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NASA NTRS2009

Developing New Coastal Forest Restoration Products Based on Landsat, ASTER, and MODIS Data

This paper discusses an ongoing effort to develop new geospatial information products for aiding coastal forest restoration and conservation efforts in coastal Louisiana and Mississippi. This project employs Landsat, Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER), and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellite data in conjunction with airborne elevation data to compute coastal forest cover type maps and change detection products. Improved forest mapping products are needed to aid coastal forest restoration and management efforts of State and Federal agencies in the Northern Gulf of Mexico (NGOM) region. In particular, such products may aid coastal forest land acquisition and conservation easement procurements. This region's forests are often disturbed and subjected to multiple biotic and abiotic threats, including subsidence, salt water intrusion, hurricanes, sea-level rise, insect-induced defoliation and mortality, altered hydrology, wildfire, and conversion to non-forest land use. In some cases, such forest disturbance has led to forest loss or loss of regeneration capacity. In response, a case study was conducted to assess and demonstrate the potential of satellite remote sensing products for improving forest type maps and for assessing forest change over the last 25 years. Change detection products are needed for assessing risks for specific priority coastal forest types, such as live oak and baldcypress-dominated forest. Preliminary results indicate Landsat time series data are capable of generating the needed forest type and change detection products. Useful classifications were obtained using 2 strategies: 1) general forest classification based on use of 3 seasons of Landsat data from the same year; and 2) classification of specific forest types of concern using a single date of Landsat data in which a given targeted type is spectrally distinct compared to adjacent forested cover. When available, ASTER data was useful as a complement to Landsat data. Elevation data helped to define areas in which targeted forest types occur, such as live oak forests on natural levees. MODIS Normalized Difference Vegetation Index time series data aided visual assessments of coastal forest damage and recovery from hurricanes. Landsat change detection products enabled change to be identified at the stand level and at 10- year intervals with the earliest date preceding available change detection products from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and from the U.S. Geological Survey. Additional work is being done in collaboration with State and Federal agency partners in a follow-on NASA ROSES project to refine and validate these new, promising products. The products from the ROSES project will be available for aiding NGOM coastal forest restoration and conservation.

Spruce, Joseph P.↗
NASA NTRS2009

Spatio-Temporal Variability of Atmospheric CO2 as Observed from In-Situ Measurements over North America during NASA Field Campaigns (2004-2008)

Regional-scale measurements were made over the eastern United States (Intercontinental Chemical Transport Experiment - North America (INTEX-NA), summer 2004); Mexico (Megacity Initiative: Local and Global Research Observations (MILAGRO), March 2006); the eastern North Pacific and Alaska (INTEX-B May 2006); and the Canadian Arctic (Arctic Research of the Composition of the Troposphere from Aircraft and Satellites (ARCTAS), spring and summer 2008). For these field campaigns, instrumentation for the in situ measurement of CO2 was integrated on the NASA DC-8 research aircraft providing high-resolution (1 second) data traceable to the WMO CO2 mole fraction scale. These observations provide unique and definitive data sets via their intermediate-scale coverage and frequent vertical profiles (0.1 - 12 km) for examining the variability CO2 exhibits above the Earth s surface. A bottom-up anthropogenic CO2 emissions inventory (1deg 1deg) and processing methodology has also been developed for North America in support of these airborne science missions. In this presentation, the spatio-temporal distributions of CO2 and CO column values derived from the campaign measurements will be examined in conjunction with the emissions inventory and transport histories to aid in the interpretation of the CO2 observations.

