals are becoming such hot commodities on international markets, due to not only to their increasing uses, including in most critical military hardware, but also to Chinese growth, which accounts for 95% of global rare earth metal production. Hence, the 2013 technical calendar topic, planned by the TMS/Hydrometallurgy and Electrometallurgy Committee, is particularly relevant, with four articles (including this commentary) contributed to the JOM October Issue discussing rare earth metals' resourcefulness and recovery.

Using NASA Satellite Observations to Map Wildfire Risk in the United States for Allocation of Fire Management Resources

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Farahmand, A.; Reager, J. T., II; Behrangi, A.; Stavros, E. N.; Randerson, J. T.

2017-12-01

Fires are a key disturbance globally acting as a catalyst for terrestrial ecosystem change and contributing significantly to both carbon emissions and changes in surface albedo. The socioeconomic impacts of wildfire activities are also significant with wildfire activity results in billions of dollars of losses every year. Fire size, area burned and frequency are increasing, thus the likelihood of fire danger, defined by United States National Interagency Fire Center (NFIC) as the demand of fire management resources as a function of how flammable fuels (a function of ignitability, consumability and availability) are from normal, is an important step toward reducing costs associated with wildfires. Numerous studies have aimed to predict the likelihood of fire danger, but few studies use remote sensing data to map fire danger at scales commensurate with regional management decisions (e.g., deployment of resources nationally throughout fire season with seasonal and monthly prediction). Here, we use NASA Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment (GRACE) assimilated surface soil moisture, NASA Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) vapor pressure deficit, NASA Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) enhanced vegetation index products and landcover products, along with US Forest Service historical fire activity data to generate probabilistic monthly fire potential maps in the United States. These maps can be useful in not only government operational allocation of fire management resources, but also improving understanding of the Earth System and how it is changing in order to refine predictions of fire extremes.

Near Earth Asteroid Scout: NASA's Solar Sail Mission to a NEA

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Johnson, Les; Lockett, Tiffany

2017-01-01

NASA is developing a solar sail propulsion system for use on the Near Earth Asteroid (NEA) Scout reconnaissance mission and laying the groundwork for their use in future deep space science and exploration missions. Solar sails use sunlight to propel vehicles through space by reflecting solar photons from a large, mirror-like sail made of a lightweight, highly reflective material. This continuous photon pressure provides propellantless thrust, allowing for very high Delta V maneuvers on long-duration, deep space exploration. Since reflected light produces thrust, solar sails require no onboard propellant. The Near Earth Asteroid (NEA) Scout mission, funded by NASA's Advanced Exploration Systems Program and managed by NASA MSFC, will use the sail as primary propulsion allowing it to survey and image Asteroid 1991VG and, potentially, other NEA's of interest for possible future human exploration. NEA Scout uses a 6U cubesat (to be provided by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory), an 86 m(exp. 2) solar sail and will weigh less than 12 kilograms. NEA Scout will be launched on the first flight of the Space Launch System in 2018. The solar sail for NEA Scout will be based on the technology developed and flown by the NASA NanoSail-D and The Planetary Society's Lightsail-A. Four approximately 7 m stainless steel booms wrapped on two spools (two overlapping booms per spool) will be motor deployed and pull the sail from its stowed volume. The sail material is an aluminized polyimide approximately 2.5 microns thick. As the technology matures, solar sails will increasingly be used to enable science and exploration missions that are currently impossible or prohibitively expensive using traditional chemical and electric propulsion systems. This paper will summarize the status of the NEA Scout mission and solar sail technology in general.

Using Analytics to Support Petabyte-Scale Science on the NASA Earth Exchange (NEX)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Votava, P.; Michaelis, A.; Ganguly, S.; Nemani, R. R.

2014-12-01

NASA Earth Exchange (NEX) is a data, supercomputing and knowledge collaboratory that houses NASA satellite, climate and ancillary data where a focused community can come together to address large-scale challenges in Earth sciences. Analytics within NEX occurs at several levels - data, workflows, science and knowledge. At the data level, we are focusing on collecting and analyzing any information that is relevant to efficient acquisition, processing and management of data at the smallest granularity, such as files or collections. This includes processing and analyzing all local and many external metadata that are relevant to data quality, size, provenance, usage and other attributes. This then helps us better understand usage patterns and improve efficiency of data handling within NEX. When large-scale workflows are executed on NEX, we capture information that is relevant to processing and that can be analyzed in order to improve efficiencies in job scheduling, resource optimization, or data partitioning that would improve processing throughput. At this point we also collect data provenance as well as basic statistics of intermediate and final products created during the workflow execution. These statistics and metrics form basic process and data QA that, when combined with analytics algorithms, helps us identify issues early in the production process. We have already seen impact in some petabyte-scale projects, such as global Landsat processing, where we were able to reduce processing times from days to hours and enhance process monitoring and QA. While the focus so far has been mostly on support of NEX operations, we are also building a web-based infrastructure that enables users to perform direct analytics on science data - such as climate predictions or satellite data. Finally, as one of the main goals of NEX is knowledge acquisition and sharing, we began gathering and organizing information that associates users and projects with data, publications, locations

Aviation's role in earth resources surveys

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Syvertson, C. A.; Mulholland, D. R.

1972-01-01

The role of satellites designed to make a wide variety of earth observations is discussed along with the renewed interest in the use of aircraft as platforms for similar and complementary earth resources surveys. Surveys covering the areas of forestry, agriculture, hydrology, oceanography, geology, and geography are included. Aerials surveys equipped for nonphotographic remote sensing and aircraft flights synchronized with satellite observations to provide correlated data are discussed. Photographs are shown to illustrate preliminary results from several of the test sites.

Application of China-Brazil Earth resources satellite in China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qiao, Yuliang; Zhao, Shangmin; Zhen, Liu; Bei, Jia

2009-03-01

The launch and successful operation of Chinese-Brazil Earth resources satellite (CBERS-1) in China has accelerated the application of space technology in China. These applications include agriculture, forestry, water conservation, land resources, city planning, environment protection and natural hazards monitoring and so on. The result of these applications provides a scientific basis for government decision making and has created great economic and social benefits in Chinese national economy construction. In this paper we present examples and provide auxiliary documentation of additional applications of the data from Earth resource monitoring.

Earth Resources: a continuing bibliography with indexes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1980-01-01

This bibliography lists 337 reports, articles, and other documents introduced into the NASA scientific and technical information system between July 31, 1980 and September 30, 1980. Emphasis is placed on the use of remote sensing and geophysical instrumentation in spacecraft and aircraft to survey and inventory natural resources and urban areas. Subject matter is grouped according to agriculture and forestry, environmental changes and cultural resources, geodesy and cartography, geology and mineral resources, hydrology and water management, data processing and distribution systems, instrumentation and sensors, and economic analysis.

Earth Resources: A continuing bibliography, issue 28

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1981-01-01

This bibliography lists 436 reports, articles, and other documents introduced into the NASA scientific and technical information system between October 1, 1980 and December 31, 1980. Emphasis is placed on the use of remote sensing and geophysical instrumentation in spacecraft and aircraft to survey and inventory natural resources and urban areas. Subject matter is grouped according to agriculture and forestry, environmental changes and cultural resources, geodesy and cartography, geology and mineral resources, hydrology and water management, data processing and distribution systems instrumentation and sensors, and economic analysis.

Earth Resources: A continuing bibliography with indexes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1983-01-01

This bibliography lists 623 reports, articles, and other documents introduced into the NASA scientific and technical information system between April 1 and June 30, 1983. Emphasis is placed on the use of remote sensing and geophysical instrumentation in spacecraft and aircraft to survey and inventory natural resources and urban areas. Subject matter is grouped according to agriculture and forestry, environmental changes and cultural resources, geodesy and cartography, geology and mineral resources, hydrology and water management, data processing and distribution systems, instrumentation and sensors, and economic analysis.

Earth resources: A continuing bibliography (issue 26)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1980-01-01

This bibliography lists 480 reports, articles, and other documents introduced into the NASA scientific and technical information system between April 1, 1980 and June 30, 1980. Emphasis is placed on the use of remote sensing and geophysical instrumentation in spacecraft and aircraft to survey and inventory natural resources and urban areas. Subject matter is grouped according to agriculture and forestry, environmental changes and cultural resources, geodesy and cartography, geology and mineral resources, hydrology and water management, data processing and distribution systems, instrumentation and sensors, and economic analysis.

