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NASA NTRS1994

Development of the CSI phase-3 evolutionary model testbed

This report documents the development effort for the reconfiguration of the Controls-Structures Integration (CSI) Evolutionary Model (CEM) Phase-2 testbed into the CEM Phase-3 configuration. This step responds to the need to develop and test CSI technologies associated with typical planned earth science and remote sensing platforms. The primary objective of the CEM Phase-3 ground testbed is to simulate the overall on-orbit dynamic behavior of the EOS AM-1 spacecraft. Key elements of the objective include approximating the low-frequency appendage dynamic interaction of EOS AM-1, allowing for the changeout of components, and simulating the free-free on-orbit environment using an advanced suspension system. The fundamentals of appendage dynamic interaction are reviewed. A new version of the multiple scaling method is used to design the testbed to have the full-scale geometry and dynamics of the EOS AM-1 spacecraft, but at one-tenth the weight. The testbed design is discussed, along with the testing of the solar array, high gain antenna, and strut components. Analytical performance comparisons show that the CEM Phase-3 testbed simulates the EOS AM-1 spacecraft with good fidelity for the important parameters of interest.

Gronet, M. J.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Architecture and evolution of Goddard Space Flight Center Distributed Active Archive Center

The Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) Distributed Active Archive Center (DAAC) has been developed to enhance Earth Science research by improved access to remote sensor earth science data. Building and operating an archive, even one of a moderate size (a few Terabytes), is a challenging task. One of the critical components of this system is Unitree, the Hierarchical File Storage Management System. Unitree, selected two years ago as the best available solution, requires constant system administrative support. It is not always suitable as an archive and distribution data center, and has moderate performance. The Data Archive and Distribution System (DADS) software developed to monitor, manage, and automate the ingestion, archive, and distribution functions turned out to be more challenging than anticipated. Having the software and tools is not sufficient to succeed. Human interaction within the system must be fully understood to improve efficiency to improve efficiency and ensure that the right tools are developed. One of the lessons learned is that the operability, reliability, and performance aspects should be thoroughly addressed in the initial design. However, the GSFC DAAC has demonstrated that it is capable of distributing over 40 GB per day. A backup system to archive a second copy of all data ingested is under development. This backup system will be used not only for disaster recovery but will also replace the main archive when it is unavailable during maintenance or hardware replacement. The GSFC DAAC has put a strong emphasis on quality at all level of its organization. A Quality team has also been formed to identify quality issues and to propose improvements. The DAAC has conducted numerous tests to benchmark the performance of the system. These tests proved to be extremely useful in identifying bottlenecks and deficiencies in operational procedures.

Bedet, Jean-Jacques↗
NASA NTRS1999

Radiometric Measurement Comparisons Using Transfer Radiometers in Support of the Calibration of NASA's Earth Observing System (EOS) Sensors

EOS satellite instruments operating in the visible through the shortwave infrared wavelength regions (from 0.4 micrometers to 2.5 micrometers) are calibrated prior to flight for radiance response using integrating spheres at a number of instrument builder facilities. The traceability of the radiance produced by these spheres with respect to international standards is the responsibility of the instrument builder, and different calibration techniques are employed by those builders. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA's) Earth Observing System (EOS) Project Science Office, realizing the importance of preflight calibration and cross-calibration, has sponsored a number of radiometric measurement comparisons, the main purpose of which is to validate the radiometric scale assigned to the integrating spheres by the instrument builders. This paper describes the radiometric measurement comparisons, the use of stable transfer radiometers to perform the measurements, and the measurement approaches and protocols used to validate integrating sphere radiances. Stable transfer radiometers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the University of Arizona Optical Sciences Center Remote Sensing Group, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, and the National Research Laboratory of Metrology in Japan, have participated in these comparisons. The approaches used in the comparisons include the measurement of multiple integrating sphere lamp levels, repeat measurements of select lamp levels, the use of the stable radiometers as external sphere monitors, and the rapid reporting of measurement results. Results from several comparisons are presented. The absolute radiometric calibration standard uncertainties required by the EOS satellite instruments are typically in the +/- 3% to +/- 5% range. Preliminary results reported during eleven radiometric measurement comparisons held between February 1995 and May 1998 have shown the radiance of integrating spheres agreed to within +/- 2.5% from the average at blue wavelengths and to within +/- 1.7% from the average at red and near infrared wavelengths. This level of agreement lends confidence in the use of the transfer radiometers in validating the radiance scales assigned by EOS instrument calibration facilities to their integrating sphere sources.

