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NASA NTRS2009

A Performance Assessment of NASA's Heliophysics Program

Recognizing the importance of distributed observations of all elements of the Sun-to-Earth system and the synergies between observation and theory and between basic and targeted research, the National Research Council's 2003 solar and space physics decadal survey laid out an integrated research strategy that sought to extend and augment what has now become the Heliophysics Great Observatory as well as to enhance NASA, NOAA, NSF, and DOD's other solar and space physics research activities. The Integrated Research Strategy provided a prioritized list of flight missions and theory and modeling programs that would advance the relevant physical theories, incorporate those theories in models that describe a system of interactions between the Sun and the space environment, obtain data on the system, and analyze and test the adequacy of the theories and models. As directed by Congress in the NASA Authorization Act of 2005, the purpose of this report is to assess the progress of NASA's Heliophysics Division at the 5-year mark against the NASA goals and priorities laid out in the decadal survey. In addition to the Integrated Research Strategy, the decadal survey also considered non-mission-specific initiatives to foster a robust solar and space physics program. The decadal survey set forth driving science challenges as well as recommendations devoted to the need for technology development, collaborations and cooperation with other disciplines, understanding the effects of the space environment on technology and society, education and public outreach, and steps that could strengthen and enhance the research enterprise. Unfortunately, very little of the recommended NASA program priorities from the decadal survey s Integrated Research Strategy will be realized during the period (2004-2013) covered by the survey. Mission cost growth, reordering of survey mission priorities, and unrealized budget assumptions have delayed or deferred nearly all of the NASA spacecraft missions recommended in the survey. As a result, the status of the Integrated Research Strategy going forward is in jeopardy, and the loss of synergistic capabilities in space will constitute a serious impediment to future progress. Some of these factors were largely outside NASA's control, but as the assessments in Chapter 2 of this report detail, many factors were driven by subsequent NASA decisions about mission science content, mission size, and mission sequence. Overcoming these challenges, as well as other key issues like launch vehicle availability, will be critical if NASA is to realize more of the decadal survey's priorities over the next 5 years as well as priorities in solar and space physics research in the long term. Chapter 3 of this report provides recommendations about how NASA can better fulfill the 2003 decadal survey and improve future decadal surveys in solar and space physics.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS2005

An Overview of the IGOS Coastal Theme

The Integrated Global Observing Strategy (IGOS) Coastal Observation Theme seeks to develop a strategy for integrated global observations that will provide improved understanding of earth system variability and change in the coastal zone, with a particular emphasis on the land-sea-air interface. The program's representatives, expected benefits, milestones, priorities and observing requirements are outline in this presentation.

oceanography↗
NASA NTRS2009

Ocean, Land and Meteorology Studies Using Space-Based Lidar Measurements

CALIPSO's main mission objective is studying the climate impact of clouds and aerosols in the atmosphere. CALIPSO also collects information about other components of the Earth's ecosystem, such as oceans and land. This paper introduces the physics concepts and presents preliminary results for the valueadded CALIPSO Earth system science products. These include ocean surface wind speeds, column atmospheric optical depths, ocean subsurface backscatter, land surface elevations, atmospheric temperature profiles, and A-train data fusion products.

Hu,Yongxiang↗
NASA NTRS2009

Airborne Science Program: Observing Platforms for Earth Science Investigations

This slide presentation reviews the Airborne Science Program and the platforms used for conducting investigations for the Earth System Science. Included is a chart that shows some of the aircraft and the operational altitude and the endurance of the aircraft, views of the Dryden Aircraft Operation Facility, and some of the current aircraft that the facility operates, and the varieties of missions that are flown and the type of instrumentation. Also included is a chart showing the attributes of the various aircraft (i.e., duration, weight for a payload, maximum altitude, airspeed and range) for comparison

Mace, Thomas H.↗
NASA NTRS2006

Advanced Remote-Sensing Imaging Emission Spectrometer (ARIES): AIRS Spectral Resolution with MODIS Spatial Resolution

The Advanced Remote-sensing Imaging Emission Spectrometer (ARIES) will measure a wide range of earth quantities fundamental to the study of global climate change. It will build upon the success of the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instruments currently flying on the EOS Aqua Spacecraft. Both instruments are facility instruments for NASA providing data to thousands of scientists investigating land, ocean and atmospheric Earth System processes. ARIES will meet all the requirements of AIRS and MODIS in a single compact instrument, while providing the next-generation capability of improved spatial resolution for AIRS and improved spectral resolution for MODIS.

