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Towards Automated Analytics of Research Publications

For readers of scientific publications it remains a big challenge to unambiguously relate the published research with the data used. To a substantial degree it is attributed to authors, journals, editors, and reviewers not prioritizing correct data citation, which impacts traceability, repeatability, and giving credits to published authors and their funding sources. Furthermore, uniform classification of the content of the published research is hampered by journals using journal specific topics and letting authors to assign free text keywords to their papers. We demonstrate automated analytics methods for extracting and relating datasets used and the research application areas by processing 1,300 research papers that referenced the NASA Giovanni service (but probably not the datasets in particular) as supporting their publication process. This presentation was given during the 2022 ESIP January meeting held virtually in January 2022.

Irina Gerasimov↗

Linking Asthma Exacerbation and Air Pollution Data: A Step Toward Public Health and Environmental Data Integration

Studies have shown that reducing exposure to triggers such as air pollutants can reduce symptoms and the need for medication in asthma patients. However, systems that track asthma are generally not integrated with those that track environmental hazards related to asthma. Tlvs lack of integration hinders public health awareness and responsiveness to these environmental triggers. The current study is a collaboration between health and environmental professionals to utilize NASA-derived environmental data to develop a decision support system (DSS) for asthma prediction, surveillance, and intervention. The investigators link asthma morbidity data from the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC) and Mississippi Department of Health (MDH) with air quality data from the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) and remote sensing data from NASA. Daily ambient environmental hazard data for PM2.5 and ozone are obtained from the MDEQ air quality monitoring locations and are combined with remotely sensed data from NASA to develop a state-wide spatial and time series profile of environmental air quality. These data are then used to study the correlation of these measures of air quality variation with the asthma exacerbation incidence throughout the state over time. The goal is to utilize these readily available measures to allow real-time risk assessment for asthma exacerbations. GeoMedStat, a DSS previously developed for biosurveillance, will integrate these measures to monitor, analyze and report the real-time risk assessment for asthma exacerbation throughout the state.

Faruque, Fazlay↗

Evolution of Scientific and Technical Information Distribution

World Wide Web (WWW) and related information technologies are transforming the distribution of scientific and technical information (STI). We examine 11 recent, functioning digital libraries focusing on the distribution of STI publications, including journal articles, conference papers, and technical reports. We introduce 4 main categories of digital library projects: based on the architecture (distributed vs. centralized) and the contributor (traditional publisher vs. authoring individual/organization). Many digital library prototypes merely automate existing publishing practices or focus solely on the digitization of the publishing cycle output, not sampling and capturing elements of the input. Still others do not consider for distribution the large body of "gray literature." We address these deficiencies in the current model of STI exchange by suggesting methods for expanding the scope and target of digital libraries by focusing on a greater source of technical publications and using "buckets," an object-oriented construct for grouping logically related information objects, to include holdings other than technical publications.

Esler, Sandra↗

Serving Fisheries and Ocean Metadata to Communities Around the World

NASA's Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) assists the oceanographic community in the discovery, access, and sharing of scientific data by serving on-line fisheries and ocean metadata to users around the globe. As of January 2006, the directory holds more than 16,300 Earth Science data descriptions and over 1,300 services descriptions. Of these, nearly 4,000 unique ocean-related metadata records are available to the public, with many having direct links to the data. In 2005, the GCMD averaged over 5 million hits a month, with nearly a half million unique hosts for the year. Through the GCMD portal (http://qcrnd.nasa.qov/), users can search vast and growing quantities of data and services using controlled keywords, free-text searches or a combination of both. Users may now refine a search based on topic, location, instrument, platform, project, data center, spatial and temporal coverage. The directory also offers data holders a means to post and search their data through customized portals, i.e. online customized subset metadata directories. The discovery metadata standard used is the Directory Interchange Format (DIF), adopted in 1994. This format has evolved to accommodate other national and international standards such as FGDC and IS019115. Users can submit metadata through easy-to-use online and offline authoring tools. The directory, which also serves as a coordinating node of the International Directory Network (IDN), has been active at the international, regional and national level for many years through its involvement with the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS), federal agencies (such as NASA, NOAA, and USGS), international agencies (such as IOC/IODE, UN, and JAXA) and partnerships (such as ESIP, IOOS/DMAC, GOSIC, GLOBEC, OBIS, and GoMODP), sharing experience, knowledge related to metadata and/or data management and interoperability.

