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AVIRIS and TIMS data processing and distribution at the land processes distributed active archive center

The U.S. Government has initiated the Global Change Research program, a systematic study of the Earth as a complete system. NASA's contribution of the Global Change Research Program is the Earth Observing System (EOS), a series of orbital sensor platforms and an associated data processing and distribution system. The EOS Data and Information System (EOSDIS) is the archiving, production, and distribution system for data collected by the EOS space segment and uses a multilayer architecture for processing, archiving, and distributing EOS data. The first layer consists of the spacecraft ground stations and processing facilities that receive the raw data from the orbiting platforms and then separate the data by individual sensors. The second layer consists of Distributed Active Archive Centers (DAAC) that process, distribute, and archive the sensor data. The third layer consists of a user science processing network. The EOSDIS is being developed in a phased implementation. The initial phase, Version 0, is a prototype of the operational system. Version 0 activities are based upon existing systems and are designed to provide an EOSDIS-like capability for information management and distribution. An important science support task is the creation of simulated data sets for EOS instruments from precursor aircraft or satellite data. The Land Processes DAAC, at the EROS Data Center (EDC), is responsible for archiving and processing EOS precursor data from airborne instruments such as the Thermal Infrared Multispectral Scanner (TIMS), the Thematic Mapper Simulator (TMS), and Airborne Visible and Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS). AVIRIS, TIMS, and TMS are flown by the NASA-Ames Research Center ARC) on an ER-2. The ER-2 flies at 65000 feet and can carry up to three sensors simultaneously. Most jointly collected data sets are somewhat boresighted and roughly registered. The instrument data are being used to construct data sets that simulate the spectral and spatial characteristics of the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) instrument scheduled to be flown on the first EOS-AM spacecraft. The ASTER is designed to acquire 14 channels of land science data in the visible and near-IR (VNIR), shortwave-IR (SWIR), and thermal-IR (TIR) regions from 0.52 micron to 11.65 micron at high spatial resolutions of 15 m to 90 m. Stereo data will also be acquired in the VNIR region in a single band. The AVIRIS and TMS cover the ASTER VNIR and SWIR bands, and the TIMS covers the TIR bands. Simulated ASTER data sets have been generated over Death Valley, California, Cuprite, Nevada, and the Drum Mountains, Utah using a combination of AVIRIS, TIMS, amd TMS data, and existing digital elevation models (DEM) for the topographic information.

Mah, G. R.↗

Accessing and Utilizing Remote Sensing Data for Vectorborne Infectious Diseases Surveillance and Modeling

Background: The transmission of vectorborne infectious diseases is often influenced by environmental, meteorological and climatic parameters, because the vector life cycle depends on these factors. For example, the geophysical parameters relevant to malaria transmission include precipitation, surface temperature, humidity, elevation, and vegetation type. Because these parameters are routinely measured by satellites, remote sensing is an important technological tool for predicting, preventing, and containing a number of vectorborne infectious diseases, such as malaria, dengue, West Nile virus, etc. Methods: A variety of NASA remote sensing data can be used for modeling vectorborne infectious disease transmission. We will discuss both the well known and less known remote sensing data, including Landsat, AVHRR (Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer), MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer), TRMM (Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission), ASTER (Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer), EO-1 (Earth Observing One) ALI (Advanced Land Imager), and SIESIP (Seasonal to Interannual Earth Science Information Partner) dataset. Giovanni is a Web-based application developed by the NASA Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center. It provides a simple and intuitive way to visualize, analyze, and access vast amounts of Earth science remote sensing data. After remote sensing data is obtained, a variety of techniques, including generalized linear models and artificial intelligence oriented methods, t 3 can be used to model the dependency of disease transmission on these parameters. Results: The processes of accessing, visualizing and utilizing precipitation data using Giovanni, and acquiring other data at additional websites are illustrated. Malaria incidence time series for some parts of Thailand and Indonesia are used to demonstrate that malaria incidences are reasonably well modeled with generalized linear models and artificial intelligence based techniques. Conclusions: Remote sensing data relevant to the transmission of vectorborne infectious diseases can be conveniently accessed at NASA and some other websites. These data are useful for vectorborne infectious disease surveillance and modeling.

