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At least 397 records · Page 22

Chlorophyll Fluorescence Emissions of Vegetation Canopies From High Resolution Field Reflectance Spectra

A two-year experiment was performed on corn (Zea mays L.) crops under nitrogen (N) fertilization regimes to examine the use of hyperspectral canopy reflectance information for estimating chlorophyll fluorescence (ChlF) and vegetation production. Fluorescence of foliage in the laboratory has proven more rigorous than reflectance for correlation to plant physiology. Especially useful are emissions produced from two stable red and far-red chlorophyll ChlF peaks centered at 685V10 nm and 735V5 nm. Methods have been developed elsewhere to extract steady state solar induced fluorescence (SF) from apparent reflectance of vegetation canopies/landscapes using the Fraunhofer Line Depth (FLD) principal. Our study utilized these methods in conjunction with field-acquired high spectral resolution canopy reflectance spectra obtained in 2004 and 2005 over corn crops, as part of an ongoing multi-year experiment at the USDA/Agriculture Research Service in Beltsville, MD. A spectroradiometer (ASD-FR Fieldspec Pro, Analytical Spectral Devices, Inc., Boulder, CO) was used to measure canopy radiances 1 m above plant canopies with a 22deg field of view and a 0deg nadir view zenith angle. Canopy and plant measurements were made at the R3 grain fill reproductive stage on 3-4 replicate N application plots provided seasonal inputs of 280, 140, 70, and 28 kg N/ha. Leaf level measurements were also made which included ChlF, photosynthesis, and leaf constituents (photosynthetic pigment, carbon (C), and N contents). Crop yields were determined at harvest. SIF intensities for ChlF were derived directly from canopy reflectance spectra in specific narrowband regions associated with atmospheric oxygen absorption features centered at 688 and 760 nm. The red/far-red S F ratio derived from these field reflectance spectra successfully discriminated foliar pigment levels (e.g., total chlorophyll, Chl) associated with N application rates in both corn crops. This canopy-level spectral ratio was also positively correlated to the foliar C/N ratio (r = 0.89, n = go), as was a leaf-level steady state fluorescence ratio (Fs/Chl, r = 0.92). The latter ratio was inversely correlated with crop grain yield (Kg 1 ha) (r = 0.9). This study has relevance to future passive satellite remote sensing approaches to monitoring C dynamics from space.

Middleton, E. M.↗

Axial Halbach Magnetic Bearings

Axial Halbach magnetic bearings have been investigated as part of an effort to develop increasingly reliable noncontact bearings for future high-speed rotary machines that may be used in such applications as aircraft, industrial, and land-vehicle power systems and in some medical and scientific instrumentation systems. Axial Halbach magnetic bearings are passive in the sense that unlike most other magnetic bearings that have been developed in recent years, they effect stable magnetic levitation without need for complex active control.

Eichenberg, Dennis J.↗

Radial Halbach Magnetic Bearings

Radial Halbach magnetic bearings have been investigated as part of an effort to develop increasingly reliable noncontact bearings for future high-speed rotary machines that may be used in such applications as aircraft, industrial, and land-vehicle power systems and in some medical and scientific instrumentation systems. Radial Halbach magnetic bearings are based on the same principle as that of axial Halbach magnetic bearings, differing in geometry as the names of these two types of bearings suggest. Both radial and axial Halbach magnetic bearings are passive in the sense that unlike most other magnetic bearings that have been developed in recent years, they effect stable magnetic levitation without need for complex active control. Axial Halbach magnetic bearings were described in Axial Halbach Magnetic Bearings (LEW-18066-1), NASA Tech Briefs, Vol. 32, No. 7 (July 2008), page 85. In the remainder of this article, the description of the principle of operation from the cited prior article is recapitulated and updated to incorporate the present radial geometry. In simplest terms, the basic principle of levitation in an axial or radial Halbach magnetic bearing is that of the repulsive electromagnetic force between (1) a moving permanent magnet and (2) an electric current induced in a stationary electrical conductor by the motion of the magnetic field. An axial or radial Halbach bearing includes multiple permanent magnets arranged in a Halbach array ("Halbach array" is defined below) in a rotor and multiple conductors in the form of wire coils in a stator, all arranged so the rotary motion produces an axial or radial repulsion that is sufficient to levitate the rotor. A basic Halbach array (see Figure 1) consists of a row of permanent magnets, each oriented so that its magnetic field is at a right angle to that of the adjacent magnet, and the right-angle turns are sequenced so as to maximize the magnitude of the magnetic flux density on one side of the row while minimizing it on the opposite side. The advantage of this configuration is that it makes it possible to approach the theoretical maximum force per unit area that could be exerted by a given amount of permanent-magnet material. The configuration is named after physicist Klaus Halbach, who conceived it for use in particle accelerators. Halbach arrays have also been studied for use in magnetic-levitation ("maglev") railroad trains. In a radial Halbach magnetic bearing, the basic Halbach arrangement is modified into a symmetrical arrangement of sector-shaped permanent magnets mounted on the outer cylindrical surface of a drum rotor (see Figure 2). The magnets are oriented to concentrate the magnetic field on their radially outermost surface. The stator coils are mounted in a stator shell surrounding the rotor.