Meaux, Melanie↗

Enchanted rendezvous: John C. Houbolt and the genesis of the lunar-orbit rendezvous concept

This is the fourth publication of the 'Monographs in Aerospace History' series, prepared by the NASA History Office. These publications are intended to be tightly focused in terms of subject, relatively short in length, and reproduced to allow timely and broad dissemination to researchers in aerospace history. This publication details the arguments of John C. Houbolt, an engineer at the Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, in his 1961-1962 campaign to support the lunar-orbit rendezvous (LOR). The LOR was eventually selected during Project Apollo as the method of flying to the Moon, landing on the surface, and returning to Earth. The LOR opted to send the entire lunar spacecraft up in one launch, enter into the lunar orbit, and dispatch a small lander to the lunar surface. It was the simplest of the various methods, both in terms of development and operational costs, but it was risky. There was no room for error or the crew could not get home; and the more difficult maneuvers had to be done when the spacecraft was committed to a circumlunar flight. Houbolt was one of the most vocal people supporting the LOR.

Hansen, James R.↗

Science Education Supporting Weather Broadcasters On-Air and in the Classroom with NASA "Mini-Education Supplements"

NASA-Goddard Space Flight Center has initiated a new project designed to expand on existing news services and add value to classrooms through the development and distribution of two-minute 'mini-supplements' which give context and teach about current weather and Earth research phenomena. The innovative mini-supplements provide raw materials for weather forecasters to build news stories around NASA related missions without having to edit the more traditional and cumbersome long-form video format. The supplements cover different weather and climate topics and include NASA data, animations, video footage, and interviews with scientists. The supplements also include a curriculum package with educational lessons, educator guide, and hand-on activities. One goal is to give on-air broadcasters who are the primary science educators for the general public what they need to 'teach' about the science related to NASA research behind weather and climate news. This goal achieves increasing public literacy and assures higher accuracy and quality science reporting by the media. The other goal is to enable on-air broadcasters to serve as distributors of high quality, standards-based educational curricula and supplemental material when they visit 8-12 grade classrooms. The focus of 'pilot effort' centers around the success of NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) but is likely expandable to other NASA earth or space science missions.

Shepherd, J. Marshall↗

It's the Heat AND the Humidity -- Assessment of Extreme Heat Scenarios to Enable the Assessment of Climate Impacts on Public Health

In the United States, extreme heat is the most deadly weather-related hazard. In the face of a warming climate and urbanization, which contributes to local-scale urban heat islands, it is very likely that extreme heat events (EHEs) will become more common and more severe in the U.S. In a NASA-funded project supporting the National Climate Assessment, we are providing historical and future measures of extreme heat to enable assessments of the impacts of heat on public health over the coterminous U.S. We use atmospheric temperature and humidity information from meteorological reanalysis and from Global Climate Models (GCMs) to provide data on past and future heat events. The project s emphasis is on providing assessments of the magnitude, frequency and geographic distribution of extreme heat in the U.S. to facilitate public health studies. In our approach, long-term climate change is captured with GCM output, and the temporal and spatial characteristics of short-term extremes are represented by the reanalysis data. Two future time horizons, 2040 and 2090, are the focus of future assessments; these are compared to the recent past period of 1981-2000. We are characterizing regional-scale temperature and humidity conditions using GCM output for two climate change scenarios (A2 and A1B) defined in the Special Report on Emissions Scenarios (SRES). For each future period, 20 years of multi-model GCM output have been analyzed to develop a heat stress climatology based on statistics of extreme heat indicators. Differences between the two future and past periods have been used to define temperature and humidity changes on a monthly time scale and regional spatial scale. These changes, combined with hourly historical meteorological data at a spatial scale (12 km) much finer than that of GCMs, enable us to create future climate realizations, from which we compute the daily heat stress measures and related spatially-specific climatological fields. These include the mean annual number of days above certain thresholds of maximum and minimum air temperatures, heat indices and a new heat stress variable that gives an integrated measure of heat stress (and relief) over the course of a day. Comparisons are made between projected (2040 and 2090) and past (1990) heat stress statistics. All output is being provided at the 12 km spatial scale and will also be aggregated to the county level, which is a popular scale of analysis for public health researchers. County-level statistics will be made available by our collaborators at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) via the Wide-ranging Online Data for Epidemiologic Research (WONDER) system. CDC WONDER makes the information resources of the CDC available to public health professionals and the general public. This addition of heat stress measures to CDC WONDER will allow decision and policy makers to assess the impact of alternative approaches to optimize the public health response to EHEs. It will also allow public health researchers and policy makers to better include such heat stress measures in the context of national health data available in the CDC WONDER system. The users will be able to spatially and temporally query public health and heat-related data sets and create county-level maps and statistical charts of such data across the coterminous U.S.

