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NASA NTRS2002

Expedition 6 Crew Interviews: Don Pettit, Flight Engineer 2/ International Space Station (ISS) Science Officer (SO)

Expedition 6 member Don Pettit (Flight Engineer 2/ International Space Station (ISS) Science Officer (SO)) is seen during a prelaunch interview. He answers questions about his inspiration to become an astronaut and his career path. Pettit, who had been training as a backup crewmember, discusses the importance of training backups for ISS missions. He gives details on the goals and significance of the ISS, regarding experiments in various scientific disciplines such as the life sciences and physical sciences. Pettit also comments on the value of conducting experiments under microgravity. He also gives an overview of the ISS program to date, including the ongoing construction, international aspects, and the routines of ISS crewmembers who inhabit the station for four months at a time. He gives a cursory description of crew transfer procedures that will take place when STS-113 docks with ISS to drop off Pettit and the rest of Expedition 6, and retrieve the Expedition 5 crew.

Source record↗

NASA NTRS2004

Decision Support Tools Evaluation Report for FAS/PECAD, Version 2.0

Global agricultral intelligence is a key element of decision support eithin the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Estimeates of production and yield issued by the USDA for both foreign and domestic agriculture are primary sources of information for policy and management decision making. The USDA monitors the major global agricultural commodities through the Production Estimates and Crop Assessment Division (PECAD) of its Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS). Specifically, PECAD iintelligence focuses on global agricultural production and on conditions that affect food security. In conjunction with the USDA, NASA is evaluating the potential for products from NASA's Earth Science Enterprise (ESE) missions to add value to PECAD's decision support tools. NASA is usig a systems engineering approach to evaluate the potential enhancement of PECAD's decision support system (DSS)-first by understanding the components of the system and its input requirements, then by recommending NASA products that may be integrated as system inputs to improve the accuracy, quality, or efficiency of the DSS output. This report documents the evaluation phase of the systems engineering process and includes an examination of the system architecture, operations, and input requirements, as well as an initial assessment of specific ESE measurement systems and products that should be considered for their potential to enhance the PECAD DSS.

Ross, Kenton↗

NASA NTRS2006

The NASA Orbiting Carbon Observatory

Accurate forecasting of future climate requires an improved understanding of the global carbon cycle and its interaction with the Earth System OCO and GOSAT will make the first space-based measurements of CO2 with the accuracy needed to quantify sources and sinks of this important greenhouse gas. Continuing Cooperation between the OCO and GOSAT teams will improve the value of both missions to the science community.

Orbiting Carbon Obervatory (OCO) mission↗

NASA NTRS2011

Comparison of Magnetospheric MultiScale (MMS) Formation Design Algorithms

The MMS mission consists of four identical spinning spacecraft in a tetrahedron-like formation during predefined orbital regions-of-interest [1]. The MMS formation will fly about a highly eccentric orbit to study magnetic reconnection in the Earth.s magnetosphere. The mission is divided in two main science phases of markedly different orbit size. Phase 1 is a 1.2 R(sub E) x 12 R(sub E) (R(sub E) equals one Earth radius) orbit phase where science will be performed on the day-side of the magnetosphere, and Phase 2 is a 1.2 R(sub E) x 25 R(sub E) orbit phase where science will be performed on the night-side of the magnetosphere. For each phase, the MMS formation initially will fly a series of tetrahedron sizes ranging between 10-km and 400-km to assist the science team in determining the best value for the remainder of the phase. This paper presents a preliminary comparison of the algorithms currently available to determine desired MMS formation states. After a brief description of the MMS formation flying metrics and associated requirements, the five formation design algorithm combinations considered here are presented. Monte Carlo simulations determine the performance of each algorithm defined in terms of formation lifetime and fuel consumption. Preliminary results focusing on the smaller formation size for Phase 1 are discussed and the conclusions are presented along with indications for future work.

Mann, L.↗

NASA NTRS2017

Online Visualization and Value Added Services of MERRA-2 Data at GES DISC

NASA climate reanalysis datasets from MERRA-2, distributed at the Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC), have been used in broad research areas, such as climate variations, extreme weather, agriculture, renewable energy, and air quality, etc. The datasets contain numerous variables for atmosphere, land, and ocean, grouped into 95 products. The total archived volume is approximately 337 TB ( approximately 562K files) at the end of October 2017. Due to the large number of products and files, and large data volumes, it may be a challenge for a user to find and download the data of interest. The support team at GES DISC, working closely with the MERRA-2 science team, has created and is continuing to work on value added data services to best meet the needs of a broad user community. This presentation, using aerosol over Asia Monsoon as an example, provides an overview of the MERRA-2 data services at GES DISC, including: How to find the data? How many data access methods are provided? What are the best data access methods for me? How do download the subsetted (parameter, spatial, temporal) data and save in preferred spatial resolution and data format? How to visualize and explore the data online? In addition, we introduce a future online analytic tool designed for supporting application research, focusing on long-term hourly time-series data access and analysis.

