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At least 721 records · Page 40

Modeling Weather Impact on Airport Arrival Miles-in-Trail Restrictions

When the demand for either a region of airspace or an airport approaches or exceeds the available capacity, miles-in-trail (MIT) restrictions are the most frequently issued traffic management initiatives (TMIs) that are used to mitigate these imbalances. Miles-intrail operations require aircraft in a traffic stream to meet a specific inter-aircraft separation in exchange for maintaining a safe and orderly flow within the stream. This stream of aircraft can be departing an airport, over a common fix, through a sector, on a specific route or arriving at an airport. This study begins by providing a high-level overview of the distribution and causes of arrival MIT restrictions for the top ten airports in the United States. This is followed by an in-depth analysis of the frequency, duration and cause of MIT restrictions impacting the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) from 2009 through 2011. Then, machine-learning methods for predicting (1) situations in which MIT restrictions for ATL arrivals are implemented under low demand scenarios, and (2) days in which a large number of MIT restrictions are required to properly manage and control ATL arrivals are presented. More specifically, these predictions were accomplished by using an ensemble of decision trees with Bootstrap aggregation (BDT) and supervised machine learning was used to train the BDT binary classification models. The models were subsequently validated using data cross validation methods. When predicting the occurrence of arrival MIT restrictions under low demand situations, the model was able to achieve over all accuracy rates ranging from 84% to 90%, with false alarm ratios ranging from 10% to 15%. In the second set of studies designed to predict days on which a high number of MIT restrictions were required, overall accuracy rates of 80% were achieved with false alarm ratios of 20%. Overall, the predictions proposed by the model give better MIT usage information than what has been currently provided under current day operations. Traffic flow managers can use these predictions to identify potential MIT restrictions to eliminate (e.g., those occurring during low arrival demand periods), and to determine the days in which a significant number of restrictions may be required

Operation↗

DeepSAT: A Deep Learning Approach to Tree-Cover Delineation in 1-m NAIP Imagery for the Continental United States

High resolution tree cover classification maps are needed to increase the accuracy of current land ecosystem and climate model outputs. Limited studies are in place that demonstrates the state-of-the-art in deriving very high resolution (VHR) tree cover products. In addition, most methods heavily rely on commercial softwares that are difficult to scale given the region of study (e.g. continents to globe). Complexities in present approaches relate to (a) scalability of the algorithm, (b) large image data processing (compute and memory intensive), (c) computational cost, (d) massively parallel architecture, and (e) machine learning automation. In addition, VHR satellite datasets are of the order of terabytes and features extracted from these datasets are of the order of petabytes. In our present study, we have acquired the National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP) dataset for the Continental United States at a spatial resolution of 1-m. This data comes as image tiles (a total of quarter million image scenes with ~60 million pixels) and has a total size of ~65 terabytes for a single acquisition. Features extracted from the entire dataset would amount to ~8-10 petabytes. In our proposed approach, we have implemented a novel semi-automated machine learning algorithm rooted on the principles of "deep learning" to delineate the percentage of tree cover. Using the NASA Earth Exchange (NEX) initiative, we have developed an end-to-end architecture by integrating a segmentation module based on Statistical Region Merging, a classification algorithm using Deep Belief Network and a structured prediction algorithm using Conditional Random Fields to integrate the results from the segmentation and classification modules to create per-pixel class labels. The training process is scaled up using the power of GPUs and the prediction is scaled to quarter million NAIP tiles spanning the whole of Continental United States using the NEX HPC supercomputing cluster. An initial pilot over the state of California spanning a total of 11,095 NAIP tiles covering a total geographical area of 163,696 sq. miles has produced true positive rates of around 88 percent for fragmented forests and 74 percent for urban tree cover areas, with false positive rates lower than 2 percent for both landscapes.

