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NASA NTRS2002

Characteristics of Vertical Profiles of Reflectivity and Doppler Derived From TRMM Field Campaigns

The TRMM Precipitation Radar (PR) measures the vertical profile of reflectivity from which the surface rain rate is estimated after attenuation corrections in the 2A21 algorithm. Characteristics of the vertical reflectivity profile is important for various reasons ranging from scientific to instrument algorithms. It is well known that different types of precipitation such as stratiform or convection, have different heating profiles. The vertical profile of reflectivity can provide information on precipitation classification. The vertical reflectivity structure also provides information on precipitation processes such as growth and aggregation. In terms of TRMM algorithms, an independent estimate of the vertical profiles are also extremely important since the PR returns can be attenuated in the rain layer near the surface. Corrections for attenuation are required in the lowest few kilometers, necessitating some assumptions about the rain size distributions and the reflectivity profile below the lowest measurement unaffected by the surface return. Furthermore, some assumptions about the vertical reflectivity profile are required for Ground Validation (GV) radars, since their lowest scan may be 1 or more kilometers above the surface. Statistics on the vertical reflectivity and Doppler structure are presented from the ER-2 Doppler Radar (EDOP) which participated in several TRMM field campaigns (TEFLUN-A, TEFLUN-B, and LBA) and CAMEX-3. The ER-2 aircraft overflew diverse precipitation types during these campaigns. EDOP is an X-band (9.6 GHz) radar for which returns are less attenuated than at the TRMM PR frequency. The EDOP profiles are first corrected for attenuation using the SRT method. The data from all the ER-2 campaigns are then classified by type (convection, stratiform, and other) and then statistics were performed on the vertical reflectivity and Doppler profiles in the form of CFAD's. These CFADs are compared and discussed. The computed CFAD's indicate significant differences as a function of precipitation type and location (hurricane versus non-hurricane, Brazil versus Florida). The implications of these profiles will be discussed.

Starr, David OC.↗
NASA NTRS2003

Microphysical Characteristics of Clouds During the TRMM Field Campaign

Further analysis of the TRMM field campaign data was conducted to examine the growth of precipitation in updraft regions of the TRMM field campaign tropical clouds and to extend the earlier results to cover the whole TRMM data set collected by the University of North Dakota (UND). The results have been submitted for publication. In this paper, composite vertical profiles of liquid water, small particle concentration, and updraft/downdraft magnitudes were presented from each of the campaigns. They exhibited similar peak values for the two TRMM regions of LBA and Kwajalein. Updrafts were found to be favored locations for precipitation embryos in the form of liquid or frozen drizzle-sized droplets. Although liquid water concentrations decreased to undetectable levels between -5 and -18 C in most glaciating updrafts, occasional traces of liquid water were found in updrafts at colder temperatures, probably due to the persistence of liquid drizzle droplets. The updraft magnitudes where the traces of liquid water were observed at cold temperatures do not appear to be stronger than updrafts without liquid water at similar temperatures, however.

Stith, Jeffrey L.↗
NASA NTRS2002

The Southern African Regional Science Initiative (SAFARI 2000): Overview of the Dry Season Field Campaign

The Southern African Regional Science Initiative (SAFARI 2000) is an international project investigating the earth atmosphere -human system in southern Africa. The programme was conducted over a two year period from March 1999 to March 2001. The dry season field campaign (August-September 2000) was the most intensive activity involved over 200 scientist from eighteen countries. The main objectives were to characterize and quantify biogenic, pyrogenic and anthropogenic aerosol and trace gas emissions and their transport and transformations in the atmosphere and to validate NASA's Earth Observing System's Satellite Terra within a scientific context. Five aircraft-- two South African Weather Service Aeorcommanders, the University of Washington's CV-880, the U.K. Meteorological Office's C-130, and NASA's ER-2 --with different altitude capabilities, participated in the campaign. Additional airborne sampling of southern African air masses, that had moved downwind of the subcontinent, was conducted by the CSIRO over Australia. Multiple Observations were made in various geographical sections under different synoptic conditions. Airborne missions were designed to optimize the value of synchronous over-flights of the Terra Satellite platform, above regional ground validation and science targets. Numerous smaller scale ground validation activities took place throughout the subcontinent during the campaign period.

