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At least 451 records · Page 25

GES DISC Long-Term Data Analysis Services Using AIRS and CMS Methane Data as an Example

NASA Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC) archives and distributes rich collections of data on atmospheric greenhouse gases from multiple satellite missions and model results. Among those greenhouse gases, atmospheric methane is a powerful greenhouse gas contributing ~0.5 (W/m^2) to total radiative forcing, and its concentration has increased by about 150% since 1750. Observations or estimates of methane emissions typically have sparse spatial and temporal coverage. The lack of comprehensive spatial and temporal coverage of methane source and sink observations has made analyzing atmospheric methane trends challenging. In this study the GES DISC aims to provide the community with the resources to better understand changes in atmospheric methane concentrations and the underlying causes. We will utilize methane datasets from Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) retrieved methane concentration and three Carbon Monitoring System (CMS) methane emission datasets (in regions of North America, Canada, and Mexico) to compare AIRS methane growth with corresponding CMS regional methane emissions. Comparisons of AIRS methane growth rates and CMS methane emissions suggests wetland emissions may impact methane growth rate trends over North America. As the record for CMS methane data is extended, both datasets can be used in conjunction to better understand impacts on atmospheric methane trends. GES DISCs new anomaly tool can also be used on select datasets to further quantify trends in atmospheric greenhouse gases.

long-term data analysis↗

Serving NASA GES DISC Multi-Spatiotemporal Earth Science Data to the GIS community

NASA Earth Science (ES) data is essential to a wide range of GIS research and applications. However, for many GIS users, searching, accessing, using and analyzing NASA ES data can be of a great challenge- ranging from the sheer data volumes, types of science parameters, and to the complexity of data encoding formats. As one of the twelve NASA Science Mission Directorate (SMD) Data Centers, Goddard Earth Sciences (GES) Data and Information Services Center (DISC) archives and distributes petabytes of ES parameters covering atmosphere, land, and ocean fields. Most data are multidimensional and multi-spatiotemporal in nature and are encoded in different science data formats (e.g, HDF, HDF-EOS, netCDF, GRIB, binary), which usually contain multiple variables and different metadata information. By far, GES DISC has been developing a number of services and online tools to help GIS users to easily explore our data products. In this presentation, we will describe our ArcGIS-based data accessing and visualization services and portals, which allow users directly exploring the multi-spatiotemporal ES data in ArcGIS clients without having to pre-download/import the data. The ArcGIS services are also compliant with the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) Web Coverage Service (WCS) and Web Map Service (WMS) protocols and can be accessed by any other WCS/WMS clients to get customized GES DISC EO data on-the-fly from such services.

Wei, Jennifer↗

Using NASA Earth Observation Data in ArcGIS

The NASA Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center archives tens of thousands of Earth Observation (EO) parameters for land, atmosphere, and ocean. To facilitate GIS users to easily find, visualize, obtain, and analyze these EO data through, we developed an ArcGIS infrastructure with the Server, image services, Portal, and AOL. We will show how this capability supports broad GIS applications. Use cases including water management and air quality analyses will be demonstrated.

Wei, Jennifer↗

GLOBE Observer Data: 2016-2019

This technical report summarizes the GLOBE Observer dataset from 1 April 2016 to 1 December 2019. GLOBE Observer is an ongoing NASA-sponsored international citizen science project that is part of the larger Global Learning & Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) Program, which has been in operation since 1995. GLOBE Observer has the greatest number of participants and geographic coverage of the citizen science projects in the Earth Science Division at NASA. Participants use the GLOBE Observer mobile app (launched in 2016) to collect atmospheric, hydrologic, and terrestrial observations. The app connects participants to satellite observations from Aqua, Terra, CALIPSO, and MODIS. 38,000 participants have contributed 320,000 observations worldwide, including 1,000,000 georeferenced photographs. It would take an individual more than 13 years to replicate this effort. The GLOBE Observer app has substantially increased the spatial extent and sampling density of GLOBE measurements and more than doubled the number of measurements collected through the GLOBE Program. GLOBE Observer data are publicly available at observer.globe.gov.