Kiang, Richard↗

Post Eruption Hazards at Mt. Pinatubo, Philippines

Our project focused on the investigation of the post-eruption hazards at Mt. Pinatubo (Philippines) using remote sensing data, and field observations of the 1991 eruption deposits. Through the use of multiple satellite images, field work, and the 1996/2000 PacRim data sets, we conducted studies of the co- and post-eruption hazards of the volcano due to erosion and re-deposition of the extensive pyroclastic flow deposits. A major part of this project was the assembly and analysis of a database of over 50 high resolution (1 - 50 m/pixel) images that will facilitate this study. We collected Ikonos, SPOT, SIR-C/X-SAR, Landsat, ERS, RADARSAT, and ASTER images of the area around Mt. Pinatubo. An example of the changes that could be seen in these data is shown. Our investigation focused on a retrospective analysis of the erosion, redeposition, and re-vegetation of the 1991 pyroclastic flow deposits of Mt. Pinatubo. The primary geologic goal of our work was the analysis of the spatial distribution and volume change of the sources and sinks of materials associated with mudflow ('lahar') events. This included the measurement of river valley gradients and cross-sections using TOPSAR digital elevation data, as we are participating in the PacRim 2000 deployment to the Philippines specifically so that we can collect a second set of TOPSAR data that can then be used to create a topographic difference image of the volcano. The main results from this multi-sensor study have been published as Torres et al.. A discussion of the methodology that we used to assemble an appropriate database was included in Mouginis-Mark and Domergue-Schmidt. As part of an educational outreach effort, we also helped the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) in the Philippines to use NASA data to study Mt. Pinatubo and other Filipino volcanoes.

Mouginis-Mark, Peter J.↗

Major improvements on the longwave radiative interactions between surface and clouds in the polar regions in atmospheric global circulation model

Motivations: One of the most important tasks in the study of physical and socioeconomic aspects of climate change is the simulation of polar climate and how it changes in response to global warming. One import component of the polar energy budget (and thus of polar climate) is the radiative interaction between surface and clouds. As of today, the vast majority of state-of-the-art global climate models (GCMs), including all three US flagship GCMs (NCAR CESM, GFDL CM3, and GISS E2-H/E2-R), still assume constant surface emissivity overall spectral bands in their longwave radiation treatment. Similarly, a majority of state-of-the-art GCMs assume non-scattering clouds in the longwave spectrum, including both the NCAR CESM and GFDL CM3. The issues of ignoring spectral variation in surface emissivity and scattering by clouds manifest themselves in the far-infrared (IR) over the polar continents because (1) there is so little water vapor in such areas that surface far-IR emission can reach clouds; and (2) the imaginary part of the refractive index of ice has a local minimum over 350-550 cm-1, which implies possible strong scattering effects over this spectral region both within and between the snow surface and ice clouds. Our sensitivity studies using CloudSat-retrieved hydrometeor profiles over the high-elevation Antarctic continent show that, in winter, an appropriate inclusion of snow surface spectral emissivity and ice cloud scattering in radiative transfer calculations can noticeably reduce the monthly-mean surface net downward far-IR flux and net atmospheric far-IR emission over the entire region. For the far-IR alone, the magnitude of these effects is ~1Wm-2 or even larger. Projection Objectives: We propose to carry out the following studies: (1) Develop or update schemes that can be used in the CESM to compute the optical properties of the snow surface and ice clouds consistently across the longwave and the shortwave spectrum; (2) Modify the longwave radiation scheme in the CESM such that it can incorporate surface spectral emissivity and scattering of clouds; (3) Validate schemes developed for (1) and (2) against measurements or benchmark models; (4) Evaluate the effects of these new treatments on the simulated polar energy budget and climate by the CESM. Technical Approaches:1.Use a detailed snowpack radiative transfer model to simulate spectrally resolved emissivity of snow surfaces as a function of snow effective radius. The model will be validated against available high spectral-resolution measurements of snow spectral emissivity (ASTER spectra library v2.0). Currently the CESM prognoses vertically-resolved snow effective radius, and snow shortwave albedo is parameterized based on snow effective radius. Our treatment of snow spectral emissivity here will be consistent with the treatment of snow albedo in the shortwave and seamlessly connected with the snow physical module in the CESM. 2. Update the parameterization of ice cloud optical properties in the CESM, for both longwave and shortwave, based on the latest ice-cloud scattering database developed by co-I Prof. Yang. 3. Modify RRTMG_LW, the current longwave radiation scheme in the CESM, to include the surface spectral emissivity and the scattering of clouds in the longwave calculation. Validate modified scheme against a line-by-line radiative transfer model with multiple scattering capability (LBLRTM/CHARTS). 4. Implement products from Steps 1-3 into the CESM and conduct simulations to evaluate their effects on the simulated polar climate and energy budget. These runs will be compared to control runs and evaluated using routine model-observation diagnostics, including data from the ARM NSA (North Slope of Alaska) site. Moreover, a novel aspect in this step is that we will evaluate the simulated longwave band-by-band fluxes and cloud radiative effect against observational counterparts over both polar continents, using a product recently derived by the lead PI Prof. Huang from collocated AIRS and CERES satellite observations from 2002 to 2013. Benefits and outcomes: This project will significantly improve the longwave radiation scheme in the CESM and its successors and provide more realistic treatment of radiative interactions between polar surfaces and clouds. In the future, it will also be straightforward to extend this framework to include spectral emissivity of all surface types. This is responsive to identified DoE Earth System Modeling Science Drivers to improve the performance of the fully coupled climate system modeling and to help address questions on how rapid changes in cryospheric systems interact with the climate system.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