Choi, Yonghoon↗
NASA NTRS2009

Eta Carinae in the Context of the Most Massive Stars

Eta Car, with its historical outbursts, visible ejecta and massive, variable winds, continues to challenge both observers and modelers. In just the past five years over 100 papers have been published on this fascinating object. We now know it to be a massive binary system with a 5.54-year period. In January 2009, Car underwent one of its periodic low-states, associated with periastron passage of the two massive stars. This event was monitored by an intensive multi-wavelength campaign ranging from -rays to radio. A large amount of data was collected to test a number of evolving models including 3-D models of the massive interacting winds. August 2009 was an excellent time for observers and theorists to come together and review the accumulated studies, as have occurred in four meetings since 1998 devoted to Eta Car. Indeed, Car behaved both predictably and unpredictably during this most recent periastron, spurring timely discussions. Coincidently, WR140 also passed through periastron in early 2009. It, too, is a intensively studied massive interacting binary. Comparison of its properties, as well as the properties of other massive stars, with those of Eta Car is very instructive. These well-known examples of evolved massive binary systems provide many clues as to the fate of the most massive stars. What are the effects of the interacting winds, of individual stellar rotation, and of the circumstellar material on what we see as hypernovae/supernovae? We hope to learn. Topics discussed in this 1.5 day Joint Discussion were: Car: the 2009.0 event: Monitoring campaigns in X-rays, optical, radio, interferometry WR140 and HD5980: similarities and differences to Car LBVs and Eta Carinae: What is the relationship? Massive binary systems, wind interactions and 3-D modeling Shapes of the Homunculus & Little Homunculus: what do we learn about mass ejection? Massive stars: the connection to supernovae, hypernovae and gamma ray bursters Where do we go from here? (future directions) The Science Organizing Committee: Co-chairs: Augusto Damineli (Brazil) & Theodore R. Gull (USA). Members: D. John Hillier (USA), Gloria Koenigsberger (Mexico), Georges Meynet (Switzerland), Nidia Morrell (Chile), Atsuo T. Okazaki (Japan), Stanley P. Owocki (USA), Andy M.T. Pol- lock (Spain), Nathan Smith (USA), Christiaan L. Sterken (Belgium), Nicole St Louis (Canada), Karel A. van der Hucht (Netherlands), Roberto Viotti (Italy) and GerdWeigelt (Germany)

Gull, Theodore R.↗
NASA NTRS2009

The Transition of High-Resolution NASA MODIS Sea Surface Temperatures into the WRF Environmental Modeling System

The NASA Short-term Prediction Research and Transition (SPoRT) Center has developed a Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sea surface temperature (SST) composite at 2-km resolution that has been implemented in version 3 of the National Weather Service (NWS) Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Environmental Modeling System (EMS). The WRF EMS is a complete, full physics numerical weather prediction package that incorporates dynamical cores from both the Advanced Research WRF (ARW) and the Non-hydrostatic Mesoscale Model (NMM). The installation, configuration, and execution of either the ARW or NMM models is greatly simplified by the WRF EMS to encourage its use by NWS Weather Forecast Offices (WFOs) and the university community. The WRF EMS is easy to run on most Linux workstations and clusters without the need for compilers. Version 3 of the WRF EMS contains the most recent public release of the WRF-NMM and ARW modeling system (version 3 of the ARW is described in Skamarock et al. 2008), the WRF Pre-processing System (WPS) utilities, and the WRF Post-Processing program. The system is developed and maintained by the NWS National Science Operations Officer Science and Training Resource Coordinator. To initialize the WRF EMS with high-resolution MODIS SSTs, SPoRT developed the composite product consisting of MODIS SSTs over oceans and large lakes with the NCEP Real-Time Global (RTG) filling data over land points. Filling the land points is required due to minor inconsistencies between the WRF land-sea mask and that used to generate the MODIS SST composites. This methodology ensures a continuous field that adequately initializes all appropriate arrays in WRF. MODIS composites covering the Gulf of Mexico, western Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean are generated daily at 0400, 0700, 1600, and 1900 UTC corresponding to overpass times of the NASA Aqua and Terra polar orbiting satellites. The MODIS SST product is output in gridded binary-1 (GRIB-1) data format for a seamless incorporation into WRF via the WPS utilities. The full-resolution, 1-km MODIS product is sub-sampled to 2-km grid spacing due to limitations in handling very large dimensions in the GRIB-1 data format. The GRIB-1 files are posted online at ftp://ftp.nsstc.org/sstcomp/WRF/, which is directly accessed by the WRF EMS scripts. The MODIS SST composites are also downloaded to the EMS data server, which is accessible by the WRF EMS users and NWS WFOs. The SPoRT MODIS SST composite provides the model with superior detail of the ocean gradients around Florida and surrounding waters, whereas the operational RTG SST typically depicts a relatively smooth field and is not able to capture sharp horizontal gradients in SST. Differences of 2-3 C are common over small horizontal distances, leading to enhanced SST gradients on either side of the Gulf Stream and along the edges of the cooler shelf waters. These sharper gradients can in turn produce atmospheric responses in simulated temperature and wind fields as depicted in LaCasse et al. Differences in atmospheric verification statistics over a several month study were generally small in the vicinity of south Florida; however, the validation of SSTs at specific buoy locations revealed important improvements in the biases and RMS errors, especially in the vicinity of the cooler shelf waters off the east-central Florida coast. A current weakness in the MODIS SST product is the occurrence of occasional discontinuities caused by high latency in SST coverage due to persistent cloud cover. An enhanced method developed by Jedlovec et al. (2009, GHRSST User Symposium) reduces the occurrence of these problems by adding Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer -- EOS (AMSR-E) SST data to the compositing process. Enhanced SST composites are produced over the ocean regions surrounding the Continental U.S. at four times each day corresponding to Terra and Aqua equator crossing times. For a given day and overpass time, both MODInd AMSR-E data from the previous seven days form a collection used in the compositing. At each MODIS pixel, cloud-free SST values from the collection are used to form a weighted average based on their latency (number of days from the current day). In this way, recent SST data are given more weight than older data. One of the primary issues involved in incorporating the AMSR-E microwave data in the composites is the tradeoff between the decreased spatial resolution of the AMSR-E data (25 km) and the increased coverage due to its near all-weather capability. Currently, the AMSR-E is given a weight of 20% compared to MODIS data, thereby preserving the spatial structure observed in the MODIS data. Day-time (night-time) AMSR-E SST data from Aqua are used with both Terra and Aqua MODIS day-time (night-time) SST data sets.

