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The socio-economic benefits to be derived from system applications of space technology goals developed by NASA were assessed. Specific studies include: electronic mail; personal telephone communications; weather and climate monitoring, prediction, and control; crop production forecasting and water availability; planetary engineering of the planet Venus; and planetary exploration.
The feasibility of remotely monitoring ocean dumping of waste products such as acid and sewage sludge is evaluated. The laboratory arrangement, solar simulator, and test results from three experiments conducted in the laboratory are described. Radiance and reflectance spectra are presented for primary-treated sewage sludge mixed with two types of base water. Results indicate that upwelled reflectance varies in a near-linear manner with concentration and that the sludge has a practically flat signal response between 420 and 970 nm. Well-defined upwelled reflectance spectra were obtained for the sewage-sludge mixtures at all wavelengths and concentrations. The spectral-reflectance values appeared to be influenced by the type of base water, but this influence was small, especially for the mixtures with low concentrations of sewage sludge.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), in cooperation with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), conducted a research program to evaluate the feasibility of remotely monitoring ocean dumping of waste products such as acid and sewage sludge. One aspect of the research program involved the measurements of upwelled spectral signatures for sewage-sludge mixtures of different concentrations in an 11600-liter tank. This paper describes the laboratory arrangement and presents radiance and reflectance spectra in the visible and near-infrared ranges for concentrations ranging from 9.7 to 180 ppm of secondary-treated sewage sludge mixed with two types of base water. Results indicate that upwelled radiance varies in a near-linear manner with concentration and that the sludge has a practically flat signal response between 420 and 970 nm. Reflectance spectra were obtained for the sewage-sludge mixtures at all wavelengths and concentrations.
Microprocessor controlled mass spectrometer data acquisition system simultaneously monitors up to nine gaseous products emitted from heated substrate during thermal desorption experiments.
Instrumentation system measures and records accelerations at frequencies from 0 to 100 Hz and magnitudes from 10 to the negative 5th power to 0.5 g. Developed to aid research on small accelerations in spacecraft in orbit. Also used on Earth: with modified acceleration sensors to monitor acceleration environments of sensitive products transported by airplanes, railroad trains, trucks, or ships.
Computer hardware and associated software have been used for many years to process accounting information, to analyze test data and to perform engineering analysis. Now computers and software also control everything from automobiles to washing machines and the number and type of applications are growing at an exponential rate. The size of individual program has shown similar growth. Furthermore, software and hardware are used to monitor and/or control potentially dangerous products and safety-critical systems. These uses include everything from airplanes and braking systems to medical devices and nuclear plants. The question is: how can this hardware and software be made more reliable? Also, how can software quality be improved? What methodology needs to be provided on large and small software products to improve the design and how can software be verified?
Ozone decrease implies more ultraviolet-B (UV-B) radiation reaching the surface of the Earth. Increased UV-B radiation triggers responses by living organisms. Despite the large potential impacts on vegetation, little is known about UV-B effects on terrestrial ecosystems. Long-term ecological studies are needed to quantify the effects of increased UV radiation on terrestrial ecosystems, asses the risks, and produce reliable data for prediction. Screening pigments are part of one of the protective mechanism in plants. Higher concentrations of screening pigments in leaves may be interpreted as a response to increased UV radiation. If the screening effect is not sufficient, important molecules will be disturbed by incoming radiation. Thus, genetics, photosynthesis, growth, plant and leaf shape and size, and pollen grains may be affected. This will have an impact on ecosystem dynamics, structure and productivity. It is necessary to monitor selected terrestrial ecosystems to permit detection and interpretation of changes attributable to global climate change and depleted ozone shield. The objectives of this project are: (1) To identify and measure indicators of the effects of increased solar UV-B radiation on terrestrial plants; (2) to select indicators with the greatest responses to UV-B exposure; (3) to test, adapt or create ecosystem models that use the information gathered by this project for prediction and to enhance our understanding of the effects of increased UV-B radiation on terrestrial ecosystems. As a first step to achieve these objectives we propose a three-year study of forest and steppe vegetation on the North slope of the Brooks Range (within the Arctic circle, in Alaska), in the Saguaro National Monument (near Tucson, Arizona) and in the forests and steppes of Patagonia (Argentina). We selected (1) vegetation north of the Polar Circle because at 70N there is 8% risk of plant damage due to increased UV-B radiation; (2) the foothills of Catalina Mountains because there is anecdotal evidence of plant damage on the saguaros that has been linked to increased UV radiation, and (3) the forests of Nothofagus spp. and the steppe of Patagonia where the risk of plant damage at 35S is 5% and increases to as much as 15% at 55S due to increased UV-B radiation. Measurements of UV-B radiation impinging on the surface at 55S largely exceed the predicted UV-B radiation values at 50 latitude and 0% ozone depletion. Preliminary HPLC analyses of UV-B absorbing compounds in Nothofagus antartica, N. pumilio, N. betuloides and Rumex sp. in natural conditions show species-specific patterns. The spectrum of N. antartica grown at 38S differs significantly from that of N. antartica in natural conditions in Ushuaia (55S). These results suggest that the selected main area (Patagonia) is appropriate for assessing the problem and its magnitude and that Nothofagus is appropriate for our study.
NASA's Aviation Safety Program in the NASA Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate, which seeks to make aviation safer by developing tools for flight data analysis and interpretation and then by transferring these tools to the aviation industry, sponsored the development of Morning Report software. The software, created at Ames Research Center with the assistance of the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, seeks to detect atypicalities without any predefined parameters-it spots deviations and highlights them. In 2004, Sagem Avionics Inc. entered a licensing agreement with NASA for the commercialization of the Morning Report software, and also licensed the NASA Aviation Data Integration System (ADIS) tool, which allows for the integration of data from disparate sources into the flight data analysis process. Sagem Avionics incorporated the Morning Report tool into its AGS product, a comprehensive flight operations monitoring system that helps users detect irregular or divergent practices, technical flaws, and problems that might develop when aircraft operate outside of normal procedures. Sagem developed AGS in collaboration with airlines, so that the system takes into account their technical evolutions and needs, and each airline is able to easily perform specific treatments and to build its own flight data analysis system. Further, the AGS is designed to support any aircraft and flight data recorders.
In the middle to high latitude and alpine regions, the seasonal snow pack can dominate the surface energy and water budgets due to its high albedo, low thermal conductivity, high emissivity, considerable spatial and temporal variability, and ability to store and then later release a winters cumulative snowfall (Cohen, 1994; Hall, 1998). With this in mind, the snow drought across the U.S. has raised questions about impacts on water supply, ski resorts and agriculture. Knowledge of various snow pack properties is crucial for short-term weather forecasts, climate change prediction, and hydrologic forecasting for producing reliable daily to seasonal forecasts. One potential source of this information is the multi-institution North American Land Data Assimilation System (NLDAS) project (Mitchell et al., 2004). Real-time NLDAS products are used for drought monitoring to support the National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) and as initial conditions for a future NCEP drought forecast system. Additionally, efforts are currently underway to assimilate remotely-sensed estimates of land-surface states such as snowpack information into NLDAS. It is believed that this assimilation will not only produce improved snowpack states that better represent snow evolving conditions, but will directly improve the monitoring of drought.
Earth observations from Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) can provide unique observations related to forest structure and condition. Furthermore, SAR has many potential applications in forest monitoring systems, particularly where clouds have impeded optical observations. Currently, there is a reliable, freely-available, provision of SAR datasets, such as Sentinel-1, and there are plans to have more observations in the near- future (NISAR, BIOMASS). Given SAR’s enhanced earth observation characteristics, there is broad interest in using SAR datasets for decision support systems, such as deforestation early warning systems. However, applications of SAR are still underutilized. What is preventing users from using SAR data in their decision support systems? This study documents the experiences and lessons learned from the SERVIR network on the main limitations of incorporating SAR datasets into existing forest monitoring systems. This research also focuses on the major technical and scientific barriers we experience and best practices to address them. The results of this study are part of the SERVIR- SilvaCarbon collaboration. The primary goal of this collaboration is to build capacity in the applied use of SAR for forest monitoring and biomass estimation. The products of this effort aim to start closing the gap between SAR-science and forest applications. We will also present results to generate applied-ready knowledge for SAR.
