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At least 1,063 records · Page 59

Airborne Spectral BRDF of Various Surface Types (Ocean, Vegetation, Snow, Desert, Wetlands, Cloud Decks, Smoke Layers) for Remote Sensing Applications

In this paper we describe measurements of the bidirectional reflectance-distribution function (BRDF) acquired over a 30-year period (1984-2014) by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA's) Cloud Absorption Radiometer (CAR). Our BRDF database encompasses various natural surfaces that are representative of many land cover or ecosystem types found throughout the world. CAR's unique measurement geometry allows a comparison of measurements acquired from different satellite instruments with various geometrical configurations, none of which are capable of obtaining such a complete and nearly instantaneous BRDF. This database is therefore of great value in validating many satellite sensors and assessing corrections of reflectances for angular effects. These data can also be used to evaluate the ability of analytical models to reproduce the observed directional signatures, to develop BRDF models that are suitable for sub-kilometer-scale satellite observations over both homogeneous and heterogeneous landscape types, and to test future spaceborne sensors. All of these BRDF data are publicly available and accessible in hierarchical data format (http:car.gsfc.nasa.gov/).

albedo↗

Mobile Device Application for Monitoring Cyanobacteria Harmful Algal Blooms Using Sentinel-3 Satellite Ocean and Land Colour Instruments

Cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms (cyanoHAB) cause human and ecological health problems in lakes worldwide. The timely distribution of satellite-derived cyanoHAB data is necessary for adaptive water quality management and for targeted deployment of water quality monitoring resources. Software platforms that permit timely, useful, and cost-effective delivery of information from satellites are required to help managers respond to cyanoHABs. The Cyanobacteria Assessment Network (CyAN) mobile device application (app) uses data from the European Space Agency Copernicus Sentinel-3 satellite Ocean and Land Colour Instrument (OLCI) in near real-time to make initial water quality assessments and quickly alert managers to potential problems and emerging threats related to cyanobacteria. App functionality and satellite data were validated with 25 state health advisories issued in 2017. The CyAN app provides water quality managers with a user-friendly platform that reduces the complexities associated with accessing satellite data to allow fast, efficient, initial assessments across lakes.

Harmful Algal Bloom↗

Earth Science and Weather Research: A Satellite’s View of Our Dynamic Planet

The earth and its phenomena affect every aspect of our daily lives. NASA satellite earth observation platforms make it possible for earth scientists to develop detection algorithms, improve prediction, and understand the climatologies of earth phenomena even in places where traditional observations are inconsistent or unavailable, and use these observations to monitor our changing Earth system. NASA is committed to making its data open and accessible to the public. Learn how to access NASA’s earth observation data for your community and around the world, and ways to engage your community to learn more about understanding and conserving our dynamic home planet.

Sarah D Bang↗

Expanding Access to Science Participation: A FAIR Framework for Petascale Data Visualization and Analytics

The massive data generated by scientists daily serve as both a major catalyst for new discoveries and innovations, as well as a significant roadblock that restricts access to the data. Here, our paper introduces a new approach to removing Big Data barriers and democratizing access to petascale data for the broader scientific community. Our novel data fabric abstraction layer allows user-friendly querying of scientific information while hiding the complexities of dealing with file systems or cloud services. We enable FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable) access to datasets such as NASA’s petascale climate datasets. Our paper presents an approach to managing, visualizing, and analyzing petabytes of data within a browser on equipment ranging from the top NASA supercomputer to commodity hardware like a laptop. Our novel data fabric abstraction utilizes state-of-the art progressive compression algorithms and machine-learning insights to power scalable visualization dashboards for petascale data. The result provides users with the ability to identify extreme events or trends dynamically, expanding access to scientific data and further enabling discoveries. We validate our approach by improving the ability of climate scientists to visually explore their data via three fully interactive dashboards. We further validate our approach by deploying the dashboards and simplified training materials in the classroom at a minority-serving institution. These dashboards, released in simplified form to the general public, contribute significantly to a broader push to democratize the access and use of climate data.

