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Deep space network radio science system for Voyager Uranus and Galileo missions
An overview is presented of major new requirements, challenges and conceptual designs for the DSN Radio Science System in the 1985 to 1988 period. The Voyager Uranus encounter is being supported with larger combined aperture, higher sample rate, and a centrally controlled network. The Galileo mission will be provided with a high resolution S-Band Faraday rotation detection capability and a high-stability Doppler system with X-Band uplink for gravitational wave search.
The Crew Earth Observations Experiment: Earth System Science from the ISS
This viewgraph presentation reviews the use of Astronaut Photography (AP) as taken from the International Space Station (ISS) in Earth System Science (ESS). Included are slides showing basic remote sensing theory, data characteristics of astronaut photography, astronaut training and operations, crew Earth observations group, targeting sites and acquisition, cataloging and database, analysis and applications for ESS, image analysis of particular interest urban areas, megafans, deltas, coral reefs. There are examples of the photographs and the analysis.
Towards a Standard for Provenance and Context for Preservation of Data for Earth System Science
Long-term data sets with data from many missions are needed to study trends and validate model results that are typical in Earth System Science research. Data and derived products originate from multiple missions (spaceborne, airborne and/or in situ) and from multiple organizations. During the missions as well as well past their termination, it is essential to preserve the data and products to support future studies. Key aspects of preservation are: preserving bits and ensuring data are uncorrupted, preserving understandability with appropriate documentation, and preserving reproducibility of science with appropriate documentation and other artifacts. Computer technology provides adequate standards to ensure that, with proper engineering, bits are preserved as hardware evolves. However, to ensure understandability and reproducibility, it is essential to plan ahead to preserve all the relevant data and information. There are currently no standards to identify the content that needs to be preserved, leading to non-uniformity in content and users not being sure of whether preserved content is comprehensive. Each project, program or agency can specify the items to be preserved as a part of its data management requirements. However, broader community consensus that cuts across organizational or national boundaries would be needed to ensure comprehensiveness, uniformity and long-term utility of archived data. The Federation of Earth Science Information Partners (ESIP), a diverse network of scientists, data stewards and technology developers, has a forum for ESIP members to collaborate on data preservation issues. During early 2011, members discussed the importance of developing a Provenance and Context Content Standard (PCCS) and developed an initial list of content items. This list is based on the outcome of a NASA and NOAA meeting held in 1998 under the auspices of the USGCRP, documentation requirements from NOAA and our experience with some of the NASA Earth science missions. The items are categorized into the following 8 high level categories: Preflight/Pre-Operations, Products (Data), Product Documentation, Mission Calibration, Product Software, Algorithm Input, Validation, Software Tools.
The Nexus for Exoplanet System Science
NExSS is a research coordination network dedicated to the study of planetary habitability. A NASA cross-division initiative bringing astrophysicists, planetary scientists, Earth scientists, and heliophysicists together to bring a systems science approach to this problem. NExSS's goals being to investigate the diversity of planets, understanding how planet history, geology, and climate interact to create the conditions for life. Also, to put planets into an architectural context as stellar systems built over time by dynamical processes and sculpted by stars. Use experience from solar system (including Earth) history to identify where habitable niches are most likely to occur and which planets are most likely to be habitable. Leverage NASA investments in research and missions to accelerate discovery and characterization of potential life-bearing worlds.
Preservation of Data for Earth System Science- Towards a Content Standard
Various remote sensing agencies of the world have created a data rich environment for research and applications over the last three decades. Especially over the last decade, the volume and variety of data useful for Earth system science have increased quite rapidly. One of the key purposes of collecting these data and generating useful digital products containing derived geophysical parameters is to study the long-term trends in the Earth s behavior. Long-term observational data and derived products are essential for validating results from models that predict the future behavior of the Earth system. Given the significant resources expended in gathering the observational data and developing the derived products, it is important to preserve them for the benefit of future generations of users. Preservation involves maintaining the bits with no loss (or loss within scientifically acceptable bounds) as they move across systems as well as over time, ensuring readability over time, and providing for long-term understandability and repeatability of previously obtained results. In order to ensure long-term understandability and repeatability, it is necessary to identify all items of content that must be preserved and plan for such preservation. This paper discusses the need for a standard enumerating and describing such content items and reports on the progress made by NASA and the Federation of Earth Science Information Partners (ESIP Federation) in the U.S. towards such a standard.