Space crop production will be important in future long duration exploration missions to supplement the packaged diet with fresh bioactive nutrients. Plant care and the addition of fresh veggies to the diet may also have a role in astronaut well-being. Pick-and-eat salad crops are the best candidates for this near-term supplementation since they require minimal processing or preparation to add to meals. While light quality can strongly influence plant responses on Earth, the impacts of light quality on plant growth and composition in spaceflight remain unclear. The VEG-04 experiment uses two Veggie plant growth chambers on the International Space Station to simultaneously test different red: blue light ratios on the growth of Mizuna mustard, a leafy green salad crop. In addition to plant health and yield, the composition of key nutrients is assessed. Astronauts conduct on-board organoleptic evaluation of the fresh produce. Microbial food safety of returned produce is examined, and a Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) plan has been developed for this crop. VEG-04 consists of two experiments, one lasting 28 days with a single harvest, and the second lasting 56 days, with three cut-and-come-again harvests. These different scenarios provide an opportunity to test two production concepts, examine different fertilizers, monitor microbial changes over time for this crop, and assess potential impacts of interacting with plants on crew behavioral health and performance in spaceflight operations. In ground testing, plant growth was not significantly different across the different light treatments, however nutrient composition did differ significantly. Flight test results will be compared with ground data. This research was co-funded by NASA's Human Research Program and Space Biology in the ILSRA 2015 NRA call.
The NASA Short-term Prediction, Research, and Transition (SPoRT) Program works closely with NOAA/NWS weather forecasters to transition unique satellite data and capabilities into operations in order to assist with nowcasting and short-term forecasting issues. SPoRT has applied data and capabilities from a variety of research-oriented missions to improve the operational analysis and short-term forecasting of the tropical environment and tropical cyclones(TC).Toward researching new products, SPoRT is examining the diurnal cycle of TC intensity by observing changes in precipitation, winds, and midlevel moisture, including the use of NUCAPS soundings to assess the moisture and temperature environment around TCs, as well as examining changes in sounding profiles associated with the TC diurnal cycle. SPoRT has developed capabilities to analyze the evolution and diurnal cycle of GPM/IMERG rain rates and GLM lightning characteristics associated with TC, by compass and up-/down-shear quadrants relative to the cyclone center. As Early Adopters in the Time-Resolved Observations of Precipitation structure and storm Intensity with a Constellation of Smallsats (TROPICS) mission, SPoRT is also in the process of developing new experimental products utilizing TROPICS data. Furthermore, SPoRT is investigating the relationship between TC intensity and lightning flash size and optical energy. MSFC hosts a GOES ground rebroadcast station which enables the potential for very low latency GLM products. These products provide the ability to monitor tropical regions/systems in data-void oceanic regions and to fill the gaps in traditional observational systems. SPoRT seeks to expand our collaborations with operational centers and other stakeholders to provide new tools to aid in tropical analysis and forecasting.
The NASA Earth Science Disasters Program handles requests from stakeholders and provides rapid response for Disaster Risk Reduction using Near Real-Time (NRT) products from NASA’s Land, Atmosphere NRT Capability for Earth Observing System (EOS) (LANCE). The combination of all available LANCE NRT satellite products provides global coverage at multiple times per day, which makes it possible to help users in different phases of the disaster’s life cycle. For wildfires and volcano eruption disasters, LANCE NRT fire and atmosphere products have been used to locate fires and high-temperature heat sources, and to assess the extent of air pollutions. Knowledge of the geographical position and direction of smokes, fires, lava flows provided critical information for disaster prediction and prevention. For hurricanes, tropical cyclones and earthquakes, LANCE global flood products and NASA’s Black Marble night-time light products have been used for monitoring land cover and land use change over time in disaster impacted areas. Users can use pre- and post-disaster maps to assess the extent of damage, and to make decisions for activities in reconstruction and recovery in infrastructure and health on the ground. LANCE NRT data are made available through the Earth data website and have been archived and visualized in NASA Disasters Mapping Portal, NASA LANCE Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS) and NASA Worldview for the use of stakeholders.