Computer science↗

Globe Teachers Guide and Photographic Data on the Web

The task of managing the GLOBE Online Teacher s Guide during this time period focused on transforming the technology behind the delivery system of this document. The web application transformed from a flat file retrieval system to a dynamic database access approach. The new methodology utilizes Java Server Pages (JSP) on the front-end and an Oracle relational database on the backend. This new approach allows users of the web site, mainly teachers, to access content efficiently by grade level and/or by investigation or educational concept area. Moreover, teachers can gain easier access to data sheets and lab and field guides. The new online guide also included updated content for all GLOBE protocols. The GLOBE web management team was given documentation for maintaining the new application. Instructions for modifying the JSP templates and managing database content were included in this document. It was delivered to the team by the end of October, 2003. The National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) continued to manage the school study site photos on the GLOBE website. 333 study site photo images were added to the GLOBE database and posted on the web during this same time period for 64 schools. Documentation for processing study site photos was also delivered to the new GLOBE web management team. Lastly, assistance was provided in transferring reference applications such as the Cloud and LandSat quizzes and Earth Systems Online Poster from NGDC servers to GLOBE servers along with documentation for maintaining these applications.

Kowal, Dan↗

Data acquisition for a real time fault monitoring and diagnosis knowledge-based system for space power system

The design and implementation of the real-time data acquisition and processing system employed in the AMPERES project is described, including effective data structures for efficient storage and flexible manipulation of the data by the knowledge-based system (KBS), the interprocess communication mechanism required between the data acquisition system and the KBS, and the appropriate data acquisition protocols for collecting data from the sensors. Sensor data are categorized as critical or noncritical data on the basis of the inherent frequencies of the signals and the diagnostic requirements reflected in their values. The critical data set contains 30 analog values and 42 digital values and is collected every 10 ms. The noncritical data set contains 240 analog values and is collected every second. The collected critical and noncritical data are stored in separate circular buffers. Buffers are created in shared memory to enable other processes, i.e., the fault monitoring and diagnosis process and the user interface process, to freely access the data sets.

Wilhite, Larry D.↗

Comprehensive Non-Destructive Conservation Documentation of Lunar Samples Using High-Resolution Image-Based 3D Reconstructions and X-Ray CT Data

Established contemporary conservation methods within the fields of Natural and Cultural Heritage encourage an interdisciplinary approach to preservation of heritage material (both tangible and intangible) that holds "Outstanding Universal Value" for our global community. NASA's lunar samples were acquired from the moon for the primary purpose of intensive scientific investigation. These samples, however, also invoke cultural significance, as evidenced by the millions of people per year that visit lunar displays in museums and heritage centers around the world. Being both scientifically and culturally significant, the lunar samples require a unique conservation approach. Government mandate dictates that NASA's Astromaterials Acquisition and Curation Office develop and maintain protocols for "documentation, preservation, preparation and distribution of samples for research, education and public outreach" for both current and future collections of astromaterials. Documentation, considered the first stage within the conservation methodology, has evolved many new techniques since curation protocols for the lunar samples were first implemented, and the development of new documentation strategies for current and future astromaterials is beneficial to keeping curation protocols up to date. We have developed and tested a comprehensive non-destructive documentation technique using high-resolution image-based 3D reconstruction and X-ray CT (XCT) data in order to create interactive 3D models of lunar samples that would ultimately be served to both researchers and the public. These data enhance preliminary scientific investigations including targeted sample requests, and also provide a new visual platform for the public to experience and interact with the lunar samples. We intend to serve these data as they are acquired on NASA's Astromaterials Acquisistion and Curation website at http://curator.jsc.nasa.gov/. Providing 3D interior and exterior documentation of astromaterial samples addresses the increasing demands for accessability to data and contemporary techniques for documentation, which can be realized for both current collections as well as future sample return missions.

Blumenfeld, E. H.↗

An overview of data tools for representing and managing building information and performance data