Eichenberg, Dennis J.↗

Comment on Modified Stokes Parameters

It is common practice in passive microwave remote sensing (microwave radiometry) to express observables as temperatures and in the case of polarimetric radiometry to use what are called "Modified Stokes Parameters in Brightness Temperature" to describe the scene. However, definitions with slightly different normalization (with and without division by bandwidth) have appeared in the literature. The purpose of this manuscript is to present an analysis to clarify the meaning of terms in the definition and resolve the question of the proper normalization.

Le Vine, D.M.↗

CIRS-lite, a Fourier Transform Spectrometer for Low-Cost Planetary Missions

Passive spectroscopic remote sensing of planetary atmospheres and surfaces in the thermal infrared is a powerful tool for obtaining information about surface and atmospheric temperatures, composition, and dynamics (via the thermal wind equation). Due to its broad spectral coverage, the Fourier transform spectrometer (FTS) is particularly suited to the exploration and discovery of molecular species. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) developed the CIRS (Composite Infrared Spectrometer) FTS for the NASA/ESA Cassini mission to the Saturnian system. CIRS observes Saturn, Titan, icy moons such as Enceladus, and the rings in thermal self-emission over the spectral range of 7 to 1000 ell11. CIRS has given us important new insights into stratospheric composition and jets on Jupiter and Saturn, the cryo-geyser and thermal stripes on Enceladus, and the winter polar vortex on Titan. CIRS has a mass of 43 kg, contrasted with the earlier GSFC FTS, pre-Voyager IRIS (14 kg). Future low-cost planetary missions will have very tight constraints on science payload mass, thus we must endeavor to return to IRIS-level mass while maintaining CIRS-level science capabilities ("do more with less"). CIRS-lite achieves this by pursuing: a) more sensitive infrared detectors (high Tc superconductor) to enable smaller optics. b) changed long wavelength limit from 1000 to 300 microns to reduce diffraction by smaller optics. c) CVD (chemical vapor deposition) diamond beam-splitter for broad spectral coverage. d) single FTS architecture instead of a dual FTS architecture. e) novel materials, such as single crystal silicon for the input telescope primary.

Brasunas, J.↗

Temperature-Controlled Clamping and Releasing Mechanism

A report describes the development of a mechanism that automatically clamps upon warming and releases upon cooling between temperature limits of approx. =180 K and approx. =293 K. The mechanism satisfied a need specific to a program that involved repeated excursions of a spectrometer between a room-temperature atmospheric environment and a cryogenic vacuum testing environment. The mechanism was also to be utilized in the intended application of the spectrometer, in which the spectrometer would be clamped for protection during launch of a spacecraft and released in the cold of outer space to allow it to assume its nominal configuration for scientific observations. The mechanism is passive in the sense that its operation does not depend on a control system and does not require any power other than that incidental to heating and cooling. The clamping and releasing action is effected by bolt-preloaded stacks of shape-memory-alloy (SMA) cylinders. In designing this mechanism, as in designing other, similar SMA mechanisms, it was necessary to account for the complex interplay among thermal expansion, elastic and inelastic deformation under load, and SMA thermomechanical properties.