Surface reflectances and their dependency on illumination-view geometries (i.e., BRDF) are the foundation of many high-level satellite products for land and water monitoring. Yet it is difficult to evaluate the quality of satellite-based surface reflectances with ground-based measurements due to the spatial scale differences. In order to fill the gap, here we develop a reference dataset of surface reflectance and BRDF at the global AERONET sites with data streams from operational geostationary sensors including Himawari 8/9 AHI, GK-2A AMI, and GOES 16/17 ABI. Taking the top-of-atmosphere (TOA) reflectance and the site measured atmospheric aerosol optical depth (AOD) as the main inputs, we apply the GeoNEX-AC algorithm to performance accurate atmospheric correction and derive 10-minute surface reflectance and daily Ross-Thick-Li-Sparse (RTLS) BRDF parameters at AERONET sites where coincident AOD measurements and TOA observations are available from 2016 (for Himawari) or 2018 (for GOES) onwards. The algorithm ensures that the retrieved surface BRDF parameters, along with the site-measured AOD, allow the atmospheric radiative transfer model, SHARM, accurately simulate the observed TOA reflectance at diurnal and longer time scales. They are our best estimates of the surface optical properties and thus can serve as the “reference” to evaluate the performance of operational atmospheric correction algorithms (where AOD is assumed unknown and needs to be retrieved). The reference BRDF also allow us to evaluate the spectral band ratios between the SWIR (e.g., 2200 nm) and the visible (e.g., 650 nm) regions, which are commonly used in operational atmospheric correction algorithms. Finally, we demonstrate that the reference dataset can be used to develop potential data synergies between different GEO satellites as well as GEO-LEO sensors.
There are more than 300 million hectares of forested land whithin the conterminious United States essential to sustaining the myriad social/cultural, economic, and ecologic benefits society enjoys from these lands. Nationwide, millions of forested hectares, both private and public, are disappearing functionally and physically throguh serve wildfire fire and land coversion. On many of these lands, management, centered on fire supression, has led to reductions in forest resilience to wildfire. Lands, overstocked with accumulated fuel and faced with a changing climate, are expected to continue this legacy of fire and deteriorating health. A paradigm shift is needed to face the challenges confronting forests and enhance collaborative efforts across multiple foret ownerships. Our ability to leverage emerging technologies and pair them with the knowledge of indigenous peoples presents new opportunities for success. The objectives of this study were to 1) assess the Anchor Forest concept as a framework to leverage collaborative motivations and leadership by indigenous peoples (Tribes) in eastern Washington State to improve forest ecosystem health across legal and political boundaries, 'cross-boundary' management, and 2) demonstrate how the NASA carbon monitoring system (CMS) mapping of products of regional forestland above ground biomass (AGB) density and temporal trends can provide information that supports decisionmakers in their efforts to collaboratively approach improving forest health conditions through management activities.
Study region Lower Mekong River Basin (LMRB) Study focus Satellite remote sensing products are widely used for monitoring droughts. Using NASA satellite sensors of precipitation (Global Measurement Mission, GPM), soil moisture (Soil Moisture Active and Passive, SMAP), and terrestrial water storage (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment, GRACE), this study evaluates the historical drought in the LMRB during 2015–16. SMAP soil moisture was validated against in-situ soil moisture, and GPM precipitation and SMAP soil moisture were cross-validated with streamflow observations. The spatiotemporal dynamics of soil moisture were also examined in different ranges of catchment areas. In performing the analysis, we used lagged correlations between hydrological variables and the indices of the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) and Standardized Streamflow Index (SSI). New hydrological insights for the regions Spatio-temporal patterns of drought in 2015–16 were examined from the entire basin to small watersheds. A mismatch occurs when using GRACE data to study droughts in small watersheds (many of the small watersheds would be a fraction of the few 100 km2 spatial resolutions of GRACE pixel). In smaller watersheds, hydrological drought (SSI) was closely defined with SMAP soil moisture downscaled to 1 km rather than the meteorological drought index (SPI). By leveraging satellite-based observations across a range of spatial scales, this study highlights the utility of Earth observations in informing water resources and land management decisions at the regional scale.
