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At least 1,495 records · Page 83

An Intelligent Archive Testbed Incorporating Data Mining

Many significant advances have occurred during the last two decades in remote sensing instrumentation, computation, storage, and communication technology. A series of Earth observing satellites have been launched by U.S. and international agencies and have been operating and collecting global data on a regular basis. These advances have created a data rich environment for scientific research and applications. NASA s Earth Observing System (EOS) Data and Information System (EOSDIS) has been operational since August 1994 with support for pre-EOS data. Currently, EOSDIS supports all the EOS missions including Terra (1999), Aqua (2002), ICESat (2002) and Aura (2004). EOSDIS has been effectively capturing, processing and archiving several terabytes of standard data products each day. It has also been distributing these data products at a rate of several terabytes per day to a diverse and globally distributed user community (Ramapriyan et al. 2009). There are other NASA-sponsored data system activities including measurement-based systems such as the Ocean Data Processing System and the Precipitation Processing system, and several projects under the Research, Education and Applications Solutions Network (REASoN), Making Earth Science Data Records for Use in Research Environments (MEaSUREs), and the Advancing Collaborative Connections for Earth-Sun System Science (ACCESS) programs. Together, these activities provide a rich set of resources constituting a value chain for users to obtain data at various levels ranging from raw radiances to interdisciplinary model outputs. The result has been a significant leap in our understanding of the Earth systems that all humans depend on for their enjoyment, livelihood, and survival. The trend in the community today is towards many distributed sets of providers of data and services. Despite this, visions for the future include users being able to locate, fuse and utilize data with location transparency and high degree of interoperability, and being able to convert data to information and usable knowledge in an efficient, convenient manner, aided significantly by automation (Ramapriyan et al. 2004; NASA 2005). We can look upon the distributed provider environment with capabilities to convert data to information and to knowledge as an Intelligent Archive in the Context of a Knowledge Building system (IA-KBS). Some of the key capabilities of an IA-KBS are: Virtual Product Generation, Significant Event Detection, Automated Data Quality Assessment, Large-Scale Data Mining, Dynamic Feedback Loop, and Data Discovery and Efficient Requesting (Ramapriyan et al. 2004).

Ramapriyan, H.↗

Water Level Data from Wells PLM1 and PLM6 for the East River Watershed, Colorado

This dataset (Williams et al., 2020) contains the original un-QA/QC-ed water level data for PLM1 and PLM6 and has been obsoleted. The data contained within this dataset is not to be used. Refer to Faybishenko et al., 2022 (DOI: 10.15485/1866836) for the latest QA/QC-ed data available via ESS-DIVE.This data set contains water level data for the PLM1 and PLM6 wells. PLM1 and PLM6 are location identifiers used by the Watershed Function SFA project for two groundwater monitoring wells along an elevation gradient located along the lower montane life zone of a hillslope near the Pumphouse location. These wells used to monitor subsurface water and carbon inventories and fluxes at the East River Watershed, Colorado, USA. Complete metadata information on the PLM1 and PLM6 wells are available in the related data package reference Varadharajan C, et al (2020). https://doi.org/10.15485/1660962.Data are reported in .csv files per well. The latitude and longitude of each location are given in a file called locations.csv. These data are used for determining the seasonally dependent flow of groundwater under the PLM hillslope. The downslope flow of groundwater in combination with data on groundwater chemistry can be used to estimate rates of solute export from the hillslope to the floodplain and river.These data products are part of the Watershed Function Scientific Focus Area collection effort to further scientific understanding of biogeochemical dynamics from genome to watershed scales.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Groundwater elevation data for monitoring wells within the East and Taylor River basins, Colorado (USA)