Building information modeling (BIM) has been widely adopted for representing and exchanging building data across disciplines during building design and construction. However, BIM's use in the building operation phase is limited. With the increasing deployment of low-cost sensors and meters, as well as affordable digital storage and computing technologies, growing volumes of data have been collected from buildings, their energy services systems, and occupants. Such data are crucial to help decision makers understand what, how, and when energy is consumed in buildings—a critical step to improving building performance for energy efficiency, demand flexibility, and resilience. However, practical analyses and use of the collected data are very limited due to various reasons, including poor data quality, ad-hoc representation of data, and lack of data science skills. To unlock value from building data, there is a strong need for a toolchain to curate and represent building information and performance data in common standardized terminologies and schemas, to enable interoperability between tools and applications. This study selected and reviewed 24 data tools based on common use cases of data across the building life cycle, from design to construction, commissioning, operation, and retrofits. The selected data tools are grouped into three categories: (1) data dictionary or terminology, (2) data ontology and schemas, and (3) data platforms. The data are grouped into ten typologies covering most types of data collected in buildings. This study resulted in five main findings: (1) most data representation tools can represent their intended data typologies well, such as Green Button for smart meter data and Brick schema for metadata of sensors in buildings and HVAC systems, but none of the tools cover all ten types of data; (2) there is a need for data schemas to represent the basis of design data and metadata of occupant data; (3) standard terminologies such as those defined in BEDES are only adopted in a few data tools; (4) integrating data across various stages in the building life cycle remains a challenge; and (5) most data tools were developed and maintained by different parties for different purposes, their flexibility and interoperability can be improved to support broader use cases. Finally, recommendations for future research on building data tools are provided for the data and buildings community based on the FAIR principles to make data Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

Ultrahigh-resolution mass spectrometry data associated with the manuscript “A functional microbiome catalog crowdsourced from North American rivers"

This data package is associated with the publication “A functional microbiome catalog crowdsourced from North American rivers” submitted to Nature (Borton et al., 2024); (https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.07.22.550117v1). Predicting elemental cycles and maintaining water quality under increasing anthropogenic influence requires understanding the spatial drivers of river microbiomes. However, the unifying microbial determinants governing river biogeochemistry are hindered by a lack of genome-resolved functional insights and sampling across multiple rivers. Here we employed a community science effort to accelerate the sampling of river microbiomes to create the Genome Resolved Open Watersheds database (GROWdb). GROWdb is a publicly available resource that paves the way for watershed predictive modeling and microbiome-based management practices. This resource profiled the identity, distribution, function, and expression of thousands of microbial genomes across rivers covering 90% of United States watersheds. We identified the most cosmopolitan microbiome members, while also revealing local drivers of strain endemism across ecological dimensions. We provide the first evidence that microbial functional trait expression followed the tenets of the River Continuum Concept, suggesting the structure and function of river microbiomes is predictable. The Fourier-transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FTICR-MS) data were one of many different data types used in establishing the ecological dimensions along which different microbes were detected .This data package only contains the processed FTICR-MS data associated with this manuscript; all other data is accessible via Zenodo (https://zenodo.org/records/8173287), GitHub (https://github.com/jmikayla1991/Genome-Resolved-Open-Watersheds-database-GROWdb), KBase (https://doi.org/10.25982/109073.30/1895615), and NCBI via Bioproject PRJNA946291.This dataset consists of (1) a file-level metadata (flmd) file; (2) a data dictionary (dd) file; (3) a readme; (4) three Fourier-transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FTICR-MS) processed data files (a ‘data’ file containing peak-by-sample observations, a ‘mol’ file containing peak metadata, and a transformation profile containing transformation-by-sample observations). All files are .csv or .pdf.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Altimeter Data for Operational Use in the Marine Environment

TOPEX/Poseidon has been collecting altimeter data continuously since October 1992. Altimeter data have been used to produce maps of sea surface height, geostrophic velocity, significant wave height, and wind speed. This information is of proven use to mariners as well as to the scientific community. Uses of the data include commercial and recreational vessel routing, ocean acoustics, input to geographic information systems developed for the fishing industry, identification of marine mammal habitats, fisheries management, and monitoring ocean debris. As with sea surface temperature data from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) in the late 1980s and early 1990s, altimeter data from TOPEX/Poseidon and ERS-1 and -2 are in the process of being introduced to the marine world for operational maritime use. It is anticipated that over the next few years companies that specialize in producing custom products for shipping agencies, fisheries and yacht race competitors will be incorporating altimeter data into their products. The data are also being incorporated into weather and climate forecasts by operational agencies both in the US and Europe. This paper will discuss these products, their uses, operational demonstrations and means of accessing the data.