Shen, Suhung↗

NASA NTRS2010

Human Research Program Space Radiation Standing Review Panel (SRP)

The Space Radiation Standing Review Panel (SRP) met at the NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) on December 9-11, 2009 to discuss the areas of current and future research targeted by the Space Radiation Program Element (SRPE) of the Human Research Program (HRP). Using evidence-based knowledge as a background for identified risks to astronaut health and performance, NASA had identified gaps in knowledge to address those risks. Ongoing and proposed tasks were presented to address the gaps. The charge to the Space Radiation SRP was to review the gaps, evaluate whether the tasks addressed these gaps and to make recommendations to NASA s HRP Science Management Office regarding the SRP's review. The SRP was requested to evaluate the practicality of the proposed efforts in light of the demands placed on the HRP. Several presentations were made to the SRP during the site visit and the SRP spent sufficient time to address the SRP charge. The SRP made a final debriefing to the HRP Program Scientist, Dr. John B. Charles, on December 11, 2009. The SRP noted that current SRPE strategy is properly science-based and views this as the best assurance of the likelihood that answers to the questions posed as gaps in knowledge can be found, that the uncertainty in risk estimates can be reduced, and that a solid, cost-effective approach to risk reduction solutions is being developed. The current approach of the SRPE, based on the use of carefully focused research solicitations, requiring thorough peer-review and approaches demonstrated to be on the path to answering the NASA strategic questions, addressed to a broad extramural community of qualified scientists, optimally positioned to take advantage of serendipitous discoveries and to leverage scientific advances made elsewhere, is sound and appropriate. The SRP viewed with concern statements by HRP implying that the only science legitimately deserving support should be "applied" or, in some instances that the very term "research" might be frowned upon. We understand the desire of management to ensure that research stay focused on mission objectives, but the terms used are code words fraught with different meaning for scientists. Such expressions, taken at face value, convey a profoundly flawed view of science, can easily lead down counterproductive paths, and have the potential to irretrievably corrupt NASA requirements. The SRP understands and endorses the mandate to keep research efforts focused on the mission needs. However, thoughtful application of knowledge gained by understanding the mechanisms and pathways of biological effects cannot be replaced.

Woloschak, Gayle↗

NASA NTRS1994

Astrophysical science with a spaceborne photometric telescope

The FRESIP Project (FRequency of Earth-Sized Inner Planets) is currently under study at NASA Ames Research Center. The goal of FRESIP is the measurement of the frequency of Earth-sized extra-solar planets in inner orbits via the photometric signature of a transit event. This will be accomplished with a spaceborne telescope/photometer capable of photometric precision of two parts in 100,000 at a magnitude of m(sub v) = 12.5. To achieve the maximum scientific value from the FRESIP mission, an astrophysical science workshop was held at the SETI Institute in Mountain View, California, November 11-12, 1993. Workshop participants were invited as experts in their field of astrophysical research and discussed the astrophysical science that can be achieved within the context of the FRESIP mission.

Granados, Arno F.↗

NASA NTRS2018

Project-domain Science Traceability and Alignment Framework (P-STAF): Analysis of a Payload Architecture

Large science-focused space missions often have multiple instruments working together to address broad science goals. Systems engineers on these types of projects must work with the project scientists to evaluate trades and make decisions that result in a system that efficiently serves the mission science goals. This collaboration is more effective if the systems engineers understand both the traceability from the L1 customer requirements to the selected instruments and the contributions of each instrument in the context of the whole payload suite. These relationships might be understood implicitly by the science team on a project, but there is value in formally codifying them so this understanding can be accessed and formally analyzed by a broader systems engineering effort. We first described a framework for this communication, called the Project-domain Science Traceability and Alignment Framework (P-STAF), in the IEEE 2017 paper “A Framework for Extending the Science Traceability Matrix: Application to the Planned Europa Mission.” This paper shows how that basic framework can be leveraged to not only formally capture these relationships between the instruments and the customer needs, but also how that information can be codified in an analyzable graph that can be queried to provide a better understanding of mission risks and scope. This work was drawn from the application of P-STAF to the Europa Clipper mission, but generic example networks are used to illustrate the power of this technique.

