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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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NASA NTRS2010

Active Neutron and Gamma Ray Instrumentation for In Situ Planetary Science Applications

The Pulsed Neutron Generator-Gamma Ray And Neutron Detectors (PNG-GRAND) experiment is an innovative application of the active neutron-gamma ray technology so successfully used in oil field well logging and mineral exploration on Earth. The objective of our active neutron-gamma ray technology program at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (NASA-GSFC) is to bring the PNG-GRAND instrument to the point where it can be flown on a variety of surface lander or rover missions to the Moon, Mars, Menus, asteroids, comets and the satellites of the outer planets. Gamma-Ray Spectrometers (GRS) have been incorporated into numerous orbital planetary science missions and, especially its the case of the Mars Odyssey GRS, have contributed detailed maps of the elemental composition over the entire surface of Mars. However, orbital gamma ray measurements have low spatial sensitivity (100's of km) due to their low surface emission rates from cosmic rays and subsequent need to be averaged over large surface areas. PNG-GRAND overcomes this impediment by incorporating a powerful neutron excitation source that permits high sensitivity surface and subsurface measurements of bulk elemental compositions. PNG-GRAND combines a pulsed neutron generator (PNG) with gamma ray and neutron detectors to produce a landed instrument to determine subsurface elemental composition without needing to drill into a planet's surface a great advantage in mission design. We are currently testing PNG-GRAND prototypes at a unique outdoor neutron instrumentation test facility recently constructed at NASA/GSFC that consists of a 2 m x 2 in x 1 m granite structure placed outdoors in an empty field. Because an independent trace elemental analysis has been performed on the material, this granite sample is a known standard with which to compare both Monte Carlo simulations and our experimentally measured elemental composition data. We will present data from operating PNG-GRAND in various experimental configurations on a known sample in a geometry that is identical to that on a planetary surface. We will also illustrate the use of gamma ray timing techniques to improve sensitivity and will compare the material composition results from our experiments to both an independent laboratory elemental composition analysis and MCNPX computer modeling results.

Parsons, A.↗
NASA NTRS2010

Planetary Geochemistry Using Active Neutron and Gamma Ray Instrumentation

The Pulsed Neutron Generator-Gamma Ray And Neutron Detector (PNG-GRAND) experiment is an innovative application of the active neutron-gamma ray technology so successfully used in oil field well logging and mineral exploration on Earth, The objective of our active neutron-gamma ray technology program at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (NASA/GSFC) is to bring the PNG-GRAND instrument to the point where it can be flown on a variety of surface lander or rover missions to the Moon, Mars, Venus, asterOIds, comets and the satellites of the outer planets, Gamma-Ray Spectrometers have been incorporated into numerous orbital planetary science missions and, especially in the case of Mars Odyssey, have contributed detailed maps of the elemental composition over the entire surface of Mars, Neutron detectors have also been placed onboard orbital missions such as the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and Lunar Prospector to measure the hydrogen content of the surface of the moon, The DAN in situ experiment on the Mars Science Laboratory not only includes neutron detectors, but also has its own neutron generator, However, no one has ever combined the three into one instrument PNG-GRAND combines a pulsed neutron generator (PNG) with gamma ray and neutron detectors to produce a landed instrument that can determine subsurface elemental composition without drilling. We are testing PNG-GRAND at a unique outdoor neutron instrumentation test facility recently constructed at NASA/GSFC that consists of a 2 m x 2 m x 1 m granite structure in an empty field, We will present data from the operation of PNG-GRAND in various experimental configurations on a known sample in a geometry that is identical to that which can be achieved on a planetary surface. We will also compare the material composition results inferred from our experiments to both an independent laboratory elemental composition analysis and MCNPX computer modeling results,

Parsons, A.↗
NASA NTRS2022

Full Spectrum Fitting Analysis of Bulk Elemental Composition Analyzer (BECA) Gamma Ray Data

The Bulk Elemental Composition Analyzer (BECA) is an instrument developed through NASA’s Development and Advancement of Lunar Instrumentation (DALI) program to measure the in situ bulk elemental composition of the lunar regolith from either a lander or rover platform. BECA uses active neutron and gamma ray spectroscopy to make these measurements and thus consists of a Pulsed Neutron Generator (PNG), a CeBr3 scintillator Gamma Ray Spectrometer (GRS), and two He-3 neutron detectors. As shown in Figure 1, the PNG emits 14.1 MeV neutrons that induce lunar materials to emit gamma rays with energies characteristic of the elements that produced them. The GRS measures the energy spectra of these gamma rays to identify the elements present and establish their absolute concentrations in the regolith. The analysis of BECA’s gamma ray spectral data yields quantitative elemental concentrations by mass (wt.%) in the material directly beneath the lunar lander or rover. A Compact Neutron Monitor (CNM) attached to the PNG precisely measures the output of 14.1 MeV neutrons to enable quantification of absolute elemental abundances.

