Engineering topics

McClain, Charles

Publications and source records attributed to McClain, Charles.

8 records

NASA NTRS2003

Low/Medium Density Biomass, Coastal and Ocean Carbon: A Carbon Cycle Mission

As part of the Global Carbon Cycle research effort, an agency-wide planning initiative was organized between October 2000 and June 2001 by the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) at the behest of the Associate Administrator for Earth Science. The goal was to define future research and technology development activities needed for implementing a cohesive scientific observation plan. A timeline for development of missions necessary to acquire the selected new measurements was laid out, and included missions for low - medium density terrestrial biomass / coastal ocean / and ocean carbon. This paper will begin with the scientific justification and measurement requirements for these specific activities, explore the options for having separate or combined missions, and follow-up with an implementation study centered on a hyperspectral imager at geosynchronous altitudes.

Esper, Jaime↗

NASA NTRS2002

The Proposal for the NASA Sensor Intercalibration and Merger for Biological and Interdisciplinary Oceanic Studies(SIMBIOS) Program, 1995

As a result of the Earth Observing System (EOS) restructuring exercise during the last half of fiscal year 1994, the EOS Color mission, which was scheduled to be a data-buy with a 1998 launch was dropped from the EOS mission manifest primarily because of the number of international ocean color missions scheduled for launch in the 1998 time frame. In lieu of a new mission, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) was tasked by NASA Headquarters to develop an ocean color satellite calibration and validation plan for multiple sensors. The objective of the activity was to develop a methodology and operational capability to combine data products from the various ocean color missions in a manner that ensures the best possible global coverage and data quality. The program was called the Sensor Intercomparison and Merger for Biological and Interdisciplinary Oceanic Studies (SIMBIOS) project coined from the biological term "symbiosis." This document is the original proposal that was developed and submitted in May 1995. SIMBIOS was approved in 1996 and initiated in 1997 with a project office and technical staff at GSFC and a science team to assist in the development of validation data sets, sensor calibration, atmospheric correction, and bio-optical and data merger algorithms. Since its inception, the SIMBIOS program has resulted in a broad-based international collaboration on the calibration and validation of a number of ocean color satellites.

McClain, Charles↗

NASA NTRS2002

The First SIMBIOS Radiometric Intercomparison (SIMRIC-1), April-September 2001

This report describes the first SIMBIOS (Sensor Intercomparison and Merger for Biological and Interdisciplinary Oceanic Studies) Radiometric Intercomparison (SIMRIC-1). The purpose of the SIMRIC-1 is to ensure a common radiometric scale of the calibration facilities that are engaged in calibrating in situ radiometers used for ocean color related research and to document the calibration procedures and protocols. SIMBIOS staff visited the seven participating laboratories for at least two days each. The SeaWiFS Transfer Radiometer SXR-II measured the calibration radiances produced in the laboratories. The measured radiances were compared with the radiances expected by the laboratories. Typically, the measured radiances were higher than the expected radiances by 0 to 2%. This level of agreement is satisfactory. Several issues were identified, where the calibration protocols need to be improved, especially the reflectance calibration of the reference plaques and the distance correction when using the irradiance standards at distances greater than the 50 cm. The responsivity of the SXR-II changed between 0.3% (channel 6) and 1.6% (channel 2) from December 2000 to December 2001. Monitoring the SXR-II with a portable light source showed a linear drift of the calibration, except for channel 1, where a 2% drop occurred in summer.

Meister, Gerhard↗

NASA NTRS2001

In Situ Aerosol Optical Thickness Collected by the SIMBIOS Program (1997-2000): Protocols, and and Data QC and Analysis

The purpose of this technical report is to provide current documentation of the Sensor Intercomparison and Merger for Biological and Interdisciplinary Oceanic Studies (SIMBIOS) Project Office activities on in situ aerosol optical thickness (i.e., protocols, and data QC and analysis). This documentation is necessary to ensure that critical information is related to the scientific community and NASA management. This critical information includes the technical difficulties and challenges of validating and combining ocean color data from an array of independent satellite systems to form consistent and accurate global bio-optical time series products. This technical report is not meant as a substitute for scientific literature. Instead, it will provide a ready and responsive vehicle for the multitude of technical reports issued by an operational project.