Swap, R. J.↗
NASA NTRS2005

Coordinated Science Campaign Scheduling for Sensor Webs

Future Earth observing missions will study different aspects and interacting pieces of the Earth's eco-system. Scientists are designing increasingly complex, interdisciplinary campaigns to exploit the diverse capabilities of multiple Earth sensing assets. In addition, spacecraft platforms are being configured into clusters, trains, or other distributed organizations in order to improve either the quality or the coverage of observations. These simultaneous advances in the design of science campaigns and in the missions that will provide the sensing resources to support them offer new challenges in the coordination of data and operations that are not addressed by current practice. For example, the scheduling of scientific observations for satellites in low Earth orbit is currently conducted independently by each mission operations center. An absence of an information infrastructure to enable the scheduling of coordinated observations involving multiple sensors makes it difficult to execute campaigns involving multiple assets. This paper proposes a software architecture and describes a prototype system called DESOPS (Distributed Earth Science Observation Planning and Scheduling) that will address this deficiency.

Edgington, Will↗
NASA NTRS2010

STROZ Lidar Results at the MOHAVE III Campaign, October, 2009, Table Mountain, CA

During October, 2009 the GSFC STROZ Lidar participated in a campaign at the JPL Table Mountain Facility (Wrightwood, CA, 2285 m Elevation) to measure vertical profiles of water vapor from near the ground to the lower stratosphere. On eleven nights, water vapor, aerosol, temperature and ozone profiles were measured by the STROZ lidar, two other similar lidars, frost-point hygrometer sondes, and ground-based microwave instruments made measurements. Results from these measurements and an evaluation of the performance of the STROZ lidar during the campaign will be presented in this paper. The STROZ lidar was able to measure water vapor up to 13-14 km ASL during the campaign. We will present results from all the STROZ data products and comparisons with other instruments made. Implications for instrumental changes will be discussed.

McGee, T. J.↗
NASA NTRS2010

Mauna Kea, Hawaii as an Analogue Site for Future Planetary Resource Exploration: Results from the 2010 ILSO-ISRU Field-Testing Campaign

Within the framework of the International Lunar Surface Operation - In-Situ Resource Utilization Analogue Test held on January 27 - February 11, 2010 on the Mauna Kea volcano in Hawaii, a number of scientific instrument teams collaborated to characterize the field site and test instrument capabilities outside laboratory environments. In this paper, we provide a geological setting for this new field-test site, a description of the instruments that were tested during the 2010 ILSO-ISRU field campaign, and a short discussion for each instrument about the validity and use of the results obtained during the test. These results will form a catalogue that may serve as reference for future test campaigns. In this paper we provide a description and regional geological setting for a new field analogue test site for lunar resource exploration, and discuss results obtained from the 2010 ILSO-ISRU field campaign as a reference for future field-testing at this site. The following instruments were tested: a multispectral microscopic imager, MMI, a Mossbauer spectrometer, an evolved gas analyzer, VAPoR, and an oxygen and volatile extractor called RESOLVE. Preliminary results show that the sediments change from dry, organic-poor, poorly-sorted volcaniclastic sand on the surface, containing basalt, iron oxides and clays, to more water- and organic-rich, fine grained, well-sorted volcaniclastic sand, primarily consisting of iron oxides and depleted of basalt and clays. Furthermore, drilling experiments showed a very close correlation between drilling on the Moon and drilling at the test site. The ILSO-ISRU test site was an ideal location for testing strategies for in situ resource exploration at the lunar or martian surface.