The emerging sector of offshore kelp aquaculture represents an opportunity to produce biofuel feedstock to help meet growing energy demand. Giant kelp represents an attractive aquaculture crop due to its rapid growth and production, however precision farming over large scales is required to make this crop economically viable. These demands necessitate high frequency monitoring to ensure outplant success, maximum production, and optimum quality of harvested biomass, while the long distance from shore and large necessary scales of production makes in person monitoring impractical. Remote sensing offers a practical monitoring solution and nascent imaging technologies could be leveraged to provide daily products of the kelp canopy and subsurface structures over unprecedented spatial scales. Here, we evaluate the efficacy of remote sensing from satellites and aerial and underwater autonomous vehicles as potential monitoring platforms for offshore kelp aquaculture farms. Decadal-scale analyses of the Southern California Bight showed that high offshore summertime cloud cover restricts the ability of satellite sensors to provide high frequency direct monitoring of these farms. By contrast, daily monitoring of offshore farms using sensors mounted to aerial and underwater drones seems promising. Small Unoccupied Aircraft Systems (sUAS) carrying lightweight optical sensors can provide estimates of canopy area, density, and tissue nitrogen content on the time and space scales necessary for observing changes in this highly dynamic species. Underwater color imagery can be rapidly classified using deep learning models to identify kelp outplants on a longline farm and high acoustic returns of kelp pneumatocysts from side scan sonar imagery signal an ability to monitor the subsurface development of kelp fronds. Current sensing technologies can be used to develop additional machine learning and spectral algorithms to monitor outplant health and canopy macromolecular content, however future developments in vehicle and infrastructure technologies are necessary to reduce costs and transcend operational limitations for continuous deployment in an offshore setting.
The Global Water Monitor (GWM) offers surface water-related products for lakes, river reaches and wetland zones. The surface elevation change products are derived from satellite radar altimeters, such as the Jason/Sentinel series, and can span multiple decades. While the current instruments are profiling, they offer surface water height at specific locations, thus contributing to parallel observation of wetland surface water extent. GWM wetland products are “operational” with routine updates within 1-2days of satellite overpass. There is also assurance of product continuity to at least the end of 2030. Currently, the GWM holds products for a small selection (~40) of diverse wetlands for objectives that focus on conservation and water/fisheries resource monitoring. These sites have been requested by various organizations also looking to the effects of climate change and anthropogenic influences. Many of the current GWM wetland regions are in National Parks such as the Everglades (USA), the Wasur (Rep. Indonesia), and the Kakadu marshes (Australia). They also include coastal river deltas of the Danube, Mekong, Amazon, Orinoco and Ganges Rivers, and the internal Okavango Delta in Botswana. The preliminary set also ensures a diverse range of wetlands e.g., the shallow pot-hole lake region of the Sand Hills and the coastal Black Swamp of the USA, the peat fields of Malaysia and rice growing fields of Yilinzhen in China. Extensive wetlands in Brazil (the Pantanal), South Sudan (the Sudd Marshes) and Belarus (the Pinsk) are also featured, as are the mangrove regions of the Sundarbans (India) and the Laguna Terminos (Mexico). The Usangu wetland (Tanzania) is also included, a focus region where wetland ecology strongly competes with demands from irrigation, livestock, and the needs of downstream hydro-electric power. The nadir-pointing altimeter instruments record height variations regardless of vegetation or canopy cover, and height dynamics at 10-day or monthly resolution reveal seasonal and inter-annual variations as well as longer-term declining or re-charging trends. These products provide a unique, multi-decadal data set that can stand-alone or serve with cross-validation or image-fusion efforts.