Rosing, David↗

CIRS and CIRS-Lite as Designed for the Outer Planets: TSSM, EJSM, JUICE

Passive spectroscopic remote sensing of planetary atmospheres and surfaces in the thermal infrared is a powerful tool for obtaining information about surface and atmospheric temperatures, composition, and dynamics (via the thermal wind equation). Due to its broad spectral coverage, the Fourier transform spectrometer (FTS) is particularly suited to the exploration and discovery of molecular species. NASA Goddard's Cassini CIRS FTS has given us important new insights into stratospheric composition and jets on Jupiter and Saturn, the cryo-vo1cano and thermal stripes on Enceladus, and the polar vortex on Titan. We have designed a lightweight successor to CIRS - called CIRS-lite - with improved spectral resolution to separate blended spectral lines (such as occur with isotopes). CIRS-lite includes four key components: (1) high Tc superconductor bolometer/carbon nano-tube (CNT) absorber (approx 87K, YBCO) (2) synthetic diamond beam splitter (approx 140K) (3) moving mirror mechanism with crossed-roller bearings ( approx 110 K) (4) single crystal silicon for the input telescope primary

Brasunas, J.↗

RF Reference Switch for Spaceflight Radiometer Calibration

The goal of this technology is to provide improved calibration and measurement sensitivity to the Soil Moisture Active Passive Mission (SMAP) radiometer. While RF switches have been used in the past to calibrate microwave radiometers, the switch used on SMAP employs several techniques uniquely tailored to the instrument requirements and passive remote-sensing in general to improve radiometer performance. Measurement error and sensitivity are improved by employing techniques to reduce thermal gradients within the device, reduce insertion loss during antenna observations, increase insertion loss temporal stability, and increase rejection of radar and RFI (radio-frequency interference) signals during calibration. The two legs of the single-pole double-throw reference switch employ three PIN diodes per leg in a parallel-shunt configuration to minimize insertion loss and increase stability while exceeding rejection requirements at 1,413 MHz. The high-speed packaged diodes are selected to minimize junction capacitance and resistance while ensuring the parallel devices have very similar I-V curves. Switch rejection is improved by adding high-impedance quarter-wave tapers before and after the diodes, along with replacing the ground via of one diode per leg with an open circuit stub. Errors due to thermal gradients in the switch are reduced by embedding the 50-ohm reference load within the switch, along with using a 0.25-in. (approximately equal to 0.6-cm) aluminum prebacked substrate. Previous spaceflight microwave radiometers did not embed the reference load and thermocouple directly within the calibration switch. In doing so, the SMAP switch reduces error caused by thermal gradients between the load and switch. Thermal issues are further reduced by moving the custom, highspeed regulated driver circuit to a physically separate PWB (printed wiring board). Regarding RF performance, previous spaceflight reference switches have not employed high-impedance tapers to improve rejection. The use of open-circuit stubs instead of a via to provide an improved RF short is unique to this design. The stubs are easily tunable to provide high rejection at specific frequencies while maintaining very low insertion loss in-band.

Knuble, Joseph↗

The Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Microwave Imager (GMI): Instrument Overview and Early On-Orbit Performance

The Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission is an international satellite mission that uses measurements from an advanced radar/radiometer system on a core observatory as reference standards to unify and advance precipitation estimates made by a constellation of research and operational microwave sensors. The GPM core observatory was launched on February 27, 2014 at 18:37 UT in a 65◦ inclination nonsun-synchronous orbit. GPM focuses on precipitation as a key component of the Earth's water and energy cycle, and has the capability to provide near-real-time observations for tracking severe weather events, monitoring freshwater resources, and other societal applications. The GPM microwave imager (GMI) on the core observatory provides the direct link to the constellation radiometer sensors, which fly mainly in polar orbits. The GMI sensitivity, accuracy, and stability play a crucial role in unifying the measurements from the GPM constellation of satellites. The instrument has exhibited highly stable operations through the duration of the calibration/validation period. This paper provides an overview of the GMI instrument and a report of early on-orbit commissioning activities. It discusses the on-orbit radiometric sensitivity, absolute calibration accuracy, and stability for each radiometric channel. Index Terms-Calibration accuracy, passive microwave remote sensing, radiometric sensitivity.