Digby, Susan↗

A-Train Data Depot: Integrating, Visualizing, and Extracting Cloudsat, CALIPSO, MODIS, and AIRS Atmospheric Measurements Along the A-Train Tracks

The succession of US and international Earth observing satellites that follow each other, seconds to minutes apart, across the local afternoon equator crossing is called the ATrain. The A-Train consists of the following satellites, in order of equator crossing: OCO, EOS Aqua, CloudSat, CALIPSO, PARASOL, and EOS Aura. Flying in such formation increases the number of observations, validates observations, and enables coordination between science observations, resulting in a more complete virtual science platform (Kelly, 2000). The goal of this project is to create the first ever A-Train virtual data portal/center, the A-Train Data Depot (ATDD), to process, archive, access, visualize, analyze and correlate distributed atmosphere measurements from various A-Train instruments along A-Train tracks. The ATDD will enable the free movement of remotely located A-Train data so that they are combined to create a consolidated vertical view of the Earth's Atmosphere along the A-Train tracks. Once the infrastructure of the ATDD is in place, it will be easily evolved to serve data from all A-Train data measurements: one stop shopping. The innovative approach of analyzing and visualizing atmospheric profiles along the platforms track (i.e., time) will be accommodated by reusing the GSFC Atmospheric Composition Data and Information Services Center (ACDISC) visualization and analysis tool, GIOVANNI, existing data reduction tools, on-line archiving for fast data access, access to remote data without unnecessary data transfers, and data retrieval by users finding data desirable for further study. Initial measurements utilized include CALIPSO lidar backscatter, CloudSat radar reflectivity, clear air relative humidity, water vapor and temperature from AIRS, and cloud properties and aerosols from both MODIS. This will be foilowed by associated measurements from TVILS, =MI, HIRDLS, sad TES. Given the independent nature of instrumentlplatform development, the ATDD project has been met with many interesting challenges that, once resolved, will provide a much greater understanding of the relative flight dynamics and data co-registration of the suite of A-Train instruments, thus greatly increasing the accuracy of A-Train data analysis. Some of these challenges will be illustrated and discussed. The project's early visualizations and analysis efforts illustrate the importance of managing data so that measurements from various missions can be combined to enhance the understanding of the atmosphere. A-Train data management coordination, as performed here, is extremely significant in facilitating the A-Train science of clouds, precipitation, aerosol and chemistry.

Kempler, Steven↗

High-Altitude MMIC Sounding Radiometer for the Global Hawk Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

Microwave imaging radiometers operating in the 50-183 GHz range for retrieving atmospheric temperature and water vapor profiles from airborne platforms have been limited in the spatial scales of atmospheric structures that are resolved not because of antenna aperture size, but because of high receiver noise masking the small variations that occur on small spatial scales. Atmospheric variability on short spatial and temporal scales (second/ km scale) is completely unresolved by existing microwave profilers. The solution was to integrate JPL-designed, high-frequency, low-noise-amplifier (LNA) technology into the High-Altitude MMIC Sounding Radiometer (HAMSR), which is an airborne microwave sounding radiometer, to lower the system noise by an order of magnitude to enable the instrument to resolve atmospheric variability on small spatial and temporal scales. HAMSR has eight sounding channels near the 60-GHz oxygen line complex, ten channels near the 118.75-GHz oxygen line, and seven channels near the 183.31-GHz water vapor line. The HAMSR receiver system consists of three heterodyne spectrometers covering the three bands. The antenna system consists of two back-to-back reflectors that rotate together at a programmable scan rate via a stepper motor. A single full rotation includes the swath below the aircraft followed by observations of ambient (roughly 0 C in flight) and heated (70 C) blackbody calibration targets located at the top of the rotation. A field-programmable gate array (FPGA) is used to read the digitized radiometer counts and receive the reflector position from the scan motor encoder, which are then sent to a microprocessor and packed into data files. The microprocessor additionally reads telemetry data from 40 onboard housekeeping channels (containing instrument temperatures), and receives packets from an onboard navigation unit, which provides GPS time and position as well as independent attitude information (e.g., heading, roll, pitch, and yaw). The raw data files are accessed through an Ethernet port. The HAMSR data rate is relatively low at 75 kbps, allowing for real-time access over the Global Hawk high-data-rate downlink. Once on the ground, the raw data are unpacked and processed through two levels of processing. The Level 1 product contains geo-located, time-stamped, calibrated brightness temperatures for the Earth scan. These data are then input to a lD variational retrieval algorithm to produce temperature, water vapor, and cloud liquid water profiles, as well as several derived products such as potential temperature and relative humidity.