Butler, James J.↗
NASA NTRS2000

Post Galileo-Europa-Mission Satellite Tour Design

The Galileo orbiter mission as originally envisioned would orbit Jupiter eleven times, closely encountering either Europa, Ganymede, or Callisto on ten of those orbits. This nominal or prime mission began with Jupiter orbit insertion on December 7, 1995 and ended as designed ten encounters later on December 1, 1997. An extension to this nominal mission was proposed, developed and accepted in 1997 and was designed to continue orbital operations through an additional two years until December 31, 1999. This follow- on mission, labelled the Galileo Europa Mission, visits Europa eight times, Callisto four times, and ends with two visits to Io. It augments the prime mission by offering many attractive additional opportunities for science, especially remote sensing. The opportunities include increased scrutiny of Europa, a world with a possible global ocean hidden beneath the surface ice-cap, and the first high resolution images of Io (the only major satellite not encountered during the nominal tour). In 1998 a new effort was begun to investigate a possible extension to GEM. Remote sensing observations will continue to be important but moreover, valuable unique in situ fields and particles measurements will be a high priority motivation in the design and selection of any post-GEM tour. A significant design feature of a possible post-GEM tour would be the extension of the mission through the December 2000 timeframe. This would permit the possibility of simultaneous fields and particles experiments coordinated with the Cassini spacecraft as it swings by the Jupiter system for the final gravity assist enroute to Saturn.

Wilson, M. G.↗
NASA NTRS2000

BOREAS RSS-20 POLDER C-130 Measurements of Surface BRDF

This Boreal Ecosystem-Atmosphere Study (BOREAS) Remote Sensing Science (RSS)-20 data set contains measurements of surface bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF) made by the polarization and Directionality of Earth reflectances (POLDER) instrument over several surface types (pine, spruce, fen) of the BOREAS southern study area (SSA) during the 1994 intensive field campaigns (IFCs). Single-point BRDF values were acquired either from the NASA Ames Research Center (ARC) C-130 aircraft or from a NASA Wallops Flight Facility (WFF) helicopter. A related data set collected from the helicopter platform is available as is POLDER imagery acquired from the C-130. The data are stored in tabular ASCII files. The data files are available on a CD-ROM (see document number 20010000884) or from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) Distributed Active Archive Center (DAAC).

Leroy, Marc↗
NASA NTRS2000

BOREAS RSS-20 POLDER Radiance Images From the NASA C-130

These Boreal Ecosystem-Atmosphere Study (BOREAS) Remote Sensing Science (RSS)-20 data are a subset of images collected by the Polarization and Directionality of Earth's Reflectance (POLDER) instrument over tower sites in the BOREAS study areas during the intensive field campaigns (IFCs) in 1994. The POLDER images presented here from the NASA ARC C-130 aircraft are made available for illustration purposes only. The data are stored in binary image-format files. The POLDER radiance images are available from the Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) Distributed Active Archive Center (DAAC). The data files are available on a CD-ROM (see document number 20010000884).

Leroy, M.↗
NASA NTRS2000

Technical Report Series on the Boreal Ecosystem-Atmosphere Study (BOREAS) RSS-19 1994 CASI At-Sensor Radiance and Reflectance Images

