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NASA NTRS2012

Assessing Spectral Shortwave Cloud Observations at the Southern Great Plains Facility

The Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) program (now Atmospheric System Research) was established, in part, to improve radiation models so that they could be used reliably to compute radiation fluxes through the atmosphere, given knowledge of the surface albedo, atmospheric gases, and the aerosol and cloud properties. Despite years of observations, discrepancies still exist between radiative transfer models and observations, particularly in the presence of clouds. Progress has been made at closing discrepancies in the spectral region beyond 3 micron, but the progress lags at shorter wavelengths. Ratios of observed visible and near infrared cloud albedo from aircraft and satellite have shown both localized and global discrepancies between model and observations that are, thus far, unexplained. The capabilities of shortwave surface spectrometry have been improved in recent years at the Southern Great Plains facility (SGP) of the ARM Climate Research Facility through the addition of new instrumentation, the Shortwave Array Spectroradiometer, and upgrades to existing instrumentation, the Shortwave Spectroradiometer and the Rotating Shadowband Spectroradiometer. An airborne-based instrument, the HydroRad Spectroradiometer, was also deployed at the ARM site during the Routine ARM Aerial Facility Clouds with Low Optical Water Depths (CLOWD) Optical Radiative Observations (RACORO) field campaign. Using the new and upgraded spectral observations along with radiative transfer models, cloud scenes at the SGP are presented with the goal of characterizing the instrumentation and the cloud fields themselves.

McBride, P. J.↗
NASA NTRS2006

The Tropospheric Wind Lidar Technology Experiment (TWiLiTE): An Airborne Direct Detection Doppler Lidar Instrument Development Program

Global measurement of tropospheric winds is a key measurement for understanding atmospheric dynamics and improving numerical weather prediction. Global wind profiles remain a high priority for the operational weather community and also for a variety of research applications including studies of the global hydrologic cycle and transport studies of aerosols and trace species. In addition to space based winds, a high altitude airborne system flown on UAV or other advanced platforms would be of great interest for studying mesoscale dynamics and hurricanes. The Tropospheric Wind Lidar Technology Experiment (TWiLiTE) project was selected in 2005 by the NASA Earth Sun Technology Office as part of the Instrument Incubator Program. TWiLiTE will leverage significant research and development investments in key technologies made in the past several years. The primary focus will be on integrating these sub-systems into a complete molecular direct detection Doppler wind lidar system designed for autonomous operation on a high altitude aircraft, such as the NASA WB57, so that the nadir viewing lidar will be able to profile winds through the full troposphere. TWiLiTE is a collaboration involving scientists and technologists from NASA Goddard, NOAA ESRL, Utah State University Space Dynamics Lab and industry partners Michigan Aerospace Corporation and Sigma Space Corporation. NASA Goddard and it's partners have been at the forefront in the development of key lidar technologies (lasers, telescopes, scanning systems, detectors and receivers) required to enable spaceborne global wind lidar measurement. The TWiLiTE integrated airborne Doppler lidar instrument will be the first demonstration of a airborne scanning direct detection Doppler lidar and will serve as a critical milestone on the path to a fixture spaceborne tropospheric wind system. The completed system will have the capability to profile winds in clear air from the aircraft altitude of 18 h to the surface with 250 m vertical resolution and less than 2 meters per second velocity accuracy. The instrument design, technologies and predicted performance will be presented.