SOLAR SYSTEM SCIENCE- 1962 LITERATURE SURVEY
Solar system bibliography covering earth atmospheric physics, cosmogony, planetary and interplanetary physics, solar physics and solar system dynamics
On the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM): Bringing NASA's Earth System Science Program to the Classroom
The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission is the first mission dedicated to measuring tropical and subtropical rainfall using a variety of remote sensing instrumentation, including the first spaceborne rain-measuring radar. Since the energy released when tropical rainfall occurs is a primary "fuel" supply for the weather and climate "engine"; improvements in computer models which predict future weather and climate states may depend on better measurements of global tropical rainfall and its energy. In support of the STANYS conference theme of Education and Space, this presentation focuses on one aspect of NASA's Earth Systems Science Program. We seek to present an overview of the TRMM mission. This overview will discuss the scientific motivation for TRMM, the TRMM instrument package, and recent images from tropical rainfall systems and hurricanes. The presentation also targets educational components of the TRMM mission in the areas of weather, mathematics, technology, and geography that can be used by secondary school/high school educators in the classroom.
SAVS: A Space and Atmospheric Visualization Science system
The research environment faced by space and atmospheric scientists in the 1990s is characterized by unprecedented volumes of new data, by ever-increasing repositories of unexploited mission files, and by the widespread use of empirical and large-scale computational models needed for the synthesis of understanding across data sets and discipline boundaries. The effective analysis and interpretation of such massive amounts of information have become the subjects of legitimate concern. With SAVS (a Space and Atmospheric Visualization Science System), we address these issues by creating a 'push-button' software environment that mimics the logical scientific processes in data acquisition, reduction, and analysis without requiring a detailed understanding of the methods, networks, and modules that link the tools and effectively execute the functions. SAVS provides (1) a customizable framework for accessing a powerful set of visualization tools based on the popular AVS visualization software with hooks to PV-Wave and access to Khoros modules, (2) a set of mathematical and statistical tools, (3) an extensible library of discipline-specific functions and models (e.g., MSIS, IRI, Feldstein Oval, IGRF, satellite tracking with CADRE-3, etc.), and (4) capabilities for local and remote data base access. The system treats scalar, vector, and image data, and runs on most common Unix workstations. We present a description of SAVS and its components, followed by several applications based on generic research interests in interplanetary and magnetospheric physics (IMP/ISTP), active experiments in space (CRRES), and mission planning focused on the Earth's thermospheric, ionospheric, and mesospheric domains (TIMED).
Summer of Seasons Workshop Program for Emerging Educators in Earth System Science
Norfolk State University BEST Lab successfully hosted three Summer of Seasons programs from 1998-2001. The Summer of Seasons program combined activities during the summer with additional seminars and workshops to provide broad outreach in the number of students and teachers who participated. Lessons learned from the each of the first two years of this project were incorporated into the design of the final year's activities. The "Summer of Seasons" workshop program provided emerging educators with the familiarity and knowledge to utilize in the classroom curriculum materials developed through NASA sponsorship on Earth System Science. A special emphasis was placed on the use of advanced technologies to dispel the commonly held misconceptions regarding seasonal, climactic and global change phenomena.