GPM↗

Status of the Signals of Opportunity Airborne Demonstrator (SoOp-AD)

Root zone soil moisture (RZSM) is not directly measured by any current satellite instrument, despite its importance as a key link between surface hydrology and deeper processes. Presently, model assimilation of surface measurements or indirect estimates using other methods must be used to estimate this value. Signals of Opportunity (SoOp) methods, exploiting reflected P- and S-band communication satellite signals, have many of the benefits of both active and passive microwave remote sensing. Reutilization of active transmitters, with forward-scattering geometry, presents a strong reflected signal even at orbital altitudes. Microwave radiometry is advantageous as it measures emissivity, which is directly related to dielectric constant and sensitive to water content of soil. Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) is used in P-band (400 MHz) for soil moisture and biomass, but faces issues in obtaining permission to transmit due to spectrum regulations, particularly over North America and Europe. A primary advantage of SAR is excellent spatial resolution. Signals-of-opportunity (SoOp) reflectometry provides a good compromise between radiometry and SAR by providing decent sensitivity and special resolution for RZSM measurements without issues of spectrum access. Further, a SoOp instrument would not be limited to operating in only a few protected frequencies and is also expected to have less susceptibility to radio-frequency interference (RFI). Although advantageous if available, SoOp techniques do not require the ability to demodulate or decode the communication signals. The SoOp instrument is receive only and therefore requires much less electrical power than a SAR and is more similar to a radiometer in receiver architecture. These unique features of SoOp circumvent past obstacles to a spaceborne P-band remote sensing mission and have the potential to enable new RZSM measurements that are not possible with present technology. We will present the latest development status of a SoOp reflectometer airborne demonstrator (SoOp-AD) operating at 250 MHz to take advantage of existing communication satellite. The instrument is currently in laboratory integration and test.

Reflectometers↗

Comparisons of Bispectral and Polarimetric Retrievals of Marine Boundary Layer Cloud Microphysics: Case Studies Using a LES-Satellite Retrieval Simulator

Many passive remote-sensing techniques have been developed to retrieve cloud microphysical properties from satellite-based sensors, with the most common approaches being the bispectral and polarimetric techniques. These two vastly different retrieval techniques have been implemented for a variety of polar-orbiting and geostationary satellite platforms, providing global climatological data sets. Prior instrument comparison studies have shown that there are systematic differences between the droplet size retrieval products (effective radius) of bispectral (e.g., MODIS, Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) and polarimetric (e.g., POLDER, Polarization and Directionality of Earth's Reflectances) instruments. However, intercomparisons of airborne bispectral and polarimetric instruments have yielded results that do not appear to be systematically biased relative to one another. Diagnosing this discrepancy is complicated, because it is often difficult for instrument intercomparison studies to isolate differences between retrieval technique sensitivities and specific instrumental differences such as calibration and atmospheric correction. In addition to these technical differences the polarimetric retrieval is also sensitive to the dispersion of the droplet size distribution (effective variance), which could influence the interpretation of the droplet size retrieval. To avoid these instrument-dependent complications, this study makes use of a cloud remote-sensing retrieval simulator. Created by coupling a large-eddy simulation (LES) cloud model with a 1-D radiative transfer model, the simulator serves as a test bed for understanding differences between bispectral and polarimetric retrievals. With the help of this simulator we can not only compare the two techniques to one another (retrieval intercomparison) but also validate retrievals directly against the LES cloud properties. Using the satellite retrieval simulator, we are able to verify that at high spatial resolution (50 m) the bispectral and polarimetric retrievals are highly correlated with one another within expected observational uncertainties. The relatively small systematic biases at high spatial resolution can be attributed to different sensitivity limitations of the two retrievals. In contrast, a systematic difference between the two retrievals emerges at coarser resolution. This bias largely stems from differences related to sensitivity of the two retrievals to unresolved inhomogeneities in effective variance and optical thickness. The influence of coarse angular resolution is found to increase uncertainty in the polarimetric retrieval but generally maintains a constant mean value.

Miller, Daniel J.↗

Comparisons of Bispectral and Polarimetric Retrievals of Marine Boundary Layer Cloud Microphysics: Case Studies Using a LES- Satellite Retrieval Simulator