Gentry, Bruce↗
NASA NTRS2019

SPEX Airborne Spectropolarimeter Calibration and Performance

To improve our understanding of the complex role of aerosols in the climate system and on air quality, measurements are needed of optical and microphysical aerosol. From many studies, it has become evident that a satellite-based multiangle, multiwavelength polarimeter will be essential to provide such measurements. Here, high accuracy (∼0.003) on the degree of linear polarization (DoLP) measurements is important to retrieve aerosol properties with an accuracy needed to advance our understanding of the aerosol effect on climate. SPEX airborne, a multiangle hyperspectral polarimeter, has been developed for observing and characterizing aerosols from NASA’s high-altitude research aircraft ER-2. It delivers measurements of radiance and DoLP at visual wavelengths with a spectral resolution of 3 and 7–30 nm, respectively, for radiance and polarization, at nine fixed equidistant viewing angles from −56° to +56° oriented along the ground track, and a swath of 7° oriented across-track. SPEX airborne uses spectral polarization modulation to determine the state of linear polarization of scattered sunlight. This technique has been developed in the Netherlands and has been demonstrated with ground-based instruments. SPEX airborne serves as a demonstrator for a family of space-based SPEX instruments that have the ability to measure and characterize atmospheric aerosol by multiangle hyperspectral polarimetric imaging remotely from a satellite platform. SPEX airborne was calibrated radiometrically and polarimetrically using Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) facilities including the Polarization Stage Generator-2 (PSG-2), which is designed for polarimetric calibration and validation of the Airborne Multiangle SpectroPolarimetric Imager (AirMSPI). Using the PSG-2, the accuracy of the SPEX airborne DoLP measurements in the laboratory setup is found to be 0.002–0.004. Radiometric calibration is realized with an estimated accuracy of 4%. In 2017, SPEX airborne took part in the “Aerosol Characterization from Polarimeters and Lidar” campaign on the ER-2 that included four polarimeters and two lidars. Polarization measurements of SPEX airborne and the coflying Research Scanning Polarimeter (RSP), recorded during the campaign, were compared and display root-mean-square (RMS) differences ranging from 0.004 (at 555 nm) up to 0.02 (at 410 nm). For radiance measurements, excellent agreement between SPEX airborne and RSP is obtained with an RMS difference of ∼4%. The lab- and flight-performance values for polarization are similar to those recently published for AirMSPI, where also an intercomparison with RSP was made using data from field campaigns in 2013. The intercomparison of radiometric and polarimetric data both display negligible bias. The in-flight comparison results provide verification of SPEX airborne’s capability to deliver high-quality data.

Aerosols↗
NASA NTRS1995

Subminiaturization for ERAST instrumentation (Environmental Research Aircraft and Sensor Technology)

We are focusing on the Argus as an example to demonstrate our philosophy on miniaturization of airborne analytical instruments for the study of atmospheric chemistry. Argus is a two channel, tunable-diode laser absorption spectrometer developed at NASA for the measurement of nitrogen dioxide (N2O) (4.5 micrometers) and ammonia (CH3) (3.3 micrometers) at the 0.1 parts per billion (ppb) level from the Perseus aircraft platform at altitudes up to 30 km. Although Argus' mass is down to 23 kg from the 197 kg Atlas, its predecessor, our goal is to design a next-generation subminiaturized instrument weighing less than 1 kg, measuring a few cm(exp 3) and able to eliminate dewars for cooling. Current designs enable use to make a small,inexpensive, monolithic spectrometer without the required sensitivity range. Further work is on its way to increase sensitivity. We are continuing to zero-base the technical approach in terms of the specifications for the given instrument. We are establishing a check list of questions to hone into the best micromachining approach and to superpose on the answers insights in scaling laws and flexible engineering designs to enable more relaxed tolerances for the smallest of the components.

Madou, Marc↗
NASA NTRS2019

Optical design of the Mapping Imaging Spectrometer for Europa (MISE)

e Mapping Imaging Spectrometer for Europa (MISE) is a high-throughput pushbroom imaging spectrometer designed for NASA’s planned flyby mission to Jupiter’s moon Europa. The MISE design utilizes heritage from previously demonstrated instruments on airborne platforms, while advancing the state of the art to operate within Europa’s challenging environment. The instrument operates at F/1.4 and covers a spectral range from 0.8 to 5 microns with 10 nm spectral sampling. Through high resolution mapping, MISE is designed to identify distributions of organics, salts, acid hydrates, water ice phases, altered silicates, radiolytic compounds, and warm thermal anomalies at global, regional, and local scales. Such distribution maps will help study surface and subsurface geologic processes, and assess the habitability of Europa’s ocean. We discuss the optical specifications and baseline performance of the MISE optical design.

Van Gorp, Byron E.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Airborne lidar/radiometric measurements of cirrus cloud parameters and their application to LOWTRAN radiance evaluations

SRI has assembled an airborne lidar/radiometric instrumentation suite for mapping cirrus cloud distribution and analyzing cirrus cloud optical properties. Operation of upward viewing infrared radiometers from an airborne platform provides the optimum method of measuring high altitude cold cloud radiative properties with minimum interference from the thermal emission by the earth's surface and lower atmospheric components. Airborne installed sensors can also operate over large regional areas including water, urban, and mountain surfaces and above lower atmospheric convective clouds and haze layers. Currently available sensors installed on the SRI Queen Air aircraft are illustrated. Lidar and radiometric data records are processed for real time viewing on a color video screen. A cirrus cloud data example is presented as a black and white reproduction of a color display of data at the aircraft altitude of 12,000 ft, the 8 to 14 micron atmospheric radiation background was equivalent to a blackbody temperature of about -60 C and, therefore, the radiometer did not respond strongly to low density cirrus cloud concentrations detected by the lidar. Cloud blackbody temperatures (observed by radiometer) are shown plotted against midcloud temperatures (derived from lidar observed cloud heights and supporting temperature profiles) for data collected on 30 June and 28 July.