Helen M Amos↗

A User-Focused Renovation of CERES Metadata

Production software and public data products for Clouds and the Earth’s Radiant Energy System (CERES) continue to evolve as the project extends its climate data record. The data management team for CERES is currently undertaking major renovations of both code and data products, the latter of which is, of course, in service of improving user experience. A major mode of CERES’ data product improvement is in renovating products’ metadata. Metadata standards have evolved since CERES began producing its data products in 2000. In its twentieth year, CERES essentially asked the question: how would the project design its data products if it could start all over again? With forthcoming editions, this rebirth will be realized. CERES has redesigned its metadata standards to best position itself for data discoverability. The project has used the latest standards being developed in NASA’s Earth Science Data and Information Systems (ESDIS) Project’s Unified Metadata Model (UMM) documentation; collaborated with the Atmospheric Science Data Center (ASDC) to ensure compliance with Common Metadata Repository compatibility, and continued compliance with Climate and Forecast (CF) Conventions. In doing so, the team created its own, internal document for proper metadata creation and metadata verification software that is deployed prior to all code deliveries. This presentation will discuss this redesign process, as well as needs met and those that are still outstanding in the search for an improved user experience with CERES data products.

Kathleen Dejwakh↗

Characterizing Wildfires in Western US.: A Cloud-based Case Study for Interdisciplinary Research using NASA Resources

This presentation will demonstrate a case study of interdisciplinary research done in the Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud platform, in addition to in the local machine. We conduct data analysis next to data by leveraging various cloud-based data in NASA Earthdata Cloud, which are distributed by different missions/NASA Distributed Active Archive Centers (DAACs), and cloud computing resources at NASA. For instance, we directly access multiple datasets stored in the AWS Simple Storage Service (S3) buckets using a Python Jupyter notebook through a JupyterHub interface hosted in AWS (without having to download data), and conduct data analysis next to data in the cloud. We will also show how to share the research results following Open Source policy. This case study characterizes the change in wildfire events in the western United States during the past 20 years. In particular, we focus on the wildfires in California in 2021, one of the most severe wildfire years occurring in the most recent 20 years in California. We will analyze the possible causes of wildfires, such as drought conditions and climate variability, and examine the impacts of wildfires on air quality and atmospheric composition, and on land cover. We will examine the data distributed by the NASA Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC), including aerosols and meteorological data from the NASA Modern-Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications version 2 (MERRA-2), precipitation from the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) and Global Precipitation Climate Project (GPCP), and aerosol index from Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI). We also utilize the data distributed by the Physical Oceanography (PO) DAAC, such as Sea Surface Temperature (SST) data from the Group for High Resolution Sea Surface Temperature (GHRSST), and the data distributed by Land Processes (LP) DAAC, such as Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI).

Xiaohua Pan↗

Development of an Improved Spatial Metadata Simplification Algorithm

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Atmospheric Science Data Center (ASDC) at NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, VA provides atmospheric science data products and services to the science community, including enhanced search and subsetting capabilities for numerous Earth Science datasets. The ASDC is the official Distributed Active Archive Center (DAAC) of record for the Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution (TEMPO) instrument. TEMPO is situated on a geostationary satellite positioned at a longitude near the center of the conterminous United States and focused on North America, making hourly swaths of its field of regard from east to west. Spatial metadata is an essential component for the discovery and distribution of Earth Science data. The simplified polygonal boundaries representing the archived data files ensure that any granule can be identified quickly and accurately by a geospatial query. Historically the Douglas-Peucker algorithm has been used for polygon simplification; however, due to the nature of the algorithm, a buffer must be added to the polygon before simplification to ensure pivotal points are not removed by the algorithm. This adds in additional error to the polygon simplification. ASDC’s goal is to test other methods of polyline simplification, such as Visvalingan-Whyatt and Opheim simplification alongside of Douglas-Peucker and different buffering methods, to produce less error during polygon simplification of TEMPO data swaths, and special spatial query geometries such as EPA non-attainment regions, and geopolitical boundaries.

Spatial Metadata↗

Use of Spatial Metadata Simplification for TEMPO

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Atmospheric Science Data Center (ASDC) at NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, VA provides atmospheric science data products and services to the science community, including enhanced search and subsetting capabilities for numerous Earth Science datasets. The ASDC is the official Distributed Active Archive Center (DAAC) of record for the Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution (TEMPO) instrument. TEMPO is situated on a geostationary satellite positioned at a longitude near the center of the conterminous United States and focused on North America, making hourly swaths of its field of regard from east to west. Spatial metadata is an essential component for the discovery and distribution of Earth Science data. The simplified polygonal boundaries representing the archived data files ensure that any granule can be identified quickly and accurately by a geospatial query. Historically the Douglas-Peucker algorithm has been used for polygon simplification; however, due to the nature of the algorithm, a buffer must be added to the polygon before simplification to ensure pivotal points are not removed by the algorithm. This adds in additional error to the polygon simplification. ASDC’s goal is to test other methods of polyline simplification, such as Visvalingan-Whyatt and Opheim simplification alongside of Douglas-Peucker and different buffering methods, to produce less error during polygon simplification of TEMPO data swaths, and special spatial query geometries such as EPA non-attainment regions, and geopolitical boundaries.