Reinholtz, Kirk↗

NASA NTRS2011

MAVEN - Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN Mission

NASA's MAVEN mission (to be launched in late 2013) is the first mission to Mars devoted to sampling all of the upper atmosphere neutral and plasma environments, including the well-mixed atmosphere, the exosphere, ionosphere, outer magnetosphere and near-Mars solar wind. It will fill in some measurement gaps remaining from the successful Mars Global Surveyor and the on-going Mars Express missions. The primary science objectives of MAVEN are: 1. Provide a comprehensive picture of the present state of the upper atmosphere and ionosphere of Mars; 2. Understand the processes controlling the present state; and 3. Determine how loss of volatiles to outer space in the present epoch varies with changing solar condition - EUY, solar wind and interplanetary magnetic field measurements will provide the varying solar energy inputs into the system. Knowing how these processes respond to the Sun's energy inputs in the current epoch will provide a framework for projecting atmospheric processes back in time to profile MARS' atmospheric evolution and to explore "where the water went", A description will be given of the science objectives, the instruments, and the current status of the project, emphasizing the value of having collaborations between the MAVEN project and the Mars upper atmosphere science community.

Grebowsky, Joseph M.↗

NASA NTRS2012

Benefits of Delay Tolerant Networking for Earth Science Missions

To date there has been much discussion about the value of Delay Tolerant Networking (DTN) for space missions. Claims of various benefits, based on paper analysis, are good; however a benefits statement with empirical evidence to support is even better. This paper presents potential and actual advantages of using DTN for Earth science missions based on results from multiple demonstrations, conducted by the Communications, Standards, and Technology Laboratory (CSTL) at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). Demonstrations included two flight demonstrations using the Earth Observing Mission 1 (EO-1) and the Near Earth Network (NEN), a ground based demonstration over satellite links to the Internet Router in Space (IRIS) payload on Intelsat-14, and others using the NASA Tracking Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS). Real and potential findings include increased flexibility and efficiency in science campaigns, reduced latency in a collaborative science scenario, and improved scientist-instrument communication and control.

Davis, Faith↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Assessing the Needs of NASA's Near Real-Time Earth Observation Products

