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DOE OSTI2025

Hot Droughts and Forest Tree Dynamics in the Amazon - Statistical Models, Scripts, Data, and Outputs

This package contains data, outputs, equations, and R scripts for analyses for manuscript entitled "Hot droughts in the Amazon: A window to a future hypertropical climate" by J. Chambers et al., in particular it contains statistical models and analyses for the INPA BIONTE tree mortality study. The Models folder contains details for all statistical models in PDF files. The Scripts folder contains the R scripts for Bayesian Hierarchical Models (two text files) and SEMs (one text file) are separate and reasonably annotated. All data associated with these scripts are in the data folder. The Data folder contains two of the three CSV files used for the analyses and are called by the R scripts. Two of them are part of published datasets (`BIONTE_mortality-rates.csv` from Lima et al. 2024, DOI:10.15486/ngt/1898910 and `SPEI.csv` from Pastorello et al. 2023 DOI:10.15486/ngt/1958257) and also provided in this package for convenience (please see the corresponding datasets for usage and citation terms). The third dataset (`BIONTE_gapfilled_wd.csv`) contains sensitive information and can be obtained by contacting the manuscript lead author. The Outputs folder contains the two output files that provide extra information about the analyses. The file `figuresFeb2025d.pdf` contains all the figures from the manuscript - captions are in the manuscript. The file `ChambersMS.pdf` contains primary results from Bayesian statistical models, regression analyses, and validation steps applied to the tree mortality data from the INPA experiments. The document includes visual summaries, model diagnostics, and leave-one-out (LOO) validation results. A breakdown of file contents can be found in the README file that is part of this package.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

NASA NTRS2019

Planetary Boundary Layer Height from AIRS, MERRA-2, and GPS Radio Occultation Data Products at NASA GES DISC, and Insights from Their Profiles Intercomparison

The NASA Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC) provides archive and distribution services for several data products in the Planetary Boundary Layer (PBL) category. As a new variable added to the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) Version 6 support product, the PBL height from AIRS is derived based on the gradients of the retrieved relative humidity profile, and provides the atmospheric pressure at the top of the PBL over the ocean. The GES DISC also hosts the Modern-Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications-2 (MERRA-2) product generated by the Goddard Earth Observing System Model Version 5 (GEOS-5) data assimilation system. The PBL height from MERRA-2 is based on the total eddy diffusion coefficient of heat. The monthly PBL height has been made available in the Giovanni system (Giovanni is a Web-based application developed by the GES DISC providing a simple and intuitive way to visualize, analyze, and access vast amounts of Earth science remote sensing data). Recently, the GES DISC began serving the global PBL height climatology product derived from the COSMIC/FORMOSAT-3 and TerraSAR-X Global Positioning System (GPS) radio occultation (RO) measurements from June 2006 to December 2015. In a previous study, we presented the monthly PBL height data from AIRS and MERRA-2 and demonstrated the GES DISC services which support data intercomparison, such as access, plotting, sub-setting, regridding, and generation of a multi-year monthly mean. We also provided intercomparison results, and found that different PBL height definitions contributed to significant differences of PBL height values between AIRS and MERRA-2. In this work, we present the 10-year seasonal climatologies from the AIRS, MERRA-2 and GPS-RO. We also used the cross section and vertical profile services in Giovanni to display and analyze the vertical atmosphere structure over regions where the PBL height derived from the AIRS and MERRA-2 are quite different. The examination of the AIRS and MERRA-2 three-dimensional data found that the relative humidity profiles had larger differences than the temperature profiles. The MERRA-2 gives more details than the AIRS for the vertical distribution of the humidity.

