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NASA NTRS2003

Space Borne Cloud and Aerosol Measurements by the Geoscience Laser Altimeter System: Initial Results

In January 2003 the Geoscience Laser Altimeter System (GLAS) was successfully launched into orbit. Beginning in March 2003 GLAS will provide global coverage lidar measurement of the height distribution of clouds and aerosol in the atmosphere for up to five years. The characteristic and value of the unique data will be presented. The instrument is a basic backscatter lidar that operates at two wavelengths, 532 and 1064 nm. The mission data products for atmospheric observations include the calibrated, observed, attenuated backscatter cross section for cloud and aerosol; height detection for multiple cloud layers; planetary boundary layer height; cirrus and aerosol optical depth and the height distribution of aerosol and cloud scattering cross section profiles. The data is expected to significantly enhance knowledge in several areas of atmospheric science, in particular the distribution, transport and influence of atmospheric aerosol and thin clouds. Measurements of the coverage and height of polar and cirrus cloud should be significantly more accurate than previous global observations. In March and April 2003, airborne and ground based data verification experiments will be carried out. Initial results from the verification experiments and the first several months of operation will be presented.

Spinhirne, James D.↗
NASA NTRS2004

Atmospheric and Surface Reflectance Measurements by the Geoscience Laser Altimeter System

The Geoscience Laser Altimeter System launched in early 2003 is the first satellite instrument IC space to globally observe the distribution of clouds and aerosol through laser remote sensing. The instrument is a basic backscatter lidar that operates at two wavelengths, 532 and 1064 nm. The mission data products for atmospheric observations include the calibrated, observed, attenuated backscatter cross section for cloud and aerosol; height detection for multiple cloud layers; planetary boundary layer height; cirrus and aerosol optical depth and the height distribution of aerosol and cloud scattering cross section profiles. The data will enhance knowledge in several areas of atmospheric science: the distribution, transport and influence of atmospheric aerosol, significantly more accurate measurements of the coverage and height of cirrus and other clouds, polar cloud climatology and radiation influence, the dynamics planetary boundary layer and others. An overview and summary of initial results are presented. Initial results from the first months of operation show the detailed height structure of clouds and aerosol on a global basis as expected. The 532 nm channel was expected to be the more sensitive and primary channel for aerosol measurements, but extensive aerosol loading in many regions are observed by the 1064 nm channel. Sensitivities are down to a few times l0(exp 6) l/(m-sr), much better than originally expected. The 532 channel adds an order of magnitude addition sensitivity. Initial comparisons to aerosol models have been done. Similarly for global cloud cover, good results are obtained just from the 1064 nm channel and from both channels, a measurement of multiple layers and cloud overlap has been made. Antarctica observations show high levels of total cloud cover including unique low-level cirrus and blowing snow. Data products have been generated for cloud, aerosol and PBL presence and heights in addition to the basic scattering cross section profiles.

Spinhirne, James D.↗
NASA NTRS2005

Aerosol and Cloud Observations and Data Products by the GLAS Polar Orbiting Lidar Instrument

The Geoscience Laser Altimeter System (GLAS) launched in 2003 is the first polar orbiting satellite lidar. The instrument was designed for high performance observations of the distribution and optical scattering cross sections of clouds and aerosol. The backscatter lidar operates at two wavelengths, 532 and 1064 nm. Both receiver channels meet and exceed their design goals, and beginning with a two month period through October and November 2003, an excellent global lidar data set now exists. The data products for atmospheric observations include the calibrated, attenuated backscatter cross section for cloud and aerosol; height detection for multiple cloud layers; planetary boundary layer height; cirrus and aerosol optical depth and the height distribution of aerosol and cloud scattering cross section profiles. The data sets are now in open release through the NASA data distribution system. The initial results on global statistics for cloud and aerosol distribution has been produced and in some cases compared to other satellite observations. The sensitivity of the cloud measurements is such that the 70% global cloud coverage result should be the most accurate to date. Results on the global distribution of aerosol are the first that produce the true height distribution for model inter-comparison.