Earth Resources, A Continuing Bibliography with Indexes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1984-01-01

This bibliography lists 460 reports, articles and other documents introduced into the NASA scientific and technical information system between July 1 and September 30, 1984. Emphasis is placed on the use of remote sensing and geophysical instrumentation in spacecraft and aircraft to survey and inventory natural resources and urban areas. Subject matter is grouped according to agriculture and forestry, environmental changes and cultural resources, geodesy and cartography, geology and mineral resources, hydrology and water management, data processing and distribution systems, instrumentation and sensors, and economical analysis.

Earth resources: a continuing bibliography, issue 46

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

1985-07-01

This bibliography lists 467 reports, articles and other documents introdcued into the NASA scientific and technical information system between April 1 and June 30, 1985. Emphasis is placed on the use of remote sensing and geophysical instrumentation in spacecraft and aircraft to survey and inventory natural resources and urban areas. Subject matter is grouped according to agriculture and forestry, environmental cultural resources geodesy and cartography, geology and mineral resources, hydrology and water management, data processing and distribution systems, instrumentation and sensors, and economical analysis.

Earth resources: A continuing bibliography with indexes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1986-01-01

This bibliography lists 326 reports, articles and other documents introduced into the NASA Scientific and Technical Information System between October 1 and December 31, 1985. Emphasis is placed on the use of remote sensing and geophysical instrumentation in spacecraft and aircraft to survey and inventory natural resources and urban areas. Subject matter is grouped according to agriculture and forestry, environmental changes and cultural resources, geodesy and cartography, geology and mineral resources, hydrology and water management, data processing and distribution systems, instrumentation and sensors, and economic analysis.

Earth Resources: A continuing bibliography with indexes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1984-01-01

This bibliography lists 475 reports, articles and other documents introduced into the NASA scientific and technical information system between January 1 and March 31, 1984. Emphasis is placed on the use of remote sensing and geophysical instrumentation in spacecraft and aircraft to survey and inventory natural resources and urban areas. Subject matter is grouped according to agriculture and forestry, environmental changes and cultural resources, geodesy and cartography, geology and mineral resources, hydrology and water management, data processing and distribution systems, instrumentation and sensors, and economical analysis.

Earth resources: A continuing bibliography, issue 46

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1985-01-01

This bibliography lists 467 reports, articles and other documents introdcued into the NASA scientific and technical information system between April 1 and June 30, 1985. Emphasis is placed on the use of remote sensing and geophysical instrumentation in spacecraft and aircraft to survey and inventory natural resources and urban areas. Subject matter is grouped according to agriculture and forestry, environmental cultural resources geodesy and cartography, geology and mineral resources, hydrology and water management, data processing and distribution systems, instrumentation and sensors, and economical analysis.

NASA Earth Observation Systems and Applications for Health: Moving from Research to Operational End Users

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Haynes, J.; Estes, S. M.

2017-12-01

Health providers and researchers need environmental data to study and understand the geographic, environmental, and meteorological differences in disease. Satellite remote sensing of the environment offers a unique vantage point that can fill in the gaps of environmental, spatial, and temporal data for tracking disease. This presentation will demonstrate NASA's applied science programs efforts to transition from research to operations to benefit society. Satellite earth observations present a unique vantage point of the earth's environment from space, which offers a wealth of health applications for the imaginative investigator. The presentation is directly related to Earth Observing systems and Global Health Surveillance and will present research results of the remote sensing environmental observations of earth and health applications, which can contribute to the health research. As part of NASA approach and methodology they have used Earth Observation Systems and Applications for Health Models to provide a method for bridging gaps of environmental, spatial, and temporal data for tracking disease. This presentation will provide a venue where the results of both research and practice using satellite earth observations to study weather and it's role in health research and the transition to operational end users.

Earth Resources Laboratory research and technology

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1983-01-01

The accomplishments of the Earth Resources Laboratory's research and technology program are reported. Sensors and data systems, the AGRISTARS project, applied research and data analysis, joint research projects, test and evaluation studies, and space station support activities are addressed.

Preliminary Results from NASA/GSFC Ka-Band High Rate Demonstration for Near-Earth Communications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wong, Yen; Gioannini, Bryan; Bundick, Steven N.; Miller, David T.

2004-01-01

In early 2000, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) commenced the Ka-Band Transition Project (KaTP) as another step towards satisfying wideband communication requirements of the space research and earth exploration-satellite services. The KaTP team upgraded the ground segment portion of NASA's Space Network (SN) in order to enable high data rate space science and earth science services communications. The SN ground segment is located at the White Sands Complex (WSC) in New Mexico. NASA conducted the SN ground segment upgrades in conjunction with space segment upgrades implemented via the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS)-HIJ project. The three new geostationary data relay satellites developed under the TDRS-HIJ project support the use of the inter-satellite service (ISS) allocation in the 25.25-27.5 GHz band (the 26 GHz band) to receive high speed data from low earth-orbiting customer spacecraft. The TDRS H spacecraft (designated TDRS-8) is currently operational at a 171 degrees west longitude. TDRS I and J spacecraft on-orbit testing has been completed. These spacecraft support 650 MHz-wide Ka-band telemetry links that are referred to as return links. The 650 MHz-wide Ka-band telemetry links have the capability to support data rates up to at least 1.2 Gbps. Therefore, the TDRS-HIJ spacecraft will significantly enhance the existing data rate elements of the NASA Space Network that operate at S-band and Ku-band.

Earth Resources: A continuing bibliography with indexes, issue 2. [remote sensors and data acquisition techniques

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1975-01-01

Reports, articles, and other documents announced between April and June 1974 in Scientific and Technical Aerospace Reports (STAR), and International Aerospace Abstracts (IAA) are cited. Documents related to the identification and evaluation by means of sensors in spacecraft and aircraft of vegetation, minerals, and other natural resources, and the techniques and potentialities of surveying and keeping up-to-date inventories of such riches are included along with studies of such natural phenomena as earthquakes, volcanoes, ocean currents, and magnetic fields; and such cultural phenomena as cities, transportation networks, and irrigation systems. The components and use of remote sensing and geophysical instrumentation, their subsystems, observational procedures, signature and analyses and interpretive techniques for gathering data are, described. All reports generated under NASA's Earth Resources Survey Program for the time period covered are included.

Application of NASA management approach to solve complex problems on earth

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Potate, J. S.

1972-01-01

The application of NASA management approach to solving complex problems on earth is discussed. The management of the Apollo program is presented as an example of effective management techniques. Four key elements of effective management are analyzed. Photographs of the Cape Kennedy launch sites and supporting equipment are included to support the discussions.

Earth Radiation Budget Research at the NASA Langley Research Center

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smith, G. Louis; Harrison, Edwin F.; Gibson, Gary G.

2014-01-01

In the 1970s research studies concentrating on satellite measurements of Earth's radiation budget started at the NASA Langley Research Center. Since that beginning, considerable effort has been devoted to developing measurement techniques, data analysis methods, and time-space sampling strategies to meet the radiation budget science requirements for climate studies. Implementation and success of the Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE) and the Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) was due to the remarkable teamwork of many engineers, scientists, and data analysts. Data from ERBE have provided a new understanding of the effects of clouds, aerosols, and El Nino/La Nina oscillation on the Earth's radiation. CERES spacecraft instruments have extended the time coverage with high quality climate data records for over a decade. Using ERBE and CERES measurements these teams have created information about radiation at the top of the atmosphere, at the surface, and throughout the atmosphere for a better understanding of our climate. They have also generated surface radiation products for designers of solar power plants and buildings and numerous other applications

Exploiting NASA's Cumulus Earth Science Cloud Archive with Services and Computation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pilone, D.; Quinn, P.; Jazayeri, A.; Schuler, I.; Plofchan, P.; Baynes, K.; Ramachandran, R.