Solar System Science With the Single Aperture Large Telescope for Universe Studies Space Observatory
Single Aperture Large Telescope for Universe Studies (SALTUS) is a NASA Astrophysics Probe Explorer (APEX)-class mission concept employing a robust far-infrared pointed space observatory. SALTUS comprises a 14-m inflatable reflector that provides 16× the sensitivity and 4× the angular resolution of Herschel, with a sunshield that radiatively cools the primary to 45 K, along with cryogenic detectors that collectively span the 34 to 660 μm far-infrared spectral range at high and moderate spectral resolutions. The high sensitivity and high spectral resolving power of the SALTUS heterodyne receivers enable both submillimeter and far-infrared observations of trace compounds comprising water and its isotopologues, hydrogen deuteride (HD), and a plethora of molecular species containing carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, or sulfur (CHNOPS), all of which are obscured by the Earth’s atmosphere. The high sensitivity and broadband spectral coverage of the SALTUS far-infrared grating spectrometer enables far-infrared observations of the lattice vibrational spectral signatures of ices and mineral grains contained within a wide variety of solar system targets, including comets, planetary atmospheres, near Enceladus’ plumes, and on the surfaces of icy moons, Jupiter trojans, centaurs, and Kuiper Belt objects. A key objective of SALTUS is to measure HDO∕H 2 O in both Jupiter family and Oort cloud comets. Additional observations will allow us to characterize the water torus around Saturn generated by its icy moon Enceladus, determine the source of stratospheric water in the giant planets, ascertain the time evolution of water on Venus, and search for H 2 O plumes on Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto. SALTUS will measure HD∕H 2 in all four giant planets to constrain models of their origin. SALTUS can also measure the abundance of CHNOPS-containing molecules and halides in the atmosphere of Venus and in the comae of comets. We review the extensive amount of solar system science achievable with SALTUS for both the Guaranteed Time Observation and the Guest Observer APEX mission observing programs.
Radio Science System Design and Measurement Results for the NASA Deep Space Network (DSN)
Radio science measurements have been performed using the NASA Deep Space Network (DSN) with many different spacecraft over several decades. Radio science has been used for the study of planetary atmospheres, the solar corona and the search for gravity waves, among other things. The majority of these measurements are made using the X and Ka-band deep space bands. Although the primary mission for the DSN is tracking, telemetry and command (TT&C) for NASA’s many deep-space spacecraft, radio science measurements continue to be an important secondary mission. The science requirements for these measurements have resulted in stringent performance requirements for both the spacecraft and ground system equipment. In particular, the requirements for amplitude stability, phase stability (Allen deviation) and phase noise are very demanding. The system Allen deviation requirement at Ka-band is < 2.4 E-15 over 1000 seconds, while the phase noise requirement is < -50 dBc/Hz for a 1 Hz offset. Various design techniques have been used for the DSN radio frequency (RF) electronics, high power transmitters and antenna structures to meet the stringent requirements for all 3 of these parameters. Some details for the design techniques will be described in the paper. Another important consideration for a radio science system is the verification approach for components, as well as for individual subsystems and then the overall system. Phase-locked oscillators (PLOs) are one of the key component types that determine overall phase noise and Allen deviation system performance. Measurement techniques used for PLOs, as well as for the overall ground system, will be discussed. Measurement results for the 2 new DSN antennas, recently built under the DSN Aperture Enhancement Project (DAEP) will also be shown. In addition, some recent radio science measurements from the Cassini and JUNO missions, using the new antennas, will be presented.
Earth Observing System: Science Objectives and Challenges
The Earth Observing System (EOS) is a space-based observing system comprised of a series of satellite sensors by which scientists can monitor the Earth, a Data and Information System (EOSDIS) enabling researchers worldwide to access the satellite data, and an interdisciplinary science research program to interpret the satellite data. In this presentation I will describe the key areas of scientific uncertainty in understanding climate and global change, and follow that with a description of the EOS goals, objectives, and scientific research elements that comprise the program (instrument science teams and interdisciplinary investigations). Finally, I will describe how scientists and policy makers intend to use EOS data to improve our understanding of key global change uncertainties, such as: (i) clouds and radiation, including fossil fuel and natural emissions of sulfate aerosol and its potential impact on cloud feedback, (ii) man's impact on ozone depletion, with examples of ClO and O3 obtained from the UARS satellite during the Austral Spring, and (iii) volcanic eruptions and their impact on climate, with examples from the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo.