This dataset is comprised of temporal variations in groundwater elevation data for the 24 monitoring wells located throughout the East River watershed. Seasonal to annual variations in groundwater elevations are a critical property of mountainous watersheds needed to understand both hydrological and below ground biogeochemical processes. Such data serve as a critical constraint for numerical models describing coupled groundwater-surface water behavior within the watershed. Additionally, the offset between the maximum and minimum groundwater elevations defines the extent of the bedrock weathering zone, with annual excursions in the groundwater hydrographic (i.e., the rising and falling hydrographic limbs) imposing primary controls on bedrock saturation state and redox conditions that govern biogeochemical reactions impacting nitrogen, carbon, and metals cycling. Manufacturer-specific software is used to download pressure data from each transducer, with broadly available spreadsheet software (e.g. Microsoft Excel) used to convert temporal variations in water pressure to elevations in units of meters above mean sea level. As additional monitoring wells are installed within the East River watershed and new groundwater monitoring wells are installed in the Taylor River watershed, temporal groundwater elevation data will be included as a part of this master dataset. Details regarding the metadata associated with each monitoring well location, including well depths, screened intervals, well location coordinates, and bedrock type, are included, as is a standard operating procedure for generating groundwater elevation data from water pressure values recorded by the pressure transducers. This dataset includes: (1) a zip file (East_River_Watershed_Compiled_Groundwater_Elevation_Data_Plots.zip), containing (a) PNG of groundwater hydrographs, (b) a CSV file with groundwater elevation data, and (c) CSV file containing metadata organized by location; (2) an Excel file (East_River_Watershed_Compiled_Groundwater_Elevation_Data_Plots.xlsx) with the groundwater elevation data, groundwater hydrographs, and metadata organized by location; (3) a Word file (Groundwater_elevation_data_protocols.docx) and a PDF file version (Groundwater_elevation_data_protocols.pdf) containing field protocols and methods; (4) a location metadata (locations.csv) file; (5) a file level metadata (flmd.csv); and (6) data dictionary (dd.csv) file.This work was supported by the Watershed Function Science Focus Area at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory funded by the US Department of Energy, Office of Science, Biological and Environmental Research under Contract No. DE-AC02-05CH11231.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Blodgett 13C–labeled litter incubation 2016-2019

The dataset is from 13C-labelled (stable isotope of carbon) root-litter in-situ field incubation experiment based on the whole-soil warming experiment at the Blodgett Forest Research Station, CA, USA. The files are in both ".csv" and ".xlsx" versions, and can be opened in "maCOS numbers", and "Microsoft Excel". The files includes several sheets with all the data published in the paper: Sun, B., Zosso, C., Wiesenberg, G. L. B., Pegoraro, E., Torn, M. S., and Schmidt, M. W. I.: Warming accelerates the decomposition of root-derived hydrolysable lipids in a temperate forest and is depth- and compound class-dependent, SOIL, 11, 1077–1093, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-11-1077-2025, 2025. This dataset includes bulk soil carbon, nitrogen, delta 13C values, the normalized concentration (to organic carbon) of hydrolysable lipids identified, the absolute concentration (normalized to bulk soil) of hydrolysable lipids, hydrolysable lipids recovery, and weighted 13C-excess of bulk soil carbon, and weighted 13C-excess of each compound class in hydrolysable lipids. These data aim to answer two research questions: 1) How will warming affect the decomposition of 13C-labelled root-litter at different depth? 2) Will the decomposition of root-derived hydrolysable lipids under warming differ among different compound classes? The experiment sites located on the foothills of the Sierra Nevada near Georgetown, CA (120°3904000W; 38°5404300 N) at 1370m above see level. The Blodgett Forest is a mixed-coniferous forest. The site has a Mediterranean climate with a mean annual air temperature of 12.5 °C and a mean annual precipitation of 1774mm.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Global change data sets: Excerpts from the Master Directory, version 2.0

The recent awakening to the reality of human-induced changes to the environment has resulted in an organized effort to promote global change research. The goal of this research as outlined by NASA's Earth System Science Committee (Earth System Science: A closer View, 1988) is to understand the entire Earth system on a global scale by describing how its component parts and their interactions have evolved, how they function, and how they may be expected to evolve on all timescales. The practical result is the capacity to predict that evolution over the next decade to century. Key variables important for the study of global change include external forcing factors (solar radiance, UV flux), radiatively and chemically important trace species (CO2, CH4, N2O, etc.), atmospheric response variables (temperature, pressure, winds), landsurface properties (river run-off, snow cover, albedo, soil moisture, vegetation cover), and oceanic variables (sea surface temperature, sea ice extent, sea level ocean wind stress, currents, chlorophyll, biogeochemical fluxes). The purpose of this document is to identify existing data sets available (both remotely sensed and in situ data) covering some of these variables. This is not intended to be a complete list of global change data, but merely a highlight of what is available. The information was extracted from the Master Directory (MD), an on-line scientific data information service which may be used by any researcher. This report contains the coverage dates for the data sets, sources (satellites, instruments) of the data and where they are archived.