2017-12-01

NASA's Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) houses nearly 30PBs of critical Earth Science data and with upcoming missions is expected to balloon to between 200PBs-300PBs over the next seven years. In addition to the massive increase in data collected, researchers and application developers want more and faster access - enabling complex visualizations, long time-series analysis, and cross dataset research without needing to copy and manage massive amounts of data locally. NASA has started prototyping with commercial cloud providers to make this data available in elastic cloud compute environments, allowing application developers direct access to the massive EOSDIS holdings. In this talk we'll explain the principles behind the archive architecture and share our experience of dealing with large amounts of data with serverless architectures including AWS Lambda, the Elastic Container Service (ECS) for long running jobs, and why we dropped thousands of lines of code for AWS Step Functions. We'll discuss best practices and patterns for accessing and using data available in a shared object store (S3) and leveraging events and message passing for sophisticated and highly scalable processing and analysis workflows. Finally we'll share capabilities NASA and cloud services are making available on the archives to enable massively scalable analysis and computation in a variety of formats and tools.

Advanced Concepts, Technologies and Flight Experiments for NASA's Earth Science Enterprise

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Meredith, Barry D.

2000-01-01

Over the last 25 years, NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) has established a tradition of excellence in scientific research and leading-edge system developments, which have contributed to improved scientific understanding of our Earth system. Specifically, LaRC advances knowledge of atmospheric processes to enable proactive climate prediction and, in that role, develops first-of-a-kind atmospheric sensing capabilities that permit a variety of new measurements to be made within a constrained enterprise budget. These advances are enabled by the timely development and infusion of new, state-of-the-art (SOA), active and passive instrument and sensor technologies. In addition, LaRC's center-of-excellence in structures and materials is being applied to the technological challenges of reducing measurement system size, mass, and cost through the development and use of space-durable materials; lightweight, multi-functional structures; and large deployable/inflatable structures. NASA Langley is engaged in advancing these technologies across the full range of readiness levels from concept, to components, to prototypes, to flight experiments, and on to actual science mission infusion. The purpose of this paper is to describe current activities and capabilities, recent achievements, and future plans of the integrated science, engineering, and technology team at Langley Research Center who are working to enable the future of NASA's Earth Science Enterprise.

Knowledge Acquisition and Management for the NASA Earth Exchange (NEX)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Votava, P.; Michaelis, A.; Nemani, R. R.

2013-12-01

NASA Earth Exchange (NEX) is a data, computing and knowledge collaboratory that houses NASA satellite, climate and ancillary data where a focused community can come together to share modeling and analysis codes, scientific results, knowledge and expertise on a centralized platform with access to large supercomputing resources. As more and more projects are being executed on NEX, we are increasingly focusing on capturing the knowledge of the NEX users and provide mechanisms for sharing it with the community in order to facilitate reuse and accelerate research. There are many possible knowledge contributions to NEX, it can be a wiki entry on the NEX portal contributed by a developer, information extracted from a publication in an automated way, or a workflow captured during code execution on the supercomputing platform. The goal of the NEX knowledge platform is to capture and organize this information and make it easily accessible to the NEX community and beyond. The knowledge acquisition process consists of three main faucets - data and metadata, workflows and processes, and web-based information. Once the knowledge is acquired, it is processed in a number of ways ranging from custom metadata parsers to entity extraction using natural language processing techniques. The processed information is linked with existing taxonomies and aligned with internal ontology (which heavily reuses number of external ontologies). This forms a knowledge graph that can then be used to improve users' search query results as well as provide additional analytics capabilities to the NEX system. Such a knowledge graph will be an important building block in creating a dynamic knowledge base for the NEX community where knowledge is both generated and easily shared.

Applications of NASA Earth Observation Imagery in Google Earth Engine to Estimate Glacier Trends and Water Availability in Chile's Aconcagua Watershed

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Webb, M. J.; Babis, B.; Deland, S.; McGurk, G.

2017-12-01

The Aconcagua basin of Central Chile, just north of the capital city of Santiago, is characterized by the glaciated Andes to the east, which supply meltwater runoff to the lower fertile river valleys. Known for the production of fruit and vegetable crops, the region is experiencing stressed hydrologic resources as a result of anomalous climate conditions and anthropogenic water consumption. Traditionally, the wet and cool winter months account for 80 percent of Aconcagua's total annual precipitation, while dry and warm conditions prevail during the summer months. Consequently, the basin depends on seasonal glacial accumulation to provide water storage for the dry season when up to 67 percent of water is derived from glacial runoff. Overall, 70 percent of regional water is consumed by agricultural practices, specifically the fruit and vegetable farming that thrives in Aconcagua's Mediterranean-type climate. Globally, weather intensification and the rising zero-degree isotherm are poised to threaten the stability and longevity of glacial water resources. In recent years, Chile has experienced periods of prolonged drought as well as glacier shrinkage. The Aconcagua basin is especially vulnerable to these changes as a consequence of its agricultural economies and reliance on sub-tropical glaciers for water resources. Aconcagua is among the top three regions contributing to Chile's gross domestic product (GDP). Furthermore, in 2011 the Chilean government announced plans to increase the national land under irrigation by 57 percent by 2022. In partnership with the Chilean Ministry of Agriculture, the objective of this research was to integrate NASA Earth observations in conjunction with in situ river discharge measurements into Google Earth Engine to enhance regional understanding of current and future climate conditions in Chile. The remotely-sensed datasets included Landsat TM/OLI derived glacial extent, Terra MODIS snow cover and surface temperature, and Aqua AMSR

NASA's Kepler Mission Discovers First Earth-size Planet in Habitable Zone of Another Star (Reporter Package)

NASA Image and Video Library

2014-04-17

NASA's Kepler mission has discovered the first Earth-size planet orbiting in the habitable zone of a star outside our solar system. The newly discovered planet is called Kepler-186f and is about 10 percent larger than Earth.

Earth and Space Science

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Meeson, Blanche W.

1999-01-01

Workshop for middle and high school teachers to enhance their knowledge of the Earth as a system. NASA data and materials developed by teachers (all available via the Internet) will be used to engage participants in hands-on, investigative approaches to the Earth system. All materials are ready to be applied in pre-college classrooms. Remotely-sensed data will be used in combination with familiar resources, such as maps, to examine global climate change.

Earth Day 2018 Activities

NASA Image and Video Library

2018-04-18

Organizers and volunteers for Kennedy Space Center’s Earth Day celebration gather for a photo at the NASA Exchange raffle booth. From left to right are Jeanne Ryba, Environmental Sustainability program specialist; Robert Smith, Earth Day volunteer; and Natasha Darre, Cultural Resources Specialist. The two-day event featured approximately 50 exhibitors offering information on a variety of topics, including electric vehicles, sustainable lighting, renewable energy, Florida-friendly landscaping tips, Florida’s biking trails and more.

Plans for living on a restless planet sets NASA's solid Earth agenda

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Solomon, S. C.; Baker, V. R.; Bloxham, J.; Booth, J.; Donnellan, A.; Elachi, C.; Evans, D.; Rignot, E.; Burbank, D.; Chao, B. F.;

Deploying the ODISEES Ontology-guided Search in the NASA Earth Exchange (NEX)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huffer, E.; Gleason, J. L.; Cotnoir, M.; Spaulding, R.; Deardorff, G.

2016-12-01

Robust, semantically rich metadata can support data discovery and access, and facilitate machine-to-machine transactions with services such as data subsetting, regridding, and reformatting. Despite this, for users not already familiar with the data in a given archive, most metadata is insufficient to help them find appropriate data for their projects. With this in mind, the Ontology-driven Interactive Search Environment (ODISEES) Data Discovery Portal was developed to enable users to find and download data variables that satisfy precise, parameter-level criteria, even when they know little or nothing about the naming conventions employed by data providers, or where suitable data might be archived. ODISEES relies on an Earth science ontology and metadata repository that provide an ontological framework for describing NASA data holdings with enough detail and fidelity to enable researchers to find, compare and evaluate individual data variables. Users can search for data by indicating the specific parameters desired, and comparing the results in a table that lets them quickly determine which data is most suitable. ODISEES and OLYMPUS, a tool for generating the semantically enhanced metadata used by ODISEES, are being developed in collaboration with the NASA Earth Exchange (NEX) project at the NASA Ames Research Center to prototype a robust data discovery and access service that could be made available to NEX users. NEX is a collaborative platform that provides researchers with access to TB to PB-scale datasets and analysis tools to operate on those data. By integrating ODISEES into the NEX Web Portal we hope to enable NEX users to locate datasets relevant to their research and download them directly into the NAS environment, where they can run applications using those datasets on the NAS supercomputers. This poster will describe the prototype integration of ODISEES into the NEX portal development environment, the mechanism implemented to use NASA APIs to retrieve

Multispectral photography for earth resources

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wenderoth, S.; Yost, E.; Kalia, R.; Anderson, R.