Crosson, William L↗

A business man views commercial ventures in space.

Paper reviews technical, resource planning and marketing steps an industrial organization must perform in arriving at a decision to undertake space development and production of commercial products or services for Users on the ground. Technical elements are supported by particular examples. Analysis of required resources emphasizes facility and financial inter-relationships between commercial organizations and NASA. Marketing planning covers elements of profitability. Paper addresses questions related to protection of corporate stockholders and public interest, investment decision timing, budget variations. Paper concludes with observations on timeliness of planning shuttle-based commercial ventures and on key industry/NASA problems and decisions.

Scarff, D. D.↗

Exobiology and the origin of life

Research supported wholly or in part by NASA is summarized, Topics covered include the molecular analysis of ultraviolet-photoproduced organic solids synthesized under simulated Jovian conditions; the molecular analysis of organic solids produced by electrical discharge in reducing atmospheres; the organic chemistry of interstellar grains; the spectra of possible organic solids present as aerosols in planetary atmospheres; far infrared studies of organic polymers of possible astrophysical interest; organic dust synthesized in reducing environments by ultraviolet radiation or electric discharge; the diffusion of galactic civilizations; eavesdropping on galactic civilizations; Lander imaging as a detector of life on Mars; and continuing puzzles about Mars. Bibliographic data is included for four additional publications not supported by NASA grant, but related to the objectives of the program.

Sagan, C.↗

Advanced technology for future regional transport aircraft

In connection with a request for a report coming from a U.S. Senate committee, NASA formed a Small Transport Aircraft Technology (STAT) team in 1978. STAT was to obtain information concerning the technical improvements in commuter aircraft that would likely increase their public acceptance. Another area of study was related to questions regarding the help which could be provided by NASA's aeronautical research and development program to commuter aircraft manufacturers with respect to the solution of technical problems. Attention is given to commuter airline growth, current commuter/region aircraft and new aircraft in development, prospects for advanced technology commuter/regional transports, and potential benefits of advanced technology. A list is provided of a number of particular advances appropriate to small transport aircraft, taking into account small gas turbine engine component technology, propeller technology, three-dimensional wing-design technology, airframe aerodynamics/propulsion integration, and composite structure materials.

Williams, L. J.↗

National Facilities Study. Volume 1: Facilities Inventory

The inventory activity was initiated to solve the critical need for a single source of site specific descriptive and parametric data on major public and privately held aeronautics and aerospace related facilities. This a challenging undertaking due to the scope of the effort and the short lead time in which to assemble the inventory and have it available to support the task group study needs. The inventory remains dynamic as sites are being added and the data is accessed and refined as the study progresses. The inventory activity also included the design and implementation of a computer database and analytical tools to simplify access to the data. This volume describes the steps which were taken to define the data requirements, select sites, and solicit and acquire data from them. A discussion of the inventory structure and analytical tools is also provided.