"The 2017-2027 Decadal Survey for Earth Science and Applications from Space stated that NASA's Earth Science with planned implementation of applications provides sustained earth observations for societal benefits [1]. The Decadal Survey indicated that data latency is invaluable for time-sensitive applications including disaster risk reduction, wildland fire carbon emissions quantification, real-time measurements of the state of the hydrologic systems and many more. Data latency refers to the time between earth observation and data products available to users. During the past 13 years, NASA's Land, Atmosphere Near Real-Time Capability for Earth Observing Systems (LANCE) continues to provide free access to earth observation products that are made available much quicker than routine processing allows. The latency of most LANCE data products is Near Real-time (NRT) which is defined as less than three hours from satellite observations [2]. LANCE is managed by the Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS) Project at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center [3], and a User Working Group (UWG) is responsible for providing guidance to LANCE. LANCE data are used by direct users and brokers who add value to the data [4]. NASA Earth Applied Sciences Program (ASP) is one of the primary users of LANCE, which collaborates with partner organizations and provides support to scientists to solve problems in applications of earth observations. ASP promotes the use of LANCE NRT data products to demonstrate applications in decision making, facilitates end-user feedback to the science team to improve data products, and provides information on future demands for research. LANCE supports applications that need a rapid response including detecting wildland fires and volcanic eruptions, tracking smoke, ash and dust plumes, monitoring air quality and tracking extreme weather events such as hurricanes, landslides, and floods. To gather feedback regarding the availability, accessibility and actionability of NASA's NRT data products for societal benefit, three surveys and a few discussions with experts involved in the topic within ASP were conducted from the perspective of users. Feedback has been collected from users who are interested in using low latency NASA data within application communities of agriculture, disasters, water resources, health and air quality, ecological conservation, wildland fires and capacity building. Analysis-ready NRT data products in a variety of formats have been mentioned many times in the collected feedback, especially for applied users with little to no experience using research-grade earth observation products. Users prefer to have products that can be easily integrated into their existing workflows and take their analysis to the data. HDF5 is a commonly used data format for research, but typically requires some conversion to a more friendly format for applications and regular use in decision-making. Users prefer the GeoTIFF data format that can be directly ingested into a GIS mapping software and platform for data analysis and visualization. For example, LANCE’s fire, flood, SO2 and Black Marble Nighttime Blue/Yellow Composite data products have been integrated into NASA Disasters Mapping Portal, which is an GIS-based open data portal, for users in the disaster management community. There are 291 LANCE NRT layers available through GIBS and Worldview, where users can download a snapshot in GeoTIFF format. Operational users expect data to be processed as close to the user as possible. The collected feedback indicates that LANCE fire products within 3 hours latency would meet the needs of the wildland fire community. The ideal latency for volcanic application is 10-15 minutes. Users in Volcanic Ash Advisory Centers (VAAC) reported that the first forecast volcanic product should be issued within 75 minutes from the volcano eruption [5]. Overall, for disaster applications, data latency within 3 hours is useful while latency greater than 12 hours is not timely enough for operational use. Capacity building and training are critical for users to be able to access, interpret and use data products and tools for their decision making, especially for applied users with limited experience using earth observation products. LANCE data products have been used in a number of capacity building projects domestically and internationally [6]. As LANCE continues to bring new products into the system, users request training to utilize LANCE new and upcoming data products and capabilities in their applications. Due to the limitation of bandwidth and downstream flow paths, users in some developing countries need tools to select and download data for a specific area of interest instead of bulk downloads. The collected feedback also shows the lack of available SAR satellite low latency data products. The advantages of SAR to monitor conditions and changes on the ground through darkness, clouds, volcanic ash, and other atmospheric conditions, are appealing to low latency users. For example, terabytes of low latency but cloudy optical images are not helpful in rapidly identifying the extent of flood or fire impacts. LANCE could be complemented with low latency measurements via the upcoming NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) mission [7]. Requests for higher spatial resolution products are expressed. A user from the wildland fire management community reported that products with 30-m spatial resolution could be used to detect small fires. The 30-m Landsat OLI fire data is now part of NASA’s Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS) US/Canada [8]. Within the open and free NASA resources, LANCE disseminates NRT data products in a manner that allows them to be accessible and understandable to both scientific and applied users. In many application areas, latency plays an important or even decisive role where low latency earth observations help people to observe areas of interest, detect and track changes in the environment and make timely decisions. NASA’s Earth Applied Sciences Program promotes the use of LANCE NRT products and builds a bridge between application users and research teams. The collected feedback indicates data latency within 3 hours is useful for most of the applications, and shows the needs of user-friendly, analysis-ready products, and requests training on LANCE’s new and upcoming data products. User feedback has been provided to LANCE UWG for guidance and recommendations, and for translating findings into something actionable.

Tian Yao↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Leveraging the 2024 Solar Eclipse to Enhance Science Learning through Citizen Science

The solar eclipse on April 8, 2024, provided a rare and compelling opportunity for educators and students to engage in hands-on citizen science. Two NASA Science Activation projects GLOBE Mission Earth (GME) and NASA Earth Science Education Collaborative (NESEC) partnered together to provide a unique professional development experience for educators interested in the eclipse. They invited educators to participate in a specialized 5-week online workshop designed to engage the educators in Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) citizen science about the eclipse. The workshop was designed to support their certification as GLOBE educators and develop their knowledge, skills, and confidence in conducting a GLOBE investigation. Over 60 educators from across the United States took part in this workshop, which focused on investigating the eclipse by collecting and analyzing atmospheric data. The GLOBE Program promotes environmental and scientific literacy by enabling participants to collect Earth science data and contribute it to a global database accessible for research. The 2024 GLOBE Eclipse workshop trained educators in specific GLOBE protocols—Clouds, Air Temperature, and Surface Temperature—using the GLOBE Eclipse tool integrated into the GLOBE Observer app. This training was supplemented with guidance on engaging students in authentic scientific research and creating research posters to present their findings. The workshop aimed to enhance educators’ skills and confidence in integrating GLOBE protocols into their teaching practices. It addressed several key areas outlined in the National Academies' report on Learning through Citizen Science, including scientific context, nature of participation, and project infrastructure. Educators learned about the atmospheric effects of solar eclipses and were trained to use scientific tools and data analysis methods relevant to their research. They also engaged in live sessions and asynchronous activities, practicing data collection and analysis with real-time feedback. Survey results from the workshop highlighted that participants were primarily motivated by the desire to better use data in their classrooms and improve their proficiency with the GLOBE Observer app. Post-workshop evaluations showed significant increases in educators' confidence regarding their ability to conduct and guide scientific research. Participants reported feeling well-prepared to use the GLOBE Observer app for data collection and were successful in integrating their eclipse observations into classroom activities. Participants also valued the opportunity to contribute to authentic science through GLOBE, which involved observing atmospheric changes such as air temperature fluctuations and cloud cover alterations during the eclipse. The success of the workshop is evident in the increased confidence and skill levels of educators, as well as the publication of research posters on the GLOBE Mission Earth Student Research webpage.This session will discuss how the GLOBE Eclipse workshop series effectively utilized the unique context of the solar eclipse to enhance science education through citizen science. By adhering to the principles outlined in the Learning through Citizen Science framework, the workshop successfully engaged educators and students in meaningful scientific practices, demonstrating the potential of citizen science to enrich science education and foster a deeper understanding of Earth systems.