Spatial Metadata↗

What (and How) MERRA-2 Reanalysis Data are Used in Applied Sciences

The Modern Era Retrospective-analysis for Research and Applications, Version 2 (MERRA-2) is the global atmospheric data reanalysis for the satellite era produced by NASA’s Global Modeling and Assimilation Office (GMAO), using the Goddard Earth Observing System Model (GEOS)version 5.12.4. The data are officially distributed by the NASA Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC). MERRA-2 data have been widely used by the Earth sciences and application community. Since MERRA-2 data were released in early 2016, the number of registered data users has grown steadily from 1,252 in 2016 to 6477 in 2020. By the end of October 2021, ~16 petabytes (over 360 million files) of data have been distributed to more than 18,900 users. Searching in Google Scholar (https://scholar.google.com/), we have found over 7,000 articles, published between January 2017 and May 2021, involving the use ofMERRA-2 data. The figure shows the numbers for various application areas in which theMERRA-2 data have been used, covering almost all of the application areas defined in NASA Applied Sciences (http://appliedsciences.nasa.gov). The largest number of articles are found in disaster research, with the subcategories ordered in flood, wildfires, hurricanes and cyclones, and other forms of severe weather. In this presentation, we will discuss the preliminary findings from a review of the selected literature that uses MERRA-2 data in applied sciences. The current analytic and interoperable data services at GES DISC are listed, such as the on-the-fly subset and analysis service, NASA Giovanni; THREDDS Data Server(TDS); and Python Jupyter notebooks. In addition, we will introduce two new services for supporting the open sciences: My Dashboard and Related Publications.

data management↗

Micronuclei Induction in Human Fibroblasts Exposed In Vitro to Los Alamos High-Energy Neutrons

High-energy secondary neutrons, produced by the interaction of galactic cosmic rays with the atmosphere, spacecraft structure and planetary surfaces, contribute to a significant fraction to the dose equivalent in crew members and passengers during commercial aviation travel, and astronauts in space missions. The Los Alamos Nuclear Science Center (LANSCE) neutron facility#s ICE House 30L beamline is known to generate neutrons that simulate the secondary neutron spectra of earth#s atmosphere. The neutron spectrum is also similar to that measured onboard spacecraft like the MIR and International Space Station (ISS). To evaluate the biological damage, we exposed human fibroblasts in vitro to the LANSCE neutron beams without degrader at an entrance dose rate of 25 mGy/hr and analyzed the micronuclei (MN) induction. The cells were also placed behind a 9.9 cm water column to study effect of shielding in the protection of neutron induced damages. It was found that the dose response in the MN frequency was linear for the samples with and without shielding and the slope of the MN yield behind the shielding was reduced by a factor of 3.5. Compared to the MN induction in human fibroblasts exposed to a gamma source at a low dose rate, the RBE was found to be 16.7 and 10.0 for the neutrons without and with 9.9 cm water shielding, respectively.

Gersey, Brad↗

M-BAND Analysis of Chromosome Aberration In Human Epithelial Cells exposed to Gamma-ray and Secondary Neutrons of Low Dose Rate

High-energy secondary neutrons, produced by the interaction of galactic cosmic rays with the atmosphere, spacecraft structure and planetary surfaces, contribute to a significant fraction to the dose equivalent in crew members and passengers during commercial aviation travel, and astronauts in space missions. The Los Alamos Nuclear Science Center (LANSCE) neutron facility's "30L" beam line is known to generate neutrons that simulate the secondary neutron spectrum of the Earth's atmosphere at high altitude. The neutron spectrum is also similar to that measured onboard spacecraft like the MIR and the International Space Station (ISS). To evaluate the biological damage, we exposed human epithelial cells in vitro to the LANSCE neutron beams at an entrance dose rate of 2.5 cGy/hr or gamma-ray at 1.7cGy/hr, and assessed the induction of chromosome aberrations that were identified with mBAND. With this technique, individually painted chromosomal bands on one chromosome allowed the identification of inter-chromosomal aberrations (translocation to unpainted chromosomes) and intra-chromosomal aberrations (inversions and deletions within a single painted chromosome). Compared to our previous results for gamma-rays and 600 MeV/nucleon Fe ions of high dose rate, the neutron data showed a higher frequency of chromosome aberrations. However, detailed analysis of the inversion type revealed that all of the three radiation types in the study induced a low incidence of simple inversions. The low dose rate gamma-rays induced a lower frequency of chromosome aberrations than high dose rate gamma-rays, but the inversion spectrum was similar for the same cytotoxic effect. The distribution of damage sites on chromosome 3 for different radiation types will also be discussed.