Earth Observing System: Science Objectives and Challenges
The Earth Observing System (EOS) is a space-based observing system comprised of a series of satellite sensors by which scientists can monitor the Earth, a Data and Information System (EOSDIS) enabling researchers worldwide to access the satellite data, and an interdisciplinary science research program to interpret the satellite data. In this presentation we review the key areas of scientific uncertainty in understanding climate and global change, and follow that with a description of the EOS goals, objectives, and scientific research elements that comprise the program (instrument science teams and interdisciplinary investigations). Finally, I will describe how scientists and policy makers intend to use EOS data improve our understanding of key global change uncertainties, such as: (i) clouds and radiation, including fossil fuel and natural emissions of sulfate aerosol and its potential impact on cloud feedback, (ii) man's impact on ozone depletion, with examples of ClO and O3 obtained from the UARS satellite during the Austral Spring, and (iii) volcanic eruptions and their impact on climate, with examples from the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo.
Earth Observing System. Science and Mission Requirements, Volume 1, Part 1
The Earth Observing System (EOS) is a planned NASA program, which will carry the multidisciplinary Earth science studies employing a variety of remote sensing techniques in the 1990's, as a prime mission, using the Space Station polar platform. The scientific rationale, recommended observational needs, the broad system configuration and a recommended implementation strategy to achieve the stated mission goals are provided.
Future System Science Mission Targets for Heliophysics
Heliophysics is a discipline that investigates the science at work from the interface of Earth and space, to the core of the Sun, and to the outer edge of our solar system. This solar-interplanetary-planetary system is vast and inherently coupled on many spatial, temporal and energy scales. The Sun's explosive energy output creates complicated field and plasma structures that when coupled without terrestrial magnetized space, generates an extraordinary complex environment that has practical implications for humanity as we are becoming increasingly dependent on space-based assets. The immense volume of our cosmic neighborhood is the domain of heliophysics. Understanding this domain and the dominant mechanisms that control the transfer of mass and energy requires a system approach that addresses all aspects and regions of the system. The 2009 NASA Heliophysics Roadmap presents a science-focused strategic approach to advance the goal of heliophysics: why does the Sun vary; how do the Earth and heliosphere respond; and what are the impacts on humanity? This talk will present the top 6 prioritized science targets to understand the coupled heliophysics system as presented in the 2009 NASA Heliophysics Roadmap. An exposition of each science target and how it addresses outstanding questions in heliophysics will be discussed.
Prioritized System Science Targets for Heliophysics
Heliophysics is a discipline that investigates the science at work from the interface of Earth and space, to the core of the Sun, and to the outer edge of our solar system. This solar-interplanetary-planetary system is vast and inherently coupled on many spatial, temporal and energy scales. The Sun's explosive energy output creates complicated field and plasma structures that when coupled with our terrestrial magnetized space, generates an extraordinary complex environment that has practical implications for humanity as we are becoming increasingly dependent on space-based assets. This immense volume of our cosmic neighborhood is the domain of heliophysics. Understanding this domain and the dominant mechanisms that control the transfer of mass and energy requires a system approach that addresses all aspects and regions of the system. The 2009 NASA Heliophysics Roadmap presents a science-focused strategic approach to advance the goal of heliophysics: why does the Sun vary; how do the Earth and heliosphere respond; and what are the impacts on humanity? This talk will present the top 6 prioritized science targets to understand the coupled heliophysics system as presented in the 2009 NASA Heliophysics Roadmap. An exposition of each science target and how it addresses outstanding questions in heliophysics will be discussed.