Jessica Taylor↗

NASA NTRS2021

Fit to be Tied: Embracing Tethered Robots for Exploring Extreme Planetary Environments

Tethers are supportive wires that could provide power, communication, and even science instrument capabilities to planetary rovers, landers, and future human settlements. Whether it be power distribution and optical communication connecting robots exploring extreme, undersea and deep subsurface environments, to your home office on Earth, we live, and will continue to live, in a predominantly ‘wired’ world. Accordingly, as humanity continues to push beyond Earth to exploring extreme planetary terrains like caves, cliffs, craters, and crevasses, and moves towards establishing human settlements on the Moon and Mars, we can expect tethers to play a major role. For exploration purposes, tethers are critical to enabling next-generation, science-focused missions to access high-value, resource-limited targets, where exploring rovers or astronauts lack direct communication or access to viable sunlight for solar power. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is formulating new mission concepts that could deploy robotic assets into some of the Solar System’s harshest and steepest terrain and, in many cases, tethers are the enabling technology. Examples include i) a rappelling rover to explore vertically along lunar pit walls to determine how the Moon formed, ii) tethered rovers to reach ice deposits on Mars and the Moon, iii) large, tether-deployed antenna structures to probe into the subsurface of a planet and/or look skyward to image the highly red-shifted, early universe, iv) probes that descend into the icy layers of Europa and Enceladus in search of subsurface oceans and, potentially, extant life, and v) science instruments that could be suspended on supportive tethers from balloons on Venus to directly image the surface and sample its clouds. This paper will present a survey of the state-of-the-art for tether related exploration of the solar system and chronicle ongoing work at JPL, which is leading to robust tether designs, high-power and communication transmission over multi-km distances, and highly capable, tether-based rover systems.

McGarey, Patrick↗

NASA NTRS1987

Science on Space Station

Plans for space science activities on the International Space Station are reviewed from a NASA perspective. The present Station reference configuration is based on a dual-keel core unit (one habitation module and three laboratory modules supplied by NASA, ESA, and Japan) and provides for five attached systems (with up to four payloads each to be exposed to space) and several free-flying platforms (both polar orbiters and coorbiters). Particular attention is given to the space science aspects of the primary Station objectives defined by NASA (servicing and repair, platforms, pressurized modules, and attached payloads). Also discussed are the work of the Task Force on Scientific Uses of Space Station, the need for operational flexibility, the value of a continuous manned presence for experimental science, and the skills needed from the Station crew.

Black, David C.↗

NASA NTRS2017

Framework for Processing Citizens Science Data for Applications to NASA Earth Science Missions