1972-01-01

A guide for producing accurate multispectral results for earth resource applications is presented along with theoretical and analytical concepts of color and multispectral photography. Topics discussed include: capabilities and limitations of color and color infrared films; image color measurements; methods of relating ground phenomena to film density and color measurement; sensitometry; considerations in the selection of multispectral cameras and components; and mission planning.

The MY NASA DATA Project: Tools and a Collaboration Space for Knowledge Discovery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chambers, L. H.; Alston, E. J.; Diones, D. D.; Moore, S. W.; Oots, P. C.; Phelps, C. S.

2006-05-01

The Atmospheric Science Data Center (ASDC) at NASA Langley Research Center is charged with serving a wide user community that is interested in its large data holdings in the areas of Aerosols, Clouds, Radiation Budget, and Tropospheric Chemistry. Most of the data holdings, however, are in large files with specialized data formats. The MY NASA DATA (mynasadata.larc.nasa.gov) project began in 2004, as part of the NASA Research, Education, and Applications Solutions Network (REASoN), in order to open this important resource to a broader community including K-12 education and citizen scientists. MY NASA DATA (short for Mentoring and inquirY using NASA Data on Atmospheric and earth science for Teachers and Amateurs) consists of a web space that collects tools, lesson plans, and specially developed documentation to help the target audience more easily use the vast collection of NASA data about the Earth System. The core piece of the MY NASA DATA project is the creation of microsets (both static and custom) that make data easily accessible. The installation of a Live Access Server (LAS) greatly enhanced the ability for teachers, students, and citizen scientists to create and explore custom microsets of Earth System Science data. The LAS, which is an open source software tool using emerging data standards, also allows the MY NASA DATA team to make available data on other aspects of the Earth System from collaborating data centers. We are currently working with the Physical Oceanography DAAC at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory to bring in several parameters describing the ocean. In addition, MY NASA DATA serves as a central space for the K-12 community to share resources. The site already includes a dozen User-contributed lesson plans. This year we will be focusing on the Citizen Science portion of the site, and will be welcoming user-contributed project ideas, as well as reports of completed projects. An e-mentor network has also been created to involve a wider community in

NASA Team Looks to Ancient Earth First to Study Hazy Exoplanets

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-12-08

“We like to say that Archean Earth is the most alien planet we have geochemical data for,” For astronomers trying to understand which distant planets might have habitable conditions, the role of atmospheric haze has been hazy. To help sort it out, a team of researchers has been looking to Earth – specifically Earth during the Archean era, an epic 1-1/2-billion-year period early in our planet’s history. Read more: go.nasa.gov/2kTBhPU Caption: When haze built up in the atmosphere of Archean Earth, the young planet might have looked like this artist's interpretation - a pale orange dot. A team led by Goddard scientists thinks the haze was self-limiting, cooling the surface by about 36 degrees Fahrenheit (20 Kelvins) – not enough to cause runaway glaciation. The team’s modeling suggests that atmospheric haze might be helpful for identifying earthlike exoplanets that could be habitable. Credits: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Francis Reddy

A Rapid Prototyping Look at NASA's Next Generation Earth-Observing Satellites; Opportunities for Global Change Research and Applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cecil, L.; Young, D. F.; Parker, P. A.; Eckman, R. S.

2006-12-01

The NASA Applied Sciences Program extends the results of Earth Science Division (ESD) research and knowledge beyond the scientific and research communities to contribute to national priority applications with societal benefits. The Applied Sciences Program focuses on, (1) assimilation of NASA Earth-science research results and their associated uncertainties to improve decision support systems and, (2) the transition of NASA research results to evolve improvements in future operational systems. The broad range of Earth- science research results that serve as inputs to the Applied Sciences Program are from NASA's Research and Analysis Program (R&A) within the ESD. The R&A Program has established six research focus areas to study the complex processes associated with Earth-system science; Atmospheric Composition, Carbon Cycle and Ecosystems, Climate Variability and Change, Earth Surface and Interior, Water and Energy Cycle, and Weather. Through observations-based Earth-science research results, NASA and its partners are establishing predictive capabilities for future projections of natural and human perturbations on the planet. The focus of this presentation is on the use of research results and their associated uncertainties from several of NASA's nine next generation missions for societal benefit. The newly launched missions are, (1) CloudSat, and (2) CALIPSO (Cloud Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations), both launched April 28, 2006, and the planned next generation missions include, (3) the Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO), (4) the Global Precipitation Mission (GPM), (5) the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM), (6) Glory, for measuring the spatial and temporal distribution of aerosols and total solar irradiance for long-term climate records, (7) Aquarius, for measuring global sea surface salinity, (8) the Ocean Surface Topography Mission (OSTM), and (9) the NPOESS Preparatory Project (NPP) for measuring long-term climate trends and global

A review of NASA international programs

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1979-01-01

A synoptic overview of NASA's international activities to January 1979 is presented. The cooperating countries and international organizations are identified. Topics covered include (1) cooperative arrangements for ground-based, spaceborne, airborne, rocket-borne, and balloon-borne ventures, joint development, and aeronautical R & D; (2) reimbursable launchings; (3) tracking and data acquisition; and (4) personnel exchanges. International participation in NASA's Earth resources investigations is summarized in the appendix. A list of automatic picture transmission stations is included.

Peru Water Resources: Integrating NASA Earth Observations into Water Resource Planning and Management in Perus La Libertad Region

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Padgett-Vasquez, Steve; Steentofte, Catherine; Holbrook, Abigail

2014-01-01

Developing countries often struggle with providing water security and sanitation services to their populations. An important aspect of improving security and sanitation is developing a comprehensive understanding of the country's water budget. Water For People, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing clean drinking water, is working with the Peruvian government to develop a water budget for the La Libertad region of Peru which includes the creation of an extensive watershed management plan. Currently, the data archive of the necessary variables to create the water management plan is extremely limited. Implementing NASA Earth observations has bolstered the dataset being used by Water For People, and the METRIC (Mapping EvapoTranspiration at High Resolution and Internalized Calibration) model has allowed for the estimation of the evapotranspiration values for the region. Landsat 8 imagery and the DEM (Digital Elevation Model) from the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) sensor onboard Terra were used to derive the land cover information, and were used in conjunction with local weather data of Cascas from Peru's National Meteorological and Hydrological Service (SENAMHI). Python was used to combine input variables and METRIC model calculations to approximate the evapotranspiration values for the Ochape sub-basin of the Chicama River watershed. Once calculated, the evapotranspiration values and methodology were shared Water For People to help supplement their decision support tools in the La Libertad region of Peru and potentially apply the methodology in other areas of need.

Ka-Band Site Characterization of the NASA Near Earth Network in Svalbard, Norway

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Acosta, R.; Morse, J.; Nessel, J.; Zemba, M.; Tuttle, K.; Caroglanian, A.; Younes, B.; Pedersen, Sten-Chirstian

2011-01-01

Critical to NASA s rapid migration toward Ka-Band is the comprehensive characterization of the communication channels at NASA's ground sites to determine the effects of the atmosphere on signal propagation and the network's ability to support various classes of users in different orbits. Accordingly, NASA has initiated a number of studies involving the ground sites of its Near Earth and Deep Space Networks. Recently, NASA concluded a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the Norwegian Space Centre of the Kingdom of Norway and began a joint site characterization study to determine the atmospheric effects on Ka-Band links at the Svalbard Satellite Station in Norway, which remains a critical component of NASA s Near Earth Communication Network (NEN). System planning and design for Ka-band links at the Svalbard site cannot be optimally achieved unless measured attenuation statistics (e.g. cumulative distribution functions (CDF)) are obtained. In general, the CDF will determine the necessary system margin and overall system availability due to the atmospheric effects. To statistically characterize the attenuation statistics at the Svalbard site, NASA has constructed a ground-based monitoring station consisting of a multi-channel total power radiometer (25.5 - 26.5 GHz) and a weather monitoring station to continuously measure (at 1 second intervals) attenuation and excess noise (brightness temperature). These instruments have been tested in a laboratory environment as well as in an analogous outdoor climate (i.e. winter in Northeast Ohio), and the station was deployed in Svalbard, Norway in May 2011. The measurement campaign is planned to last a minimum of 3 years but not exceeding a maximum of 5 years.