remote sensing↗
NASA NTRS2010

The ICESat-2 Laser Altimetry Mission

Satellite and aircraft observations have revealed that remarkable changes in the Earth s polar ice cover have occurred in the last decade. The impacts of these changes, which include dramatic ice loss from ice sheets and rapid declines in Arctic sea ice, could be quite large in terms of sea level rise and global climate. NASA's Ice, Cloud and Land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2), currently planned for launch in 2015, is specifically intended to quantify the amount of change in ice sheets and sea ice and provide key insights into their behavior. It will achieve these objectives through the use of precise laser measurements of surface elevation, building on the groundbreaking capabilities of its predecessor, the Ice Cloud and Land Elevation Satellite (ICESat). In particular, ICESat-2 will measure the temporal and spatial character of ice sheet elevation change to enable assessment of ice sheet mass balance and examination of the underlying mechanisms that control it. The precision of ICESat-2's elevation measurement will also allow for accurate measurements of sea ice freeboard height, from which sea ice thickness and its temporal changes can be estimated. ICESat-2 will provide important information on other components of the Earth System as well, most notably large-scale vegetation biomass estimates through the measurement of vegetation canopy height. When combined with the original ICESat observations, ICESat-2 will provide ice change measurements across more than a 15-year time span. Its significantly improved laser system will also provide observations with much greater spatial resolution, temporal resolution, and accuracy than has ever been possible before.

Abdalati, Waleed↗
NASA NTRS2010

Adaptive Numerical Algorithms in Space Weather Modeling

Space weather describes the various processes in the Sun-Earth system that present danger to human health and technology. The goal of space weather forecasting is to provide an opportunity to mitigate these negative effects. Physics-based space weather modeling is characterized by disparate temporal and spatial scales as well as by different physics in different domains. A multi-physics system can be modeled by a software framework comprising of several components. Each component corresponds to a physics domain, and each component is represented by one or more numerical models. The publicly available Space Weather Modeling Framework (SWMF) can execute and couple together several components distributed over a parallel machine in a flexible and efficient manner. The framework also allows resolving disparate spatial and temporal scales with independent spatial and temporal discretizations in the various models. Several of the computationally most expensive domains of the framework are modeled by the Block-Adaptive Tree Solar wind Roe Upwind Scheme (BATS-R-US) code that can solve various forms of the magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) equations, including Hall, semi-relativistic, multi-species and multi-fluid MHD, anisotropic pressure, radiative transport and heat conduction. Modeling disparate scales within BATS-R-US is achieved by a block-adaptive mesh both in Cartesian and generalized coordinates. Most recently we have created a new core for BATS-R-US: the Block-Adaptive Tree Library (BATL) that provides a general toolkit for creating, load balancing and message passing in a 1, 2 or 3 dimensional block-adaptive grid. We describe the algorithms of BATL and demonstrate its efficiency and scaling properties for various problems. BATS-R-US uses several time-integration schemes to address multiple time-scales: explicit time stepping with fixed or local time steps, partially steady-state evolution, point-implicit, semi-implicit, explicit/implicit, and fully implicit numerical schemes. Depending on the application, we find that different time stepping methods are optimal. Several of the time integration schemes exploit the block-based granularity of the grid structure. The framework and the adaptive algorithms enable physics based space weather modeling and even forecasting.

Toth, Gabor↗
NASA NTRS2011

Global Cooperation in the Science of Space Weather

The international space science community had recognized the importance of space weather more than a decade ago, which resulted in a number of international collaborative activities such as the Climate and Weather of the Sun Earth System (CAWSES) by SCOSTEP and the International Space Weather Initiative (ISWI). The ISWI program is a continuation of the successful International Heliophysical Year (IHY) program. These programs have brought scientists together to tackle the scientific issues behind space weather. In addition to the vast array of space instruments, ground based instruments have been deployed, which not only filled voids in data coverage, but also inducted young scientists from developing countries into the scientific community. This paper presents a summary of CAWSES and ISWI activities that promote space weather science via complementary approaches in international scientific collaborations. capacity building. and public outreach.

Gopalswamy, Nat↗
NASA NTRS2011

NASA's Earth Venture-1 (EV-1) Airborne Science Investigations

In 2010, NASA announced the first Earth Venture (EV-1) selections in response to a recommendation made by the National Research Council for low-cost investigations fostering innovation in Earth science. The five EV-1 investigations span the Earth science focus areas of atmosphere, weather, climate, water and energy and, carbon and represent earth science researchers from NASA as well as other government agencies, academia and industry from around the world. The EV-1 missions are: 1) Airborne Microwave Observatory of Subcanopy and Subsurface (AirMOSS), 2) Airborne Tropical Tropopause Experiment (ATTREX), 3) Carbon in Arctic Reservoirs Vulnerability Experiment (CARVE), 4) Deriving Information on Surface Conditions from Column and Vertically Resolved Observations Relevant to Air Quality (DISCOVER-AQ), and 5) Hurricane And Severe Storm Sentinel (HS3). The Earth Venture missions are managed out of the Earth System Science Pathfinder (ESSP) Program Office (Allen, et. al. 2010b)