Hada, M.↗

Application of ESE Data and Tools to Air Quality Management: Services for Helping the Air Quality Community use ESE Data (SHAirED)

The goal of this REASoN applications and technology project is to deliver and use Earth Science Enterprise (ESE) data and tools in support of air quality management. Its scope falls within the domain of air quality management and aims to develop a federated air quality information sharing network that includes data from NASA, EPA, US States and others. Project goals were achieved through a access of satellite and ground observation data, web services information technology, interoperability standards, and air quality community collaboration. In contributing to a network of NASA ESE data in support of particulate air quality management, the project will develop access to distributed data, build Web infrastructure, and create tools for data processing and analysis. The key technologies used in the project include emerging web services for developing self describing and modular data access and processing tools, and service oriented architecture for chaining web services together to assemble customized air quality management applications. The technology and tools required for this project were developed within DataFed.net, a shared infrastructure that supports collaborative atmospheric data sharing and processing web services. Much of the collaboration was facilitated through community interactions through the Federation of Earth Science Information Partners (ESIP) Air Quality Workgroup. The main activities during the project that successfully advanced DataFed, enabled air quality applications and established community-oriented infrastructures were: develop access to distributed data (surface and satellite), build Web infrastructure to support data access, processing and analysis create tools for data processing and analysis foster air quality community collaboration and interoperability.

Falke, Stefan↗

From Toes to Top-of-the-Atmosphere: Fowler Sneaker Index

Fowler Sneaker Index (FSI), developed by a NASA summer intern, is a new Ocean Color application that facilitates continuous monitoring of environmental conditions in the Chesapeake Bay. It builds on three decades of citizen science data collected by former Maryland State Senator Bernie Fowler, during his yearly "Wade-ins in the Patuxent River". FSI demonstrates how NASA's Earth-observing tools, in combination with a concerned and engaged public, can take science from the tips of our toes-to-top-of the atmosphere and back.

Optics Express↗

Proceedings of the Second Airborne Imaging Spectrometer Data Analysis Workshop

The Second Airborne Imaging Spectrometer (AIS) Data Analysis Workshop was held at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory on May 6, 7, and 8, 1986. It was attended by 100 people from seven countries. Papers were presented by 24 attendees; summaries of 19 of the papers are published in these Workshop Proceedings. The Second Workshop was divided into three sessions: Calibration, the Atmosphere, and Data Techniques; Geological Research; and Botanical and Geobotanical Research. Because many of the AIS researchers have had an additional year to work with their data, a general advance was seen in the utilization of the data for solving earth science problems. The major conclusions that can be drawn from the Workshop are: (1) Almost everyone now working with AIS data is attempting to take into account in data analysis the effects of the atmosphere and sensor calibration and performance. As a result, information extraction techniques are becoming more sophisticated and effective. (2) The emphasis on work in the geological disciplines is beginning to shift to the application of AIS data for solving geological problems now that the efficacy of the data for mineral identification has been demonstrated. (3) In the botanical sciences, interpretation of AIS data is becoming more quantitative. Several statistical techniques are under development for extracting the subtle differences in plant spectra in the region of the near infrared and short wavelength infrared. In summary, an overall advance was seen in the ability to effectively utilize the fundamentally new class of data acquired with imaging spectrometers. There was also a general feeling at the Workshop however, that much work remains to be done in remote sensing research before the maximum potential of these data for solving earth science problems is realized.

Gregg Vane↗

Visions of our Planet's Atmosphere, Land and Oceans: NASA/NOAA Electronic-Theater 2002. Spectacular Visualizations of our Blue Marble

Spectacular Visualizations of our Blue Marble The NASA/NOAA Electronic Theater presents Earth science observations and visualizations in a historical perspective. Fly in from outer space to the 2002 Winter Olympic Stadium Site of the Olympic Opening and Closing Ceremonies in Salt Lake City. Fly in and through Olympic Alpine Venues using 1 m IKONOS "Spy Satellite" data. Go back to the early weather satellite images from the 1960s and see them contrasted with the latest US and international global satellite weather movies including hurricanes & "tornadoes". See the latest visualizations of spectacular images from NASA/NOAA remote sensing missions like Terra, GOES, TRMM, SeaWiFS, Landsat 7 including new 1 - min GOES rapid scan image sequences of Nov 9th 2001 Midwest tornadic thunderstorms and have them explained. See how High-Definition Television (HDTV) is revolutionizing the way we communicate science. (In cooperation with the American Museum of Natural History in NYC). See dust storms in Africa and smoke plumes from fires in Mexico. See visualizations featured on the covers of Newsweek, TIME, National Geographic, Popular Science & on National & International Network TV. New computer software tools allow us to roam & zoom through massive global images e.g. Landsat tours of the US, and Africa, showing desert and mountain geology as well as seasonal changes in vegetation. See animations of the polar ice packs and the motion of gigantic Antarctic Icebergs from SeaWinds data. Spectacular new visualizations of the global atmosphere & oceans are shown. See vertexes and currents in the global oceans that bring up the nutrients to feed tiny algae and draw the fish, whales and fisherman. See the how the ocean blooms in response to these currents and El Nicola Nina climate changes. See the city lights, fishing fleets, gas flares and biomass burning of the Earth at night observed by the "night-vision" DMSP military satellite.