Ding, Feng↗

DOE OSTI2021

Downscaled precipitation and mean air temperature datasets; East-Taylor subbasin; 2008-2019; daily temporal resolution; 400 m spatial resolution

This dataset provides gridded meteorological forcing data (specifically, daily precipitation and daily mean air temperature). The dataset has been generated by downscaling the Parameter-elevation Regressions on Independent Slopes Model (PRISM) dataset from a spatial resolution of 800 m to 400 m. The time period is 2008-2019, and the mapped area is East Taylor subbasin in Upper Colorado. The data are in the form of NetCDF files, arranged by year. Compared to the PRISM dataset, the dates of the downscaled dataset are shifted backwards by one (e.g., downscaled data for May 25 corresponds to PRISM data for May 26). This temporal shifting makes the meteorological forcing correspond more closely to the prescribed date. The NetCDF format is a standard raster format that can be read using any Geographic Information System (GIS) software; plenty of modules exist in popular scripting languages (such as Python, R and Matlab) that can also be used to read NetCDF files.East_Taylor_Tavg_PRISM400 corresponds to mean air temperature.East_Taylor_Precip_PRISM400.zip corresponds to precipitation.The proprietary PRISM data (800 m resolution) were purchased with funding from the Watershed Function Scientific Focus Area supported by U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Biological and Environmental Research under award no. DE-AC02-05CH11231.Dataset update on March 9, 2022:Uploaded new data files that are identical to the earlier files but are now in the NetCDF format, arranged by year. Earlier, the files were in the GeoTiff format, arranged by date.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

NASA NTRS2018

Air Quality Satellite Monitoring by TROPOMI on Sentinel-5P

The recently launched Sentinel satellite mission, the Sentinel-5 Precursor (Sentinel-5P), is one of the European Space Agency's (ESA) new mission family – Sentinels. The sole payload on Sentinel-5P is the TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI), a nadir-viewing 108⁰ field-of-view push-broom grating hyperspectral spectrometer, covering the wavelengths of ultraviolet-visible (270 nm - 495 nm), near infrared (675 nm - 775 nm), and shortwave infrared (2305 nm - 2385 nm). Sentinel-5P is the first of the Atmospheric Composition Sentinels, and is providing measurements of atmospheric chemistry, aerosols, and clouds at high spatial, temporal, and spectral resolution. The NASA Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC) supports over a thousand data collections in the focus areas of Atmospheric Composition, Water & Energy Cycles, and Climate Variability. Sentinel-5P TROPOMI Level-1B (L1B) and Level-2 (L2) products are curated at the GES DISC. Sentinel-5P data are provided by the European Union and the European Space Agency (ESA) through an agreement between ESA and NASA. Through its convenient and enhanced tools/services, such as OPeNDAP and L2 Subsetting, GES DISC offers the air quality remote sensing user community facile solutions for using complex Earth science data and applications. This presentation will demonstrate up-to-date TROPOMI products including EarthView (EV) radiance, solar irradiance, Aerosol Index, Carbon Monoxide, Total column Ozone, Nitrogen Dioxide, and cloud, as well as easy ways to access, visualize and subset TROPOMI data.

TROPOMI↗

NASA NTRS1998

Research and Technology 1997

This report highlights the challenging work accomplished during fiscal year 1997 by Ames research scientists and engineers. The work is divided into accomplishments that support the goals of NASA s four Strategic Enterprises: Aeronautics and Space Transportation Technology, Space Science, Human Exploration and Development of Space (HEDS), and Earth Science. NASA Ames Research Center s research effort in the Space, Earth, and HEDS Enterprises is focused i n large part to support Ames lead role for Astrobiology, which broadly defined is the scientific study of the origin, distribution, and future of life in the universe. This NASA initiative in Astrobiology is a broad science effort embracing basic research, technology development, and flight missions. Ames contributions to the Space Science Enterprise are focused in the areas of exobiology, planetary systems, astrophysics, and space technology. Ames supports the Earth Science Enterprise by conducting research and by developing technology with the objective of expanding our knowledge of the Earth s atmosphere and ecosystems. Finallv, Ames supports the HEDS Enterprise by conducting research, managing spaceflight projects, and developing technologies. A key objective is to understand the phenomena surrounding the effects of gravity on living things. Ames has also heen designated the Agency s Center of Evcellence for Information Technnlogv. The three cornerstones of Information Technology research at Ames are automated reasoning, human-centered computing, and high performance computing and networking.