Imagery↗

Highland Lakes Water Resources: Using NASA Earth Observations to Improve Detection Systems for Harmful Algal Events in the Highland Lakes in Central Texas

Beginning in 2019, harmful algal events in Austin, Texas, caused canine deaths in the Lady Bird Lake and Lake Travis reservoirs. These reservoirs are part of the larger Highland Lakes chain, managed by the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) and the City of Austin Department of Watershed Protection (CoA DWP), which fulfill municipal, commercial, and agricultural water demands. Given the recent increase in favorable algal event conditions in central Texas, the LCRA and CoA DWP partnered with NASA DEVELOP to improve algal event early-warning systems through the application of remote sensing and machine learning. An Earth observation-based algal monitoring system will assist the responsible agencies in predicting algal conditions and communicating hazards to the public. The NASA DEVELOP team utilized Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) and Sentinel-2 Multispectral Instrument (MSI) data to produce products including chlorophyll-a concentrations, cyanobacteria detections, turbidity, and water surface temperature. Chlorophyll-a concentrations were retrieved with a pre-trained machine learning model (mixture density network) and spectral indices, while the other products were derived from spectral indices. In situ field data were used to validate and quantify uncertainties for each product. The validations show strong correlations for chlorophyll-a and water surface temperature. Time series analyses of chlorophyll-a concentrations show peaks in the severe drought years (2015 and 2016). This project's resulting products enable monitoring of environmental proxies relevant to algal event presence in the Highland Lakes chain and will ultimately support water management, decision making, and risk communication.

Kaitlynn Hietpas↗

Simulated Excavation Environment for Lunar Operations

With new pushes to reach and establish long term presences on both the Moon and Mars, significant effort has begun to develop methods of In-Situ Resource Utilization. Many of these methods involve excavation and manipulation of local regolith and, at this time, many of these missions are in the early planning phases. As such, simulations provide both an inexpensive and relatively easy method to perform high level proofs of concept and mission overviews along with an environment to perform machine learning for rovers and other robots. The Simulated Excavation Environment for Lunar Operations (SEELO) was born out of this need for consolidated capabilities. SEELO seeks to provide accurate life mission environments and regolith interaction mechanics while remaining lightweight enough to run in faster than real-time. These combined features allow SEELO to be used for mission planning purposes that offer an environment for lunar robots to perform Machine Learning on moving, digging, and various other activities. Using the Real-Time Development Platform (Unity) to utilize regolith excavation models created by Intelligent Capabilities Enhanced-Regolith Advanced Surface Systems Operations Robot and lunar surface data collected by NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, SEELO has been able to provide NASA with a tool to plan, train, and even devise lunar missions.

Michael DuPuis↗

A Survey Protocol to Assess Meaningfulness and Usefulness of Automated Topic Finding in the NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System

Context: The NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS) is a voluntary confidential aviation safety reporting system. The ASRS receives reports from pilots, air traffic controllers, flight attendants and other involved in aviation operations. The reports are de-identified and coded by ASRS expert safety analysts and a short descriptive synopsis is written to describe the safety issue. The de-identified reports are then disseminated to the aviation community in a number of ways including entry into an online database, Safety Alert Bulletins and For Your Information Notices, and the CALLBACK newsletter. Key to these publications are the timely processing (de-identification, coding and summarization) of new reports, which is currently done by ASRS expert safety analysts. Thus, we believe topic modelling could decrease effort in ASRS, if topics are comprehensible. Aim: We propose a methodology to evaluate whether automated topic finding using topic modelling provides meaningful and useful topics. Method: We extend the total error survey methodology to evaluate user topic comprehension of machine learning outputs. To accomplish this we performed a literature review to identify existing methods and define a construct for topic comprehension, utilizing existing ASRS synopsis writing practices to more precisely define meaningfulness and usefulness. Results: A survey protocol was created that addresses the limitations of other survey protocols found in the literature review, which we found lacking in rationale and clear protocol definition. Conclusion: The surveying of user understanding in machine learning outputs presents challenges due to the explosion of parameters to control for and the lack of systematic approach presented in the literature. More reproducible work and survey protocols are needed in the literature and our work is one step towards that direction.