Spinhirne, J. D.↗
NASA NTRS2011

Microphysical, Macrophysical and Radiative Signatures of Volcanic Aerosols in Trade Wind Cumulus Observed by the A-Train

Increased aerosol concentrations can raise planetary albedo not only by reflecting sunlight and increasing cloud albedo, but also by changing cloud amount. However, detecting aerosol effect on cloud amount has been elusive to both observations and modeling due to potential buffering mechanisms and convolution of meteorology. Here through a natural experiment provided by long-tem1 degassing of a low-lying volcano and use of A-Train satellite observations, we show modifications of trade cumulus cloud fields including decreased droplet size, decreased precipitation efficiency and increased cloud amount are associated with volcanic aerosols. In addition we find significantly higher cloud tops for polluted clouds. We demonstrate that the observed microphysical and macrophysical changes cannot be explained by synoptic meteorology or the orographic effect of the Hawaiian Islands. The "total shortwave aerosol forcin", resulting from direct and indirect forcings including both cloud albedo and cloud amount. is almost an order of magnitude higher than aerosol direct forcing alone. Furthermore, the precipitation reduction associated with enhanced aerosol leads to large changes in the energetics of air-sea exchange and trade wind boundary layer. Our results represent the first observational evidence of large-scale increase of cloud amount due to aerosols in a trade cumulus regime, which can be used to constrain the representation of aerosol-cloud interactions in climate models. The findings also have implications for volcano-climate interactions and climate mitigation research.

Yuan, T.↗
NASA NTRS2005

Nighttime Cirrus Detection using Atmospheric Infrared Sounder Window Channels and Total Column Water Vapor

A method of cirrus detection at nighttime is presented that utilizes 3.8 and 10.4 (micro)m infrared (IR) window brightness temperature differences (dBT) and total column precipitable water (PW) measurements. This technique is applied to the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) and Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit A (AMSU-A) instrument suite on board EOS-Aqua, where dBT is determined from sets of carefully selected AIRS window channels, while PW is derived from the synergistic AIRS and AMSU-A water vapor retrievals. Simulated and observed dBT for a particular value of PW are not constant; several physical factors impact dBT, including the variability in temperature and relative humidity profiles, surface emissivity, instrument noise, and skin/ near-surface air temperature differences. We simulate clear-sky dBT over a realistic range of PWs using 8350 radiosondes that have varying temperature and relative humidity profiles. Thresholds between cloudy and uncertain sky conditions are derived once the scatter in the clear-sky dBT is determined. Simulations of optically thin cirrus indicate that this technique is most sensitive to cirrus optical depth in the 10 (micro)m window of 0.1-0.15 or greater over the tropical and subtropical oceans, where surface emissivity and skin/near-surface air temperature impacts on the IR radiances are minimal. The method at present is generally valid over oceanic regions only, specifically, the tropics and subtropics. The detection of thin cirrus, and other cloud types, is validated using observations at the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) program site located at Manus Island in the tropical western Pacific for 89 coincident EOS-Aqua overpasses. Even though the emphasis of this work is on the detection of thin cirrus at nighttime, this technique is sensitive to a broad cloud morphology. The cloud detection technique agrees with ARM-detected clouds 82-84% of the time, which include thin cirrus, as well as other cloud types. Most of the disagreements are well explained by AIRS footprint-scale heterogeneity compared to ARM point measurements, cirrus overlying lower-layer water clouds, possible mixed phase microphysics in midlevel clouds, and significant IR channel noise for cold BT scenes over deep convective towers.

Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (RAM)↗
NASA NTRS1986

The Draco cloud as a matrix of potential protostars

The Draco molecular cloud is inbound at a z distance of a few hundred parsecs, according to previous observations. IRAS Point Source Catalog data for a 36 sq deg area that includes most of the cloud and a comparison area around it are tabulated, illustrated, and discussed. The sources are classified as 56 unidentified, 38 identified extragalactic objects, and 44 identified stars. The unidentified and unresolved 100 micron sources appear to be globule-like clumps that are candidates for producing protostars, although the data cannot demonstrate currently accreting protostars in the globules. An undetermined percent of 100 micron sources may be artifactual, but only a small percent of them may be galaxies because of the adherence to the Draco cloud. Sources detected also at 60 micron or only at 60 micron do not adhere to the cloud and are probably galaxies. Unless artifactual the unidentified and unresolved 100 micron sources may provide considerable new information about the cloud components and therefore about potential star formation in a new class of sites and origins. Six unidentified sources have 12-25 micron stellar spectral distributions, but neither they nor the identified stars have 12-25 micron spectra characteristic of T Tauri stars.

Johnson, Hugh M.↗
NASA NTRS2005

Antarctica Cloud Cover for October 2003 from GLAS Satellite Lidar Profiling

Seeing clouds in polar regions has been a problem for the imagers used on satellites. Both clouds and snow and ice are white, which makes clouds over snow hard to see. And for thermal infrared imaging both the surface and the clouds cold. The Geoscience Laser Altimeter System (GLAS) launched in 2003 gives an entirely new way to see clouds from space. Pulses of laser light scatter from clouds giving a signal that is separated in time from the signal from the surface. The scattering from clouds is thus a sensitive and direct measure of the presence and height of clouds. The GLAS instrument orbits over Antarctica 16 times a day. All of the cloud observations for October 2003 were summarized and compared to the results from the MODIS imager for the same month. There are two basic cloud types that are observed, low stratus with tops below 3 km and high cirrus form clouds with cloud top altitude and thickness tending at 12 km and 1.3 km respectively. The average cloud cover varies from over 93 % for ocean and coastal regions to an average of 40% over the East Antarctic plateau and 60-90% over West Antarctica. When the GLAS monthly average cloud fractions are compared to the MODIS cloud fraction data product, differences in the amount of cloud cover are as much as 40% over the continent. The results will be used to improve the way clouds are detected from the imager observations. These measurements give a much improved understanding of distribution of clouds over Antarctica and may show how they are changing as a result of global warming.

Spinhirne, J. D.↗
NASA NTRS1978

Radio observations of interstellar CN toward diffuse clouds, dark clouds, black clouds, and circumstellar clouds

Emission at 113 GHz from the CN molecule has been searched for in a large number of interstellar regions, primarily dark dust clouds. Lines have been detected in four dark clouds, the first time CN has been observed in this type of object. Comparative CO observations were also performed. The CN/CO abundance ratio varies from cloud to cloud, even among objects which are apparently otherwise similar. This variation suggests that the chemistry of dark clouds may be time-dependent. A previously reported detection of CN emission from a diffuse cloud was not confirmed. Several black clouds and circumstellar clouds were reobserved to obtain better line parameters and to serve as comparative interstellar chemical systems.

Allen, M.↗
NASA NTRS2013

Global Analysis of Aerosol Properties Above Clouds

The seasonal and spatial varability of Aerosol Above Cloud (AAC) properties are derived from passive satellite data for the year 2008. A significant amount of aerosols are transported above liquid water clouds on the global scale. For particles in the fine mode (i.e., radius smaller than 0.3 m), including both clear sky and AAC retrievals increases the global mean aerosol optical thickness by 25(+/- 6%). The two main regions with man-made AAC are the tropical Southeast Atlantic, for biomass burning aerosols, and the North Pacific, mainly for pollutants. Man-made AAC are also detected over the Arctic during the spring. Mineral dust particles are detected above clouds within the so-called dust belt region (5-40 N). AAC may cause a warming effect and bias the retrieval of the cloud properties. This study will then help to better quantify the impacts of aerosols on clouds and climate.

Seasonal spatial varability of AAC↗
NASA NTRS1986

Determination of cloud fields from analysis of HIRS2/MSU sounding data

IR and microwave remote sensing data collected with the HIRS2 and MSU sensors on the NOAA polar-orbiting satellites were evaluated for their effectiveness as bases for determining the cloud cover and cloud physical characteristics. Techniques employed to adjust for day-night alterations in the radiance fields are described, along with computational procedures applied to compare scene pixel values with reference values for clear skies. Sample results are provided for the mean cloud coverage detected over South America and Africa June 1979, with attention given to concurrent surface pressure and cloud top pressure values.