Brown, Shannon T.↗

Ring Buffered Network Bus

This report describes the research effort to demonstrate the integration of a data sharing technology, Ring Buffered Network Bus, in development by Dryden Flight Research Center, with an engine simulation application, the Java Gas Turbine Simulator, in development at the University of Toledo under a grant from the Glenn Research Center. The objective of this task was to examine the application of the RBNB technologies as a key component in the data sharing, health monitoring and system wide modeling elements of the NASA Aviation Safety Program (AVSP) [Golding, 1997]. System-wide monitoring and modeling of aircraft and air safety systems will require access to all data sources which are relative factors when monitoring or modeling the national airspace such as radar, weather, aircraft performance, engine performance, schedule and planning, airport configuration, flight operations, etc. The data sharing portion of the overall AVSP program is responsible for providing the hardware and software architecture to access and distribute data, including real-time flight operations data, among all of the AVSP elements. The integration of an engine code capable of numerically "flying" through recorded flight paths and weather data using a software tool that allows for distributed access of data to this engine code demonstrates initial steps toward building a system capable of monitoring and modeling the National Airspace.

Source record↗

Upper Atmosphere Data Program (UADP)

Rapid, effective access to the increasing volume of information on stratospheric trace gases, both from measurements and model calculations, is important in advancing our knowledge of the Earth's atmosphere. The data have their origins in a variety of sources, ranging from satellite experiments and 2-D model predictions to individual balloon measurements, and are found in a variety of locations and formats. This task focuses on development and operation of an electronic data base for such trace gas data. The objectives are to provide effective access to these diverse data sets; to foster electronic data access, manipulation, and display; and to support periodic assessment and intercomparison activities.

Seals, R. K., Jr.↗

Telemetry Systems

Goddard Space Flight Center developed satellite telemetry processing technology to meet NASA's sophisticated processing requirements. The Microelectronic Systems Branch, a 'company' within Goddard, provided NASA with the telemetry data systems from 1985 to 1994. TSI/Telsys, Inc. was then founded to commercialize the systems and began operations on October 1, 1995. The system aids the remote sensing industry by providing affordable and quick access to data collected from space.

Source record↗

Automating Testbed Documentation and Database Access Using World Wide Web (WWW) Tools

A method for providing uniform transparent access to disparate distributed information systems was demonstrated. A prototype testing interface was developed to access documentation and information using publicly available hypermedia tools. The prototype gives testers a uniform, platform-independent user interface to on-line documentation, user manuals, and mission-specific test and operations data. Mosaic was the common user interface, and HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) provided hypertext capability.

documentation↗

Issues in packet radio network design

The physical aspects of a packet radio network design, the automated management of the network, and the interface of the network to the users are examined. The networks provide data communications to users located over a broad geographic region where direct radio or wire connection between the source and destination user is not practical; the network consists of a radio, antenna, and digital controller. The physical connectivity, bandwidth-time-space management, channel access, and data link control of the network are analyzed. Consideration is given to link determination and control, routing and packet forwarding, congestion and flow control, and supported users management. The operation and management of a packet radio network, in particular network deployment and maintenance, network access methods, and its effect on the radio spectrum, are discussed. The performance and cost of a packet radio network are evaluated.

Leiner, Barry M.↗

Volcanology, Geochemistry, and Petrology Perspectives on Integrated, Coordinated, Open, Networked (ICON) Science

This article is composed of a commentary about the state of Integrated, Coordinated, Open, and Networked (ICON) principles in Volcanology, Geochemistry, and Petrology (VGP), and discussion on the opportunities and challenges of adopting them. VGP encompasses a broad field that addresses volcanic, magmatic, hydrothermal, geomicrobial systems; process investigations that span the physical, geochemical and biological realms, including planetary geology; and one that is extensively supported by state-of-the-art research facilities. We suggest that an open, inclusive, collaborative and evolving model of an international coordinated network is critical to answering the most pressing challenges in VGP. In this commentary piece, we begin to discuss the elements of, challenges to, and path forward in developing such a model. For this team, ICON means collaboration, equitable access to data for the entire scientific community, and forging of partnerships that potentially contribute to more innovative ways of coordinating and sharing research. It also means bringing more equity to science, by implementing effective measures which consider access to funding, analytical equipment, resources, and mentors. More importantly, ICON to us means having important conversations around what we value in the advancement of science, perhaps exploring outside the idea of meritocracy and evaluating what individual traits can contribute to science outside what has traditionally been considered the norm.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