Beier, Joy↗

Standards for Interoperable Digital Twins

On September 18, 2023, NASA Earth Science Technology Office (ESTO) Advanced Information Systems Technology (AIST) Program conducted a mini-workshop that brought together seven experts to survey and discuss "Standards for Interoperable Digital Twins". Since three years, the AIST Program has been developing technologies and prototypes for Earth System Digital Twins (ESDT). During those developments and after the ESDT Workshop held in October 2022, it became clear that standard for ESDT interoperability were needed and should be defined as soon as possible. To address this challenge, the AIST program will survey ongoing development for Digital Twins standards in various domains and the September 18, 2023 Workshop represented the first step towards this understanding. Speakers during this event included: Michael Grieves (Digital Twin Institute), Siri Jodha Singh Khalsa (IEEE GRSS Standards), Trent Tinker (OGC), Ryan Berkheimer (NOAA), John Stone (NVIDIA), Thomas Geenen (ECMWF-DestinE) and Arne Berre (SINTEF-Iliad DTO and EDITO). This movie represents the recording of this event.

Earth Science Remote Sensing↗

Aqua A-Train Constellation Exit and End of Mission Plan

The Aqua Mission Director has requested the Aqua Flight Operations Team present the current status of the Aqua Constellation Exit Manaeuver (CEM) and End of Mission Plan (EMOP) to the Earth Science Constellation Mission Operations Working Group (MOWG) meeting planned as a virtual meeting from September 29 - October 2, 2020.

Earth Science Constellation Mission Operations Wor↗

Supporting NASA Science with High-Altitude Long-Endurance Aircraft

NASA Earth Science and Aeronautics researchers have been involved in development and use of High Altitude Long Endurance (HALE) unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) since the 1990's. The NASA Environmental Research Aircraft Sensor and Technology Program (ERAST) demonstrated the promise of HALE aircraft for providing observations while also proving the importance of triple-redundant avionics to improve system reliability for large unmanned aircraft. Early efforts to develop an operational HALE capability for earth observations languished for nearly two decades owing to insufficient solar panel efficiency, battery power density, and light-weight, yet strong, materials. During this time NASA researchers focused on using the Global Hawk to demonstrate the utility of providing diurnal measurements over severe storms (ie. HS3) and to track stratospheric water vapor transport (ATTREX). Recent significant commercial investments are now leading to the realization of a long-held goal of week- to month-long sustained observations and measurements from the stratosphere. In addition to a historical review of NASA use and interest in HALE aircraft, this paper will present current concepts for exploiting current and planned HALE aircraft capabilities including in situ characterization of atmospheric composition and dynamics as well as imagery collection. NASA researchers anticipate HALE will provide a useful means to test smallsat instruments and components. Observations from HALE-based instruments might also provide useful gap-filler observations to flagship satellite missions where the repeat time doesn't allow for measurements of quickly changing phenomenon. HALE will likely also provide measurements and communications relay to facilitate other aircraft in multi-aircraft campaigns. We will also report on progress towards a NASA-funded flight test planned for summer 2019 of a solar-electric vehicle designed to carry 7kg (15lbs) for 30 days at 20km altitude.

earth observations↗

Unsaturated and Saturated Hydraulic Parameters of Soils at the East River Watershed, Colorado Calculated using the Pedotransfer Function Method.

The purpose of the data package is to present the results of calculations of the following unsaturated-saturated hydraulic parameters of soils of the East River Watershed, Colorado: fully saturated water content (Qs), residual saturation (Qr), van genuchten parameters alpha and n, field capacity (FC), and saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ks). Calculations were conducted for the following soil texture types: sandy_loam, loam, silty_clay_loam, clay_loam, silt loam; the particle size distribution included the percentage of sand, silt, clay, and the bulk density (BD) of soils. Calculations were conducted for the following areas- Lower_Subalpine (6 samples),- Lower_Montane_lower_hillslope (7 samples),- Floodplain_at_base_of_lower_montane_hillslope, (11 samples),- PLM-0 (10 samples),- PLM-1 (10 samples), and - PLM-3 (13 samples)Calculations were conducted using the Pedotransfer Function Method developed by Tóth et al. (2014) with the application of the code ”euptf” in Rstudio. The data are being summarized in the Excel file ”Unsaturated_Saturated_Hydraulic_Parameters_PTF_calculated_EASt_EIver.xls" including two worksheets:“full_data_EAST_RIVER” which includes (a) the input data used for calculations, the soil texture triangle, and the plots of the water retention curves and unsaturated hydraulic conductivity for several types of soil texture, and (b) the summary table with the averaged parameters for each area. The the texture triangle was plotted using the Rstudio "soiltexture." Microsoft Excel software is required to open the Excel file. The metadata and a list of references to the Rstudio libraries used for calculations and data visualization are giving in the Word Readme file.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