Source record↗

NASA NTRS2013

Common Web Mapping and Mobile Device Framework for Display of NASA Real-time Data

Scientists have strategic goals to deliver their unique datasets and research to both collaborative partners and more broadly to the public. These datasets can have a significant impact locally and globally as has been shown by the success of the NASA Short‐term Prediction Research and Transition (SPoRT) Center and SERVIR programs at Marshall Space Flight Center. Each of these respective organizations provides near real‐time data at the best resolution possible to address concerns of the operational weather forecasting community (SPoRT) and to support environmental monitoring and disaster assessment (SERVIR). However, one of the biggest struggles to delivering the data to these and other Earth science community partners is formatting the product to fit into an end user's Decision Support System (DSS). The problem of delivering the data to the end‐user's DSS can be a significant impediment to transitioning research to operational environments especially for disaster response where the deliver time is critical. The decision makers, in addition to the DSS, need seamless access to these same datasets from a web browser or a mobile phone for support when they are away from their DSS or for personnel out in the field. A framework has been developed for MSFC Earth Science program that can be used to easily enable seamless delivery of scientific data to end users in multiple formats. The first format is an open geospatial format, Web Mapping Service (WMS), which is easily integrated into most DSSs. The second format is a web browser display, which can be embedded within any MSFC Science web page with just a few lines of web page coding. The third format is accessible in the form of iOS and Android native mobile applications that could be downloaded from an "app store". The framework developed has reduced the level of effort needed to bring new and existing NASA datasets to each of these end user platforms and help extend the reach of science data.

Burks, Jason E.↗

NASA NTRS2013

Common Web Mapping and Mobile Device Framework for Display of NASA Real-time Data

Burks, Jason↗

NASA NTRS2016

Assessing Terra Disposal Orbit Candidates from an Orbital Debris Perspective

The NASA Terra satellite is reaching the end of its mission life. Because the satellite resides in the 705 km Earth Science Constellation, disposal strategies need to be considered to remove it from this densely populated operational orbit. Of critical importance was the need to examine the future potential risk to other satellite residents of the 705 km constellation due to an unexpected breakup event of the Terra satellite post-disposal. This study quantifies the comparative risk of debris impacts associated with the two leading candidate disposal orbits (701 km vs. 686 km) and characterizes the suitability of each orbit for the purpose of long-term spacecraft disposal. The increase in collision risk to any member of the 705 km Earth Science Constellation is very modest. The long-term, average, total risk (including the ambient background risk) due to a Terra breakup at a disposal of -19 km (i.e., 686 km) relative to the 705 km constellation is 9.7 × 10(exp -6) impacts/day versus 1.0 × 10(exp -5) impacts/day for a disposal of only -4 km (i.e., 701 km). For perspective, note that the nominal space background risk to the 705 km constellation is 9.2 × 10(exp -6) impacts/day which implies a very modest increase in risk (approximately 3% difference between the two cases) due to a Terra breakup in either disposal orbit.

Abraham, Andrew J.↗

NASA NTRS2014

Automating the SMAP Ground Data System to Support Lights-Out Operations

The Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) Mission is a first tier mission in NASA's Earth Science Decadal Survey. SMAP will provide a global mapping of soil moisture and its freeze/thaw states. This mapping will be used to enhance the understanding of processes that link the terrestrial water, energy, and carbon cycles, and to enhance weather and forecast capabilities. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory has been selected as the lead center for the development and operation of SMAP. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) has an extensive history of successful deep space exploration. JPL missions have typically been large scale Class A missions with significant budget and staffing. SMAP represents a new area of JPL focus towards low cost Earth science missions. Success in this new area requires changes to the way that JPL has traditionally provided the Mission Operations System (MOS)/Ground Data System (GDS) functions. The operation of SMAP requires more routine operations activities and support for higher data rates and data volumes than have been achieved in the past. These activities must be addressed by a reduced operations team and support staff. To meet this challenge, the SMAP ground data system provides automation that will perform unattended operations, including automated commanding of the SMAP spacecraft.