Uthe, Edward E.↗
NASA NTRS1999

EOS Terra Validation Program

The EOS Terra mission will be launched in July 1999. This mission has great relevance to the atmospheric radiation community and global change issues. Terra instruments include ASTER, CERES, MISR, MODIS and MOPITT. In addition to the fundamental radiance data sets, numerous global science data products will be generated, including various Earth radiation budget, cloud and aerosol parameters, as well as land surface, terrestrial ecology, ocean color, and atmospheric chemistry parameters. Significant investments have been made in on-board calibration to ensure the quality of the radiance observations. A key component of the Terra mission is the validation of the science data products. This is essential for a mission focused on global change issues and the underlying processes. The Terra algorithms have been subject to extensive pre-launch testing with field data whenever possible. Intensive efforts will be made to validate the Terra data products after launch. These include validation of instrument calibration (vicarious calibration) experiments, instrument and cross-platform comparisons, routine collection of high quality correlative data from ground-based networks, such as AERONET, and intensive sites, such as the SGP ARM site, as well as a variety field experiments, cruises, etc. Airborne simulator instruments have been developed for the field experiment and underflight activities including the MODIS Airborne Simulator (MAS), AirMISR, MASTER (MODIS-ASTER), and MOPITT-A. All are integrated on the NASA ER-2, though low altitude platforms are more typically used for MASTER. MATR is an additional sensor used for MOPITT algorithm development and validation. The intensive validation activities planned for the first year of the Terra mission will be described with emphasis on derived geophysical parameters of most relevance to the atmospheric radiation community. Detailed information about the EOS Terra validation Program can be found on the EOS Validation program homepage i/e.: http://ospso.gsfc.nasa.gov/validation/valpage.html).

Starr, David↗
NASA NTRS2000

EOS Terra Validation Program

The EOS Terra mission will be launched in July 1999. This mission has great relevance to the atmospheric radiation community and global change issues. Terra instruments include Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER), Clouds and Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES), Multi-Angle Imaging Spectroradiometer (MISR), Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and Measurements of Pollution in the Troposphere (MOPITT). In addition to the fundamental radiance data sets, numerous global science data products will be generated, including various Earth radiation budget, cloud and aerosol parameters, as well as land surface, terrestrial ecology, ocean color, and atmospheric chemistry parameters. Significant investments have been made in on-board calibration to ensure the quality of the radiance observations. A key component of the Terra mission is the validation of the science data products. This is essential for a mission focused on global change issues and the underlying processes. The Terra algorithms have been subject to extensive pre-launch testing with field data whenever possible. Intensive efforts will be made to validate the Terra data products after launch. These include validation of instrument calibration (vicarious calibration) experiments, instrument and cross-platform comparisons, routine collection of high quality correlative data from ground-based networks, such as AERONET, and intensive sites, such as the SGP ARM site, as well as a variety field experiments, cruises, etc. Airborne simulator instruments have been developed for the field experiment and underflight activities including the MODIS Airborne Simulator (MAS) AirMISR, MASTER (MODIS-ASTER), and MOPITT-A. All are integrated on the NASA ER-2 though low altitude platforms are more typically used for MASTER. MATR is an additional sensor used for MOPITT algorithm development and validation. The intensive validation activities planned for the first year of the Terra mission will be described with emphasis on derived geophysical parameters of most relevance to the atmospheric radiation community.

Starr, David↗
NASA NTRS1998

Performance Improvements to the Lidar Atmospheric Sensing Experiment (LASE)

Lidar Atmospheric Sensing Experiment (LASE) is the first fully-engineered, modular, tunable, autonomous Differential Absorption Lidar (DIAL) system for the remote measurement of water vapor, aerosols and clouds across the troposphere. It was designed, built and environmentally tested at LARC. LASE was designed to fly aboard a NASA/Ames ER-2 aircraft (NASA's high altitude aircraft) and operate at altitudes from 58,000 to 70,000 feet. Since its first flight on May 11, 1994, it has flown 28 total missions on board the ER-2. LASE has been validated with results showing an accuracy better than the initial requirement for vertical profiles of water vapor in the troposphere. LASE can also deploy on several other aircraft including the NASA P-3 and will fly aboard the NASA DC-8 during the Convection And Moisture EXperiment (CAMEX) in July-September 1998. The tunable laser system of LASE was designed to operate in a double-pulse mode at 5Hz, with energy outputs of up to 15OmJ per pulse in the 813 to 819nm wavelength region and with 99% of the output energy within a spectral interval of 1.06 pm. Sixteen wavelengths were selected to cover the various water vapor absorption cross sections needed for the DIAL measurement. The Ti:Sapphire laser was constructed using a frequency-doubled Nd:YAG laser as the pump source and a single mode diode laser as a injection seeder for the Ti:Al2O3 laser. We have improved the LASE instrument in several important ways. Improvements to the seed source have demonstrated that DFB laser diodes can be used as reliable seed sources on airborne DIAL instruments. The DFB diode has enabled LASE to gather more data and significantly reduced the maintenance required to insure that the system performance requirements are met. The multiwavelength sequential seeding technique is the current method of data collection for LASE. It has the advantages of providing an entire atmospheric coverage of H2O(v) from the ground to the aircraft altitude along a single ground track. The development of a flight deployable system to measure spectral purity will insure that the LASE instrument or any future flight based DIAL system can meet the performance specifications to insure data accuracy.