Hasler, A. F.↗

CERES BiDirectional Scans (BDS) data in HDF (CER_BDS_Aqua-FM4_Edition1-CV)

Each BiDirectional Scans (BDS) data product contains twenty-four hours of Level-1b data for each CERES scanner instrument mounted on each spacecraft. The BDS includes samples taken in normal and short Earth scan elevation profiles in both fixed and rotating azimuth scan modes (including space, internal calibration, and solar calibration views). The BDS contains Level-0 raw (unconverted) science and instrument data as well as the geolocated converted science and instrument data. The BDS contains additional data not found in the Level-0 input file, including converted satellite position and velocity data, celestial data, converted digital status data, and parameters used in the radiance count conversion equations. The following CERES BDS data sets are currently available: CER_BDS_TRMM-PFM_Edition1 CER_BDS_Terra-FM1_Edition1 CER_BDS_Terra-FM2_Edition1 CER_BDS_Terra-FM1_Edition2 CER_BDS_Terra-FM2_Edition2 CER_BDS_Aqua-FM3_Edition1 CER_BDS_Aqua-FM4_Edition1 CER_BDS_Aqua-FM3_Edition2 CER_BDS_Aqua-FM4_Edition2 CER_BDS_Aqua-FM3_Edition1-CV CER_BDS_Aqua-FM4_Edition1-CV CER_BDS_Terra-FM1_Edition1-CV CER_BDS_Terra-FM2_Edition1-CV. [Location=GLOBAL] [Temporal_Coverage: Start_Date=1997-12-27; Stop_Date=2005-03-30] [Spatial_Coverage: Southernmost_Latitude=-90; Northernmost_Latitude=90; Westernmost_Longitude=-180; Easternmost_Longitude=180] [Data_Resolution: Temporal_Resolution=1 day; Temporal_Resolution_Range=Daily - < Weekly].

SHORTWAVE DETECTOR OUTPUT↗

Enabling Research Tools for Sustained Climate Assessment

The U.S. Global Change Research Program Sustained Assessment process benefits from long-term investments in Earth science research that enable the scientific community to conduct assessment-relevant science. To this end, NASA initiated several research programs over the past five years to support the Earth observation community in developing indicators, datasets, research products, and tools to support ongoing and future National Climate Assessments. These activities complement NASA's ongoing Earth science research programs. One aspect of the assessment portfolio funds four "enabling tools" projects at NASA research centers. Each tool leverages existing capacity within the center, but has developed tailored applications and products for National Climate Assessments. The four projects build on the capabilities of a global atmospheric reanalysis (MERRA-2), a continental U.S. land surface reanalysis (NCA-LDAS), the NASA Earth Exchange (NEX), and a Regional Climate Model Evaluation System (RCMES). Here, we provide a brief overview of each enabling tool, highlighting the ways in which it has advanced assessment science to date. We also discuss how the assessment community can access and utilize these tools for National Climate Assessments and other sustained assessment activities.

Research↗

Terrestrial imaging spectrometry - Current status, future trends

A review of recent progress in the field of imaging spectrometry is presented based on the 14 articles comprising the special issue of this journal. The results presented were achieved through research done with data from the Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS), the first imaging spectrometer to cover the full solar reflected portion of the spectrum. The majority of the early work in imaging spectrometry prior to AVIRIS focused largely on geological applications and specifically surface mineral identification. In the past 5 years, the range of applications has expanded into the scientific disciplines of ecology, hydrology, oceanography, and atmospheric science. Significant progress has also been made in sensor design and calibration, and information extraction. NASA plans to place high spectral resolution sensors in earth orbit within the next few years; two have been flown already on recent planetary missions and have proven to be of great value to the study of planetary surfaces and atmospheres. The work presented in this issue will lead directly to more effective utilization of imaging spectrometry in the study of the earth. We present a discussion of future trends in imaging spectrometry at the conclusion of this article.

Vane, Gregg↗