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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2021

The Io GIS Database 1.0: A Proto-Io Planetary Spatial Data Infrastructure

We collected a set of published, higher-order data products of Jupiterʼs volcanic moon Io and assembled them in an ArcGISTM database we are calling the Io GIS Database, version 1.0. The purpose of this database is to collect image, topographic, geologic, and thermal emission data of Io in one geospatially registered location to form the data component of an Io planetary spatial data infrastructure (PSDI). The goals of an Io PSDI are (1) to make higher-order data products more accessible and usable to the broader planetary science community, particularly to new scientists that were not associated with the projects that obtained the data; (2) to enable new scientific studies with the data; and (3) to create a tool to support observation planning for future Io-focused planetary missions. In this paper we describe the motivation behind our project, discuss the data sets acquired for this first version of the database, and demonstrate how they can be used. We conclude with a discussion of how our database relates to other PSDIs, our plans for future updates, and a request for additional Io data sets.

David A Williams↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Global Carbon Consumption Database for Wildland Fire

Fire plays a significant role on both national and global scales, profoundly impacting landscapes shaped by human activity as well as those left wild. Even though fire can be devastating, wildland fire is a natural and integral force on our landscapes. Fires can also serve to reduce fuels to mitigate wildfire risk and maintain healthy ecosystem functions. However, the smoke produced by fires, regardless of their size or purpose, can pose adverse effects on human health when inhaled downwind. Understanding the influence of smoke on air quality and human well-being necessitates the quantification of emissions that fires release into the atmosphere. In response to this need, we have established a comprehensive global consumption database directly linked to distinct fuels within various fire danger categories. This database, featuring a spatial resolution of approximately 300 meters, builds upon the foundations of the Pettinari, M. Lucrecia (2015) Global Fuelbed database, a global fuel map with standardized Fuel Characteristic Classification System (FCCS) biomass parameters. Consumption is broken down into five Fire Danger categories (Low, Moderate, High, Very High, Extreme), for both ‘new’ and ‘residual’ burning scenarios. We define ‘residual burned area’ as area burning in a region that has burned on a previous day for the same fire season, and ‘new burned area’ as area burning in a region that has not recently burned. This product serves as a valuable tool when used in conjunction with burned area data to rapidly estimate the carbon consumed and released into the atmosphere. Previously, we developed a similar emissions method utilizing satellite information, in conjunction with the FCCS 30-meter United States fuelbed dataset. We implemented this approach on fires, documented during the 2019 Fire Influence on Regional to Global Environments and Air Quality (FIREX-AQ) campaign to estimate daily carbon emissions. Our emissions estimates were rigorously compared against in-situ measurements of CO2, CO, and black carbon aerosols, revealing a robust agreement between the two datasets.

Emily Gargulinski↗
NASA NTRS2011

Numerical Model Sensitivity to Heterogeneous Satellite Derived Vegetation Roughness

The sensitivity of a mesoscale weather prediction model to a 1 km satellite-based vegetation roughness initialization is investigated for a domain within the south central United States. Three different roughness databases are employed: i) a control or standard lookup table roughness that is a function only of land cover type, ii) a spatially heterogeneous roughness database, specific to the domain, that was previously derived using a physically based procedure and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) imagery, and iii) a MODIS climatologic roughness database that like (i) is a function only of land cover type, but possesses domain specific mean values from (ii). The model used is the Weather Research and Forecast Model (WRF) coupled to the Community Land Model within the Land Information System (LIS). For each simulation, a statistical comparison is made between modeled results and ground observations within a domain including Oklahoma, Eastern Arkansas, and Northwest Louisiana during a 4-day period within IHOP 2002. Sensitivity analysis compares the impact the three roughness initializations on time-series temperature, precipitation probability of detection (POD), average wind speed, boundary layer height, and turbulent kinetic energy (TKE). Overall, the results indicate that, for the current investigation, replacement of the standard look-up table values with the satellite-derived values statistically improves model performance for most observed variables. Such natural roughness heterogeneity enhances the surface wind speed, PBL height and TKE production up to 10 percent, with a lesser effect over grassland, and greater effect over mixed land cover domains.

