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At least 955 records · Page 53

FITS data conversion efforts at the Compton Observatory Science Support Center

The Compton Gamma Ray Observatory (CGRO) is an active, earth orbiting satellite consisting of four gamma-ray telescopes. Each telescope is maintained by an independent principal investigator (PI) team, and each PI team has devised separate data formats to handle the needs of their particular instrument. As mandated by NASA, the Compton Observatory Science Support Center (COSSC) intends to archive and distribute PI data to the public in FITS (Flexible Image Transport System) format. To accomplish this task, we at COSSC have been developing a set of general purpose software tools that facilitate the transformation of non-FITS formatted data into FITS format. These tools, known as ToFU (To FITS Utilities), serve as the kernel of our CGRO data conversion software. This presentation describes the problems encountered in transcribing large amounts of data into a standard FITS form and the capabilities of the COSSC-built conversion software designed to perform the transformations.

Jennings, D. G.↗

The EXOSAT database and archive

The EXOSAT database provides on-line access to the results and data products (spectra, images, and lightcurves) from the EXOSAT mission as well as access to data and logs from a number of other missions (such as EINSTEIN, COS-B, ROSAT, and IRAS). In addition, a number of familiar optical, infrared, and x ray catalogs, including the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) guide star catalog are available. The complete database is located at the EXOSAT observatory at ESTEC in the Netherlands and is accessible remotely via a captive account. The database management system was specifically developed to efficiently access the database and to allow the user to perform statistical studies on large samples of astronomical objects as well as to retrieve scientific and bibliographic information on single sources. The system was designed to be mission independent and includes timing, image processing, and spectral analysis packages as well as software to allow the easy transfer of analysis results and products to the user's own institute. The archive at ESTEC comprises a subset of the EXOSAT observations, stored on magnetic tape. Observations of particular interest were copied in compressed format to an optical jukebox, allowing users to retrieve and analyze selected raw data entirely from their terminals. Such analysis may be necessary if the user's needs are not accommodated by the products contained in the database (in terms of time resolution, spectral range, and the finesse of the background subtraction, for instance). Long-term archiving of the full final observation data is taking place at ESRIN in Italy as part of the ESIS program, again using optical media, and ESRIN have now assumed responsibility for distributing the data to the community. Tests showed that raw observational data (typically several tens of megabytes for a single target) can be transferred via the existing networks in reasonable time.

Reynolds, A. P.↗

Model Output Is Data, Too: And Other Futuristic Views

The NASA space science data environment has been undergoing significant changes during the past decade: Data has become significantly more voluminous and more varied. At the same time it became much more openly available to the scientific community. As a result a number of efforts have been made to document the data content at NSSDC/SPDF, PDS, the ISTP program and more recently as part of the newly developing Virtual Observatories. Concurrently, our need to access data has become much more immediate dictating a distributed environment where users can obtain their data directly from the production sites. But where does this change lead? And what more needs to be done to further enable scientific productivity? A view of our data system 5- years in the future will be offered that envisions distributed data processing services whereby the user can obtain the type of data that is needed not necessarily what is produced. Moreover, in an ideal system the means should exist to treat models as instruments allowing the ready mixing of their output with spacecraft generated data.

Szabo, A.↗

Periodic analysis of total ozone and its vertical distribution

Both total ozone and vertical distribution ozone data from the period 1957 to 1972 are analyzed. For total ozone, improved monthly zonal means for both hemispheres are computed by weighting individual station monthly means by a factor which compensates for the close grouping of stations in certain regions of latitude bands. Longitudinal variability show maxima in summer in both hemispheres, but, in winter, only in the Northern Hemisphere. The geographical distributions of the long term mean, and the annual, quasibiennial and semiannual waves in total ozone over the Northern Hemisphere are presented. The extratropical amplitude of the annual wave is by far the largest of the three, as much as 120 m atm cm over northern Siberia. There is a tendency for all three waves to have maxima in high latitudes. Monthly means of the vertical distribution of ozone determined from 3 to 8 years of ozonesonde data over North America are presented. Number density is highest in the Arctic near 18 km. The region of maximum number density slopes upward toward 10 N, where the long term mean is 45 x 10 to the 11th power molecules cm/3 near 26 km.

Wilcox, R. W.↗

An Overview of the Landsat Data Continuity Mission

The advent of the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM), currently with a launch readiness date of December, 2012, will see evolutionary changes in the Landsat data products available from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center. The USGS initiated a revolution in 2009 when EROS began distributing Landsat data products at no cost to requestors in contrast to the past practice of charging the cost of fulfilling a request; that is, charging $600 per Landsat scene. To implement this drastic change, EROS terminated data processing options for requestors and began to produce all data products using a consistent processing recipe. EROS plans to continue this practice for the LDCM and will required new algorithms to process data from the LDCM sensors. All previous Landsat satellites flew multispectral scanners to collect image data of the global land surface. Additionally, Landsats 4, 5, and 7 flew sensors that acquired imagery for both reflective spectral bands and a single thermal band. In contrast, the LDCM will carry two pushbroom sensors; the Operational Land Imager (OLI) for reflective spectral bands and the Thermal InfraRed Sensor (TIRS) for two thermal bands. EROS is developing the ground data processing system that will both calibrate and correct the data from the thousands of detectors employed by the pushbroom sensors and that will also combine the data from the two sensors to create a single data product with registered data for all of the OLI and TIRS bands.