Susskind, J.↗
NASA NTRS1990

The interstellar D1 line at high resolution

Observations at a resolving power or a velocity resolution are reported of the interstellar D(sub 1) line of Na I in the spectra of gamma Cas, delta Ori, epsilon Ori, pi Sco, delta Cyg, and alpha Cyg. An echelle grating was used in a double-pass configuration with a CCD detector in the coude spectrograph of the 2.7 m reflector at McDonald Observatory. At least 42 kinematically distinct clouds are detected along the light paths to the five more distant stars, in addition to a single cloud seen toward delta Cyg. The absorption lines arising in 13 of the clouds are sufficiently narrow and unblended to reveal clearly resolved hyperfine structure components split by 1.05 km/s. An additional 13 clouds apparently show comparably narrow, but more strongly blended, lines. For each individual cloud, upper limits T(sub max) and (v sub t)(sub max) on the temperature and the turbulent velocity, respectively, are derived by fitting the observed lines with theoretical absorption profiles.

Hobbs, L. M.↗
NASA NTRS1991

The interstellar D1 line at high resolution

Observations at a resolving power or a velocity resolution are reported of the interstellar D(sub 1) line of Na I in the spectra of Gamma Cas, Delta Ori, Epsilon Ori, Pi Sco, Delta Cyg, and Alpha Cyg. An echelle grating was used in a double-pass configuration with a CCD detector in the coude spectrograph of the 2.7 m reflector at McDonald Observatory. At least 42 kinematically distinct clouds are detected along the light paths to the five more distant stars, in addition to a single cloud seen toward Delta Cyg. The absorption lines arising in 13 of the clouds are sufficiently narrow and unblended to reveal clearly resolved hyperfine structure components split by 1.05 km/s. An additional 13 clouds apparently show comparably narrow, but more strongly blended, lines. For each individual cloud, upper limits T(sub max) and (v sub t) (sub max) on the temperature and the turbulent velocity, respectively, are derived by fitting the observing lines with theoretical absorption profiles.

Hobbs, L. M.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Constraining Venus Cloud Habitability: Earth's Aerobiosphere as an Analogue Environment

The potential habitability of Venus's cloud and haze layers has been debated for decades, with interest fueled by observations including disequilibria in atmospheric chemistry, strongly UV-absorbing particles, and (most recently) a controversial phosphine detection. Venus cloud temperature and pressure are clement by Earth standards; however, the calculated high acid activity and low water activity may exceed the limits of Earth biochemistry, based on observed life in extreme environments. A significant challenge in understanding Venus's habitability is the lack of an appropriate terrestrial analogue environment. Life has not been found in hydrothermal systems approaching Venus aerosol acidities, but these systems also contain high levels of other harsh solutes. Earth's stratospheric sulfate layer is a partial match in terms of acidity, desiccation, size, and isolation from the surface, but the few samples returned from these altitudes have yielded only sparse, inactive cells. Earth's tropospheric cloud droplets have an active microbial presence, but are larger and far more water-rich than Venus aerosols; tropospheric times aloft are also similar to microbial generation times, making Earth's aerobiosphere dependent on continuous surface replenishment. Direct detection of potential biosignatures from a single transect is challenging; Earth's cloud microbiota yields 102 - 108 viable cells per mL, equivalent to one per 103 - 109 particles, with highly dynamic and heterogeneous distribution. The most important in situ measurement for Venus cloud habitability is detailed aerosol composition: confirmation of acid and water activity, presence of potentially bioavailable nutrients and energy, and potential presence of organic matter. Modeling Venus cloud aerosol residence time in comparison to periodic influxes of water and photochemical energy, and thus the ability of an ecosystem to maintain itself over time, would also address a significant habitability constraint particular to aerobiospheres.