Mauricio Ayllon Unzueta↗
NASA NTRS2010

In Situ Instrumentation for Sub-Surface Planetary Geochemistry

Novel instrumentation is under development at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, building upon earth-based techniques for hostile environments, to infer geochemical processes important to formation and evolution of solid bodies in our Solar System. A prototype instrument, the Pulsed Neutron Generator Gamma Ray and Neutron Detectors (PNG-GRAND), has a 14 MeV pulsed neutron generator coupled with gamma ray and neutron detectors to measure quantitative elemental concentrations and bulk densities of a number of major, minor and trace elements at or below the surfaces with approximately a meter-sized spatial resolution down to depths of about 50 cm without the need to drill. PNG-GRAND's in situ a meter-scale measurements and adaptability to a variety of extreme space environments will complement orbital kilometer-scale and in-situ millimeter scale elemental and mineralogical measurements to provide a more complete picture of the geochemistry of planets, moons, asteroids and comets.

Bodnarik, J.↗
NASA NTRS2012

The Probing In-Situ With Neutron and Gamma Rays (PING) Instrument for Planetary Composition Measurements

The Probing In situ with Neutrons and Gamma rays (PING) instrument (formerly named PNG-GRAND) [I] experiment is an innovative application of the active neutron-gamma ray technology successfully used in oil field well logging and mineral exploration on Earth over many decades. The objective of our active neutron-gamma ray technology program at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (NASA/GSFC) is to bring PING to the point where it can be flown on a variety of surface lander or rover missions to the Moon, Mars, Venus, asteroids, comets and the satellites of the outer planets and measure their bulk surface and subsurface elemental composition without the need to drill into the surface. Gamma-Ray Spectrometers (GRS) have been incorporated into numerous orbital planetary science missions. While orbital measurements can map a planet, they have low spatial and elemental sensitivity due to the low surface gamma ray emission rates reSUlting from using cosmic rays as an excitation source, PING overcomes this limitation in situ by incorporating a powerful neutron excitation source that permits significantly higher elemental sensitivity elemental composition measurements. PING combines a 14 MeV deuterium-tritium Pulsed Neutron Generator (PNG) with a gamma ray spectrometer and two neutron detectors to produce a landed instrument that can determine the elemental composition of a planet down to 30 - 50 cm below the planet's surface, The penetrating nature of .5 - 10 MeV gamma rays and 14 MeV neutrons allows such sub-surface composition measurements to be made without the need to drill into or otherwise disturb the planetary surface, thus greatly simplifying the lander design, We are cun'ently testing a PING prototype at a unique outdoor neutron instrumentation test facility at NASA/GSFC that provides two large (1.8 m x 1.8 m x ,9 m) granite and basalt test formations placed outdoors in an empty field, Since an independent trace elemental analysis has been performed on both these Columbia River basalt and Concord Gray granite materials, these large samples present two known standards with which to compare PING's experimentally measured elemental composition results, We will present both gamma ray and neutron experimental results from PING measurements of the granite and basalt test formations in various layering configurations and compare the results to the known composition.

Parsons, A.↗
NASA NTRS2012

WMS Server 2.0

This software is a simple, yet flexible server of raster map products, compliant with the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) Web Map Service (WMS) 1.1.1 protocol. The server is a full implementation of the OGC WMS 1.1.1 as a fastCGI client and using Geospatial Data Abstraction Library (GDAL) for data access. The server can operate in a proxy mode, where all or part of the WMS requests are done on a back server. The server has explicit support for a colocated tiled WMS, including rapid response of black (no-data) requests. It generates JPEG and PNG images, including 16-bit PNG. The GDAL back-end support allows great flexibility on the data access. The server is a port to a Linux/GDAL platform from the original IRIX/IL platform. It is simpler to configure and use, and depending on the storage format used, it has better performance than other available implementations. The WMS server 2.0 is a high-performance WMS implementation due to the fastCGI architecture. The use of GDAL data back end allows for great flexibility. The configuration is relatively simple, based on a single XML file. It provides scaling and cropping, as well as blending of multiple layers based on layer transparency.