Guillory, A.↗
NASA NTRS2011

Reanalyses and Essential Climate Variables

Reanalyses are a potentially powerful climate data collection driven by observations but also subjected to model bias. Additionally, reanalyses can produce and use essential climate variables in a consistent method. For example, snow cover and soil moisture (among other variables) will eventually be assimilated into the reanalyses, but also provide crucial validation data. Sea surface temperature can be prescribed or assimilated in a coupled reanalysis. The strength of reanalysis lies in the ancillary data that is produced from the modeling components but not routinely observed thereby providing more complete Earth system information. The weakness in this concept is that the model derived data can be affected by model bias and may also change relative to the available observing system. Here, we will review the status of existing reanalyses and the ECVs being considered for the workshop. Purpose of Michael Bosilovich's contribution to the workshop: Michael Bosilovich will represent US reanalysis community in this international discussion of Essential Climate Variables (ECVs) and the relative nature of reanalyses to ECVs.

Bosilovich, Michael↗
NASA NTRS2010

Aquarius and the Aquarius/SAC-D Mission

Aquarius is a combination L-band radiometer and scatterometer designed to map the salinity field at the ocean surface from space. It will be flown on the Aquarius/SAC-D mission, a partnership between the USA space agency (NASA) and Argentine space agency (CONAE). The mission is composed of two parts: (a) The Aquarius instrument being developed as part of NASA.s Earth System Science Pathfinder (ESSP) program; and (b) SAC-D the fourth spacecraft service platform in the CONAE Satellite de Aplicaciones Cientificas (SAC) program. The primary focus of the mission is to monitor the seasonal and interannual variations of the salinity field in the open ocean. The mission also meets the needs of the Argentine space program for monitoring the environment and for hazard detection and includes several instruments related to these goals.

LeVine, D. M.↗
NASA NTRS2011

Global Cooperation in the Science of Sun-Earth Connection

The international space science community had recognized the importance of space weather more than a decade ago, which resulted in a number of international collaborative activities such as the International Space Weather Initiative (ISWI), the Climate and Weather of the Sun Earth System (CAWSES) by SCOSTEP and the International Living with a Star (ILWS) program. These programs have brought scientists together to tackle the scientific issues related to short and long term variability of the Sun and the consequences in the heliosphere. The ISWI program is a continuation of the successful International Heliophysical Year (IHY) 2007 program in focusing on science, observatory deployment, and outreach. The IHY/ISWI observatory deployment has not only filled voids in data coverage, but also inducted young scientists from developing countries into the scientific community. The ISWI schools and UN workshops are the primary venues for interaction and information exchange among scientists from developing and developed countries that lead to collaborative efforts in space weather. This paper presents a summary of ISWI activities that promote space weather science via complementary approaches in international scientific collaborations, capacity building, and public outreach.

Gopalswamy, Natchimuthuk↗
NASA NTRS2012

Aqua's First 10 Years: An Overview

NASA's Aqua spacecraft was launched at 2:55 a.m. on May 4, 2002, from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, into a near-polar, sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of 705 km. Aqua carries six Earth-observing instruments to collect data on water in all its forms (liquid, vapor, and solid) and on a wide variety of additional Earth system variables (Parkinson 2003). The design lifetime for Aqua's prime mission was 6 years, and Aqua is now well into its extended mission, approaching 10 years of successful operations. The Aqua data have been used for hundreds of scientific studies and continue to be used for scientific discovery and numerous practical applications.

Parkinson, Claire L.↗
NASA NTRS2012

Global Modeling, Field Campaigns, Upscaling and Ray Desjardins

In the early 1980's, it became apparent that land surface radiation and energy budgets were unrealistically represented in Global Circulation models (GCM's), Shortly thereafter, it became clear that the land carbon budget was also poorly represented in Earth System Models (ESM's), A number of scientific communities, including GCM/ESM modelers, micrometeorologists, satellite data specialists and plant physiologists, came together to design field experiments that could be used to develop and validate the contemporary prototype land surface models. These experiments were designed to measure land surface fluxes of radiation, heat, water vapor and CO2 using a network of flux towers and other plot-scale techniques, coincident with satellite measurements of related state variables, The interdisciplinary teams involved in these experiments quickly became aware of the scale gap between plot-scale measurements (approx 10 - 100m), satellite measurements (100m - 10 km), and GCM grid areas (l0 - 200km). At the time, there was no established flux measurement capability to bridge these scale gaps. Then, a Canadian science learn led by Ray Desjardins started to actively participate in the design and execution of the experiments, with airborne eddy correlation providing the radically innovative bridge across the scale gaps, In a succession of brilliantly executed field campaigns followed up by convincing scientific analyses, they demonstrated that airborne eddy correlation allied with satellite data was the most powerful upscaling tool available to the community, The rest is history: the realism and credibility of weather and climate models has been enormously improved enormously over the last 25 years with immense benefits to the public and policymakers.