Venus↗
NASA NTRS1990

Cirrus cloud properties derived from coincident GOES and lidar data during the 1986 FIRE Cirrus Intensive Field Observations (IFO)

One of the main difficulties in detecting cirrus clouds and determining their correct altitude using satellite measurements is their nonblackness. In the present algorithm (Rossow et al., 1985) used by the International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP), the cirrus cloud emissivity is estimated from the derived cloud reflectance using a theoretical model relating visible (VIS, 0.65 micron) optical depth to infrared (IR, 10.5 micron) emissivity. At this time, it is unknown how accurate this approach is or how the derived cloud altitude relates to the physical properties of the cloud. The First ISCCP Regional Experiment (FIRE) presents opportunities for determining how the observed radiances depend on the cloud properties. During the FIRE Cirrus Intensive Field Observations (IFO, see Starr, 1987), time series of cloud thickness, height, and relative optical densities were measured from several surface-based lidars. Cloud microphysics and radiances at various wavelengths were also measured simultaneously over these sites from aircraft at specific times during the IFO (October 19 to November 2, 1986). Satellite-observed radiances taken simultaneously can be matched with these data to determine their relationships to the cirrus characteristics. The first step is taken toward relating all of these variables to the satellite observations. Lidar-derived cloud heights are used to determine cloud temperatures which are used to estimate cloud emissivities from the satellite IR radiances. These results are then correlated to the observed VIS reflectances for various solar zenith angles.

Minnis, Patrick↗
NASA NTRS2011

Detecting Abnormal Machine Characteristics in Cloud Infrastructures

In the cloud computing environment resources are accessed as services rather than as a product. Monitoring this system for performance is crucial because of typical pay-peruse packages bought by the users for their jobs. With the huge number of machines currently in the cloud system, it is often extremely difficult for system administrators to keep track of all machines using distributed monitoring programs such as Ganglia1 which lacks system health assessment and summarization capabilities. To overcome this problem, we propose a technique for automated anomaly detection using machine performance data in the cloud. Our algorithm is entirely distributed and runs locally on each computing machine on the cloud in order to rank the machines in order of their anomalous behavior for given jobs. There is no need to centralize any of the performance data for the analysis and at the end of the analysis, our algorithm generates error reports, thereby allowing the system administrators to take corrective actions. Experiments performed on real data sets collected for different jobs validate the fact that our algorithm has a low overhead for tracking anomalous machines in a cloud infrastructure.