Edwards, W. C.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

NASA Airborne Observations in Support of Wildfire Science and Applications

The NASA Science Mission Directorate Earth Science Division Airborne Science Program enables access to modified aircraft in support of NASA projects. The Program supports researchers and engineers by enabling testing of new instruments, calibration of on-orbit satellite instruments with airborne sensors, and to support process studies and model development. This talk will provide an overview of the Program capabilities, review past NASA flight projects that have focused on wildfires, and discuss how the Program is poised to support the FireSense project and interagency efforts to incorporate new technologies and observations into the wildfire management community. Past missions including the Western States Fire Mission and FIREX-AQ will be discussed, an overview of relevant NASA sensors will be provided, and an introduction to upcoming flight activity will be presented. Data telemetry, communications, and data standards will also be discussed towards improving timely distribution of data products to land managers.

Matthew M Fladeland↗
NASA NTRS1981

Technology transfer of NASA microwave remote sensing system

Viable techniques for effecting the transfer from NASA to a user agency of state-of-the-art airborne microwave remote sensing technology for oceanographic applications were studied. A detailed analysis of potential users, their needs and priorities; platform options; airborne microwave instrument candidates; ancillary instrumentation; and other, less obvious factors that must be considered were studied. Conclusions and recommendations for the development of an orderly and effective technology transfer of an airborne microwave system that could meet the specific needs of the selected user agencies are reported.

Akey, N. D.↗
NASA NTRS2016

High Precision Sunphotometer using Wide Dynamic Range (WDR) Camera Tracking

The NASA Ames Sun-photometer-Satellite Group, DOE, PNNL Atmospheric Sciences and Global Change Division, and NASA Goddards AERONET (AErosol RObotic NETwork) team recently collaborated on the development of a new airborne sunphotometry instrument that provides information on gases and aerosols extending far beyond what can be derived from discrete-channel direct-beam measurements, while preserving or enhancing many of the desirable AATS features (e.g., compactness, versatility, automation, reliability). The enhanced instrument combines the sun-tracking ability of the current 14-Channel NASA Ames AATS-14 with the sky-scanning ability of the ground-based AERONET Sunsky photometers, while extending both AATS-14 and AERONET capabilities by providing full spectral information from the UV (350 nm) to the SWIR (1,700 nm). Strengths of this measurement approach include many more wavelengths (isolated from gas absorption features) that may be used to characterize aerosols and detailed (oversampled) measurements of the absorption features of specific gas constituents. The Sky Scanning Sun Tracking Airborne Radiometer (3STAR) replicates the radiometer functionality of the AATS14 instrument but incorporates modern COTS technologies for all instruments subsystems. A 19-channel radiometer bundle design is borrowed from a commercial water column radiance instrument manufactured by Biospherical Instruments of San Diego California (ref, Morrow and Hooker)) and developed using NASA funds under the Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) program. The 3STAR design also incorporates the latest in robotic motor technology embodied in Rotary actuators from Oriental motor Corp. having better than 15 arc seconds of positioning accuracy. Control system was designed, tested and simulated using a Hybrid-Dynamical modeling methodology. The design also replaces the classic quadrant detector tracking sensor with a wide dynamic range camera that provides a high precision solar position tracking signal as well as an image of the sky in the 45 field of view around the solar axis, which can be of great assistance in flagging data for cloud effects or other factors that might impact data quality.

aerosols↗
NASA NTRS1987

Ocean color spectral variability studies using solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence

It is suggested that chlorophyll-induced ocean color spectral variability can be studied using only a passive airborne spectroradiometer instrument, with solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence used as the standard against which all correlations are performed. The intraspectral correlation (ISC) method is demonstrated with results obtained during an airborne mapping mission in the New York Bight. The curvature algorithm is applied to the solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence at about 690 nm, and good agreement is found with results obtained using active-passive correlation spectroscopy. The ISC method has application to spectral variability and resulting chlorophyll concentration measurement in different environmental conditions and in different water types.