Case, Jonathan L.↗
NASA NTRS2009

Integration of Airborne Aerosol Prediction Systems and Vegetation Phenology to Track Pollen for Asthma Alerts in Public Health Decision Support Systems

The residual signal indicates that the pollen event may influence the seasonal signal to an extent that would allow detection, given accurate QA filtering and BRDF corrections. MODIS daily reflectances increased during the pollen season. The DREAM model (PREAM) was successfully modified for use with pollen and may provide 24-36 hour running pollen forecasts. Publicly available pollen forecasts are linked to general weather patterns and roughly-known species phenologies. These are too coarse for timely health interventions. PREAM addresses this key data gap so that targeting intervention measures can be determined temporally and geospatially. The New Mexico Department of Health (NMDOH) as part of its Environmental Public Health Tracking Network (EPHTN) would use PREAM a tool for alerting the public in advance of pollen bursts to intervene and reduce the health impact on asthma populations at risk.

Luvall, Jeffrey C.↗
NASA NTRS2010

The Range Safety Debris Catalog Analysis in Preparation for the Pad Abort One Flight Test

The Pad Abort One flight test of the Orion Abort Flight Test Program is currently under development with the goal of demonstrating the capability of the Launch Abort System. In the event of a launch failure, this system will propel the Crew Exploration Vehicle to safety. An essential component of this flight test is range safety, which ensures the security of range assets and personnel. A debris catalog analysis was done as part of a range safety data package delivered to the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico where the test will be conducted. The analysis discusses the consequences of an overpressurization of the Abort Motor. The resulting structural failure was assumed to create a debris field of vehicle fragments that could potentially pose a hazard to the range. A statistical model was used to assemble the debris catalog of potential propellant fragments. Then, a thermodynamic, energy balance model was applied to the system in order to determine the imparted velocity to these propellant fragments. This analysis was conducted at four points along the flight trajectory to better understand the failure consequences over the entire flight. The methods used to perform this analysis are outlined in detail and the corresponding results are presented and discussed.

Kutty, Prasad M.↗
NASA NTRS2009

Global Electric Circuit Implications of Total Current Measurements over Electrified Clouds

We determined total conduction (Wilson) currents and flash rates for 850 overflights of electrified clouds spanning regions including the Southeastern United States, the Western Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, Central America and adjacent oceans, Central Brazil, and the South Pacific. The overflights include storms over land and ocean, with and without lightning, and with positive and negative Wilson currents. We combined these individual storm overflight statistics with global diurnal lightning variation data from the Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS) and Optical Transient Detector (OTD) to estimate the thunderstorm and electrified shower cloud contributions to the diurnal variation in the global electric circuit. The contributions to the global electric circuit from lightning producing clouds are estimated by taking the mean current per flash derived from the overflight data for land and ocean overflights and combining it with the global lightning rates (for land and ocean) and their diurnal variation derived from the LIS/OTD data. We estimate the contribution of non-lightning producing electrified clouds by assuming several different diurnal variations and total non-electrified storm counts to produce estimates of the total storm currents (lightning and non-lightning producing storms). The storm counts and diurnal variations are constrained so that the resultant total current diurnal variation equals the diurnal variation in the fair weather electric field (+/-15%). These assumptions, combined with the airborne and satellite data, suggest that the total mean current in the global electric circuit ranges from 2.0 to 2.7 kA, which is greater than estimates made by others using other methods.