topic finding↗

Dense Feature Tracking of Atmospheric Winds with Deep Optical Flow

Atmospheric winds are a key physical phenomenon impacting natural hazards, energy transport, ocean currents, large-scale circulation, and ecosystem fluxes. Observing winds is a complex process and presents a large gap in NASA’s Earth Observation System. Atmospheric motion vectors (AMVs) aim to fill this gap by making numerical estimates of cloud movement between sequences of multi-spectral satellite images, tracking clouds and water vapor. Recent imaging hardware and software advancements have enabled the use of numerical optical flow techniques to produce accurate and dense vector fields outperforming traditional methods. This work presents WindFlow as the first machine learning based system for feature tracking atmospheric motion using optical flow. Due to the lack of large-scale satellite-based observations, we leverage high-resolution numerical simulations from NASA's GEOS-5 Nature Run to perform supervised learning and transfer to satellite images. We demonstrate that our approach using deep learning based optical flow scales to ultra-high-resolution images of size 2881x5760 with less than 1 m/s bias and 2.5 m/s average error. Four network and learning architectures are compared and it is found that recurrent all-pairs field transforms (RAFT) produces the lowest errors on all metrics for wind speed and direction. Results on held out numerical outputs shows RAFT's good performance in each of the spatial, temporal, and physical dimensions. A comparison between WindFlow and an operational AMV product against rawinsonde observations show that RAFT transfers across simulations and thermal infrared satellite observations. This work shows that machine learning based optical flow is an efficient approach to generating robust feature tracking for AMVs consistently over large regions.

Atmospheric winds↗

PixelLearn

PixelLearn is an integrated user-interface computer program for classifying pixels in scientific images. Heretofore, training a machine-learning algorithm to classify pixels in images has been tedious and difficult. PixelLearn provides a graphical user interface that makes it faster and more intuitive, leading to more interactive exploration of image data sets. PixelLearn also provides image-enhancement controls to make it easier to see subtle details in images. PixelLearn opens images or sets of images in a variety of common scientific file formats and enables the user to interact with several supervised or unsupervised machine-learning pixel-classifying algorithms while the user continues to browse through the images. The machinelearning algorithms in PixelLearn use advanced clustering and classification methods that enable accuracy much higher than is achievable by most other software previously available for this purpose. PixelLearn is written in portable C++ and runs natively on computers running Linux, Windows, or Mac OS X.

Mazzoni, Dominic↗

NASA NeMO-Net

We present preliminary results from NASA NeMO-Net, the first neural multi-modal observation and training network for global coral reef assessment. NeMO-Net is an open-source deep convolutional neural network (CNN) and interactive active learning training software in development which will assess the present and past dynamics of coral reef ecosystems. NeMO-Net exploits active learning and data fusion of mm-scale remotely sensed 3D images of coral reefs captured using fluid lensing with the NASA FluidCam instrument, presently the highest-resolution remote sensing benthic imaging technology capable of removing ocean wave distortion, as well as hyperspectral airborne remote sensing data from the ongoing NASA CORAL mission and lower-resolution satellite data to determine coral reef ecosystem makeup globally at unprecedented spatial and temporal scales. Aquatic ecosystems, particularly coral reefs, remain quantitatively misrepresented by low- resolution remote sensing as a result of refractive distortion from ocean waves, optical attenuation, and remoteness. Machine learning classification of coral reefs using FluidCam mm-scale 3D data show that present satellite and airborne remote sensing techniques poorly characterize coral reef percent living cover, morphology type, and species breakdown at the mm, cm, and meter scales. Indeed, current global assessments of coral reef cover and morphology classification based on km-scale satellite data alone can suffer from segmentation errors greater than 40%, capable of change detection only on yearly temporal scales and decameter spatial scales, significantly hindering our understanding of patterns and processes in marine biodiversity at a time when these ecosystems are experiencing unprecedented anthropogenic pressures, ocean acidification, and sea surface temperature rise. NeMO-Net leverages our augmented machine learning algorithm that demonstrates data fusion of regional FluidCam (mm, cm-scale) airborne remote sensing with global low-resolution (m, km-scale) airborne and spaceborne imagery to reduce classification errors up to 80% over regional scales. Such technologies can substantially enhance our ability to assess coral reef ecosystems dynamics.