Many passive remote-sensing techniques have been developed to retrieve cloud microphysical properties from satellite-based sensors, with the most common approaches being the bispectral and polarimetric techniques. These two vastly different retrieval techniques have been implemented for a variety of polar-orbiting and geostationary satellite platforms, providing global climatological data sets. Prior instrument comparison studies have shown that there are systematic differences between the droplet size retrieval products (effective radius) of bispectral (e.g., MODIS, Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) and polarimetric (e.g., POLDER, Polarization and Directionality of Earth's Reflectances) instruments. However, intercomparisons of airborne bispectral and polarimetric instruments have yielded results that do not appear to be systematically biased relative to one another. Diagnosing this discrepancy is complicated, because it is often difficult for instrument intercomparison studies to isolate differences between retrieval technique sensitivities and specific instrumental differences such as calibration and atmospheric correction. In addition to these technical differences the polarimetric retrieval is also sensitive to the dispersion of the droplet size distribution (effective variance), which could influence the interpretation of the droplet size retrieval. To avoid these instrument-dependent complications, this study makes use of a cloud remote-sensing retrieval simulator. Created by coupling a large-eddy simulation (LES) cloud model with a 1-D radiative transfer model, the simulator serves as a test bed for understanding differences between bispectral and polarimetric retrievals. With the help of this simulator we can not only compare the two techniques to one another (retrieval intercomparison) but also validate retrievals directly against the LES cloud properties. Using the satellite retrieval simulator, we are able to verify that at high spatial resolution (50m) the bispectral and polarimetric retrievals are highly correlated with one another within expected observational uncertainties. The relatively small systematic biases at high spatial resolution can be attributed to different sensitivity limitations of the two retrievals. In contrast, a systematic difference between the two retrievals emerges at coarser resolution. This bias largely stems from differences related to sensitivity of the two retrievals to unresolved inhomogeneities in effective variance and optical thickness. The influence of coarse angular resolution is found to increase uncertainty in the polarimetric retrieval but generally maintains a constant mean value.

Miller, Daniel J.↗

Far-Infrared Room-Temperature Focal Plane Modules for Radiation Budget Instrument

This work presents focal plane modules for a Radiation Budget Instrument, a passive remote-sensing instrument that follows the legacy of the Clouds and Earth’s Radiant Energy System (CERES) to measure short and longwave Earth’s radiation budget. The focal plane arrays are micromachined at JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory) and integrated into sub-assembly modules to be mounted on the optical telescope of the instrument.

Mariani, Giacomo↗

CERES S’COOL Project Update: The Evolution and Value of a Long-Running Education Project With a Foundation in NASA Earth Science Missions

In January 1997, the Students’ Cloud Observations On-Line (S’COOL; http://scool.larc.nasa.gov) Project began with NASA scientists visiting rural Gloucester, Virginia to observe clouds with middle school students. In the 19 years since, this educational outreach component of NASA’s Clouds and the Earth’s Radiant Energy System (CERES) mission has collected ~141,000 observations from every continent and ocean basin around the world. Thousands of students and teachers have directly engaged in S’COOL. Beginning in 2008 we invited citizen scientists to participate as well. Over time S’COOL has added more components that engage participants directly with science data analysis, continuing direct ties to CERES research. Whenever possible, the S’COOL team extracts corresponding subsets of CERES data, which are sent to the participant to analyze. Observations can now be matched to images and cloud retrievals from MODIS and measurements from CALIPSO. To date, more than half of S'COOL observation reports correspond to one (or more) CERES overpasses. Comparisons with CERES geostationary satellite cloud retrievals were recently added, making cloud observations at almost any time of day over non-polar regions useful for validation. A thorough analysis of co-located S’COOL and satellite data was conducted during summer 2015. Results show that the S’COOL community provides high quality observations offering useful insights on the strengths and shortcomings of passive cloud remote sensing from space. This reconfirmed the utility of S’COOL observations to the scientific community and provides observers with deeper insight into the challenges associated with validation of space-based cloud property retrievals.

Lin H Chambers↗

Far-infrared room-temperature focal plane modules for polar radiant energy in the Far InfraRed experiment

This work presents focal plane modules for Polar Radiant Energy in the Far InfraRed Experiment, a passive remote-sensing instrument aimed to determine errors in the estimated outgoing longwave radiation in the Earth’s polar regions to reduce uncertainties in surface emissivity, mass balance, and ice flux. The focal plane arrays are micromachined at JPL and integrated into sub-assembly modules to be mounted on the optical telescope of the instrument.