GDS↗

NASA NTRS2003

The NASA Short-term Prediction Research and Transition (SPoRT) Center: A Collaborative Model for Accelerating Research into Operations

The NASA Short-term Prediction Research and Transition (SPoRT) Center in Huntsville, Alabama was created to accelerate the infusion of NASA earth science observations, data assimilation and modeling research into NWS forecast operations and decision-making. The principal focus of experimental products is on the regional scale with an emphasis on forecast improvements on a time scale of 0-24 hours. The SPoRT Center research is aligned with the regional prediction objectives of the US Weather Research Program dealing with 0-1 day forecast issues ranging from convective initiation to 24-hr quantitative precipitation forecasting. The SPoRT Center, together with its other interagency partners, universities, and the NASA/NOAA Joint Center for Satellite Data Assimilation, provides a means and a process to effectively transition NASA Earth Science Enterprise observations and technology to National Weather Service operations and decision makers at both the global/national and regional scales. This paper describes the process for the transition of experimental products into forecast operations, current products undergoing assessment by forecasters, and plans for the future.

Goodman, S. J.↗

NASA NTRS1988

Radar polarimetry - Analysis tools and applications

The authors have developed several techniques to analyze polarimetric radar data from the NASA/JPL airborne SAR for earth science applications. The techniques determine the heterogeneity of scatterers with subregions, optimize the return power from these areas, and identify probable scattering mechanisms for each pixel in a radar image. These techniques are applied to the discrimination and characterization of geologic surfaces and vegetation cover, and it is found that their utility varies depending on the terrain type. It is concluded that there are several classes of problems amenable to single-frequency polarimetric data analysis, including characterization of surface roughness and vegetation structure, and estimation of vegetation density. Polarimetric radar remote sensing can thus be a useful tool for monitoring a set of earth science parameters.

Evans, Diane L.↗

DOE OSTI2025

Data for Roebuck et al. (2025), "Differences in dissolved organic matter composition between rivers and estuaries is conserved across freshwater and saltwater coastal regions"

Dissolved organic matter (DOM) in coastal surface waters influences local water quality and is an important component of biogeochemical cycling in coastal systems, but the processes that alter DOM composition along lower reaches of rivers and estuarine waters are poorly understood. Roebuck et al. (2025) leveraged a spatially distributed community sampling effort in coastal ecosystems across two regions to identify broad spatial drivers of surface water DOM composition and identify transferable trends between saltwater and freshwater coastal systems. Samples were collected by community members from 47 locations within the mid-Atlantic and Great Lakes coastal regions.This dataset includes:* A selection of commonly reported absorbance and fluorescence peaks normalized to dissolved organic carbon concentrations* Parallel factor output from the EC1 fluorescence datasets* A selection of commonly reported absorbance and fluorescence peaks * Spectral indices output from matlab script for absorbance and fluorescence datasets* CO2sys calculations of pH changes under varying temperatures and a constant salinity, DIC, and alkalinity concentrationAll data files are plain-text CSV (comma separated value) and no special software is required to read them.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

NASA NTRS2019

Planetary Boundary Layer Height from AIRS and MERRA-2 Products at NASA GES DISC, and Insights from Data Intercomparison