ten Kate, I. L.↗
NASA NTRS2011

The CHUVA Lightning Mapping Campaign

The primary science objective for the CHUVA lightning mapping campaign is to combine measurements of total lightning activity, lightning channel mapping, and detailed information on the locations of cloud charge regions of thunderstorms with the planned observations of the CHUVA (Cloud processes of tHe main precipitation systems in Brazil: A contribUtion to cloud resolVing modeling and to the GPM (GlobAl Precipitation Measurement) field campaign. The lightning campaign takes place during the CHUVA intensive observation period October-December 2011 in the vicinity of S o Luiz do Paraitinga with Brazilian, US, and European government, university and industry participants. Total lightning measurements that can be provided by ground-based regional 2-D and 3-D total lightning mapping networks coincident with overpasses of the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS) and the SEVIRI (Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager) on the Meteosat Second Generation satellite in geostationary earth orbit will be used to generate proxy data sets for the next generation US and European geostationary satellites. Proxy data, which play an important role in the pre-launch mission development and in user readiness preparation, are used to develop and validate algorithms so that they will be ready for operational use quickly following the planned launch of the GOES-R Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) in 2015 and the Meteosat Third Generation Lightning Imager (LI) in 2017. To date there is no well-characterized total lightning data set coincident with the imagers. Therefore, to take the greatest advantage of this opportunity to collect detailed and comprehensive total lightning data sets, test and validate multi-sensor nowcasting applications for the monitoring, tracking, warning, and prediction of severe and high impact weather, and to advance our knowledge of thunderstorm physics, extensive measurements from lightning mapping networks will be collected in conjunction with electric field mills, field change sensors, high speed cameras and other lightning sensors, dual-polarimetric radars, and aircraft in-situ microphysics which will allow for excellent cross-network inter-comparisons, assessments, and physical understanding.

Goodman, Steven J.↗
NASA NTRS2012

Analysis of Pulsed Lidar Measurements of Atmospheric CO2 Column Absorption During the ASCENDS 2009-2011 Airborne Campaigns

We have developed a pulsed lidar technique for measuring the tropospheric CO2 concentrations as a candidate for NASA's ASCENDS mission and have demonstrated the CO2 and O2 measurements from aircraft. Our technique uses two pulsed lasers allowing simultaneous measurement of a single CO2 absorption line near 1572 nm, O2 extinction in the Oxygen A-band, surface height and backscatter profile. The lasers are stepped in wavelength across the CO2 line and an O2 line doublet during the measurement. The column densities for the CO2 and O2 are estimated from the differential optical depths (DOD) of the scanned absorption lines via the IPDA technique. For the 2009 ASCENDS campaign we flew the CO2 lidar on a Lear-25 aircraft, and measured the absorption line shapes of the CO2 line using 20 wavelength samples per scan. Measurements were made at stepped altitudes from 3 to 12.6 km over the Lamont OK, central Illinois, North Carolina, and over the Virginia Eastern Shore. Although the received signal energies were weaker than expected for ASCENDS, clear CO2 line shapes were observed at all altitudes. Most flights had 5-6 altitude steps with 200-300 seconds of recorded measurements per step. We averaged every 10 seconds of measurements and used a cross-correlation approach to estimate the range to the scattering surface and the echo pulse energy at each wavelength. We then solved for the best-fit CO2 absorption line shape, and calculated the DOD of the fitted CO2 line, and computed its statistics at the various altitude steps. We compared them to CO2 optical depths calculated from spectroscopy based on HITRAN 2008 and the column number densities calculated from the airborne in-situ readings. The 2009 measurements have been analyzed and they were similar on all flights. The results show clear CO2 line shape and absorption signals, which follow the expected changes with aircraft altitude from 3 to 13 km. They showed the expected nearly the linear dependence of DOD vs altitude. The measurements showed ~ 1 ppm random errors for 8-10 km altitudes and ~30 sec averaging times. For the 2010 ASCENDS campaigns we flew the CO2lidar on the NASA DC-8 and added an 02lidar channel. During July 2010 we made measurements of CO2 and O2 column absorption during longer flights over Railroad Valley NV, the Pacific Ocean and over Lamont OK. CO2 measurements were made with 30 steps/scan, 300 scans/sec and improved line resolution and receiver sensitivity. Analysis of the 2010 CO2 measurements shows the expected ~linear change of DOD with altitude. For measurements at altitudes> 6 km the random errors were 0.3 ppm for 80 sec averaging times. For the summer 2011 ASCENDS campaigns we made further improvements to the lidar's CO2 line scan and receiver sensitivity. We demonstrated measurements over the California Central Valley, to stratus cloud tops over the Pacific Ocean, over mountain regions with snow, and over several areas with broken clouds. Details of the lidar measurements and their analysis will be described in the presentation.