Source record↗

Superconductivity Devices: Commercial Use of Space

The work described in this report covers various aspects of the Rainbow solid-state actuator and sensor technologies. It is presented in five parts dealing with sensor applications, nonlinear properties, stress-optic and electrooptic properties, stacks and arrays, and publications. The Rainbow actuator technology is a relatively new materials development which had its inception in 1992. It involves a new processing technique for preparing pre-stressed, high lead containing piezoelectric and electrostrictive ceramic materials. Ceramics fabricated by this method produce bending-mode actuator devices which possess several times more displacement and load bearing capacity than present-day benders. Since they can also be used in sensor applications, Rainbows are part of the family of materials known as smart ceramics. During this period, PLZT Rainbow ceramics were characterized with respect to their piezoelectric properties for potential use in stress sensor applications. Studies of the nonlinear and stress-optic/electrooptic birefringent properties were also initiated during this period. Various means for increasing the utility of stress-enhanced Rainbow actuators are presently under investigation.

Haertling, Gene↗

Radar Interferometric and Penetration Investigations using SIR-C Data

Progress, significant results, publications and future plans are discussed in relation to the following objectives: (1) To model, experimentally characterize, and verify penetration phenomena in hyperarid and vegetated regions using the SIR-C/X-SAR multiparameter radar system and groundbased receivers; (2) To invert measured radar backscatter as a function of frequency and polarization in terms of geophysical parameters of the surface, subsurface and vegetation canopy such as surface roughness, subsurface geomorphology, or tree height and density; and (3) To display subsurface and within-canopy features in an image format, thus easing the interpretability of the results.

Zebker, Howard A.↗

Earth Science Markup Language: Transitioning From Design to Application

The primary objective of the proposed Earth Science Markup Language (ESML) research is to transition from design to application. The resulting schema and prototype software will foster community acceptance for the "define once, use anywhere" concept central to ESML. Supporting goals include: 1. Refinement of the ESML schema and software libraries in cooperation with the user community. 2. Application of the ESML schema and software libraries to a variety of Earth science data sets and analysis tools. 3. Development of supporting prototype software for enhanced ease of use. 4. Cooperation with standards bodies in order to assure ESML is aligned with related metadata standards as appropriate. 5. Widespread publication of the ESML approach, schema, and software.

Moe, Karen↗

U.S. Climate Change Science Program. Vision for the Program and Highlights of the Scientific Strategic Plan

The vision document provides an overview of the Climate Change Science Program (CCSP) long-term strategic plan to enhance scientific understanding of global climate change.This document is a companion to the comprehensive Strategic Plan for the Climate Change Science Program. The report responds to the Presidents direction that climate change research activities be accelerated to provide the best possible scientific information to support public discussion and decisionmaking on climate-related issues.The plan also responds to Section 104 of the Global Change Research Act of 1990, which mandates the development and periodic updating of a long-term national global change research plan coordinated through the National Science and Technology Council.This is the first comprehensive update of a strategic plan for U.S. global change and climate change research since the origal plan for the U.S. Global Change Research Program was adopted at the inception of the program in 1989.