The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) is the hyperspectral infrared sounder onboard NASA's Aqua satellite, launched in 2002. The NASA Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC), in collaboration with NASA Sounder Team at JPL, provides processing, archiving, and distribution services for NASA sounders: the Aqua AIRS mission and the subsequent Suomi-National Polar-orbiting Partnership Cross-track Infrared Sounder (CrIS) mission. The Planetary Boundary Layer (PBL) Height is a new variable added in the AIRS Version 6 support product. It is derived based on gradients of the retrieved atmospheric thermodynamic profile, and gives the pressure at the top of PBL over the ocean. The GES DISC also provides services for the second Modern-Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications (MERRA-2) product generated by the Goddard Earth Observing System Model, Version 5 (GEOS-5) data assimilation system. The monthly PBL Height variable has been available in the Giovanni system, which is a Web-based application developed by the GES DISC providing a simple and intuitive way to visualize, analyze, and access vast amounts of Earth science remote sensing data. In this work, we will present the monthly PBL Height data from AIRS and MERRA-2 and the services to support data intercomparison, such as access, plotting, subsetting, re-gridding, and generation of a multi-year monthly mean. We will also show intercomparison results, and evaluate whether (over the ocean) AIRS can observe PBL features similar to the reanalysis product at monthly and longer-term scales.

AIRS↗

NASA NTRS2017

The Value of Data and Metadata Standardization for Interoperability in Giovanni Or: Why Your Product's Metadata Causes Us Headaches!

Giovanni is a data exploration and visualization tool at the NASA Goddard Earth Sciences Data Information Services Center (GES DISC). It has been around in one form or another for more than 15 years. Giovanni calculates simple statistics and produces 22 different visualizations for more than 1600 geophysical parameters from more than 90 satellite and model products. Giovanni relies on external data format standards to ensure interoperability, including the NetCDF CF Metadata Conventions. Unfortunately, these standards were insufficient to make Giovanni's internal data representation truly simple to use. Finding and working with dimensions can be convoluted with the CF Conventions. Furthermore, the CF Conventions are silent on machine-friendly descriptive metadata such as the parameter's source product and product version. In order to simplify analyzing disparate earth science data parameters in a unified way, we developed Giovanni's internal standard. First, the format standardizes parameter dimensions and variables so they can be easily found. Second, the format adds all the machine-friendly metadata Giovanni needs to present our parameters to users in a consistent and clear manner. At a glance, users can grasp all the pertinent information about parameters both during parameter selection and after visualization.

interoperability↗

NASA NTRS2007

SERVIR: From Space to Village. A Regional Monitoring and Visualization System For Environmental Management Using Satellite Applications For Sustainable Development

NASA is committed to providing technological support and expertise to regional and national organizations for earth science monitoring and analysis. This commitment is exemplified by NASA's long-term relationship with Central America. The focus of these efforts has primarily been to measure the impact of human development on the environment and to provide data for the management of human settlement and expansion in the region. Now, NASA is planning to extend and expand this capability to other regions of the world including Africa and the Caribbean. NASA began using satellite imagery over twenty-five years ago to locate important Maya archeological sites in Mesoamerica and to quantify the affect of deforestation on those sites. Continuing that mission, NASA has partnered with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the World Bank, the Water Center for the Humid Tropics of Latin America and the Caribbean (CATHALAC) and the Central American Commission for Environment and Development (CCAD) to develop SERVIR (Sistema Regional de Visualizacion y Monitoreo), for the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor. SERVIR has become one of the most important aspects of NASA's geospatial efforts in Central America by establishing a common access portal for information that affects the lives, livelihood and future of everyone in the region. SERVIR, most commonly referred to as a regional visualization and monitoring system, is a scientific and technological platform that integrates satellite and other geospatial data sets to generate tools for improved decision-making capabilities. It has a collection of data and models that are easily accessible to earth science managers, first responders, NGO's (Non-Government Organizations) and a host of others. SERVIR is currently used to monitor and forecast ecological changes as well as provide information for decision support during severe events such as forest fires, red tides,and tropical storms. Additionally, SERVIR addresses the nine societal benefit areas of the Global Earth Observation System (GEOSS): disasters, ecosystems, biodiversity, weather, water, climate, health, agriculture and energy.