Abshire, J. B.↗
NASA NTRS2012

Hurricane Imaging Radiometer (HIRAD) Observations of Brightness Temperatures and Ocean Surface Wind Speed and Rain Rate During NASA's GRIP and HS3 Campaigns

HIRAD flew on high-altitude aircraft over Earl and Karl during NASA s GRIP (Genesis and Rapid Intensification Processes) campaign in August - September of 2010, and plans to fly over Atlantic tropical cyclones in September of 2012 as part of the Hurricane and Severe Storm Sentinel (HS3) mission. HIRAD is a new C-band radiometer using a synthetic thinned array radiometer (STAR) technology to obtain spatial resolution of approximately 2 km, out to roughly 30 km each side of nadir. By obtaining measurements of emissions at 4, 5, 6, and 6.6 GHz, observations of ocean surface wind speed and rain rate can be retrieved. The physical retrieval technique has been used for many years by precursor instruments, including the Stepped Frequency Microwave Radiometer (SFMR), which has been flying on the NOAA and USAF hurricane reconnaissance aircraft for several years to obtain observations within a single footprint at nadir angle. Results from the flights during the GRIP and HS3 campaigns will be shown, including images of brightness temperatures, wind speed, and rain rate. Comparisons will be made with observations from other instruments on the campaigns, for which HIRAD observations are either directly comparable or are complementary. Features such as storm eye and eye-wall, location of storm wind and rain maxima, and indications of dynamical features such as the merging of a weaker outer wind/rain maximum with the main vortex may be seen in the data. Potential impacts on operational ocean surface wind analyses and on numerical weather forecasts will also be discussed.

Miller, Timothy L.↗
NASA NTRS2014

Q-Thruster Breadboard Campaign Project

Dr. Harold "Sonny" White has developed the physics theory basis for utilizing the quantum vacuum to produce thrust. The engineering implementation of the theory is known as Q-thrusters. During FY13, three test campaigns were conducted that conclusively demonstrated tangible evidence of Q-thruster physics with measurable thrust bringing the TRL up from TRL 2 to early TRL 3. This project will continue with the development of the technology to a breadboard level by leveraging the most recent NASA/industry test hardware. This project will replace the manual tuning process used in the 2013 test campaign with an automated Radio Frequency (RF) Phase Lock Loop system (precursor to flight-like implementation), and will redesign the signal ports to minimize RF leakage (improves efficiency). This project will build on the 2013 test campaign using the above improvements on the test implementation to get ready for subsequent Independent Verification and Validation testing at Glenn Research Center (GRC) and Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in FY 2015. Q-thruster technology has a much higher thrust to power than current forms of electric propulsion (~7x Hall thrusters), and can significantly reduce the total power required for either Solar Electric Propulsion (SEP) or Nuclear Electric Propulsion (NEP). Also, due to the high thrust and high specific impulse, Q-thruster technology will greatly relax the specific mass requirements for in-space nuclear reactor systems. Q-thrusters can reduce transit times for a power-constrained architecture.