An Integrative Approach to Improving an Introductory Weather & Climate Course and Developing an Allied NASA Earth & Space Science Certificate Program for Pre-service Secondary Teachers (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Morrow, C. A.; Martin-Hansen, L.; Diem, J.; Elliott, W.

2009-12-01

An Atlanta-based partnership made up of leaders in science, education, and Georgia’s state-wide STEM Education Initiative are creating an enduring legacy of climate science education for pre-service and in-service teachers in Georgia as well as for underrepresented high school students who participate in an "Early College" program with Georgia State University (GSU). The core elements of our NASA-funded program are to infuse NASA global climate change resources and best pedagogical practice into a popular 4-credit lecture/lab course called “Introduction to Weather & Climate” (GEOG 1112) at GSU, and to establish a sustainable academic program for pre-service teachers in the College of Education called the NASA Earth & Space Science (ESS) Teacher Certificate. The NASA ESS Certificate will require candidates to accomplish the following as part of (or in addition to) standard degree and licensure requirements: 1. successfully complete a graduate section of “Introduction to Weather and Climate” (GEOG 7112), which requires lesson planning related to course content and engagement with GSU's new CO2 monitoring station whose research-quality data will provide unique hands-on opportunities for Metro Atlanta students and teachers; 2) complete an additional advanced course in climate change (GEOG 6784) plus elective hours in physical science disciplines (e.g. astronomy and physics); 3) serve as a lab teaching assistant for GEOG 1112 and a coach for a cadre of Carver Early College students who are taking the course; 4) make at least one of two teaching practica at a Georgia-based NASA Explorer School; and 5) participate or co-present in a week-long, residential, field-based, Summer Institute in Earth & Space Science intended to increase the interest, knowledge, and ability of in-service secondary science educators to fulfill climate-related standards in Earth Science and Earth Systems Science. We will evaluate, document, and disseminate (to the University System of

Building Professional and Technical Skills in the Use of Earth Observations through the NASA DEVELOP National Program: Best Practices & Lessons Learned

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Crepps, G.; Ross, K. W.; Childs-Gleason, L. M.; Allsbrook, K. N.; Rogers, L.; Ruiz, M. L.; Clayton, A.

2017-12-01

The NASA DEVELOP National Program offers 10-week research opportunities to participants to work on rapid feasibility projects utilizing NASA Earth observations in a variety of applications, including ecological forecasting, water resources, disasters, and health and air quality. DEVELOP offers a unique collaborative environment in which students, recent graduates, and transitioning career professionals are placed on interdisciplinary teams to conduct projects. DEVELOP offers a variety of opportunities and resources to build participants technical skills in remote sensing and GIS, as well as interpersonal and leadership skills. As a capacity building program, DEVELOP assesses participants' growth by using entrance and exit personal growth assessments, as well as gathering general program feedback through an exit survey. All of this information is fed back into the program for continual improvement. DEVELOP also offers a progression of opportunities through which participants can advance through the program, allowing participants to build a diverse set of technical and leadership skills. This presentation will explore best practices including the use of pre- and post-growth assessments, offering advanced leadership opportunities, and overall capacity building impacts on participants.

Resources Available for Earth Science Education. Final Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Clausen, Eric

A study of schools was conducted to determine needs of earth science programs, and what, if any, services could effectively be provided by an earth science resource center. Contacts were made with approximately one-half the schools in the Minot State College service region. Discussions were held with administrators and teachers, and facilities at…

NASA's Global Change Master Directory: Discover and Access Earth Science Data Sets, Related Data Services, and Climate Diagnostics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aleman, A.; Olsen, L. M.; Ritz, S.; Stevens, T.; Morahan, M.; Grebas, S. K.

2011-12-01

NASA's Global Change Master Directory provides the scientific community with the ability to discover, access, and use Earth science data, data-related services, and climate diagnostics worldwide.The GCMD offers descriptions of Earth science data sets using the Directory Interchange Format (DIF) metadata standard; Earth science related data services are described using the Service Entry Resource Format (SERF); and climate visualizations are described using the Climate Diagnostic (CD) standard. The DIF, SERF and CD standards each capture data attributes used to determine whether a data set, service, or climate visualization is relevant to a user's needs.Metadata fields include: title, summary, science keywords, service keywords, data center, data set citation, personnel, instrument, platform, quality, related URL, temporal and spatial coverage, data resolution and distribution information.In addition, nine valuable sets of controlled vocabularies have been developed to assist users in normalizing the search for data descriptions. An update to the GCMD's search functionality is planned to further capitalize on the controlled vocabularies during database queries.By implementing a dynamic keyword "tree", users will have the ability to search for data sets by combining keywords in new ways.This will allow users to conduct more relevant and efficient database searches to support the free exchange and re-use of Earth science data.

NASA's Earth Observing System (EOS): Observing the Atmosphere, Land, Oceans, and Ice from Space

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

King, Michael D.

2004-01-01

The Earth Observing System (EOS) is a space-based observing system comprised of a series of satellite sensors by which scientists can monitor the Earth, a Data and Information System (EOSDIS) enabling researchers worldwide to access the satellite data, and an interdisciplinary science research program to interpret the satellite data. During this year, the last of the first series of EOS missions, Aura, was launched. Aura is designed exclusively to conduct research on the composition, chemistry, and dynamics of the Earth's upper and lower atmosphere, employing multiple instruments on a single spacecraft. Aura is the third in a series of major Earth observing satellites to study the environment and climate change and is part of NASA's Earth Science Enterprise. The first and second missions, Terra and Aqua, are designed to study the land, oceans, atmospheric constituents (aerosols, clouds, temperature, and water vapor), and the Earth's radiation budget. The other seven EOS spacecraft include satellites to study (i) land cover & land use change, (ii) solar irradiance and solar spectral variation, (iii) ice volume, (iv) ocean processes (vector wind and sea surface topography), and (v) vertical variations of clouds, water vapor, and aerosols up to and including the stratosphere. Aura's chemistry measurements will also follow up on measurements that began with NASA's Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite and continue the record of satellite ozone data collected from the TOMS missions. In this presentation I will describe how scientists are using EOS data to examine the health of the earth's atmosphere, including atmospheric chemistry, aerosol properties, and cloud properties, with a special but not exclusive look at the latest earth observing mission, Aura.

NASA's Earth Observing System (EOS): Observing the Atmosphere, Land, Oceans, and Ice from Space

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

King, Michael D.

2005-01-01

The Earth Observing System (EOS) is a space-based observing system comprised of a series of satellite sensors by whch scientists can monitor the Earth, a Data and Information System (EOSDIS) enabling researchers worldwide to access the satellite data, and an interdisciplinary science research program to interpret the satellite data. During this year, the last of the first series of EOS missions, Aura, was launched. Aura is designed exclusively to conduct research on the composition, chemistry, and dynamics of the Earth's upper and lower atmosphere, employing multiple instruments on a single spacecraft. Aura is the third in a series of major Earth observing satellites to study the environment and climate change and is part of NASA's Earth Science Enterprise. The first and second missions, Terra and Aqua, are designed to study the land, oceans, atmospheric constituents (aerosols, clouds, temperature, and water vapor), and the Earth's radiation budget. The other seven EOS spacecraft include satellites to study (i) land cover & land use change, (ii) solar irradiance and solar spectral variation, (iii) ice volume, (iv) ocean processes (vector wind and sea surface topography), and (v) vertical variations of clouds, water vapor, and aerosols up to and including the stratosphere. Aura's chemistry measurements will also follow up on measurements that began with NASA's Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite and continue the record of satellite ozone data collected from the TOMS missions. In this presentation I will describe how scientists are using EOS data to examine the health of the earth's atmosphere, including atmospheric chemistry, aerosol properties, and cloud properties, with a special look at the latest earth observing mission, Aura.