Climate change↗

Serving Fisheries and Ocean Metadata to Communities Around the World

NASA's Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) assists the oceanographic community in the discovery, access, and sharing of scientific data by serving on-line fisheries and ocean metadata to users around the globe. As of January 2006, the directory holds more than 16,300 Earth Science data descriptions and over 1,300 services descriptions. Of these, nearly 4,000 unique ocean-related metadata records are available to the public, with many having direct links to the data. In 2005, the GCMD averaged over 5 million hits a month, with nearly a half million unique hosts for the year. Through the GCMD portal (http://gcmd.nasa.gov/), users can search vast and growing quantities of data and services using controlled keywords, free-text searches, or a combination of both. Users may now refine a search based on topic, location, instrument, platform, project, data center, spatial and temporal coverage, and data resolution for selected datasets. The directory also offers data holders a means to advertise and search their data through customized portals, which are subset views of the directory. The discovery metadata standard used is the Directory Interchange Format (DIF), adopted in 1988. This format has evolved to accommodate other national and international standards such as FGDC and IS019115. Users can submit metadata through easy-to-use online and offline authoring tools. The directory, which also serves as the International Directory Network (IDN), has been providing its services and sharing its experience and knowledge of metadata at the international, national, regional, and local level for many years. Active partners include the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS), federal agencies (such as NASA, NOAA, and USGS), international agencies (such as IOC/IODE, UN, and JAXA) and organizations (such as ESIP, IOOS/DMAC, GOSIC, GLOBEC, OBIS, and GoMODP).

Meaux, Melanie F.↗

Multi Sensor Approach to Address Sustainable Development

The main objectives of Earth Science research are many folds: to understand how does this planet operates, can we model her operation and eventually develop the capability to predict such changes. However, the underlying goals of this work are to eventually serve the humanity in providing societal benefits. This requires continuous, and detailed observations from many sources in situ, airborne and space. By and large, the space observations are the way to comprehend the global phenomena across continental boundaries and provide credible boundary conditions for the mesoscale studies. This requires a multiple sensors, look angles and measurements over the same spot in accurately solving many problems that may be related to air quality, multi hazard disasters, public health, hydrology and more. Therefore, there are many ways to address these issues and develop joint implementation, data sharing and operating strategies for the benefit of the world community. This is because for large geographical areas or regions and a diverse population, some sound observations, scientific facts and analytical models must support the decision making. This is crucial for the sustainability of vital resources of the world and at the same time to protect the inhabitants, endangered species and the ecology. Needless to say, there is no single sensor, which can answer all such questions effectively. Due to multi sensor approach, it puts a tremendous burden on any single implementing entity in terms of information, knowledge, budget, technology readiness and computational power. And, more importantly, the health of planet Earth and its ability to sustain life is not governed by a single country, but in reality, is everyone's business on this planet. Therefore, with this notion, it is becoming an impractical problem by any single organization/country to bear this colossal responsibility. So far, each developed country within their means has proceeded along satisfactorily in implementing their Earth observing needs but it has left a big void in the developing world who have very limited resources to invest in the space measurements. This paper gives some serious thoughts in what options are there in undertaking this tremendous challenge. The problem is multi-dimensional in terms of budget, technology availability, environmental legislations, public awareness, and communication limitations. Some of these issues are introduced, discussed and possible implementation strategies are provided in this paper to move out of this predicament. A strong emphasis is placed on international cooperation and collaboration to see a collective benefit for this effort

Habib, Shahid↗

Getting to First Flight: Equipping Space Engineers to Break the Start-Stop-Restart Cycle

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration s (NASA s) history is built on a foundation of can-do strength, while pointing to the Saturn/Apollo Moon missions in the 1960s and 1970s as its apex a sentiment that often overshadows the potential that lies ahead. The chronicle of America s civil space agenda is scattered with programs that got off to good starts with adequate resources and vocal political support but that never made it past a certain milestone review, General Accountability Office report, or Congressional budget appropriation. Over the decades since the fielding of the Space Shuttle in the early 1980s, a start-stop-restart cycle has intervened due to many forces. Despite this impediment, the workforce has delivered engineering feats such as the International Space Station and numerous Shuttle and science missions, which reflect a trend in the early days of the Exploration Age that called for massive infrastructure and matching capital allocations. In the new millennium, the aerospace industry must respond to transforming economic climates, the public will, national agendas, and international possibilities relative to scientific exploration beyond Earth s orbit. Two pressing issues - workforce transition and mission success - are intertwined. As this paper will address, U.S. aerospace must confront related workforce development and industrial base issues head on to take space exploration to the next level. This paper also will formulate specific strategies to equip space engineers to move beyond the seemingly constant start-stop-restart mentality to plan and execute flight projects that actually fly.

Singer, Christopher E.↗