White, Harold↗
NASA NTRS2012

Validation of MIPAS IMK-IAA Temperature, Water Vapor, and Ozone Profiles with MOHAVE-2009 Campaign Measurements

MIPAS observations of temperature, water vapor, and ozone in October 2009 as derived with the scientific level-2 processor run by Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Institute for Meteorology and Climate Research (IMK) and CSIC, Instituto de Astrofısica de Andalucıa (IAA) and retrieved from version 4.67 level-1b data have been compared to co-located field campaign observations obtained during the MOHAVE-2009 campaign at the Table Mountain Facility near Pasadena, California in October 2009. The MIPAS measurements were validated regarding any potential biases of the profiles, and with respect to their precision estimates. The MOHAVE-2009 measurement campaign provided measurements of atmospheric profiles of temperature, water vapor/relative humidity, and ozone from the ground to the mesosphere by a suite of instruments including radiosondes, ozonesondes, frost point hygrometers, lidars, microwave radiometers and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometers. For MIPAS temperatures (version V4O_T_204), no significant bias was detected in the middle stratosphere; between 22 km and the tropopause MIPAS temperatures were found to be biased low by up to 2 K, while below the tropopause, they were found to be too high by the same amount. These findings confirm earlier comparisons of MIPAS temperatures to ECMWF data which revealed similar differences. Above 12 km up to 45 km, MIPAS water vapor (version V4O_H2O_203) is well within 10% of the data of all correlative instruments. The well-known dry bias of MIPAS water vapor above 50 km due to neglect of non-LTE effects in the current retrievals has been confirmed. Some instruments indicate that MIPAS water vapor might be biased high by 20 to 40% around 10 km (or 5 km below the tropopause), but a consistent picture from all comparisons could not be derived. MIPAS ozone (version V4O_O3_202) has a high bias of up to +0.9 ppmv around 37 km which is due to a non-identified continuum like radiance contribution. No further significant biases have been detected. Cross-comparison to co-located observations of other satellite instruments (Aura/MLS, ACE-FTS, AIRS) is provided as well.

MIPAS validation↗
NASA NTRS2010

Utilization of Airborne and in Situ Data Obtained in SGP99, SMEX02, CLASIC and SMAPVEX08 Field Campaigns for SMAP Soil Moisture Algorithm Development and Validation

Field experiment data sets that include coincident remote sensing measurements and in situ sampling will be valuable in the development and validation of the soil moisture algorithms of the NASA's future SMAP (Soil Moisture Active and Passive) mission. This paper presents an overview of the field experiment data collected from SGP99, SMEX02, CLASIC and SMAPVEX08 campaigns. Common in these campaigns were observations of the airborne PALS (Passive and Active L- and S-band) instrument, which was developed to acquire radar and radiometer measurements at low frequencies. The combined set of the PALS measurements and ground truth obtained from all these campaigns was under study. The investigation shows that the data set contains a range of soil moisture values collected under a limited number of conditions. The quality of both PALS and ground truth data meets the needs of the SMAP algorithm development and validation. The data set has already made significant impact on the science behind SMAP mission. The areas where complementing of the data would be most beneficial are also discussed.

Soil moisture↗
NASA NTRS2010

Coordinating Multiple Spacecraft Assets for Joint Science Campaigns

This paper describes technology to support a new paradigm of space science campaigns. These campaigns enable opportunistic science observations to be autonomously coordinated between multiple spacecraft. Coordinated spacecraft can consist of multiple orbiters, landers, rovers, or other in-situ vehicles (such as an aerobot). In this paradigm, opportunistic science detections can be cued by any of these assets where additional spacecraft are requested to take further observations characterizing the identified event or surface feature. Such coordination will enable a number of science campaigns not possible with present spacecraft technology. Examples from Mars include enabling rapid data collection from multiple craft on dynamic events such as new Mars dark slope streaks, dust-devils or trace gases. Technology to support the identification of opportunistic science events and/or the re-tasking of a spacecraft to take new measurements of the event is already in place on several individual missions such as the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) Mission and the Earth Observing One (EO1) Mission. This technology includes onboard data analysis techniques as well as capabilities for planning and scheduling. This paper describes how these techniques can be cue and coordinate multiple spacecraft in observing the same science event from their different vantage points.