Mach, Douglas M.↗
NASA NTRS2010

The Solar Dynamics Observatory: Your Eye on the Sun

The Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) was launched on February 11,2010 into partly cloudy skies over Cape Canaveral, Florida. SDO moved into a 28 degree inclined geosynchronous orbit over the longitude of the ground station in New Mexico. SDO is the first Space Weather Mission in NASA's Living With a Star Program. SDO's main goal is to understand and predict those solar variations that influence life on Earth and our technological systems. The SDO science investigations will determine how the Sun's magnetic field is generated and structured, how this stored magnetic energy is released into the heliosphere as the solar wind, energetic particles, and variations in the solar irradiance. The SDO mission consists of three scientific investigations (AIA, EVE, and HMI), a spacecraft bus, and a dedicated Ka-band ground station to handle the 150 Mbps data flow. SDO continues a long tradition of NASA missions providing calibrated solar spectral irradiance data, in this case using multiple measurements of the irradiance and rocket underflights of the spacecraft. The other instruments on SDO will be used to explain and develop predictive models of the solar spectral irradiance in the extreme ultraviolet. Science teams at LMSAL, LASP, and Stanford are responsible for processing, analyzing, distributing, and archiving the science data. We will talk about the building of SDO, its launch, and the data and science it will provide to NASA.

Pesnell, William Dean↗
NASA NTRS2009

Review of Alpha-Ketoglutaric Acid (AKGA) Hydrazine and Monomethylhydrazine (MMH) Neutralizing Compound

The Johnson Space Center (JSC) White Sands Test Facility (WSTF) and NASA Engineering and Safety Center (NESC) were requested by NASA Associate Administrator for Space Operations to perform an evaluation of a proposed hydrazine/monomethylhydrazine (MMH) fuel treatment method using alpha-ketoglutaric acid (AKGA). This evaluation request was prompted by preliminary tests at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC), suggesting cost and operational benefits to NASA for the Space Shuttle Program (SSP) and other hardware decontamination and decommissioning, in addition to hydrazine and MMH waste treatment activities. This paper provides the team's position on the current KSC and New Mexico Highlands University (NMHU) efforts toward implementing the AKGA treatment technology with flight hardware, ground support equipment (GSE), hydrazine and MMH spills, and vapor control. This evaluation is current to the last data examined (approximately September 2008).

Dibbern, Andreas W.↗
NASA NTRS2009

NASA Satellite Monitoring of Water Clarity in Mobile Bay for Nutrient Criteria Development

This project has demonstrated feasibility of deriving from MODIS daily measurements time series of water clarity parameters that provide coverage of a specific location or an area of interest for 30-50% of days. Time series derived for estuarine and coastal waters display much higher variability than time series of ecological parameters (such as vegetation indices) derived for land areas. (Temporal filtering often applied in terrestrial studies cannot be used effectively in ocean color processing). IOP-based algorithms for retrieval of diffuse light attenuation coefficient and TSS concentration perform well for the Mobile Bay environment: only a minor adjustment was needed in the TSS algorithm, despite generally recognized dependence of such algorithms on local conditions. The current IOP-based algorithm for retrieval of chlorophyll a concentration has not performed as well: a more reliable algorithm is needed that may be based on IOPs at additional wavelengths or on remote sensing reflectance from multiple spectral bands. CDOM algorithm also needs improvement to provide better separation between effects of gilvin (gelbstoff) and detritus. (Identification or development of such algorithm requires more data from in situ measurements of CDOM concentration in Gulf of Mexico coastal waters (ongoing collaboration with the EPA Gulf Ecology Division))

Blonski, Slawomir↗
NASA NTRS2009

Use of NASA Satellite Data in Aiding Mississippi Barrier Island Restoration Projects