NASA↗

NeMO-Net & Fluid Lensing: The Neural Multi-Modal Observation & Training Network for Global Coral Reef Assessment Using Fluid Lensing Augmentation of NASA EOS Data

We present preliminary results from NASA NeMO-Net, the first neural multi-modal observation and training network for global coral reef assessment. NeMO-Net is an open-source deep convolutional neural network (CNN) and interactive active learning training software in development which will assess the present and past dynamics of coral reef ecosystems. NeMO-Net exploits active learning and data fusion of mm-scale remotely sensed 3D images of coral reefs captured using fluid lensing with the NASA FluidCam instrument, presently the highest-resolution remote sensing benthic imaging technology capable of removing ocean wave distortion, as well as hyperspectral airborne remote sensing data from the ongoing NASA CORAL mission and lower-resolution satellite data to determine coral reef ecosystem makeup globally at unprecedented spatial and temporal scales. Aquatic ecosystems, particularly coral reefs, remain quantitatively misrepresented by low-resolution remote sensing as a result of refractive distortion from ocean waves, optical attenuation, and remoteness. Machine learning classification of coral reefs using FluidCam mm-scale 3D data show that present satellite and airborne remote sensing techniques poorly characterize coral reef percent living cover, morphology type, and species breakdown at the mm, cm, and meter scales. Indeed, current global assessments of coral reef cover and morphology classification based on km-scale satellite data alone can suffer from segmentation errors greater than 40%, capable of change detection only on yearly temporal scales and decameter spatial scales, significantly hindering our understanding of patterns and processes in marine biodiversity at a time when these ecosystems are experiencing unprecedented anthropogenic pressures, ocean acidification, and sea surface temperature rise. NeMO-Net leverages our augmented machine learning algorithm that demonstrates data fusion of regional FluidCam (mm, cm-scale) airborne remote sensing with global low-resolution (m, km-scale) airborne and spaceborne imagery to reduce classification errors up to 80% over regional scales. Such technologies can substantially enhance our ability to assess coral reef ecosystems dynamics.

satellite data↗

High School Citizen Scientists Use AI/ML to Predict Intra-Ocular Pressure From Gene Expression Data for Spaceflown Mice

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) have increasingly become pivotal in biological and biomedical research, largely due to the culture of open data sharing and its associated benefits. The methodologies inherent in AI/ML are particularly adept at identifying and forecasting biological phenotypes from the vast amounts of data generated by next-generation sequencing technologies. These techniques offer substantial promise for advancing research in space biosciences and for the development of automated systems for monitoring space health. Nevertheless, there are crucial aspects to consider when training, validating, and testing machine learning models in both biological research and clinical contexts. It is essential that Open Science principles, including data sharing and the availability of open-source code, are complemented by high-quality, publicly accessible training resources. These resources should focus on best practices and include modules based on real-world scientific cases and data to ensure that future AI/ML practitioners gain practical experience with genuine problems. Addressing this knowledge gap, we have designed, developed, and delivered both interactive and self-paced training programs for citizen scientists worldwide, enabling them to utilize AI/ML for space biology research. This initiative was made possible through generous funding from a Transformation to Open Science Training grant. The interactive training sessions, conducted this summer, utilized AI/ML techniques to analyze data from the Open Science Data Repository, specifically targeting the effects of spaceflight on ocular structure and function. The dataset OSD-583, from the Rodent Research 9 mission, provides experimental data detailing the ocular responses of mice subjected to a 35-day spaceflight, compared with ground control counterparts. Using OSD-583 as observational data, our summer training participants applied AI/ML methods to predict intraocular pressure from RNA-seq data and identify the genes most predictive of the observed responses. Further analysis through pathway enrichment and gene set enrichment revealed that these genes are involved in molecular and cellular processes contributing to retinal degeneration.

James Casaletto↗

QuAIL Tools for Benchmarking, Analysis and Quantum Algorithm Development

HybridQ and PySA are open-source tools developed by NASA to support benchmarking, analysis and quantum algorithm development in areas such as simulation, optimization and machine learning. These tools leverage classical hardware acceleration via high-performance computing CPU and GPU architectures and support high-performance computing. HybridQ is a highly extensible platform designed to provide a common framework to integrate multiple state-of-the-art techniques to simulate large scale quantum circuits. PySA is an extensible platform to optimize a classical cost function. We provide an outline of each of these open-source tools and highlight projects using each of these tools in contexts of simulation, optimization and machine learning.