automated commanding↗
NASA NTRS2015

Preparing for Mars: The Evolvable Mars Campaign 'Proving Ground' Approach

As the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) prepares to extend human presence beyond Low Earth Orbit, we are in the early stages of planning missions within the framework of an Evolvable Mars Campaign. Initial missions would be conducted in near-Earth cis-lunar space and would eventually culminate in extended duration crewed missions on the surface of Mars. To enable such exploration missions, critical technologies and capabilities must be identified, developed, and tested. NASA has followed a principled approach to identify critical capabilities and a "Proving Ground" approach is emerging to address testing needs. The Proving Ground is a period subsequent to current International Space Station activities wherein exploration-enabling capabilities and technologies are developed and the foundation is laid for sustained human presence in space. The Proving Ground domain essentially includes missions beyond Low Earth Orbit that will provide increasing mission capability while reducing technical risks. Proving Ground missions also provide valuable experience with deep space operations and support the transition from "Earth-dependence" to "Earth-independence" required for sustainable space exploration. A Technology Development Assessment Team identified a suite of critical technologies needed to support the cadence of exploration missions. Discussions among mission planners, vehicle developers, subject-matter-experts, and technologists were used to identify a minimum but sufficient set of required technologies and capabilities. Within System Maturation Teams, known challenges were identified and expressed as specific performance gaps in critical capabilities, which were then refined and activities required to close these critical gaps were identified. Analysis was performed to identify test and demonstration opportunities for critical technical capabilities across the Proving Ground spectrum of missions. This suite of critical capabilities is expected to provide the foundation required to enable a variety of possible destinations and missions consistent with the Evolvable Mars Campaign.. The International Space Station will be used to the greatest extent possible for exploration capability and technology development. Beyond this, NASA is evaluating a number of options for Proving Ground missions. An "Asteroid Redirect Mission" will demonstrate needed capabilities (e.g., Solar Electric Propulsion) and transportation systems for the crew (i.e., Space Launch System and Orion) and for cargo (i.e., Asteroid Redirect Vehicle). The Mars 2020 mission and follow-on robotic precursor missions will gather Mars surface environment information and will mature technologies. NASA is considering emplacing a small pressurized module in cis-lunar space to support crewed operations of increasing duration and to serve as a platform for critical exploration capabilities testing (e.g., radiation mitigation; extended duration deep space habitation). In addition, "opportunistic mission operations" could demonstrate capabilities not on the Mars critical path that may, nonetheless, enhance exploration operations (e.g., teleoperations, crew assisted Mars sample return). The Proving Ground may also include "pathfinder" missions to test and demonstrate specific capabilities at Mars (e.g., entry, descent, and landing). This paper describes the (1) process used to conduct an architecture-driven technology development assessment, (2) exploration mission critical and supporting capabilities, and (3) approach for addressing test and demonstration opportunities encompassing the spectrum of flight elements and destinations consistent with the Evolvable Mars Campaign.