NASA Global Hawk: A Unique Capability for the Pursuit of Earth Science

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Naftel, J. Chris

2007-01-01

For more than 2 years, the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center has been preparing for the receipt of two Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration Global Hawk air vehicles from the United States Air Force. NASA Dryden intends to establish a Global Hawk Project Office, which will be responsible for developing the infrastructure required to operate this unmanned aerial system and establishing a trained maintenance and operations team. The first flight of a NASA Global Hawk air vehicle is expected to occur in 2008. The NASA Global Hawk system can be used by a variety of customers, including U.S. Government agencies, civilian organizations, universities, and state governments. Initially, the main focus of the research activities is expected to be Earth science related. A combination of the vehicle s range, endurance, altitude, payload power, payload volume, and payload weight capabilities separates the Global Hawk unmanned aerial system from all other platforms available to the science community. This report describes the NASA Global Hawk system and current plans for the NASA air vehicle concept of operations, and provides examples of potential missions with an emphasis on science missions.

NASA's Earth Science Gateway: A Platform for Interoperable Services in Support of the GEOSS Architecture

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alameh, N.; Bambacus, M.; Cole, M.

2006-12-01

Nasa's Earth Science as well as interdisciplinary research and applications activities require access to earth observations, analytical models and specialized tools and services, from diverse distributed sources. Interoperability and open standards for geospatial data access and processing greatly facilitate such access among the information and processing compo¬nents related to space¬craft, airborne, and in situ sensors; predictive models; and decision support tools. To support this mission, NASA's Geosciences Interoperability Office (GIO) has been developing the Earth Science Gateway (ESG; online at http://esg.gsfc.nasa.gov) by adapting and deploying a standards-based commercial product. Thanks to extensive use of open standards, ESG can tap into a wide array of online data services, serve a variety of audiences and purposes, and adapt to technology and business changes. Most importantly, the use of open standards allow ESG to function as a platform within a larger context of distributed geoscience processing, such as the Global Earth Observing System of Systems (GEOSS). ESG shares the goals of GEOSS to ensure that observations and products shared by users will be accessible, comparable, and understandable by relying on common standards and adaptation to user needs. By maximizing interoperability, modularity, extensibility and scalability, ESG's architecture fully supports the stated goals of GEOSS. As such, ESG's role extends beyond that of a gateway to NASA science data to become a shared platform that can be leveraged by GEOSS via: A modular and extensible architecture Consensus and community-based standards (e.g. ISO and OGC standards) A variety of clients and visualization techniques, including WorldWind and Google Earth A variety of services (including catalogs) with standard interfaces Data integration and interoperability Mechanisms for user involvement and collaboration Mechanisms for supporting interdisciplinary and domain-specific applications ESG

The Spaceguard Survey: Report of the NASA International Near-Earth-Object Detection Workshop

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Morrison, David (Editor)

1992-01-01

Impacts by Earth-approaching asteroids and comets pose a significant hazard to life and property. Although the annual probability of the Earth being struck by a large asteroid or comet is extremely small, the consequences of such a collision are so catastrophic that it is prudent to assess the nature of the threat and to prepare to deal with it. The first step in any program for the prevention or mitigation of impact catastrophes must involve a comprehensive search for Earth-crossing asteroids and comets and a detailed analysis of their orbits. At the request of the U.S. Congress, NASA has carried out a preliminary study to define a program for dramatically increasing the detection rate of Earth-crossing objects, as documented in this workshop report.

Improvements and Additions to NASA Near Real-Time Earth Imagery

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cechini, Matthew; Boller, Ryan; Baynes, Kathleen; Schmaltz, Jeffrey; DeLuca, Alexandar; King, Jerome; Thompson, Charles; Roberts, Joe; Rodriguez, Joshua; Gunnoe, Taylor;

NASA Applied Sciences' DEVELOP National Program: Training the Next Generation of Remote Sensing Scientists

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Childs, Lauren; Brozen, Madeline; Hillyer, Nelson

2010-01-01

Since its inception over a decade ago, the DEVELOP National Program has provided students with experience in utilizing and integrating satellite remote sensing data into real world-applications. In 1998, DEVELOP began with three students and has evolved into a nationwide internship program with over 200 students participating each year. DEVELOP is a NASA Applied Sciences training and development program extending NASA Earth science research and technology to society. Part of the NASA Science Mission Directorate s Earth Science Division, the Applied Sciences Program focuses on bridging the gap between NASA technology and the public by conducting projects that innovatively use NASA Earth science resources to research environmental issues. Project outcomes focus on assisting communities to better understand environmental change over time. This is accomplished through research with global, national, and regional partners to identify the widest array of practical uses of NASA data. DEVELOP students conduct research in areas that examine how NASA science can better serve society. Projects focus on practical applications of NASA s Earth science research results. Each project is designed to address at least one of the Applied Sciences focus areas, use NASA s Earth observation sources and meet partners needs. DEVELOP research teams partner with end-users and organizations who use project results for policy analysis and decision support, thereby extending the benefits of NASA science and technology to the public.

ERISTAR: Earth Resources Information Storage, Transformation, Analysis, and Retrieval administrative report

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vachon, R. I.; Obrien, J. F., Jr.; Lueg, R. E.; Cox, J. E.

1972-01-01

The 1972 Systems Engineering program at Marshall Space Flight Center where 15 participants representing 15 U.S. universities, 1 NASA/MSFC employee, and another specially assigned faculty member, participated in an 11-week program is discussed. The Fellows became acquainted with the philosophy of systems engineering, and as a training exercise, used this approach to produce a conceptional design for an Earth Resources Information Storage, Transformation, Analysis, and Retrieval System. The program was conducted in three phases; approximately 3 weeks were devoted to seminars, tours, and other presentations to subject the participants to technical and other aspects of the information management problem. The second phase, 5 weeks in length, consisted of evaluating alternative solutions to problems, effecting initial trade-offs and performing preliminary design studies and analyses. The last 3 weeks were occupied with final trade-off sessions, final design analyses and preparation of a final report and oral presentation.

Innovative Approaches to Remote Sensing in NASA's Earth System Science Pathfinder (ESSP) Program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Peri, Frank; Volz, Stephen

2013-01-01

NASA's Earth Venture class (EV) of mission are competitively selected, Principal Investigator (PI) led, relatively low cost and narrowly focused in scientific scope. Investigations address a full spectrum of earth science objectives, including studies of the atmosphere, oceans, land surface, polar ice regions, and solid Earth. EV has three program elements: EV-Suborbital (EVS) are suborbital/airborne investigations; EV-Mission (EVM) element comprises small complete spaceborne missions; and EV-Instrument (EVI) element develops spaceborne instruments for flight as missions-of-opportunity (MoO). To ensure the success of EV, the management approach of each element is tailored according to the specific needs of the element.

The NASA Airborne Earth Science Microwave Imaging Radiometer (AESMIR): A New Sensor for Earth Remote Sensing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kim, Edward

2003-01-01

The Airborne Earth Science Microwave Imaging Radiometer (AESMIR) is a versatile new airborne imaging radiometer recently developed by NASA. The AESMIR design is unique in that it performs dual-polarized imaging at all standard passive microwave frequency bands (6-89 GHz) using only one sensor headscanner package, providing an efficient solution for Earth remote sensing applications (snow, soil moisture/land parameters, precipitation, ocean winds, sea surface temperature, water vapor, sea ice, etc.). The microwave radiometers themselves will incorporate state-of-the-art receivers, with particular attention given to instrument calibration for the best possible accuracy and sensitivity. The single-package design of AESMIR makes it compatible with high-altitude aircraft platforms such as the NASA ER-2s. The arbitrary 2-axis gimbal can perform conical and cross-track scanning, as well as fixed-beam staring. This compatibility with high-altitude platforms coupled with the flexible scanning configuration, opens up previously unavailable science opportunities for convection/precip/cloud science and co-flying with complementary instruments, as well as providing wider swath coverage for all science applications. By designing AESMIR to be compatible with these high-altitude platforms, we are also compatible with the NASA P-3, the NASA DC-8, C-130s and ground-based deployments. Thus AESMIR can provide low-, mid-, and high- altitude microwave imaging. Parallel filter banks allow AESMIR to simultaneously simulate the exact passbands of multiple satellite radiometers: SSM/I, TMI, AMSR, Windsat, SSMI/S, and the upcoming GPM/GMI and NPOESS/CMIS instruments --a unique capability among aircraft radiometers. An L-band option is also under development, again using the same scanner. With this option, simultaneous imaging from 1.4 to 89 GHz will be feasible. And, all receivers except the sounding channels will be configured for 4-Stokes polarimetric operation using high-speed digital

Missions to Near-Earth Asteroids: Implications for Exploration, Science, Resource Utilization, and Planetary Defense

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abell, P. A.; Sanders, G. B.; Mazanek, D. D.; Barbee, B. W.; Mink, R. G.; Landis, R. R.; Adamo, D. R.; Johnson, L. N.; Yeomans, D. K.; Reeves, D. M.; Drake, B. G.; Friedensen, V. P.