Jasinski, Michael↗
DOE OSTI2024

Estimating irrigation water use from remotely sensed evapotranspiration data: Accuracy and uncertainties at field, water right, and regional scales

Irrigated agriculture is the dominant user of water globally, but most water withdrawals are not monitored or reported. As a result, it is largely unknown when, where, and how much water is used for irrigation. Here, we evaluated the ability of remotely sensed evapotranspiration (ET) data, integrated with other datasets, to calculate irrigation water withdrawals and applications in an intensively irrigated portion of the United States. We compared irrigation calculations based on an ensemble of satellite-driven ET models from OpenET with reported groundwater withdrawals from hundreds of farmer irrigation application records and a statewide flowmeter database at three spatial scales (field, water right group, and management area). At the field scale, we found that ET-based calculations of irrigation agreed best with reported irrigation when the OpenET ensemble mean was aggregated to the growing season timescale (bias = 1.6–4.9%, R 2 = 0.53–0.74), and agreement between calculated and reported irrigation was better for multi-year averages than for individual years. At the water right group scale, linking pumping wells to specific irrigated fields was the primary source of uncertainty. At the management area scale, calculated irrigation exhibited similar temporal patterns as flowmeter data but tended to be positively biased with more interannual variability. Disagreement between calculated and reported irrigation was strongly correlated with annual precipitation, and calculated and reported irrigation agreed more closely after statistically adjusting for annual precipitation. The selection of an ET model was also an important consideration, as variability across ET models was larger than the potential impacts of conservation measures employed in the region. From these results, we suggest key practices for working with ET-based irrigation data that include accurately accounting for changes in soil moisture, deep percolation, and runoff; careful verification of irrigated area and well-field linkages; and conducting application-specific evaluations of uncertainty.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS1986

International Symposium on Remote Sensing of Environment, 19th, Ann Arbor, MI, October 21-25, 1985, Proceedings. Volumes 1 & 2

The technology and applications of terrestrial remote sensing (RS) are discussed in reviews and reports. Topics examined include the future of the NASA earth-sciences program, NOAA plans for earth observations in the 1990s, space RS in France, international coordination of RS satellite programs, and applications of geocoded imagery. Consideration is given to spatial and tabular databases for order-three soil surveys, an AVHRR and Landsat regional inventory of irrigated agriculture, classification of wetlands, microwave radiometry of ocean surface winds and sea ice, and floodplain land-cover mapping with Thematic-Mapper data.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1985

The 19th International Symposium on Remote Sensing of Environment. Proceedings, Volume 1

The technology and applications of terrestrial remote sensing (RS) are discussed in reviews and reports. Topics examined include the future of the NASA earth-sciences program, NOAA plans for earth observations in the 1990s, space RS in France, international coordination of RS satellite programs, and applications of geocoded imagery. Consideration is given to spatial and tabular databases for order-three soil surveys, an AVHRR and Landsat regional inventory of irrigated agriculture, classification of wetlands, microwave radiometry of ocean surface winds and sea ice, and floodplain land-cover mapping with Thematic-Mapper data.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1990

Global digital topography mapping with a synthetic aperture scanning radar altimeter

Global digital topography data of the land surface is of importance in a variety of geoscientific and application disciplines. Such a database, with a spatial resolution of 150 to 500 m and height accuracy of 5 m or better can be acquired from an orbiting platform using a synthetic aperture scanning radar altimeter. Near-global coverage can be achieved within 14 days from an orbiting platform in a polar or near-polar orbit.

Elachi, C.↗
NASA NTRS2000

TRMM Surface Backscatter Measurements - Temporal and Spatial Analysis: Inter-Comparison with NSCAT

Global rainfall is the primary redistributor of earth's energy by the process of latent heat release. This forms the main driving force for the tropical circulation, which in turn impacts the global circulation .through transient events-such as El Nino. Hence, more precise and long-term time series of the rainfall and its variability is crucial to the understanding and prediction of the global climate and climate change. The Precipitation Radar (PR) abroad the US/Japan Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) is the first radar ever launched into space that measures detailed vertical profiles of rain intensity over the tropics. One of the challenges in estimating rainfall from spaceborne radars is the presence of attenuation at frequencies, such as 14 GHz of the TRMM PR and future planned systems at this and higher frequencies. A common approach in current rainfall retrieval algorithms is to employed the path integrated attenuation (PIA) as a constraint to the retrieval, and hence overcome errors in the radar calibration or in the assumed rainfall parameters. PIA can either be derived from a radiometer or from the surface reference technique, in which a clear air radar measurement is compared with the measurement in the raining area. The current TRMM 2A21 PIA data product makes use of both a temporal and spatial clear air database for comparison to rainy measurements. In this paper we present results from analysis of TRMM surface backscatter cross-section (sigmaO) measurements from Nov 97-Feb99, and a comparison with sigmaO measurements obtained by the NASA Scatterometer (NSCAT) between Sept96-June97. Measurements for a given month from both instruments are compiled on a 1 deg. (lat.) x 1 deg. (lon.) x 1 hr. grid. This enables TRMM--NSCAT comparison and the investigation of seasonal and diurnal trends in both data sets. From preliminary analysis of TRMM sigmaO's we have decided not to treat the ocean as a single homogeneous region but to select a number of ocean sub-regions and individually analyze their trends. Likewise, and in a similar approach to previous studies of Seasat over-land data, we have selected a number of over-land regions for study. From said sigmaO maps and regional trend analysis we investigate possible sources of trends and variability. In addition, we study the effects of TRMM PR sensitivity through the PR "possible rain" class. Given NSCAT's inability to flag rain contaminated measurements we are able to gauge the impact of rain contamination on NSCAT monthly sigmaO maps, using TRMM measurements. The research described in this paper was carried out by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), U.S.A.