Hoge, Frank E.↗
NASA NTRS1999

Characterization of Atmospheric Aerosol Behavior and Climatic Effects by Analysis of SAGE 2 and Other Space, Air, and Ground Measurements

This report documents the research performed under NASA Ames Cooperative Agreement NCC 2-991, which covered the period 1 April 1997 through 31 March 1999. Previously, an interim technical report (Technical Report No. 1, 20 March 1998) summarized the work completed during the period 1 April 1997 through 31 March 1998. The objective of the proposed research was to advance our understanding of atmospheric aerosol behavior, aerosol-induced climatic effects, and the remote measurement and retrieval capabilities of spaceborne sensors such as SAGE II by combining and comparing data from these instruments and from airborne and ground-based instruments.

Livingston, John M.↗
NASA NTRS1998

Development of a mirror pointing mechanism for an atmospheric gas measurement instrument

Development of the Open Path Tunable Infrared Monitor of the Atmosphere (OPTIMA) instrument involved designing a pair of motion systems that could maintain a precise alignment and spatial distance between two mirrors installed on the NASA DC-8 research laboratory aircraft. This is the first airborne optical instrument that allows direct measurement of the gases in the freestream airflow on the exterior of the aircraft. One mirror is mounted within a specially constructed open port cavity in the cabin of the aircraft and the second is mounted 6 meters away on top of the inboard port side (number 2) engine pylon. Three co-aligned laser beams are reflected between the two mirrors 64 times in a Herriott pattern. The resulting sample path length of 384 meters is used to perform a spectral absorption analysis of the airflow between the mirrors. To compensate for normal wing movement and engine oscillations both mirrors were designed as continuously driven mechanisms to maintain alignment within allowable limits. The motion systems of the two mirror assemblies provide five degrees of freedom and are designed to maintain a pointing accuracy within seven arc-sec with a response frequency in excess of 10 Hz. The pylon motion system incorporates controlled pitch and yaw movement. The fuselage motion system compensates for pitch variation as well as linear translation for focal length and vertical aiming of the laser beam via a controlled beam guidance mechanism.

Graham, Michael↗
NASA NTRS1998

Development of a Mirror Pointing Mechanism for an Atmospheric Gas Measurement Instrument

Development of the Open Path Tunable Infrared Monitor of the Atmosphere (OPTIMA) instrument involved designing a pair of motion systems that could maintain a precise alignment and spatial distance between two mirrors installed on the NASA DC-8 research laboratory aircraft. This is the first airborne optical instrument that allows direct measurement of the gases in the freestream airflow on the exterior of the aircraft. One mirror is mounted within a specially constructed open port cavity in the cabin of the aircraft and the second is mounted 6 meters away on top of the inboard port side (number 2) engine pylon. Three co-aligned laser beams are reflected between the two mirrors 64 times in a Herriott pattern. The resulting sample path length of 384 meters is used to perform a spectral absorption analysis of the airflow between the mirrors. To compensate for normal wing movement and engine oscillations both mirrors were designed as continuously driven mechanisms to maintain alignment within allowable limits. The motion systems of the two mirror assemblies provide five degrees of freedom and are designed to maintain a pointing accuracy within seven arc-sec with a response frequency in 6xcess of 10 Hz. The pylon motion system incorporates controlled pitch and yaw movement. The fuselage motion system compensates for pitch variation as well as linear translation for focal length and vertical aiming of the laser beam via a controlled beam guidance mechanism.

Graham, Michael↗
NASA NTRS1977

Global sensing of gaseous and aerosol trace species using automated instrumentation on 747 airliners

The Global Atmospheric Sampling Program (GASP) by NASA is collecting and analyzing data on gaseous and aerosol trace species in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere. Measurements are obtained from automated systems installed on four 747 airliners flying global air routes. Advances were made in airborne sampling instrumentation. Improved instruments and analysis techniques are providing an expanding data base for trace species including ozone, carbon monoxide, water vapor, condensation nuclei and mass concentrations of sulfates and nitrates. Simultaneous measurements of several trace species obtained frequently can be used to uniquely identify the source of the air mass as being typically tropospheric or stratospheric. A quantitative understanding of the tropospheric-stratospheric exchange processes leads to better knowledge of the atmospheric impact of pollution through the development of improved simulation models of the atmosphere.

Perkins, P. J.↗