2012-12-01

Introduction: In 2009 the Augustine Commission identified near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) as high profile destinations for human exploration missions beyond the Earth-Moon system as part of the Flexible Path. More recently the U.S. presidential administration directed NASA to include NEAs as destinations for future human exploration with the goal of sending astronauts to a NEA in the mid to late 2020s. This directive became part of the official National Space Policy of the United States of America as of June 28, 2010. NEA Space-Based Survey and Robotic Precursor Missions: The most suitable targets for human missions are NEAs in Earth-like orbits with long synodic periods. However, these mission candidates are often not observable from Earth until the timeframe of their most favorable human mission opportunities, which does not provide an appropriate amount of time for mission development. A space-based survey telescope could more efficiently find these targets in a timely, affordable manner. Such a system is not only able to discover new objects, but also track and characterize objects of interest for human space flight consideration. Those objects with characteristic signatures representative of volatile-rich or metallic materials will be considered as top candidates for further investigation due to their potential for resource utilization and scientific discovery. Once suitable candidates have been identified, precursor spacecraft are required to perform basic reconnaissance of a few NEAs under consideration for the human-led mission. Robotic spacecraft will assess targets for potential hazards that may pose a risk to the deep space transportation vehicle, its deployable assets, and the crew. Additionally, the information obtained about the NEA's basic physical characteristics will be crucial for planning operational activities, designing in-depth scientific/engineering investigations, and identifying sites on the NEA for sample collection. Human Exploration

Missions to Near-Earth Asteroids: Implications for Exploration, Science, Resource Utilization, and Planetary Defense

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Abell, P. A.; Sanders, G. B.; Mazanek, D. D.; Barbee, B. W.; Mink, R. G.; Landis, R. R.; Adamo, D. R.; Johnson, L. N.; Yeomans, D. K.; Reeves, D. M.;

Teach the Earth: On-line Resources for Teachers and Teachers of Teachers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Manduca, C. A.

2007-12-01

Effective Earth science education depends on excellent teachers: teachers who not only possess a strong grasp of geoscience but are also well-versed in the pedagogic methods they need to connect with their audience. Preparing Earth science teachers is a task no less challenging that also requires strengths in both areas. The Teach the Earth website provides a variety of resources to support preparation of Earth science teachers. Here you can find collections of teaching activities addressing all aspects of the Earth system; discussions of teaching methods linked to examples of their use in geoscience courses; and the Earth Exploration Toolbook, a resource specifically designed for teachers who would like to incorporate data rich activities in their teaching. These resources are suitable for use by teachers, students in courses addressing the methodology of teaching Earth science and science, and faculty designing courses. Faculty working with current and future teachers will find a section on Preparing Teachers to Teach Earth Science with a collection of courses designed specifically to benefit future Earth Science teachers, examples of key activities in these courses, and descriptions of programs for pre-service and in-service teachers. The materials housed in this web-resource demonstrate a wide range of fruitful approaches and exciting opportunities. On the order of 25,000 individuals use the site repeatedly during the year. We estimate that 27 percent of these users are geoscience faculty and 12 percent are teachers. We invite teachers, faculty, researchers, and educators to enhance this resource by contributing descriptions of activities, courses, or programs as a mechanism for sharing their experience with others engaged in similar work.

NASA Social

NASA Image and Video Library

2012-12-04

NASA astronaut Joe Acaba answers questions at a NASA Social at NASA Headquarters on Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2012 in Washington. Acaba launched to the International Space Station on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft May 15, 2012, spending 123 days aboard as a flight engineer of the Expedition 31 and 32 crews. He recently returned to Earth on Sept. 17 after four months in low earth orbit. Photo Credit: (NASA/Carla Cioffi)

[Application of digital earth technology in research of traditional Chinese medicine resources].

PubMed

Liu, Jinxin; Liu, Xinxin; Gao, Lu; Wei, Yingqin; Meng, Fanyun; Wang, Yongyan

2011-02-01

This paper describes the digital earth technology and its core technology-"3S" integration technology. The advance and promotion of the "3S" technology provide more favorable means and technical support for Chinese medicine resources survey, evaluation and appropriate zoning. Grid is a mature and popular technology that can connect all kinds of information resources. The author sums up the application of digital earth technology in the research of traditional Chinese medicine resources in recent years, and proposes the new method and technical route of investigation in traditional Chinese medicine resources, traditional Chinese medicine zoning and suitability assessment by combining the digital earth technology and grid.

Results from the NASA Capability Roadmap Team for In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sanders, Gerald B.; Romig, Kris A.; Larson, William E.; Johnson, Robert; Rapp, Don; Johnson, Ken R.; Sacksteder, Kurt; Linne, Diane; Curreri, Peter; Duke, Michael;

Earth System Science at NASA: Teleconnections Between Sea Surface Temperature and Epidemics in Africa

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Meeson, Blanche W.

2000-01-01

The research carried out in the Earth Sciences in NASA and at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center will be the focus of the presentations. In addition, one research project that links sea surface temperature to epidemics in Africa will be highlighted. At GSFC research interests span the full breath of disciplines in Earth Science. Branches and research groups focus on areas as diverse as planetary geomagnetics and atmospheric chemistry. These organizations focus on atmospheric sciences (atmospheric chemistry, climate and radiation, regional processes, atmospheric modeling), hydrological sciences (snow, ice, oceans, and seasonal-to-interannual prediction), terrestrial physics (geology, terrestrial biology, land-atmosphere interactions, geophysics), climate modeling (global warming, greenhouse gases, climate change), on sensor development especially using lidar and microwave technologies, and on information technologies, that enable support of scientific and technical research.

Stop the Bleeding: the Development of a Tool to Streamline NASA Earth Science Metadata Curation Efforts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

le Roux, J.; Baker, A.; Caltagirone, S.; Bugbee, K.

2017-12-01

The Common Metadata Repository (CMR) is a high-performance, high-quality repository for Earth science metadata records, and serves as the primary way to search NASA's growing 17.5 petabytes of Earth science data holdings. Released in 2015, CMR has the capability to support several different metadata standards already being utilized by NASA's combined network of Earth science data providers, or Distributed Active Archive Centers (DAACs). The Analysis and Review of CMR (ARC) Team located at Marshall Space Flight Center is working to improve the quality of records already in CMR with the goal of making records optimal for search and discovery. This effort entails a combination of automated and manual review, where each NASA record in CMR is checked for completeness, accuracy, and consistency. This effort is highly collaborative in nature, requiring communication and transparency of findings amongst NASA personnel, DAACs, the CMR team and other metadata curation teams. Through the evolution of this project it has become apparent that there is a need to document and report findings, as well as track metadata improvements in a more efficient manner. The ARC team has collaborated with Element 84 in order to develop a metadata curation tool to meet these needs. In this presentation, we will provide an overview of this metadata curation tool and its current capabilities. Challenges and future plans for the tool will also be discussed.

A survey of earth resources on Apollo 9 photography

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Colwell, R. N.