Im, Eastwood↗
NASA NTRS1994

Representing spatial information in a computational model for network management

While currently available relational database management systems (RDBMS) allow inclusion of spatial information in a data model, they lack tools for presenting this information in an easily comprehensible form. Computer-aided design (CAD) software packages provide adequate functions to produce drawings, but still require manual placement of symbols and features. This project has demonstrated a bridge between the data model of an RDBMS and the graphic display of a CAD system. It is shown that the CAD system can be used to control the selection of data with spatial components from the database and then quickly plot that data on a map display. It is shown that the CAD system can be used to extract data from a drawing and then control the insertion of that data into the database. These demonstrations were successful in a test environment that incorporated many features of known working environments, suggesting that the techniques developed could be adapted for practical use.

Blaisdell, James H.↗
NASA NTRS1999

Is the spatial distribution of brain lesions associated with closed-head injury predictive of subsequent development of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder? Analysis with brain-image database

PURPOSE: To determine whether there is an association between the spatial distribution of lesions detected at magnetic resonance (MR) imaging of the brain in children after closed-head injury and the development of secondary attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Data obtained from 76 children without prior history of ADHD were analyzed. MR images were obtained 3 months after closed-head injury. After manual delineation of lesions, images were registered to the Talairach coordinate system. For each subject, registered images and secondary ADHD status were integrated into a brain-image database, which contains depiction (visualization) and statistical analysis software. Using this database, we assessed visually the spatial distributions of lesions and performed statistical analysis of image and clinical variables. RESULTS: Of the 76 children, 15 developed secondary ADHD. Depiction of the data suggested that children who developed secondary ADHD had more lesions in the right putamen than children who did not develop secondary ADHD; this impression was confirmed statistically. After Bonferroni correction, we could not demonstrate significant differences between secondary ADHD status and lesion burdens for the right caudate nucleus or the right globus pallidus. CONCLUSION: Closed-head injury-induced lesions in the right putamen in children are associated with subsequent development of secondary ADHD. Depiction software is useful in guiding statistical analysis of image data.

NASA Discipline Neuroscience↗
DOE OSTI2025

PV Degradation Modeling: Applying Geospatial Workflows with "PVDeg"

Accurate degradation modeling is essential for predicting photovoltaic (PV) module performance, estimating longevity and informing design decisions. With degradation rates varying significantly by location, geospatial analysis is critical for PV and broader applications, such as agrivoltaics, weathering and environmental data analysis. This work presents PVDeg, an open-source tool designed for geospatial degradation analysis. PVDeg integrates meteorological data from global sources, including the National Solar Radiation Database (NSRDB) and Photovoltaic Geographical Information System (PVGIS), with degradation models. The toolkit enables users to customize geospatial workflows by integrating weather data, material parameters, and user-defined Python functions. It facilitates accelerated downloads of NSRDB and PVGIS datasets and optimizes geospatial point selection to preserve data density in regions of interest. Additionally, PVDeg provides a local database for storage and spatial queries, supporting large-scale analyses without the need for high-performance computing (HPC) resources. PVDeg provides a foundational workflow that extends its utility beyond PV applications, enabling researchers to analyze geospatial processes across discipline.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2025

Carbon Storage Technical Viability Approach (CS TVA) Data Availability Results Database

The Carbon Storage Technical Viability Approach (CS TVA) Data Availability Results Database v1.0 is the output of a data availability assessment workflow that was developed by NETL to create a tool for spatial data availability assessment. This results database is the output of the first version of the workflow performed on the data with the CS TVA Database v2.0.

carbon storage↗
NASA NTRS2000

Visual detection of spatial contrast patterns: evaluation of five simple models

The ModelFest Phase One dataset is a collection of luminance contrast thresholds for 43 two-dimensional monochromatic spatial patterns confined to an area of approximately two by two degrees. These data were collected by a collaboration among twelve laboratories, and were designed to provide a common database for calibration and testing of spatial vision models. Here I report fits of the ModelFest data with five models: Peak Contrast, Contrast Energy, Generalized Energy, a Gabor Channels model, and a Discrete Cosine Transform model. The Gabor Channels model provides the best fit, though the other, simpler models, with the exception of Peak Contrast, provide remarkably good fits as well. Though there are clear individual differences, regularities in the data suggest the possibility of constructing a standard observer for spatial vision. c2000 Optical Society of America.