Citizen science (or crowdsourcing) has drawn much high-level recent and ongoing interest and support. It is poised to be applied, beyond the by-now fairly familiar use of, e.g., Twitter for natural hazards monitoring, to science research, such as augmenting the validation of NASA earth science mission data. This interest and support is seen in the 2014 National Plan for Civil Earth Observations, the 2015 White House forum on citizen science and crowdsourcing, the ongoing Senate Bill 2013 (Crowdsourcing and Citizen Science Act of 2015), the recent (August 2016) Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) call for public participation in its newly-established Citizen Science Domain Working Group, and NASA's initiation of a new Citizen Science for Earth Systems Program (along with its first citizen science-focused solicitation for proposals). Over the past several years, we have been exploring the feasibility of extracting from the Twitter data stream useful information for application to NASA precipitation research, with both "passive" and "active" participation by the twitterers. The Twitter database, which recently passed its tenth anniversary, is potentially a rich source of real-time and historical global information for science applications. The time-varying set of "precipitation" tweets can be thought of as an organic network of rain gauges, potentially providing a widespread view of precipitation occurrence. The validation of satellite precipitation estimates is challenging, because many regions lack data or access to data, especially outside of the U.S. and in remote and developing areas. Mining the Twitter stream could augment these validation programs and, potentially, help tune existing algorithms. Our ongoing work, though exploratory, has resulted in key components for processing and managing tweets, including the capabilities to filter the Twitter stream in real time, to extract location information, to filter for exact phrases, and to plot tweet distributions. The key step is to process the "precipitation" tweets to be compatible with satellite-retrieved precipitation data. These key components for processing and managing "precipitation" tweets (and additional ones to be developed) are not limited to precipitation, nor are they limited to the Twitter social medium. Indeed, to maximize the value of our work for NASA earth science programs, these components should be generalized and be part of an overall framework for processing citizen science data for science research. In this paper, we outline such a framework.

earth science satellite data↗

NASA NTRS1975

Conflict and fear over the impacts of science and technology may retard, or may hasten, societal progress

Rapidly changing societal and individual values impact the course of man's future with accompanying conflict, tension and alienation. Conflict and fear over the impacts of science and technology may retard, or may hasten, societal progress. The broadening of the concept of equality of opportunity to an equality of outcome manifests itself by distributing the rewards of society based not on performance but simply on membership in the society. It is concluded that institutional failure caused by organizational and bureaucratic ineffectiveness inhibits change necessary for the solution of societal problems.

Source record↗

NASA NTRS1993

Imaging spectrometry of the Earth and other solar system bodies

Imaging spectrometry is a relatively new tool for remote sensing of the Earth and other bodies of the solar system. The technique dates back to the late 1970's and early 1980's. It is a natural extension of the earlier multi-spectral imagers developed for remote sensing that acquire images in a few, usually broad spectral bands. Imaging spectrometers combine aspects of classical spectrometers and imaging systems, making it possible to acquire literally hundreds of images of an object, each image in a separate, narrow spectral band. It is thus possible to perform spectroscopy on a pixel-by-pixel basis with the data acquired with an imaging spectrometer. Two imaging spectrometers have flown in space and several others are planned for future Earth and planetary missions. The French-built Phobos Infrared Spectrometer (ISM) was part of the payload of the Soviet Mars mission in 1988, and the JPL-built Near Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (NIMS) is currently en route to Jupiter aboard the Galileo spacecraft. Several airborne imaging spectrometers have been built in the past decade including the JPL-built Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) which is the only such sensor that covers the full solar reflected portion of the spectrum in narrow, contiguous spectral bands. NASA plans two imaging spectrometers for its Earth Observing System, the Moderate and the High Resolution Imaging Spectrometers (MODIS and HIRIS). A brief overview of the applications of imaging spectrometry to Earth science will be presented to illustrate the value of the tool to remote sensing and indicate the types of measurements that are required. The system design for AVIRS and a planetary imaging spectrometer will be presented to illustrate the engineering considerations and challenges that must be met in building such instruments. Several key sensor technology areas will be discussed in which miniaturization and/or enhanced performance through micromachining and nanofabrication may allow smaller, more robust, and more capable imaging spectrometers to be built in the future.

Vane, Gregg↗

NASA NTRS2002

Visualizing 2D Probability Distributions from Satellite Image-Derived Data

Creating maps of biophysical and geophysical variables using Earth Observing System (EOS) satellite image data is an important component of Earth science. These 2D maps have a single value at every location and standard techniques are used to visualize them. Current tools fall short, however, when it is necessary to describe a distribution of values at each location. Distributions may represent a frequency of occurrence over time, frequency of occurrence from multiple runs of an ensemble forecast or possible values from an uncertainty model. 'Distribution data sets' are described, then a case study is presented to visualize such 2D distributions. Distribution data sets are different from multivariate data sets in the sense that the values are for a single variable instead of multiple variables. Our case study data consists of multiple realizations of percent forest cover, generated using a geostatistical technique that combines ground measurements and satellite imagery to model uncertainty about forest cover. We present several approaches for analyzing and visualizing such data sets. The first is a pixel-wise analysis of the probability density functions for the 2D image while the second is an analysis of features identified within the image. Such pixel-wise and feature-wise views will give Earth scientists a more complete understanding of distribution data sets.

Kao, David↗