Quantum Computing↗

Infusion of AI/ML Technology into Operational NASA Data Systems

NASA has been developing a variety of Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning technologies related to Earth Observations. In most cases, the full value of such a technology is realized when it is infused into an operational system. NASA’s Earth Science Data Systems program has been formulating repeatable methods to execute technology infusion. These efforts include the Advancing Collaborative Connections for Earth System Science (ACCESS) program, a Technology Infusion Playbook, and an assemblage of working groups investigating methods for infusion collaboration, community development, and capacity building. ESDS has also been executing a pathfinder activity to infuse a machine-learning-driven recommender of science keywords for Earth Observation datasets, which is intended to be used for metadata curation in the Earth Observation System Data and Information System.

C Lynnes↗

Cognitive Anti-Jamming Satellite-To-Ground Communications on NASA's SCaN Testbed

Machine learning aided cognitive anti-jamming communications is designed, developed and demonstrated on a live satellite-to-ground link. A wideband autonomous cognitive radio (WACR) is designed and implemented as a hardware-in-the- loop (HITL) prototype. The cognitive engine (CE) of the WACR is implemented on a PC while the software-defined radio (SDR) platform utilized two different radios for spectrum sensing and actual communications. The cognitive engine performs spectrum knowledge acquisition over the complete spectrum range available for the SATCOM system operation and learns an anti-jamming communications protocol to avoid both intentional jammers and inadvertent interferers using reinforcement learning. When the current satellite-to-ground link is jammed, the cognitive engine of the ground receiver directs the satellite transmitter to switch to a new channel that is predicted to be jammer-free for the longest possible duration. The end-to-end, closed-loop system was tested on the NASA Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) Testbed on the International Space Station (ISS). The experimental results demonstrated the feasibility of satellite-to-ground cognitive anti-jamming communications along with excellent anti-jamming capability of machine learning aided cognitive protocols against several different types of jammers.

Jayaweera, Sudharman K.↗

Cognitive Anti-jamming Satellite-to-Ground Communications on NASA's SCaN Testbed

Machine learning aided cognitive anti-jamming communications is designed, developed and demonstrated on an experimental satellite-to-ground link. A wideband autonomous cognitive radio (WACR) is designed and implemented as a hardware-in the-loop (HITL) prototype. The cognitive engine (CE) of the WACR is implemented on a PC while the software-defined radio (SDR) platform utilized two different radios for spectrum sensing and actual communications. The cognitive engine performs spectrum knowledge acquisition over the complete spectrum range available for the SATCOM system operation and learns an anti-jamming communications protocol to avoid both intentional jammers and inadvertent interferers using reinforcement learning. When the current satellite-to-ground link is jammed, the cognitive engine of the ground receiver directs the satellite transmitter to switch to a new channel that is predicted to be jammer-free for the longest possible duration. The end-to-end, closed-loop system was tested with the NASA's Space Communications and Networking (SCaN) testbed on the International Space Station (ISS). The experimental results demonstrated the feasibility of satellite-to-ground cognitive anti-jamming communications along with excellent anti-jamming capability of machine-learning aided cognitive protocols against several different types of jammers.

Jayaweera, Sudharman K.↗

Utilizing Convolutional Neural Networks for Global Seagrass Habitat Mapping

Convolutional neural networks (CNNs) are becoming an increasingly prevalent machine learning algorithm due to their high accuracy and lack of reliance on heuristic processes. One of the major drawbacks of convolutional neural networks is their reliance on large amounts of training data in order to generate sensible results. This talk will cover how our team has utilized the strengths and overcome the weaknesses of convolutional neural networks as they apply to seagrass habitat mapping. We will share our technical CNN results over time, detail the requirements and challenges that our team overcame and explore how other teams can better incorporate a stronger seagrass component into their machine learning projects.