Irons, James R.↗

Application of ERTS-1 imagery to the study of caribou movements and winter dispersal in relation to prevailing snowcover

The author has identified the following significant results. Habitat differentiation was determined feasible using output from MSS band 6 because of apparent high correlations between surface moisture and habitat type on the test area. Progressive early snow distribution was readily determined from MSS outputs, particularly bands 4 and 5. Approximately thirty thousand caribou migrated into the test area during the reporting period, and aerial reconnaissance data on distribution were obtained for selected areas within several days of satellite overflight.

Lent, P. C.↗

Atlas of the global distribution of atmospheric heating during the global weather experiment

Global distributions of atmospheric heating for the annual cycle of the Global Weather Experiment are estimated from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) Level 3b data set. Distributions of monthly, seasonally, and annually averaged heating are presented for isentropic and isobaric layers within the troposphere and for the troposphere as a whole. The distributions depict a large-scale structure of atmospheric heating that appears spatially and temporally consistent with known features of the global circulation and the seasonal evolution.

Schaack, Todd K.↗

The Role of Advanced Information System Technology in Remote Sensing for NASA's Earth Science Enterprise in the 21st Century

Future NASA Earth observing satellites will carry high-precision instruments capable of producing large amounts of scientific data. The strategy will be to network these instrument-laden satellites into a web-like array of sensors to facilitate the collection, processing, transmission, storage, and distribution of data and data products - the essential elements of what we refer to as "Information Technology." Many of these Information Technologies will enable the satellite and ground information systems to function effectively in real-time, providing scientists with the capability of customizing data collection activities on a satellite or group of satellites directly from the ground. In future systems, extremely large quantities of data collected by scientific instruments will require the fastest processors, the highest communication channel transfer rates, and the largest data storage capacity to insure that data flows smoothly from the satellite-based instrument to the ground-based archive. Autonomous systems will control all essential processes and play a key role in coordinating the data flow through space-based communication networks. In this paper, we will discuss those critical information technologies for Earth observing satellites that will support the next generation of space-based scientific measurements of planet Earth, and insure that data and data products provided by these systems will be accessible to scientists and the user community in general.

Prescott, Glenn↗

Openet: Applications of Satellite-Based Evapotranspiration Data for Water Resources Management in the Western United States

Advancing water security in overallocated river basins globally requires consistent and reproducible information on consumptive use of water that can anchor the development of data-driven solutions to the challenge of balancing water supply and demand. OpenET is a fully automated system for field-scale (30 m), satellite-based mapping of evapotranspiration (ET) at daily, monthly and annual timesteps. OpenET currently provides spatially contiguous data throughout the 23 westernmost states in the continental US, and includes both current information as well as multi-year timeseries of ET. The OpenET consortium has implemented an ensemble of satellite-based ET models (ALEXI/DisALEXI, eeMETRIC, PT-JPL, geeSEBAL, SIMS and SSEBop) on Google Earth Engine, which provides a shared computing platform for collaboration on processing of data from Landsat and other satellites, land cover and meteorological inputs, leading to increased consistency and accuracy across the ensemble of models. Earth Engine also facilitates hosting and distribution of data via open data collections and an application programming interface. We provide updates on the OpenET framework, open data services and data access tools, approach to geographic expansion, recent accuracy assessments, and describe how a user-driven design approach has facilitated successful applications of OpenET data for a wide range of water resource management activities. Applications to date include: use of ET data to improve quantification of ET and consumptive use in Oregon, Utah and the Upper Colorado River Basin; streamlining of water use reporting requirements in the California Delta; support for calculation of water budgets for the implementation of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act in California; and integration into decision support tools for irrigation management. The use cases demonstrate how satellite-derived ET data that are easily accessed and seen as broadly accepted can accelerate adoption of innovative water management practices at scale, and support advances in the sustainability of water supplies. Uptake and use of data by the OpenET science community has also led to advances in our understanding of the impacts of landcover change, irrigation intensification and wildfire events on hydrology and the water security.

Applications↗

Temperature distribution in the human body under various conditions of induced hyperthermia

A mathematical model based on heat balance equations was developed for studying temperature distribution in the human body under deep hyperthermia which is often induced in the treatment of malignant tumors. The model yields results which are in satisfactory agreement with experimental data. The distribution of temperature under various conditions of induced hyperthermia, i.e. as a function of water temperature and supply rate, is examined on the basis of temperature distribution curves in various body zones.