Bhaduri, Kanishka↗
NASA NTRS2006

Proceedings of the 2004 High Spatial Resolution Commercial Imagery Workshop

Topics covered include: NASA Applied Sciences Program; USGS Land Remote Sensing: Overview; QuickBird System Status and Product Overview; ORBIMAGE Overview; IKONOS 2004 Calibration and Validation Status; OrbView-3 Spatial Characterization; On-Orbit Modulation Transfer Function (MTF) Measurement of QuickBird; Spatial Resolution Characterization for QuickBird Image Products 2003-2004 Season; Image Quality Evaluation of QuickBird Super Resolution and Revisit of IKONOS: Civil and Commercial Application Project (CCAP); On-Orbit System MTF Measurement; QuickBird Post Launch Geopositional Characterization Update; OrbView-3 Geometric Calibration and Geopositional Accuracy; Geopositional Statistical Methods; QuickBird and OrbView-3 Geopositional Accuracy Assessment; Initial On-Orbit Spatial Resolution Characterization of OrbView-3 Panchromatic Images; Laboratory Measurement of Bidirectional Reflectance of Radiometric Tarps; Stennis Space Center Verification and Validation Capabilities; Joint Agency Commercial Imagery Evaluation (JACIE) Team; Adjacency Effects in High Resolution Imagery; Effect of Pulse Width vs. GSD on MTF Estimation; Camera and Sensor Calibration at the USGS; QuickBird Geometric Verification; Comparison of MODTRAN to Heritage-based Results in Vicarious Calibration at University of Arizona; Using Remotely Sensed Imagery to Determine Impervious Surface in Sioux Falls, South Dakota; Estimating Sub-Pixel Proportions of Sagebrush with a Regression Tree; How Do YOU Use the National Land Cover Dataset?; The National Map Hazards Data Distribution System; Recording a Troubled World; What Does This-Have to Do with This?; When Can a Picture Save a Thousand Homes?; InSAR Studies of Alaska Volcanoes; Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) Data Products; Improving Access to the USGS Aerial Film Collections: High Resolution Scanners; Improving Access to the USGS Aerial Film Collections: Phoenix Digitizing System Product Distribution; System and Product Characterization: Issues Approach; Innovative Approaches to Analysis of Lidar Data for the National Map; Changes in Imperviousness near Military Installations; Geopositional Accuracy Evaluations of QuickBird and OrbView-3: Civil and Commercial Applications Project (CCAP); Geometric Accuracy Assessment: OrbView ORTHO Products; QuickBird Radiometric Calibration Update; OrbView-3 Radiometric Calibration; QuickBird Radiometric Characterization; NASA Radiometric Characterization; Establishing and Verifying the Traceability of Remote-Sensing Measurements to International Standards; QuickBird Applications; Airport Mapping and Perpetual Monitoring Using IKONOS; OrbView-3 Relative Accuracy Results and Impacts on Exploitation and Accuracy Improvement; Using Remotely Sensed Imagery to Determine Impervious Surface in Sioux Falls, South Dakota; Applying High-Resolution Satellite Imagery and Remotely Sensed Data to Local Government Applications: Sioux Falls, South Dakota; Automatic Co-Registration of QuickBird Data for Change Detection Applications; Developing Coastal Surface Roughness Maps Using ASTER and QuickBird Data Sources; Automated, Near-Real Time Cloud and Cloud Shadow Detection in High Resolution VNIR Imagery; Science Applications of High Resolution Imagery at the USGS EROS Data Center; Draft Plan for Characterizing Commercial Data Products in Support of Earth Science Research; Atmospheric Correction Prototype Algorithm for High Spatial Resolution Multispectral Earth Observing Imaging Systems; Determining Regional Arctic Tundra Carbon Exchange: A Bottom-Up Approach; Using IKONOS Imagery to Assess Impervious Surface Area, Riparian Buffers and Stream Health in the Mid-Atlantic Region; Commercial Remote Sensing Space Policy Civil Implementation Update; USGS Commercial Remote Sensing Data Contracts (CRSDC); and Commercial Remote Sensing Space Policy (CRSSP): Civil Near-Term Requirements Collection Update.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1988

Newly detected molecules in dense interstellar clouds

The last year or so has seen the identification of several new interstellar molecules, including C2S, C3S, C5H, C6H, and (probably) HC2CHO in the cold, dark cloud TMC-1, and the discovery of the first interstellar phosphorus-containing molecule, PN, in the Orion 'plateau' source. Further interesting results include the observations of (C-13))3H2 and C3HD, and the first detection of HCOOH (formic acid) in a (C-13)3H2 cold cloud.

Irvine, William M.↗
DOE OSTI2025

Search for a Cloud Phase Feedback in the Arctic Climate System

This project was motivated by a hypothesis involving the transition in lower troposphere temperatures across the freezing point of water. Specifically, at temperatures just below to about ten degrees below freezing, Arctic clouds should be in a mixed-phase, with strong influences from secondary ice production (e.g., the Hallett-Mossop process). At temperatures just above freezing, clouds should become entirely deglaciated. We hypothesized that, with multiple years of ARM data, a statistically significant change could be detected in cloud radiative properties and surface radiative fluxes that could be directly attributed to this phase change. Furthermore, in a gradually warming climate, these phase change-related responses in surface radiation would represent a cloud phase feedback as part of Arctic amplification. We designed this research project to coincide with a new ARM Arctic cloud radar product developed by Ed Luke and collaborators at BNL (Luke et al., 2021: PNAS, doi:10.1073/pnas.2021387118) that explicitly contains SIP cloud properties retrieved from radar data. This research project has successfully concluded after analysis of a much larger North Slope of Alaska (NSA) data sample than originally anticipated, and the results are quite different than originally hypothesized.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