The Remote Sensing Science (RSS)-19 team collected Compact Airborne Spectrographic Imager (CASI) images from the Chieftain Navaho aircraft in order to observe the seasonal change in the radiometric reflectance properties of the boreal forest landscape. CASI was deployed as a site-specific optical sensor during Boreal Ecosystem-Atmosphere Study (BOREAS) field campaigns. Image data were collected with CASI on 36 days during five field campaigns between February and September 1994, primarily at flux tower sites located at study sites near Thompson, Manitoba, and Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. A variety of CASI data collection strategies were used to meet the following scientific objectives: 1) canopy bidirectional reflectance, 2) canopy biochemistry, 3) spatial variability, and 4) estimates of up and downwelling Photosynthetically Active Radiation (PAR) and spectral albedo, as well as changes along transects across lakes and transects the Northern Study Area (NSA) and Southern Study Area (SSA). The images are stored as binary image files. A subset of the 1994 CASI acquisitions have been compressed and included on the BOREAS CD-ROM set. This subset includes three images for the NSA-OBS (Old Black Spruce) site on 06 Jun 94, 08 Aug 94, and 06 Sep 94, one image for the SSA-OBS site on 24 Jul 94; and one image for the NSA-Fen site on 08 Aug 94. The CASI imagery on the BOREAS CD-ROMs have been compressed using the Gzip program. The rest of the 1994 BOREAS CASI archive are not contained on the BOREAS CD-ROM set. Inventory listing files are supplied on the CD-ROM to inform users of the data that were collected. The RSS-19 1994 CASI images are available from the Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) Distributed Active Archive Center (DAAC). The data files are available on a CD-ROM (see document number 20010000884).

Miller, John↗
NASA NTRS2000

BOREAS RSS-17 Xylem Flux Density Measurements at the SSA-OBS Site

As part of its efforts to determine environmental and phenological states from radar imagery, the Boreal Ecosystem-Atmosphere Study (BOREAS) Remote Sensing Science (RSS)-17 team collected in situ tree xylem flow measurements for one growing season on five Picea mariana (black spruce) trees. The data were collected to obtain information on the temporal and spatial variability in water uptake by trees in the Southern Study Area-Old Black Spruce (SSA-OBS) stand in the BOREAS SSA. Temporally, the data were collected in 30-minute intervals for 120 days from 31 May 1994 until 27 September 1994. The data are stored in tabular ASCII files. The xylem flux data are available from the Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) Distributed Active Archive Center (DAAC). The data files are available on a CD-ROM (see document number 20010000884).

Zimmerman, Reiner↗
NASA NTRS2000

BOREAS RSS-10 TOMS Circumpolar One-Degree PAR Images

The Boreal Ecosystem-Atmosphere Study (BOREAS) Remote Sensing Science (RSS)-10 team investigated the magnitude of daily, seasonal, and yearly variations of Photosynthetically Active Radiation (PAR) from ground and satellite observations. This data set contains satellite estimates of surface-incident PAR (400-700 nm, MJ/sq m) at one-degree spatial resolution. The spatial coverage is circumpolar from latitudes of 41 to 66 degrees north. The temporal coverage is from May through September for years 1979 through 1989. Eleven-year statistics are also provided: (1) mean, (2) standard deviation, and (3) coefficient of variation for 1979-89. The PAR estimates were derived from the global gridded ultraviolet reflectivity data product (average of 360, 380 nm) from the Nimbus-7 Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS). Image mask data are provided for identifying the boreal forest zone, and ocean/land and snow/ice-covered areas. The data are available as binary image format data files. The PAR data are available from the Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) Distributed Active Archive Center (DAAC). The data files are available on a CD-ROM (see document number 20010000884).

Dye, Dennis G.↗
NASA NTRS2000

BOREAS RSS-8 Snow Maps Derived from Landsat TM Imagery

The Boreal Ecosystem-Atmosphere Study (BOREAS) Remote Sensing Science (RSS)-8 team utilized Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) images to perform mapping of snow extent over the Southern Study Area (SSA). This data set consists of two Landsat TM images that were used to determine the snow-covered pixels over the BOREAS SSA on 18 Jan 1993 and on 06 Feb 1994. The data are stored in binary image format files. The RSS-08 snow map data are available from the Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) Distributed Active Archive Center (DAAC). The data files are available on a CD-ROM (see document number 20010000884).

Hall, Dorothy↗
NASA NTRS2000

BOREAS RSS-7 Landsat TM LAI IMages of the SSA and NSA

The BOReal Ecosystem-Atmosphere Study Remote Sensing Science (BOREAS RSS-7) team used Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) images processed at CCRS to produce images of Leaf Area Index (LAI) for the BOREAS study areas. Two images acquired on 06-Jun and 09-Aug-1991 were used for the SSA, and one image acquired on 09-Jun-1994 was used for the NSA. The LAI images are based on ground measurements and Landsat TM Reduced Simple Ratio (RSR) images. The data are stored in binary image-format files.