NASA's Earth Observing Data and Information System (EOSDIS)

NASA's Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) has been a central component of the NASA Earth observation program since the 1990's. The data collected by NASA represent a significant public investment in research. Consequently, NASA developed a free, open and non-discriminatory policy consistent with existing international policies to maximize access to data. EOSDIS manages data covering a wide range of Earth science disciplines including cryosphere, land cover change, polar processes, field campaigns, ocean surface, geodesy, atmosphere dynamics and composition, and inter-disciplinary research, and many others.

Remote Sensing↗

Exploring the Possibilities: Earth and Space Science Missions in the Context of Exploration

According to Dr. Edward J. Weiler, Director of the Goddard Space Flight Center, "Exploration without science is tourism". At the American Astronautical Society's 43rd Annual Robert H. Goddard Memorial Symposium it was quite apparent to all that NASA's current Exploration Initiative is tightly coupled to multiple scientific initiatives: exploration will enable new science and science will enable exploration. NASA's Science Mission Directorate plans to develop priority science missions that deliver science that is vital, compelling and urgent. This paper will discuss the theme of the Goddard Memorial Symposium that science plays a key role in exploration. It will summarize the key scientific questions and some of the space and Earth science missions proposed to answer them, including the Mars and Lunar Exploration Programs, the Beyond Einstein and Navigator Programs, and the Earth-Sun System missions. It will also discuss some of the key technologies that will enable these missions, including the latest in instruments and sensors, large space optical system technologies and optical communications, and briefly discuss developments and achievements since the Symposium. Throughout history, humans have made the biggest scientific discoveries by visiting unknown territories; by going to the Moon and other planets and by seeking out habitable words, NASA is continuing humanity's quest for scientific knowledge.

Pfarr, Barbara↗

Snow Depth Datasets for Snodgrass Catchment, Colorado, Water Year 2022-2023

This data package presents snow depths data from distributed temperature probes at 18 locations near Snodgrass catchment, Colorado. These data show that snow melt-out dates are approximately one or two weeks later under evergreen forests compared to other vegetation types even at the same elevation. These data were collected to understand how snowmelt heterogeneity impacts headwater hydrology, including streamflow and groundwater levels. They were also used to compare with process-based model simulations of snow depth to evaluate whether the model accurately represents snowmelt dynamics and their effects on headwater hydrology. Snow_DTPs_locations.csv includes all probes locations and their associated elevation and vegetation types. Snow_Depth_Snodgrass_WY2022_2023.csv includes processed snow depths datasets for Water Year (WY) 2022 and 2023. This dataset also includes a file-level metadata (flmd.csv) file that lists each file contained in the dataset with associated metadata and a data dictionary (dd.csv) file that contains column/row headers used throughout the files along with a definition, units, and data type. Several probes have recordings for WY 2021.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

NSSDC data listing

In a highly summarized way, data available from the National Space Science Data Center (NSSDC) is identified. Most data are offline data sets (on magnetic tape or as film/print products of various sizes) from individual instruments carried on spacecraft; these compose the Satellite Data Listing. Descriptive names, time spans, data form, and quantity of these data sets are identified in the listing, which is sorted alphabetically-first by spacecraft name and then by the principal investigator's or team leader's last name. Several data sets held at NSSDC, not associated with individual spaceflight instruments, are identified in separate listings following the Satellite Data Listing. These data sets make up the Supplementary Data Listings and include composite spacecraft data sets, ground-based data, models, and computer routines. The identifiers used in the Supplementary Data Listings were created by NSSDC and are explained in the pages preceding the listings. Data set form codes are listed. NSSDC offers primarily archival, retrieval, replication, and dissemination services associated with the data sets discussed in the two major listings identified above. NSSDC also provides documentation which enables the data recipient to use the data received. NSSDC is working toward expanding presently limited capabilities for data subsetting and for promotion of data files to online residence for user downloading. NSSDC data holdings span the range of scientific disciplines in which NASA is involved, and include astrophysics, lunar and planetary science, solar physics, space plasma physics, and Earth science. In addition to the functions mentioned above, NSSDC offers data via special services and systems in a number of areas, including Astronomical Data Center (ADC), Coordinated Data Analysis Workshops (CDAWs), NASA Climate Data System (NCDS), Pilot Land Data System (PLDS), and Crustal Dynamics Data Information System (CDDIS). Furthermore, NSSDC has a no-password account on its SPAN/Telenet-accessible VAX through which the NASA Master Directory and selected online data bases are accessible and through which any data described here may be ordered. Astrophysics data support by NSSDC is not limited to the ADC. Each of these special services/systems is described briefly.