Bobskill, Marianne R.↗
NASA NTRS2015

Coordinated Field Campaigns in Chesapeake Bay and Gulf of Mexico

NASA's GEOstationary Coastal and Air Pollution Events (GEO-CAPE) mission concept recommended by the U.S. National Research Council (2007) focuses on measurements of atmospheric trace gases and aerosols and aquatic coastal ecology and biogeochemistry from geostationary orbit (35,786 km altitude). Two GEO-CAPE-sponsored multi-investigator ship-based field campaigns were conducted to coincide with the NASA Earth Venture Suborbital project DISCOVER-AQ (Deriving Information on Surface conditions from Column and Vertically Resolved Observations Relevant to Air Quality) field campaigns: (1) Chesapeake Bay in July 2011 and (2) northwestern Gulf of Mexico in September 2013. Goal: to evaluate whether GEO-CAPE coastal mission measurement and instrument requirements are optimized to address science objectives while minimizing ocean color satellite sensor complexity, size and cost - critical mission risk reduction activities. NASA continues to support science studies related to the analysis of data collected as part of these coordinated field campaigns and smaller efforts.

GoMex↗
NASA NTRS2015

Construction of Polarimetric Radar-Based Reference Rain Maps for the Iowa Flood Studies Campaign

The Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Mission Iowa Flood Studies (IFloodS) campaign was conducted in central and northeastern Iowa during the months of April-June, 2013. Specific science objectives for IFloodS included quantification of uncertainties in satellite and ground-based estimates of precipitation, 4-D characterization of precipitation physical processes and associated parameters (e.g., size distributions, water contents, types, structure etc.), assessment of the impact of precipitation estimation uncertainty and physical processes on hydrologic predictive skill, and refinement of field observations and data analysis approaches as they pertain to future GPM integrated hydrologic validation and related field studies. In addition to field campaign archival of raw and processed satellite data (including precipitation products), key ground-based platforms such as the NASA NPOL S-band and D3R Ka/Ku-band dual-polarimetric radars, University of Iowa X-band dual-polarimetric radars, a large network of paired rain gauge platforms, and a large network of 2D Video and Parsivel disdrometers were deployed. In something of a canonical approach, the radar (NPOL in particular), gauge and disdrometer observational assets were deployed to create a consistent high-quality distributed (time and space sampling) radar-based ground "reference" rainfall dataset, with known uncertainties, that could be used for assessing the satellite-based precipitation products at a range of space/time scales. Subsequently, the impact of uncertainties in the satellite products could be evaluated relative to the ground-benchmark in coupled weather, land-surface and distributed hydrologic modeling frameworks as related to flood prediction. Relative to establishing the ground-based "benchmark", numerous avenues were pursued in the making and verification of IFloodS "reference" dual-polarimetric radar-based rain maps, and this study documents the process and results as they pertain specifically to efforts using the NPOL radar dataset. The initial portions of the "process" involved dual-polarimetric quality control procedures which employed standard phase and correlation-based approaches to removal of clutter and non-meteorological echo. Calculation of a scale-adaptive KDP was accomplished using the method of Wang and Chandrasekar (2009; J. Atmos. Oceanic Tech.). A dual-polarimetric blockage algorithm based on Lang et al. (2009; J. Atmos. Oceanic Tech.) was then implemented to correct radar reflectivity and differential reflectivity at low elevation angles. Next, hydrometeor identification algorithms were run to identify liquid and ice hydrometeors. After the quality control and data preparation steps were completed several different dual-polarimetric rain estimation algorithms were employed to estimate rainfall rates using rainfall scans collected approximately every two to three minutes throughout the campaign. These algorithms included a polarimetrically-tuned Z-R algorithm that adjusts for drop oscillations (via Bringi et al., 2004, J. Atmos. Oceanic Tech.), and several different hybrid polarimetric variable approaches, including one that made use of parameters tuned to IFloodS 2D Video Disdrometer measurements. Finally, a hybrid scan algorithm was designed to merge the rain rate estimates from multiple low level elevation angle scans (where blockages could not be appropriately corrected) in order to create individual low-level rain maps. Individual rain maps at each time step were subsequently accumulated over multiple time scales for comparison to gauge network data. The comparison results and overall error character depended strongly on rain event type, polarimetric estimator applied, and range from the radar. We will present the outcome of these comparisons and their impact on constructing composited "reference" rainfall maps at select time and space scales.