This presentation discusses a NASA Stennis Space Center project in which NASA-supported satellite and aerial data is being used to aid state and federal agencies in restoring the Mississippi barrier islands. Led by the Applied Science and Technology Project Office (ASTPO), this project will produce geospatial information products from multiple NASA-supported data sources, including Landsat, ASTER, and MODIS satellite data as well as ATLAS multispectral, CAMS multispectral, AVIRIS hyperspectral, EAARL, and other aerial data. Project objectives include the development and testing of a regional sediment transport model and the monitoring of barrier island restoration efforts through remote sensing. Barrier islands provide invaluable benefits to the State of Mississippi, including buffering the mainland from storm surge impacts, providing habitats for valuable wildlife and fisheries habitat, offering accessible recreational opportunities, and preserving natural environments for educating the public about coastal ecosystems and cultural resources. Unfortunately, these highly valued natural areas are prone to damage from hurricanes. For example, Hurricane Camille in 1969 split Ship Island into East and West Ship Island. Hurricane Georges in 1998 caused additional land loss for the two Ship Islands. More recently, Hurricanes Ivan, Katrina, Rita, Gustav, and Ike impacted the Mississippi barrier islands. In particular, Hurricane Katrina caused major damage to island vegetation and landforms, killing island forest overstories, overwashing entire islands, and causing widespread erosion. In response, multiple state and federal agencies are working to restore damaged components of these barrier islands. Much of this work is being implemented through federally funded Coastal Impact Assessment and Mississippi Coastal Improvement programs. One restoration component involves the reestablishment of the island footprints to that in 1969. Our project will employ NASA remote sensing data and products to support these federally funded efforts on multiple fronts. Landsat and ASTER data is being analyzed to assess changes in barrier island land cover over the last 35 years. ASTER, SRTM, and EAARL terrain products and other NASA airborne imagery are being applied in assessing changes in barrier island geomorphology and geospatial extent. MODIS data is being examined as a tool for sediment transport modeling by supplying geospatial data that quantifies in-water sediment concentrations. MODIS satellite data is being assessed for monitoring changes in the spatial extent of individual barrier islands. Results thus far indicate that NASA data products are useful in assessing barrier island conditions and changes. This value is enhanced with additional historical geospatial data, commercial high resolution satellite data, other non-NASA aerial imagery, and field survey data. The project s products are relevant to the Gulf of Mexico Alliance priority issues, including coastal habitat conservation, restoration and coastal community resilience. Such products will be available to state and federal agencies involved with coastal restoration. Potential end-users of these products include the National Park Service, U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Environmental Protection Agency, Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, and Mississippi Department of Marine Resources.

Giardino, Marco↗
NASA NTRS2010

Lunar Meteoroid Impact Observations and the Flux of Kilogram-Size Meteoroids

Meteor showers dominate the environment in this size range and explain the evening/morning flux asymmetry of 1.5:1. With sufficient numbers of impacts, this technique can help determine the population index for some showers. Measured flux of meteoroids in the 100g to kilograms range is consistent with other observations. We have a fruitful observing program underway which has significantly increased the number of lunar impacts observed. Over 200 impacts have been recorded in about 4 years. This analysis reports on the 115 impacts taken under photometric conditions during the first 3 full years of operation. We plan to continue for the foreseeable future as follows: 1) Run detailed model to try explain the concentration near the trailing limb; 2) Build up statistics to better understand the meteor shower environment; 3) Provide support for robotic seismometers and dust missions; and 4) Deploy near-infrared and visible cameras with dichroic beamsplitter to 0.5m telescope in New Mexico.

Suggs, Rob↗
NASA NTRS2010

Applications of OMI Tropospheric NO(Sub 2) Data: Air Quality Trends in the US and Lightning NO(x) Source Strength

This talk will be presented in two parts: 1) an analysis of tropospheric column NO2 trends in the eastern half of the United States over the period 2005 to 2009 and 2) estimation of lightning NO(x) production rates based on OMI observations and lightning flash rate data. The air quality trends in the eastern US will be determined for specific subregions using tropospheric column NO2 data from OMI for 2005 through 2008 and from GOME-2 for 2007 through 2009. This period is characterized by significant NO(x) emission reductions at power plants within most of this region. The air quality trends will be compared with those estimated from continuous emission monitoring data from the power plants compiled by the US Environmental Protection Agency. OMI NO2 data have also been used to estimate lightning NOx production per flash in selected storms near Costa Rica and Panama during the 2007 NASA TC4 field campaign and over the continental US, Gulf of Mexico, and western Atlantic during the summers of 2005 and 2006. The lightning signal is extracted from the OMI data through a custom retrieval in which an NO2 profile representative of convective outflow is used in the airmass factor calculation and the background NO2 column is subtracted from the tropospheric column. When combined with NO(x)/NO2 ratios from the NASA GMT model and observed flash rates, the resulting estimates of NO(x) production per flash are comparable to those estimated obtained from analyses of aircraft data and cloud-resolving modeling.