1969-01-01

The types of photography obtained on the Apollo 9 mission and on concurrent flights made by supporting aircraft are described. The need for earth resource surveys and the value of aircraft and spacecraft as the platforms from which to make such surveys are considered along with the rational for using multiband photography and the means by which such photography can be enhanced. Aerial and space photographs are presented and analyzed. The feasibility of conducting earth resource surveys by means of space photography is discussed and results are summarized.

A bibliography of research conducted by the Earth Resources Observation Systems (EROS) Office, U.S. Geological Survey : 1975-1982

USGS Publications Warehouse

Bowman, Helen L.

1984-01-01

The U.S. Geological Survey's Earth Resources Observation Systems (EROS) Program was established in 1967 by Secretarial order to plan and develop techniques for collecting and analyzing remotely sensed data, and to apply these techniques to the resource inventory and management responsibilities of the Department of the Interior. U.S. Geological Survey scientists, realizing the potential benefits of synoptic views of the Earth, were among the first members of America's scientific community to press for the launch of civilian Earth-surface observation satellites. Under the leadership of Director William T. Pecora, U.S. Geological Survey initiatives greatly influenced the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) development of the Landsat program.As part of the Landsat program, an agreement between NASA and the Geological Survey was signed to provide Landsat archiving and data production capabilities at the EROS Data Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. This partnership with NASA began in 1972 and continued until Presidential Directive 54 designated the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of the Department of Commerce as the manager of U.S. civil operational land remote-sensing activities. NOAA has managed the Landsat program since Fiscal Year 1983, and EROS continues to process, archive, reproduce, and distribute Landsat data under a Memorandum of Understanding between NOAA and the Geological Survey. Archives at the EROS Data Center include over 2 million worldwide Landsat scenes and over 5 million aerial photographs, primarily of U.S. sites. Since the launch of Landsat 1, global imaging of the Earth's surface has become an operational tool for resource exploration and land management. As technology evolved, so did the EROS Program mission. Research and applications efforts began at the EROS Headquarters Office in the Washington metropolitan area in 1966; at the EROS Data Center in 1971; and at the EROS Field Office in Anchorage

The NASA Bed Rest Project

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rhodes, Bradley; Meck, Janice

2005-01-01

NASA s National Vision for Space Exploration includes human travel beyond low earth orbit and the ultimate safe return of the crews. Crucial to fulfilling the vision is the successful and timely development of countermeasures for the adverse physiological effects on human systems caused by long term exposure to the microgravity environment. Limited access to in-flight resources for the foreseeable future increases NASA s reliance on ground-based analogs to simulate these effects of microgravity. The primary analog for human based research will be head-down bed rest. By this approach NASA will be able to evaluate countermeasures in large sample sizes, perform preliminary evaluations of proposed in-flight protocols and assess the utility of individual or combined strategies before flight resources are requested. In response to this critical need, NASA has created the Bed Rest Project at the Johnson Space Center. The Project establishes the infrastructure and processes to provide a long term capability for standardized domestic bed rest studies and countermeasure development. The Bed Rest Project design takes a comprehensive, interdisciplinary, integrated approach that reduces the resource overhead of one investigator for one campaign. In addition to integrating studies operationally relevant for exploration, the Project addresses other new Vision objectives, namely: 1) interagency cooperation with the NIH allows for Clinical Research Center (CRC) facility sharing to the benefit of both agencies, 2) collaboration with our International Partners expands countermeasure development opportunities for foreign and domestic investigators as well as promotes consistency in approach and results, 3) to the greatest degree possible, the Project also advances research by clinicians and academia alike to encourage return to earth benefits. This paper will describe the Project s top level goals, organization and relationship to other Exploration Vision Projects, implementation

NASA Social

NASA Image and Video Library

2012-12-04

NASA astronaut Joe Acaba speaks at a behind-the-scenes NASA Social at NASA Headquarters on Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2012 in Washington. Acaba launched to the International Space Station on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft May 15, 2012, spending 123 days aboard as a flight engineer of the Expedition 31 and 32 crews. He recently returned to Earth on Sept. 17 after four months in low earth orbit. Photo Credit: (NASA/Carla Cioffi)

NASA Social

NASA Image and Video Library

2012-12-04

A NASA Social participant tweets during as astronaut Joe Acaba answers questions from the audience at NASA Headquaters, Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2012 in Washington. NASA astronaut Acaba launched to the ISS on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft May 15, 2012, spending 123 days aboard as a flight engineer of the Expedition 31 and 32 crews. He recently returned to Earth on Sept. 17 after four months in low earth orbit. Photo Credit: (NASA/Carla Cioffi)

NASA Social

NASA Image and Video Library

2012-12-04

NASA astronaut Joe Acaba answers questions at a behind-the-scenes NASA Social at NASA Headquarters on Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2012 in Washington. Acaba launched to the International Space Station on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft May 15, 2012, spending 123 days aboard as a flight engineer of the Expedition 31 and 32 crews. He recently returned to Earth on Sept. 17 after four months in low earth orbit. Photo Credit: (NASA/Carla Cioffi)

NASA Social

NASA Image and Video Library

2012-12-04

NASA astronaut Joe Acaba, center, greets participants at a behind-the-scenes NASA Social in Washington, Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2012 at NASA Headquarters. Acaba launched to the International Space Station on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft May 15, 2012, spending 123 days aboard as a flight engineer of the Expedition 31 and 32 crews. He recently returned to Earth on Sept. 17 after four months in low earth orbit. Photo Credit: (NASA/Carla Cioffi)

NASA Overview

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sheffner, Edwin J.

2007-01-01

The Earth Science Division supports research projects that exploit the observations and measurements acquired by NASA Earth Observing missions and Applied Sciences projects that extend NASA research to the broader user community and address societal needs.

NASA Earth Science Partnerships - A Multi-Level Approach to Effectively Collaborating with Communities and Organizations to Utilize Earth Science Data for Societal Benefit

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Favors, J.

2016-12-01

NASA's Earth Science Division (ESD) seeks to develop a scientific understanding of the Earth as a dynamic, integrated system of diverse components that interact in complex ways - analogous to the human body. The Division approaches this goal through a coordinated series of satellite and airborne missions, sponsored basic and applied research, technology development, and science education. Integral to this approach are strong collaborations and partnerships with a spectrum of organizations that produce substantive benefit to communities - both locally and globally. This presentation will showcase various ways ESD approaches partnering and will highlight best practices, challenges, and provide case studies related to rapid partnerships, co-location of scientists and end-user communities, capacity building, and ESD's new Partnerships Program which is built around taking an innovative approach to partnering that fosters interdisplinary teaming & co-production of knowledge to broaden the applicability of Earth observations and answer new, big questions for partners and NASA, alike.

NASA CORE - A Worldwide Distribution Center for Educational Materials.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kaiser-Holscott, K.

2005-05-01

The Lorain County Joint Vocational School District (JVS) administers NASA's Central Operation of Resources for Educators (CORE) for the purpose of: A. Operating a mail order service to supply educators around the world with NASA's educational materials; B. Servicing NASA Education Programs/Projects with NASA's educational materials; C. Supporting the NASA Educator Resource Center Network with technology resources for the next generation of ERC. D. Support NASA's mission to inspire the next generation of explorers...as only NASA can; E. Inspire and motivate students to pursue careers in geography, science, technology, engineering and mathematics. This is accomplished by the continued operation of a central site that educators can contact to obtain information about NASA educational programs and research; obtain NASA educational publications and media; and receive technical support for NASA multimedia materials. In addition CORE coordinates the efforts of the 67 NASA Educator Resource Centers to establish a more effective network to serve educators. CORE directly supports part of NASA's core mission, To Inspire the Next Generation of Explorers.as only NASA can. CORE inspires and motivates students to pursue careers in geography, science, technology, engineering and mathematics by providing educators with exciting and NASA-unique educational material to enhance the students' learning experience. CORE is located at the Lorain County Joint Vocational School (JVS) in Oberlin, Ohio. Students at the JVS assist with the daily operations of CORE. This assistance provides the students with valuable vocational training opportunities and helps the JVS reduce the amount of funding needed to operate CORE. CORE has vast experience in the dissemination of NASA educational materials as well as a network of NASA Education Resource Centers who distribute NASA materials to secondary and post-secondary schools and universities, informal educators, and other interested individuals and