Convolutional↗

A Census of Young Stellar Objects in Two Line-of-Sight Star-Forming Regions Toward IRAS 22147+5948 in the Outer Galaxy

Context. Star formation in the outer Galaxy, namely, outside of the Solar circle, has not been extensively studied in part due to the low CO brightness of the molecular clouds linked with the negative metallicity gradient. Recent infrared surveys provide an overview of dust emission in large sections of the Galaxy, but they suffer from cloud confusion and poor spatial resolution at far-infrared wavelengths. Aims. We aim to develop a methodology to identify and classify young stellar objects (YSOs) in star-forming regions in the outer Galaxy and use it to resolve a long-standing disparity in terms of the distance and evolutionary status of IRAS 22147+5948. Methods. We used a support vector machine learning algorithm to complement standard color–color and color–magnitude diagrams in our search for YSOs in the IRAS 22147 region, based on publicly available data from the Spitzer Mapping of the Outer Galaxy survey. The agglomerative hierarchical clustering algorithm was used to identify clusters. Then the physical properties of individual YSOs were calculated. The distances were determined using CO 1–0 from the Five College Radio Astronomy Observatory survey. Results. We identified 13 Class I and 13 Class II YSO candidates using the color–color diagrams, along with an additional 2 and 21 sources, respectively, using the applied machine learning techniques. The spectral energy distributions of 23 sources were modeled with a star and a passive disk, corresponding to Class II objects. The models of three sources include envelopes that are typical for Class I objects. The objects were grouped into two clusters located at a distance of 2:2 kpc and 5 clusters at 5:6 kpc. The spatial extent of CO, radio continuum, and dust emission confirms the origin of YSOs in two distinct star-forming regions along a similar line of sight. Conclusions. The outer Galaxy may serve as a unique laboratory for exploring star formation across environments, on the condition that complementary methods and ancillary data are used to properly account for cloud confusion and distance uncertainties.

Agata Karska↗

New Neural Network Cloud Mask Algorithm Based on Radiative Transfer Simulations

Cloud detection and screening constitute critically important first steps required to derive many satellite data products. Traditional threshold-based cloud mask algorithms require a complicated design process and fine tuning for each sensor, and they have difficulties over areas partially covered with snow/ice. Exploiting advances in machine learning techniques and radiative transfer modeling of coupled environmental systems, we have developed a new, threshold-free cloud mask algorithm based on a neural network classifier driven by extensive radiative transfer simulations. Statistical validation results obtained by using collocated CALIOP and MODIS data show that its performance is consistent over different ecosystems and significantly better than the MODIS Cloud Mask (MOD35 C6) during the winter seasons over snow-covered areas in the mid-latitudes. Simulations using a reduced number of satellite channels also show satisfactory results, indicating its flexibility to be configured for different sensors. Comparedto threshold-based methods and previous machine-learning approaches, this new cloud mask (i) does not rely on thresholds, (ii) needs fewer satellite channels, (iii) has superior performance during winter seasons in mid-latitude areas, and (iv) can easily be applied to different sensors.

cloud mask algorithms↗

Development of Increasingly Autonomous Traffic Data Manager Using Pilot Relevancy and Ranking Data

NASA's Safe Autonomous Systems Operations (SASO) project goal is to define and safely enable all future airspace operations by justifiable and optimal autonomy for advanced air, ground, and connected capabilities. This work showcases how Increasingly Autonomous Systems (IAS) could create operational transformations beneficial to the enhancement of civil aviation safety and efficiency. One such IAS under development is the Traffic Data Manager (TDM). This concept is a prototype 'intelligent party-line' system that would declutter and parse out non-relevant air traffic, displaying only relevant air traffic to the aircrew in a digital data communications (Data Comm) environment. As an initial step, over 22,000 data points were gathered from 31 Airline Transport Pilots to train the machine learning algorithms designed to mimic human experts and expertise. The test collection used an analog of the Navigation Display. Pilots were asked to rate the relevancy of the displayed traffic using an interactive tablet application. Pilots were also asked to rank the order of importance of the information given, to better weight the variables within the algorithm. They were also asked if the information given was enough data, and more importantly the "right" data to best inform the algorithm. The paper will describe the findings and their impact to the further development of the algorithm for TDM and, in general, address the issue of how can we train supervised machine learning algorithms, critical to increasingly autonomous systems, with the knowledge and expertise of expert human pilots.

Le Vie, Lisa R.↗