Pickering, Kenneth↗
NASA NTRS2010

The Utility of the OMI HCHO and NO2 Data Products in Air Quality Decision- Making Activities

We will present three related air quality applications of the OMI HCHO (formaldehyde) and NO2 (nitrogen dioxide) data products, which we us to support mission planning of an OMI-like instrument for the proposed GEO-CAPE satellite that has as one of its objectives to study air quality from space. First, we will discuss a novel and practical application of the data products to the "weight of evidence" in the air quality decision-making process (e.g., State Implementation Plan (SIP)) for a city, region, or state to demonstrate that it is making progress toward attainment of the National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for ozone. Any trend, or lack thereof, in the observed OMI HCHO/NO2, which we use as an air quality indicator, may support that an emission control strategy implemented to reduce ozone is or is not occurring for a metropolitan area. Second, we will discuss how we use variations in the OMI HCHO product as a proxy for variability in the biogenic hydrocarbon, isoprene, which is an important player for the formation of high levels of ozone and the dominant source of HCHO in the eastern U.S. Third, we will discuss the variability of NO2 in the U.S. as indicated by the OMI NO2 product. In addition, we will show the impact of the 2005 hurricanes on pollutant emissions, including those associated with the intensive oil extraction and refining activities, in the Gulf of Mexico region using the OMI NO2 product. The variability of HCHO and NO2 as indicated by OMI helps us to understand changes in the OMI HCHO/NO2 and the implications for ozone formation.

Duncan, Bryan N.↗
NASA NTRS2010

Current Trends in Satellite Laser Ranging

Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR) techniques are used to accurately measure the distance from ground stations to retroreflectors on satellites and the moon. SLR is one of the fundamental techniques that define the international Terrestrial Reference Frame (iTRF), which is the basis upon which we measure many aspects of global change over space, time, and evolving technology. It is one of the fundamental techniques that define at a level of precision of a few mm the origin and scale of the ITRF. Laser Ranging provides precision orbit determination and instrument calibration/validation for satellite-borne altimeters for the better understanding of sea level change, ocean dynamics, ice budget, and terrestrial topography. Laser ranging is also a tool to study the dynamics of the Moon and fundamental constants. Many of the GNSS satellites now carry retro-reflectors for improved orbit determination, harmonization of reference frames, and in-orbit co-location and system performance validation. The GNSS Constellations will be the means of making the reference frame available to worldwide users. Data and products from these measurements support key aspects of the GEOSS 10-Year implementation Plan adopted on February 16, 2005, The ITRF has been identified as a key contribution of the JAG to GEOSS and the ILRS makes a major contribution for its development since its foundation. The ILRS delivers weekly additional realizations that are accumulated sequentially to extend the ITRF and the Earth Orientation Parameter (EOP) series with a daily resolution. Additional products are currently under development such as precise orbits of satellites, EOP with daily availability, low-degree gravitational harmonics for studies of Earth dynamics and kinematics, etc. SLR technology continues to evolve toward the next generation laser ranging systems as programmatic requirements become more stringent. Ranging accuracy is improving as higher repetition rate, narrower pulse lasers and faster detectors are implemented. Automation and pass interleaving at some stations is already expanding temporal coverage. Web-based safety keys are allowing the SLR network stations to range to optically vulnerable satellites. Some stations are experimenting with two-wavelength operation as a means of better understanding the atmospheric refraction and with very low power laser to improve eye-safety conditions. New retroreflector designs are improving the signal link and enable daylight ranging. Dramatic improvements have also been made with lunar ranging with the new APOLLO Site in New ?Mexico, USA and the upgraded lunar station "MEO" in Grasse,

Pearlman, M. R.↗
NASA NTRS2010

Use of Land Use Land Cover Change Mapping Products in Aiding Coastal Habitat Conservation and Restoration Efforts of the Mobile Bay NEP