Horowitz, Richard↗

Report of the panel on the land surface: Process of change, section 5

The panel defined three main areas of study that are central to the Solid Earth Science (SES) program: climate interactions with the Earth's surface, tectonism as it affects the Earth's surface and climate, and human activities that modify the Earth's surface. Four foci of research are envisioned: process studies with an emphasis on modern processes in transitional areas; integrated studies with an emphasis on long term continental climate change; climate-tectonic interactions; and studies of human activities that modify the Earth's surface, with an emphasis on soil degradation. The panel concluded that there is a clear requirement for global coverage by high resolution stereoscopic images and a pressing need for global topographic data in support of studies of the land surface.

Adams, John B.↗

Earth observation photography: Looking back 20 years after Skylab

A committee of trained classroom teachers, backed by a volunteer team of technical experts and academic advisors has developed a program for earth science based on photographs obtained from low earth orbit. In selecting targeting objectives, immediate note was made of the fact nearly one generation (20 years) has passed since the United States' ambitious SKYLAB program was conducted. A critical part of those missions was the acquisition of earth photography using a six camera, multi-spectral camera system. This objective was systematically furthered through the term of three separate crew visits to the Space Station. Not merely an exercise in randomly photographing the Earth below, the purpose of the Earth Resource Experiment Package (EREP) was to determine what kind, and how much, photographic data could be acquired of the broad variety of Earth features witnessed on the mission's ground track. The collection of 35,000 photos produced by EREP represents the most complete coverage of Earth. However, it remains under used. GAS 324 intends to revisit, and to add a tier of relevancy to this inventory. The photography of GAS 324 should allow a direct examination and comparison of the changes in the globe in the last 20 years. format in both coverage and quality. The photogra phy acquired by CAN DO should allow a direct examination and comparison of the changes that have occured to the Globe in the last twenty years.

Nicholson, James H.↗

Storage and network bandwidth requirements through the year 2000 for the NASA Center for Computational Sciences

The data storage and retrieval demands of space and Earth sciences researchers have made the NASA Center for Computational Sciences (NCCS) Mass Data Storage and Delivery System (MDSDS) one of the world's most active Convex UniTree systems. Science researchers formed the NCCS's Computer Environments and Research Requirements Committee (CERRC) to relate their projected supercomputing and mass storage requirements through the year 2000. Using the CERRC guidelines and observations of current usage, some detailed projections of requirements for MDSDS network bandwidth and mass storage capacity and performance are presented.

Salmon, Ellen↗

TERRA Spacecraft

The Earth Observing System (EOS), managed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), Greenbelt, Maryland, is the centerpiece of the Earth Science Enterprise (formerly called "Mission to Planet Earth"), a long-term coordinated research effort to study the Earth as a global system. Terra was launched on December 18, 1999 aboard an ATLAS-IIAS launch vehicle from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. Terra is a near-polar orbiting spacecraft that will cross the equator at 10:30 AM local time. Terra will collect data simultaneously from a complement of five instruments: CERES (Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System), MISR (Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer) and MODIS (Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) are provided by the United States; MOPITT (Measurements Of Pollution In The Troposphere) by Canada; and ASTER (Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection radiometer) by Japan. Researchers around the world will use data from these instruments to study how the atmosphere, land, ocean, and life interact with each other on a global scale. This interactive CD introduces Terra's overall objectives and its instruments, the new technologies developed for Terra, the launch of Terra, and its flight dynamics.

Source record↗