Korobko, O. V.↗

Interpretation of planetary radar observations - The relationship between actual and inferred slope distributions

We examined the distribution of surface slopes of a variety of terrestrial surfaces by field measurement, representing surfaces formed by a wide range of processes, and compared the results to planetary radar data. Slope distributions of the measured surfaces differed considerably from the distributions assumed by accepted models of radar scattering. We also used Hagfors' model of radar scattering to predict the return that would be expected from surfaces where two discrete surface types were present within the radar field of view and found that the shapes of the resulting slope distributions differed from those predicted by the Hagfors model for homogeneous surfaces. Together, these results suggest that current methods of determining surface roughness from radar may significantly underestimate the roughness of planetary surfaces and that the derived rms slope can best be used as a qualitative guide to the physical interpretation of actual surface properties.

Mccollom, Thomas M.↗

Sources, losses, and transport of magnetospherically trapped particles.

Trapping, pseudo-trapping, and non-trapping regions within an observed magnetospheric configuration are described. Time averaged proton and electron distributions and available data concerning the alpha particle distribution within the trapping and pseudo-trapping regions are presented. A review of the observational evidence leading to the identification of major sources, losses, and transport of magnetospherically trapped particles is given. Conclusions are summarized and additional suggestions offered on these factors for inner and outer zone protons and electrons. One general result of this review is that much is now known of source, loss, and transport processes, although specific experiments and calculations must still be done. It is shown that the inclusion of pitch angle diffusion processes within the magnetosphere significantly alters the concept of stable trapping and allows a consistent quiescent description of outer zone electrons to be formulated from energies of a few tens of kilovolts to several MeV.

Williams, D. J.↗

X-ray morphology of the Perseus cluster

A measurement of the spatial distribution of the X-ray flux from the Perseus cluster of galaxies is reported. The measurement was made with a one-dimensional X-ray telescope carried by an Aerobee sounding rocket on February 8, 1974. The results are compared with previous X-ray observations and optical measurements of the galaxy distribution. The data show the presence of a luminous feature centered on NGC 1275, considerable emission from extended regions, and a marked asymmetry between the E-W and N-S distributions in the X-ray flux.

Wolff, R. S.↗

Performance of the Landsat-Data Collection System in a Total System Context

The author has identified the following significant results. This experiment was, and continues to be, an integration of the LANDSAT-DCS with the data collection and processing system of the Geological Survey. Although an experimental demonstration, it was a successful integration of a satellite relay system that is capable of continental data collection, and an existing governmental nationwide operational data processing and distributing networks. The Survey's data processing system uses a large general purpose computer with insufficient redundancy for 24-hour a day, 7 day a week operation. This is significant, but soluble obstacle to converting the experimental integration of the system to an operational integration.

Paulson, R. W.↗

The NASA Ocean Data System at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Global change studies require satellite oceanographic observations archived in an active data center. This paper describes the activities of an experimental active oceanographic data archive center specializing in distribution of high-level oceanographic data products produced by research oceanographers from satellite altimeter, scatterometer, and microwave and infrared radiometer measurements. Methods to encourage data sharing practices were developed. Services initiated to help oceanographers conduct research more effectively included rapid delivery of data, reprocessing data sets, subsetting of large data sets, and distribution of multiple data sets on a single medium.

Halpern, David↗

SAR calibration and principal component analysis

Principal components analysis of ideal, complex quadpolarized synthetic aperture data tells us how the information is encoded in the eigenstructure of the data from homogeneous, distributed targets. Comparison with real data indicates distortion of the correlation matrices by system effects. The implications for measurement of the terms in the true correlation matrix are displayed. These are related to how accurately we can make inferences about the products of principle components analysis.

Quegan, S.↗

CINDOC, CSIC, and Spanish R and D

The organizational structure and functional activities of the Spanish Center for Scientific Information and Documentation (CINDOC) are discussed. The library holds 8,500 journals, including all the Spanish scientific journals; 16,000 books and 20 CD-ROM data bases. CINDOC creates and distributes its own data bases that include all the articles published in Spanish scientific journals.

Delaviesca, Rosa↗

Usage of Data-Encoded Web Maps with Client Side Color Rendering for Combined Data Access, Visualization and Modeling Purposes

Current approaches to satellite observation data storage and distribution implement separate visualization and data access methodologies which often leads to the need in time consuming data ordering and coding for applications requiring both visual representation as well as data handling and modeling capabilities. We describe an approach we implemented for a data-encoded web map service based on storing numerical data within server map tiles and subsequent client side data manipulation and map color rendering. The approach relies on storing data using the lossless compression Portable Network Graphics (PNG) image data format which is natively supported by web-browsers allowing on-the-fly browser rendering and modification of the map tiles. The method is easy to implement using existing software libraries and has the advantage of easy client side map color modifications, as well as spatial subsetting with physical parameter range filtering. This method is demonstrated for the ASTER-GDEM elevation model and selected MODIS data products and represents an alternative to the currently used storage and data access methods. One additional benefit includes providing multiple levels of averaging due to the need in generating map tiles at varying resolutions for various map magnification levels. We suggest that such merged data and mapping approach may be a viable alternative to existing static storage and data access methods for a wide array of combined simulation, data access and visualization purposes.

Pliutau, Denis↗