NASA Discipline Space Human Factors↗
NASA NTRS1979

Exploration into technical procedures for vertical integration

Issues in the design and use of a digital geographic information system incorporating landuse, zoning, hazard, LANDSAT, and other data are discussed. An eleven layer database was generated. Issues in spatial resolution, registration, grid versus polygonal structures, and comparison of photointerpreted landuse to LANDSAT land cover are examined.

Michel, R. J.↗
NASA NTRS1998

Environmental Remote Sensing: New Development and Applications

The term 'scale', both in space and time, is central to remote sensing and geographic information systems (GIS). The emergency and widespread use of GIS technologies, including remote sensing, has generated interest in addressing scale as generic Issue, and in the development and implementation of techniques for dealing explicitly with the vicissitudes of scale as a multidisciplinary issue. Traditionally, the paper map has been used as the primary conveyor of 'scale', represented by the ratio between the distance as measured between pairs of points on the map and distance as measured between the same pairs of points on the Earth's surface. GIS and remote sensing, however, have expanded upon the paper map and now provide opportunities for representing multiscale representations; that is databases or models that contain spatial and temporal data that have been obtained and stored at different scales.

Quattrochi, Dale A.↗
NASA NTRS2015

Introducing GFWED: The Global Fire Weather Database

The Canadian Forest Fire Weather Index (FWI) System is the mostly widely used fire danger rating system in the world. We have developed a global database of daily FWI System calculations, beginning in 1980, called the Global Fire WEather Database (GFWED) gridded to a spatial resolution of 0.5 latitude by 2-3 longitude. Input weather data were obtained from the NASA Modern Era Retrospective-Analysis for Research and Applications (MERRA), and two different estimates of daily precipitation from rain gauges over land. FWI System Drought Code calculations from the gridded data sets were compared to calculations from individual weather station data for a representative set of 48 stations in North, Central and South America, Europe, Russia,Southeast Asia and Australia. Agreement between gridded calculations and the station-based calculations tended to be most different at low latitudes for strictly MERRA based calculations. Strong biases could be seen in either direction: MERRA DC over the Mato Grosso in Brazil reached unrealistically high values exceeding DCD1500 during the dry season but was too low over Southeast Asia during the dry season. These biases are consistent with those previously identified in MERRAs precipitation, and they reinforce the need to consider alternative sources of precipitation data. GFWED can be used for analyzing historical relationships between fire weather and fire activity at continental and global scales, in identifying large-scale atmosphereocean controls on fire weather, and calibration of FWI-based fire prediction models.

bias↗
NASA NTRS1997

Managing Data in a GIS Environment

A Geographic Information System (GIS) is a computer-based system that enables capture, modeling, manipulation, retrieval, analysis and presentation of geographically referenced data. A GIS operates in a dynamic environment of spatial and temporal information. This information is held in a database like any other information system, but performance is more of an issue for a geographic database than a traditional database due to the nature of the data. What distinguishes a GIS from other information systems is the spatial and temporal dimensions of the data and the volume of data (several gigabytes). Most traditional information systems are usually based around tables and textual reports, whereas GIS requires the use of cartographic forms and other visualization techniques. Much of the data can be represented using computer graphics, but a GIS is not a graphics database. A graphical system is concerned with the manipulation and presentation of graphical objects whereas a GIS handles geographic objects that have not only spatial dimensions but non-visual, i e., attribute and components. Furthermore, the nature of the data on which a GIS operates makes the traditional relational database approach inadequate for retrieving data and answering queries that reference spatial data. The purpose of this paper is to describe the efficiency issues behind storage and retrieval of data within a GIS database. Section 2 gives a general background on GIS, and describes the issues involved in custom vs. commercial and hybrid vs. integrated geographic information systems. Section 3 describes the efficiency issues concerning the management of data within a GIS environment. The paper ends with a summary of the main concerns of this paper.

Beltran, Maria↗