Sever, Tom↗

NASA NTRS2017

SpaceCubeX: A Framework for Evaluating Hybrid Multi-Core CPU FPGA DSP Architectures

The SpaceCubeX project is motivated by the need for high performance, modular, and scalable on-board processing to help scientists answer critical 21st century questions about global climate change, air quality, ocean health, and ecosystem dynamics, while adding new capabilities such as low-latency data products for extreme event warnings. These goals translate into on-board processing throughput requirements that are on the order of 100-1,000 more than those of previous Earth Science missions for standard processing, compression, storage, and downlink operations. To study possible future architectures to achieve these performance requirements, the SpaceCubeX project provides an evolvable testbed and framework that enables a focused design space exploration of candidate hybrid CPU/FPGA/DSP processing architectures. The framework includes ArchGen, an architecture generator tool populated with candidate architecture components, performance models, and IP cores, that allows an end user to specify the type, number, and connectivity of a hybrid architecture. The framework requires minimal extensions to integrate new processors, such as the anticipated High Performance Spaceflight Computer (HPSC), reducing time to initiate benchmarking by months. To evaluate the framework, we leverage a wide suite of high performance embedded computing benchmarks and Earth science scenarios to ensure robust architecture characterization. We report on our projects Year 1 efforts and demonstrate the capabilities across four simulation testbed models, a baseline SpaceCube 2.0 system, a dual ARM A9 processor system, a hybrid quad ARM A53 and FPGA system, and a hybrid quad ARM A53 and DSP system.

Hybrid Flight Architectures↗

NASA NTRS2007

RadSTAR L-Band Imaging Scatterometer: Performance Assessment

RadSTAR is an instrument development program aimed at combining a radiometer and a scatterometer system into a highly compact configuration that uses a single, electronically scanned antenna to provide co-located and simultaneous measurements of emission and backscatter for airborne and spaceborne applications [I]. The program was designed to map soil moisture and ocean salinity, both important components of the water cycle, and to map sea ice density and thickness, an important factor in ocean-atmosphere heat exchange in Polar Regions. The accuracy in estimation of these and a number of other Earth science parameters can be greatly enhanced by providing the co-aligned radar/radiometer microwave measurements. For instance, radiometer estimates of soil moisture from soil emission are affected by emission from vegetation, and from the roughness of the surface. Complementary measurements using the scatterometer can be used to evaluate the vegetation and surface roughness effects. Hence, the combined observations can provide an improved estimate. As with soil moisture, the ocean salinity is a function of the microwave emission from the sea surface temperature (SST) and sea roughness. There, the addition of radar backscatter measurements of sea roughness enables the correction of the emissivity and provide more accurate estimates of ocean salinity. Similar arguments can be made for other important Earth science parameters. This paper discusses the RadSTAR program, the radar system design, calibration, and digital beamforming techniques, and presents preliminary analysis of the data collected during the test flights. The data sets obtained during the flights and during the radar calibration in the anechoic chamber are also employed to asses the performance of the radar. The paper also discusses the Digital Beamforming Synthetic Aperture Radar (DBSAR) processor, a real-time processor recently developed for the LIS instrument which enables beam synthesis, fine resolutions, and large swaths.

Rincon, Rafael↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

NASA Initiatives to Support Renewable Energy and Sustainable Infrastructure

Initiatives to build and manage climate-resilient infrastructure require spatially explicit environmental and climate information. NASA’s vantage point of Earth from space provides valuable observations that, in concert with additional information, can be used to inform both the design and operation of infrastructure that builds resilience to climate stressors. In this presentation, we provide an overview of how NASA Earth science is used to support decision-making associated with climate adaptation and mitigation, with a particular focus on renewable energy and sustainable infrastructure. Much of this work is currently delivered through NASA’s Prediction of Worldwide Energy Resources (POWER) project, which generates high quality solar and meteorological data products that are customized to the needs of user communities. Importantly, these products are delivered through a variety of web-based applications that make it easier for users to access relevant and timely information. We will highlight several examples of how the impact of POWER is scaled via a robust user community and discuss further plans to expand impact. Additionally, this presentation will highlight efforts of the NASA Earth Science Division’s Energy & Infrastructure Applications program to expand collaborative activities with researchers and practitioners that work on renewable energy and sustainable infrastructure.

Allison K Leidner↗