Fargion, Giulietta S.↗

NASA NTRS2001

SIMBIOS Sun Photometer Program

Aerosol optical thickness (AOT) values determined from the satellite ocean color data provide useful information on the spatial and temporal distributions of aerosols and are by-products of the atmospheric corrections required to estimation of water-leaving radiances. The Sensor Intercomparison and Merger for Biological and Interdisciplinary Oceanic Studies (SIMBIOS) project is using in situ atmospheric data, primarily from sun photometers, for several purposes including: (1) validation the SeaWiFS and other ocean color mission aerosol optical products, e.g., AOT and Angstrom exponent; (2) evaluation of the aerosol models currently used for atmospheric corrections; and (3) development of vicarious sensor calibration methodologies, especially for the near-infrared bands where in situ water-leaving radiance data in the visible from sites like the Marine Optical Buoy cannot be used. The principal source of in situ aerosol observations was the Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET).

McClain, Charles↗

NASA NTRS2000

Temporal Variations in the Photosynthetic Biosphere

In this report, we describe results from the first three years of global Sea-Viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS) ocean chlorophyll and land plant measurements. This time period covered the end of one of the largest El Nino events in the past century and a strong La Nina. During this transition, terrestrial plant photosynthesis exhibited only a small change, whereas a significant increase in oceanic photosynthesis was observed. Latitudinal distributions of ocean production indicated that this increase in photosynthesis during the La Nina was distributed in the equatorial belt as well as in high production areas. The analysis also illustrated the large 'missing bloom' in ocean phytoplankton in the southern ocean. While land photosynthesis remained fairly steady during the third year of SeaWiFS measurements, ocean phytoplankton production continued to increase, albeit at a lower rate than from 1997 to 1999. Our results represent the first quantification of interannual variability in global scale ocean productivity. Significant Findings: An increase in ocean production during the first three years of the SeaWiFS mission; a strong hemispheric difference in the latitudinal distribution of ocean photosynthesis.

Behrenfeld, Michael↗

NASA NTRS1999

Global Mapping of Underwater UV Irradiances and DNA-Weighted Exposures using TOMS and SeaWiFS Data Products

The global stratospheric ozone-layer depletion results In an increase in biologically harmful ultraviolet (UV) radiation reaching the surface and penetrating to ecologically significant depths in natural waters. Such an increase can be estimated on a global scale by combining satellite estimates of UV irradiance at the ocean surface from the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) satellite instrument with the SeaWIFS satellite ocean-color measurements in the visible spectral region. In this paper we propose a model of seawater optical properties in the UV spectral region based on the Case I water model in the visible range. The inputs to the model are standard monthly SeaWiFS products: chlorophyll concentration and the diffuse attenuation coefficient at 490nm. Penetration of solar UV radiation to different depths in open ocean waters is calculated using the RT (radiative transfer) quasi-single scattering approximation (QSSA). The accuracy of the QSSA approximation in the water is tested using more accurate codes. The sensitivity study of the underwater UV irradiance to atmospheric and oceanic optical properties have shown that the main environmental parameters controlling the absolute levels of the UVB (280-320nm) and DNA-weighted irradiance underwater are: solar-zenith angle, cloud transmittance, water optical properties, and total ozone. Weekly maps of underwater UV irradiance and DNA-weighted exposure are calculated using monthly-mean SeaWiFS chlorophyll and diffuse attenuation coefficient products, daily SeaWiFS cloud fraction data, and the TOMS-derived surface UV irradiance daily maps. The final products include global maps of weekly-average UVB irradiance and DNA-weighted daily exposures at 3m and 10m, and depths where the UVB irradiance and DNA-weighted dose rate at local noon are equal to 10% of their surface values.

Vasilkov, Alexander↗

NASA NTRS1997

Seasonal Phytoplankton Dynamics in the Eastern Tropical Atlantic

The coastal zone color scanner (CZCS) that operated aboard the Nimbus 7 satellite provided extensive coverage of phytoplankton pigment concentrations in the surface waters of the eastern tropical Atlantic (ETA) from March 1979 to February 1980 and coincided with four major research cruises to this region. Total primary production within the ETA (5 deg N-10 deg S, 25 deg W-10 deg E) was determined from CZCS pigment estimates and an empirical algorithm derived from concurrent in situ data taken along 4 deg W that relates near-surface chlorophyll concentration and integrated primary production. We estimated an average annual production for the ETA of 2.3 Gt C/yr with an associated 3.5-fold seasonal variation in the magnitude of this production. We describe the principal physical mechanisms controlling seasonal phytoplankton dynamics within the ETA and propose that in addition to seasonal change in the thermocline depth, one must also consider changes in the depth of the equatorial under current. An extensive validation effort indicates that the standard CZCS global products are a conservative estimate of pigment concentrations in ETA surface waters. Significant underestimates by the CZCS global products were observed in June and July which we attributed, in part, to aerosol correction errors and, more importantly, to errors caused by a significant reduction in the concentration of near-surface dissolved organic matter that resulted from strong equatorial upwelling.

Monger, Bruce↗