Sellers, P. J.↗
NASA NTRS2012

Vandenberg Air Force Base Upper Level Wind Launch Weather Constraints

The 30th Operational Support Squadron Weather Flight (30 OSSWF) provides comprehensive weather services to the space program at Vandenberg Air Force Base (VAFB) in California. One of their responsibilities is to monitor upper-level winds to ensure safe launch operations of the Minuteman III ballistic missile. The 30 OSSWF tasked the Applied Meteorology Unit (AMU) to analyze VAFB sounding data with the goal of determining the probability of violating (PoV) their upper-level thresholds for wind speed and shear constraints specific to this launch vehicle, and to develop a tool that will calculate the PoV of each constraint on the day of launch. In order to calculate the probability of exceeding each constraint, the AMU collected and analyzed historical data from VAFB. The historical sounding data were retrieved from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Earth System Research Laboratory archive for the years 1994-2011 and then stratified into four sub-seasons: January-March, April-June, July-September, and October-December. The maximum wind speed and 1000-ft shear values for each sounding in each subseason were determined. To accurately calculate the PoV, the AMU determined the theoretical distributions that best fit the maximum wind speed and maximum shear datasets. Ultimately it was discovered that the maximum wind speeds follow a Gaussian distribution while the maximum shear values follow a lognormal distribution. These results were applied when calculating the averages and standard deviations needed for the historical and real-time PoV calculations. In addition to the requirements outlined in the original task plan, the AMU also included forecast sounding data from the Rapid Refresh model. This information provides further insight for the launch weather officers (LWOs) when determining if a wind constraint violation will occur over the next few hours on day of launch. The interactive graphical user interface (GUI) for this project was developed in Microsoft Excel using Visual Basic for Applications. The GUI displays the critical sounding data easily and quickly for the LWOs on day of launch. This tool will replace the existing one used by the 30 OSSWF, assist the LWOs in determining the probability of exceeding specific wind threshold values, and help to improve the overall upper winds forecast for the launch customer.

Shafer, Jaclyn A.↗
NASA NTRS2012

Determining the Probability of Violating Upper-Level Wind Constraints for the Launch of Minuteman III Ballistic Missiles at Vandenberg Air Force Base

The 30th Operational Support Squadron Weather Flight (30 OSSWF) provides comprehensive weather services to the space program at Vandenberg Air Force Base (VAFB) in California. One of their responsibilities is to monitor upper-level winds to ensure safe launch operations of the Minuteman Ill ballistic missile. The 30 OSSWF tasked the Applied Meteorology Unit (AMU) to analyze VAFB sounding data with the goal of determining the probability of violating (PoV) their upper-level thresholds for wind speed and shear constraints specific to this launch vehicle, and to develop a tool that will calculate the PoV of each constraint on the day of launch. In order to calculate the probability of exceeding each constraint, the AMU collected and analyzed historical data from VAFB. The historical sounding data were retrieved from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Earth System Research Laboratory archive for the years 1994-2011 and then stratified into four sub-seasons: January-March, April-June, July-September, and October-December. The AMU determined the theoretical distributions that best fit the maximum wind speed and maximum wind shear datasets and applied this information when calculating the averages and standard deviations needed for the historical and real-time PoV calculations. In addition, the AMU included forecast sounding data from the Rapid Refresh model. This information provides further insight for the launch weather officers (LWOs) when determining if a wind constraint violation will occur over the next few hours on the day of launch. The AMU developed an interactive graphical user interface (GUI) in Microsoft Excel using Visual Basic for Applications. The GUI displays the critical sounding data easily and quickly for LWOs on day of launch. This tool will replace the existing one used by the 30 OSSWF, assist the LWOs in determining the probability of exceeding specific wind threshold values, and help to improve the overall upper winds forecast for the launch customer. This presentation will describe how the AMU calculated the historical and real-time PoV values for the specific upper-level wind launch constraints and outline the development of the interactive GUI display.

Shafer, Jaclyn A.↗
NASA NTRS2012

NASA GSFC CCMC Recent Model Validation Activities

The Community Coordinated Modeling Center (CCMC) holds the largest assembly of state-of-the-art physics-based space weather models developed by the international space physics community. In addition to providing the community easy access to these modern space research models to support science research, its another primary goal is to test and validate models for transition from research to operations. In this presentation, we provide an overview of the space science models available at CCMC. Then we will focus on the community-wide model validation efforts led by CCMC in all domains of the Sun-Earth system and the internal validation efforts at CCMC to support space weather servicesjoperations provided its sibling organization - NASA GSFC Space Weather Center (http://swc.gsfc.nasa.gov). We will also discuss our efforts in operational model validation in collaboration with NOAA/SWPC.

Rastaetter, L.↗