White, Mary↗

Revisiting the Global Patterns of Seasonal Cycle in Sea Surface Salinity

Argo profiling floats and L-band passive microwave remote sensing have significantly improved the global sampling of sea surface salinity (SSS) in the past 15 years, allowing the study of the range of SSS seasonal variability using concurrent satellite and in situ platforms. Here, harmonic analysis was applied to four 0.25° satellite products and two 1° in situ products between 2016 and 2018 to determine seasonal harmonic patterns. The 0.25° World Ocean Atlas (WOA) version 2018 was referenced to help assess the harmonic patterns from a long-term perspective based on the 3-year period. The results show that annual harmonic is the most characteristic signal of the seasonal cycle, and semiannual harmonic is important in regions influenced by monsoon and major rivers. The percentage of the observed variance that can be explained by harmonic modes varies with products, with values ranging between 50% and 72% for annual harmonic and between 15% and 19% for semiannual harmonic. The large spread in the explained variance by the annual harmonic reflects the large disparity in nonseasonal variance (or noise) in the different products. Satellite products are capable of capturing sharp SSS features on meso- and frontal scales and the patterns agree well with the WOA 2018. These products are, however, subject to the impacts of radiometric noises and are algorithm dependent. The coarser-resolution in situ products may underrepresent the full range of high-frequency small scale SSS variability when data record is short, which may have enlarged the explained SSS variance by the annual harmonic.

L-band↗

Radiative interaction of atmosphere and surface: write up with elements of code

In passive satellite remote sensing of the Earth, separation of the path radiance (atmosphere-only contribution) from the surface reflection remains a “significant challenge”. Recent literature names it among the gaps in radiative transfer (RT) topics that “require continued research in the near future”. The challenge comes from multiple reflections (bouncing) between the atmosphere and surface – radiative interaction. In this paper we use a known RT technique, the matrix-operator method (MOM), and a new modification of the monochromatic vector RT (vRT) code IPOL (Intensity and POLarization) to simulate the interaction of a plane-parallel atmosphere and a few widely used surface reflection models. Following the idea of the Green’s function method, IPOL no longer takes the surface model parameters on input. Instead, it provides the path radiance, and the atmospheric reflection and transmission matrices as output. Despite many RT codes use the MOM formalism, this output does not seem common. The surface reflection matrix is computed externally. Therefore, this paper extends the Green’s function atmospheric correction technique to the case of polarized light. Aiming clarity rather than performance, we explain in Python the structure of the surface matrices for the isotropic (Lambertian), directional unpolarized, and polarized ocean reflection models. We then combine these surface matrices and the precomputed IPOL output to get numerically accurate signal at the top of atmosphere (TOA) and test it vs. published benchmarks. Then, for each benchmark scenario we show how to get the surface from the TOA signal, i.e. perform the RT-based atmospheric correction.

radiative transfer↗

A SmallSat Concept to Resolve Diurnal and Vertical Variations of Aerosols, Clouds, and Boundary Layer Height

A SmallSat mission concept is formulated here to carry out Time-varying Optical Measurements of Clouds and Aerosol Transport (TOMCAT) from space while embracing low-cost opportunities enabled by the revolution in Earth science observation technologies. TOMCAT’s “around-the-clock” measurements will provide needed insights and strong synergy with existing Earth observation satellites to 1) statistically resolve diurnal and vertical variation of cirrus cloud properties (key to Earth’s radiation budget), 2) determine the impacts of regional and seasonal planetary boundary layer (PBL) diurnal variation on surface air quality and low-level cloud distributions, and 3) characterize smoke and dust emission processes impacting their long-range transport on the subseasonal to seasonal time scales. Clouds, aerosol particles, and the PBL play critical roles in Earth’s climate system at multiple spatiotemporal scales. Yet their vertical variations as a function of local time are poorly measured from space. Active sensors for profiling the atmosphere typically utilize sun-synchronous low-Earth orbits (LEO) with rather limited temporal and spatial coverage, inhibiting the characterization of spatiotemporal variability. Pairing compact active lidar and passive multiangle remote sensing technologies from an inclined LEO platform enables measurements of the diurnal and vertical variability of aerosols, clouds, and aerosol-mixing-layer (or PBL) height in tropical-to-midlatitude regions where most of the world’s population resides. TOMCAT is conceived to bring potential societal benefits by delivering its data products in near–real time and offering on-demand hazard-monitoring capabilities to profile fire injection of smoke particles, the frontal lofting of dust particles, and the eruptive rise of volcanic plumes.

John E. Yorks↗