The Mobile Bay region has undergone significant land use land cover change (LULC) over the last 35 years, much of which is associated with urbanization. These changes have impacted the region s water quality and wildlife habitat availability. In addition, much of the region is low-lying and close to the Gulf, which makes the region vulnerable to hurricanes, climate change (e.g., sea level rise), and sometimes man-made disasters such as the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill. Land use land cover change information is needed to help coastal zone managers and planners to understand and mitigate the impacts of environmental change on the region. This presentation discusses selective results of a current NASA-funded project in which Landsat data over a 34-year period (1974-2008) is used to produce, validate, refine, and apply land use land cover change products to aid coastal habitat conservation and restoration needs of the Mobile Bay National Estuary Program (MB NEP). The project employed a user defined classification scheme to compute LULC change mapping products for the entire region, which includes the majority of Mobile and Baldwin counties. Additional LULC change products have been computed for select coastal HUC-12 sub-watersheds adjacent to either Mobile Bay or the Gulf of Mexico, as part of the MB NEP watershed profile assessments. This presentation will include results of additional analyses of LULC change for sub-watersheds that are currently high priority areas, as defined by MB NEP. Such priority sub-watersheds include those that are vulnerable to impacts from the DWH oil spill, as well as sub-watersheds undergoing urbanization. Results demonstrating the nature and permanence of LULC change trends for these higher priority sub-watersheds and results characterizing change for the entire 34-year period and at approximate 10-year intervals across this period will also be presented. Future work will include development of value-added coastal habitat quality assessment products that will be used by the MB NEP and its partners in the planning of coastal conservation and restoration activities.

Spruce, Joseph P.↗
NASA NTRS2010

Quantification of Juniperus Ashei Pollen Production for the Development of Forecasting Models

Juniperus ashei pollen is considered one of the most allergenic species of Cupressaceae in North America. Juniperus ashei is distributed throughout central Texas, Northern Mexico, the Arbuckle Mountains of south central Oklahoma, and the Ozark Mountains of northern Arkansas and southwestern Missouri. The large amount of airborne pollen that J. ashei produces affects inhabitants of cities and towns adjacent to juniper woodland areas and because juniper pollen can be transported over long distances, it affects populations that are far away. In order to create a dynamic forecast system for allergy and asthma sufferers, pollen production must be estimated. Estimation of pollen production requires the estimation of male cone production. Two locations in the Arbuckle Mountains of Oklahoma and 4 locations in the Edwards Plateau region of Texas were chosen as sampling sites. Trees were measured to determine approximate size. Male to female ratio was determined and pollen cone production was estimated using a qualitative scale from 0 to 2. Cones were counted from harvested 1/8 sections of representative trees. The representative trees were measured and approximate surface area of the tree was calculated. Using the representative tree data, the number of cones per square meter was calculated for medium production (1) and high production (2) trees. These numbers were extrapolated to calculate cone production in other trees sampled. Calibration was achieved within each location's sub-plot by counting cones on 5 branches collected from 5 sides of both high production and medium production trees. The total area sampled in each location was 0.06 hectare and total cone production varied greatly from location to location. The highest production area produced 5.8 million cones while the lowest production area produced 72,000 cones. A single representative high production tree in the Arbuckle Mountains produced 1.38 million cones. The number of trees per location was relatively uniform, but the number of high cone production trees varied greatly. Although there is great diversity in the locations making it difficult to determine which factors are most important, cone production was well correlated with certain stand characteristics including trunk diameter.

Bunderson, L. D.↗
NASA NTRS2010

An Overview of My Internship with the Ecological Program at John F. Kennedy Space Center

During my internship with Innovative Health Applications, I participated in numerous longterm research projects involving the study of various plant and animal life at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC). I observed the monitoring of nesting sea turtles. I learned about the transfer of egg clutches from the northern Gulf Coast in an effort to help the hatchlings avoid the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. I gained knowledge of tracking the movements of important sport fish and sharks in this area using a hydro-acoustic tag and receiver system. This effort included routinely taking water quality data at multiple sites around KSC. Alligator population and nesting assessments was another part of my internship. I observed the biologists take morphometric measurements, blood, urine and tissue samples from alligators found in KSC waterways. I assisted in taking photosynthesis and reflectance measurements on various scrub oaks and palmettos. I participated in Florida Scrub-Jay surveys in an effort to monitor their population trends and was involved in Southeastern beach mouse trapping and identification. I also assisted in seagrass surveys monitoring the health of the seagrass beds.

Owen, Samantha↗