Hall, Forrest G.↗
NASA NTRS2001

An Approach to Application of Multispectral Sensors, using AVIRIS Data

High spatial resolution multispectral/hyperspectral sensors are being developed by private industry with science/research customers as end users. With an increasingly wide range of sensor choices, it is important for the remote sensing science community and commercial community alike to understand the trade-offs between ground sample distance (GSD), spectral resolution, and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) in selecting a sensor that will best meet their needs. High spatial resolution hyperspectral imagery and super resolution multispectral charge-coupled device imagery can be used to develop prototypes of proposed data acquisition systems without building new systems or collecting large sets of additional data. By using these datasets to emulate proposed and existing systems, imaging systems may be optimized to meet customer needs in a virtual environment. This approach also enables one to determine, a priori, whether an existing dataset will be useful for a given application.

Warner, Amanda↗
NASA NTRS2002

NASA's Agricultural Program: A USDA/Grower Partnership

Ag20/20 is a partnership between USDA, NASA, and four national commodity associations. It is driven by the information needs of U.S. farmers. Ag20/20 is focused on utilization of earth science and remote sensing for decision-making and oriented toward economically viable operational solutions. Its purpose is to accelerate the use of remote sensing and other geospatial technologies on the farm to: 1) Increase the production efficiency of the American farmer; 2) Reduce crop production risks; 3) Improve environmental stewardship tools for agricultural production.

McKellip, Rodney↗
NASA NTRS2002

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Earth Science Applications Program: Exploring Partnerships to Enhance Decision Making in Public Health Practice

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Earth Science Enterprise is engaged in applications of NASA Earth science and remote sensing technologies for public health. Efforts are focused on establishing partnerships with those agencies and organizations that have responsibility for protecting the Nation's Health. The program's goal is the integration of NASA's advanced data and technology for enhanced decision support in the areas of disease surveillance and environmental health. A focused applications program, based on understanding partner issues and requirements, has the potential to significantly contribute to more informed decision making in public health practice. This paper intends to provide background information on NASA's investment in public health and is a call for partnership with the larger practice community.

Vann, Timi S.↗
NASA NTRS1979

Engineering and simulation of life sciences Spacelab experiments

The third in a series of Spacelab Mission Development tests was conducted at the Johnson (correction of Johnston) Space Center as a part of the development of Life Sciences experiments for the Space Shuttle era. The latest test was a joint effort of the Ames Research and Johnson Space Centers and utilized animals and men for study. The basic objective of this test was to evaluate the operational concepts planned for the Space Shuttle life science payloads program. A three-man crew (Mission Specialist and two Payload Specialists) conducted 26 experiments and 12 operational tests, which were selected for this 7-day mission simulation. The crew lived on board a simulated Orbiter/Spacelab mockup 24 hr a day. The Orbiter section contained the mid deck crew quarters area, complete with sleeping, galley and waste management provisions. The Spacelab was identical in geometry to the European Space Agency Spacelab design, complete with removable rack sections and stowage provisions. Communications between the crewmen and support personnel were configured and controlled as currently planned for operational shuttle flights. For this test a Science Operations Remote Center was manned at the Ames Research Center and was managed by simulated Mission Control and Payload Operation Control Centers at the Johnson Space Center. This paper presents the test objectives, description of the facilities and test program, and the results of this test.

Biological Sciences/instrumentation/methods↗
NASA NTRS2005

GPS Remote Sensing Measurements Using Aerosonde UAV

In February 2004, a NASA-Langley GPS Remote Sensor (GPSRS) unit was flown on an Aerosonde unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) from the Wallops Flight Facility (WFF) in Virginia. Using direct and surface-reflected 1.575 GHz coarse acquisition (C/A) coded GPS signals, remote sensing measurements were obtained over land and portions of open water. The strength of the surface-reflected GPS signal is proportional to the amount of moisture in the surface, and is also influenced by surface roughness. Amplitude and other characteristics of the reflected signal allow an estimate of wind speed over open water. In this paper we provide a synopsis of the instrument accommodation requirements, installation procedures, and preliminary results from what is likely the first-ever flight of a GPS remote sensing instrument on a UAV. The correct operation of the GPSRS unit on this flight indicates that Aerosonde-like UAV's can serve as platforms for future GPS remote sensing science missions.

Grant, Michael S.↗