Radar↗
NASA NTRS2016

SLAPex Freeze/Thaw 2015: The First Dedicated Soil Freeze/Thaw Airborne Campaign

Soil freezing and thawing is an important process in the terrestrial water, energy, and carbon cycles, marking the change between two very different hydraulic, thermal, and biological regimes. NASA's Soil Moisture Active/Passive (SMAP) mission includes a binary freeze/thaw data product. While there have been ground-based remote sensing field measurements observing soil freeze/thaw at the point scale, and airborne campaigns that observed some frozen soil areas (e.g., BOREAS), the recently-completed SLAPex Freeze/Thaw (F/T) campaign is the first airborne campaign dedicated solely to observing frozen/thawed soil with both passive and active microwave sensors and dedicated ground truth, in order to enable detailed process-level exploration of the remote sensing signatures and in situ soil conditions. SLAPex F/T utilized the Scanning L-band Active/Passive (SLAP) instrument, an airborne simulator of SMAP developed at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, and was conducted near Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, in October/November, 2015. Future soil moisture missions are also expected to include soil freeze/thaw products, and the loss of the radar on SMAP means that airborne radar-radiometer observations like those that SLAP provides are unique assets for freeze/thaw algorithm development. This paper will present an overview of SLAPex F/T, including descriptions of the site, airborne and ground-based remote sensing, ground truth, as well as preliminary results.

BOREAS↗
NASA NTRS2016

Kickstarting a New Era of Lunar Industrialization via Campaign of Lunar COTS Missions

To support the goals of expanding our human presence and current economic sphere beyond LEO, a new plan was constructed for NASA to enter into partnerships with industry to foster and incentivize a new era of lunar industrialization. For NASA to finally be successful in achieving sustainable human exploration missions beyond LEO, lessons learned from our space history have shown that it is essential for current program planning to include affordable and economic development goals as well as address top national priorities to obtain much needed public support. In the last 58 years of NASA's existence, only Apollo's human exploration missions beyond LEO were successful since it was proclaimed to be a top national priority during the 1960's. However, the missions were not sustainable and ended abruptly in 1972 due to lack of funding and insufficient economic gain. Ever since Apollo, there have not been any human missions beyond LEO because none of the proposed program plans were economical or proclaimed a top national priority. The proposed plan outlines a new campaign of low-cost, commercial-enabled lunar COTS (Commercial Orbital Transfer Services) missions which is an update to the Lunar COTS plan previously described. The objectives of this new campaign of missions are to prospect for resources, determine the economic viability of extracting those resources and assess the value proposition of using these resources in future exploration architectures such as Mars. These missions would be accomplished in partnership with commercial industry using the wellproven COTS Program acquisition model. This model proved to be very beneficial to both NASA and its industry partners as NASA saved significantly in development and operational costs, as much as tenfold, while industry partners successfully expanded their market share and demonstrated substantial economic gain. Similar to COTS, the goals for this new initiative are 1) to develop and demonstrate cost-effective, cis-lunar commercial services, such as lunar transportation, lunar mining and lunar ISRU operations; 2) enable development of an affordable and economical exploration architecture for future missions to Mars and beyond; and 3) to incentivize the creation of new lunar markets through use of lunar resources for economic benefit to NASA, commercial industry and the international community. These cost-effective services would not only enable NASA to economically and sustainably achieve its human exploration missions to the Moon, Mars and beyond but it would also kickstart a new era of lunar industrialization. This paper will describe the goals, objectives and approach for implementing this new campaign of missions. It will also describe the potential benefits and progress that can be accomplished with these low-cost, Lunar COTS missions. Lastly, a preliminary economic analysis approach is proposed for understanding the cost and potential return on investment in the use of lunar resources to reach the goal of lunar industrialization and an expanded and sustainable human presence into cis-lunar space and beyond.

Lunar Exploration↗