Plesea, Lucian↗
NASA NTRS2017

Measuring Surface Bulk Elemental Composition on Venus

The extreme surface environment (462 C, 93 bars pressure) of Venus makes subsurface measurements of its bulk elemental composition extremely challenging. Instruments landed on the surface of Venus must be enclosed in a pressure vessel. The high surface temperatures also require a thermal control system to keep the instrumentation temperatures within their operational range for as long as possible. Since Venus surface probes can currently operate for only a few hours, it is crucial that the lander instrumentation be able to make statistically significant measurements in a short time. An instrument is described that can achieve such a measurement over a volume of thousands of cubic centimeters of material by using high energy penetrating neutron and gamma radiation. The instrument consists of a Pulsed Neutron Generator (PNG) and a Gamma-Ray Spectrometer (GRS). The PNG emits isotropic pulses of 14.1 MeV neutrons that penetrate the pressure vessel walls, the dense atmosphere and the surface rock. The neutrons induce nuclear reactions in the rock to produce gamma rays with energies specific to the element and nuclear process involved. Thus the energies of the detected gamma rays identify the elements present and their intensities provide the abundance of each element. The GRS spectra are analyzed to determine the Venus elemental composition from the spectral signature of individual major, minor, and trace radioactive elements. As a test of such an instrument, a Schlumberger Litho Scanner oil well logging tool was used in a series of experiments at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. The Litho Scanner tool was mounted above large (1.8 m x 1.8 m x.9 m) granite and basalt monuments and made a series of one-hour elemental composition measurements in a planar geometry more similar to a planetary lander measurement. Initial analysis of the results shows good agreement with target elemental assays

Venus↗
NASA NTRS2021

SOFIA/FLITECAM 3-5.4 Micron Spectroscopy of PAHs in Planetary Nebulae

We present stratospheric observations of the ~3-5.4 micron spectra of young planetary nebulae by the SOFIA instrument FLITECAM. The goal of this study was to characterize the NIR emission of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) in planetary nebulae and study the evolution of PAH features within these objects. Using airborne 3-5.4 micron grism spectroscopy of three young, Carbon-rich planetary nebulae: IC 5117, PNG 093.9-00.1, and BD +30 3639, we investigated the spectral variation of the 3.3 micron PAH feature, its associated aliphatic features (3.4-3.6 microns), characterized the weak 5.25 PAH emission feature, and set limits on the theoretical contribution of the 4.4-4.8 micron deuterated-PAH features. All features, including atomic emission lines, were fit with a series of Gaussians to determine their flux. We further characterized the 3.3 micron PAH feature using equivalent width and central wavelength, and classified the shape of the emission. We also determined the PAH/Aliphatic ratio for each target. The 3.3 micron PAH emission feature is observed in all three objects, as is PAH emission at 5.25 microns. PNG 093.9-00.1 exhibits NGC 7027-like aliphatic emission in the 3.4–3.6 micron region while aliphatic emission in IC 5117 and BD +30 3639 is weaker, and exhibits less structure.

Erin C Smith↗
NASA NTRS2022

Systematic Detection of Anomalous Ionospheric Perturbations Above LEOs From GNSS POD Data Including Possible Tsunami Signatures

In this article, we show the capability of a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) precise orbit determination (POD) low Earth orbit (LEO) data to detect anomalous ionospheric disturbances in the spectral range of the signals associated with earthquakes and tsunamis, applied to two of these events in Papua New Guinea (PNG) and the Solomon Islands during 2016. This is achieved thanks to the new PIES approach (POD-GNSS LEO Detrended Ionospheric Electron Content Significant Deviations). The significance of such ionospheric signals above the swarm LEOs is confirmed with different types of independent data: in situ electron density measurements provided by the Langmuir Probe (LP) onboard swarm LEOs, DORIS, and ground-based GNSS colocated measurements, as it is described in this article. In this way, we conclude the possible detection of the tsunami-related ionospheric gravity wave in PNG 2016 event, consistent with the most-recent theory, which shows that a tsunami (which is localized in space and time) excites a spectrum of gravity waves, some of which have faster horizontal phase speeds than the tsunami. We believe that this work shows as well the feasibility of a future potential monitoring system of ionospheric disturbances, to be made possible by hundreds of CubeSats with POD GNSS receivers among other appropriate sensors, and supported for real-time or near real-time confirmation and characterization by thousands of worldwide existing ground GNSS receivers.

Global Navigation Satellite System↗
NASA NTRS2003

HEASARC Software Archive

(1) Chandra Archive: SAO has maintained the interfaces through which HEASARC gains access to the Chandra Data Archive. At HEASARC's request, we have implemented an anonymous ftp copy of a major part of the public archive and we keep that archive up-to- date. SAO has participated in the ADEC interoperability working group, establishing guidelines or interoperability standards and prototyping such interfaces. We have provided an NVO-based prototype interface, intending to serve the HEASARC-led NVO demo project. HEASARC's Astrobrowse interface was maintained and updated. In addition, we have participated in design discussions surrounding HEASARC's Caldb project. We have attended the HEASARC Users Group meeting and presented CDA status and developments. (2) Chandra CALDB: SA0 has maintained and expanded the Chandra CALDB by including four new data file types, defining the corresponding CALDB keyword/identification structures. We have provided CALDB upgrades for the public (CIAO) and for Standard Data Processing. Approximately 40 new files have been added to the CALDB in these version releases. There have been in the past year ten of these CALDB upgrades, each with unique index configurations. In addition, with the inputs from software, archive, and calibration scientists, as well as CIAO/SDP software developers, we have defined a generalized expansion of the existing CALDB interface and indexing structure. The purpose of this is to make the CALDB more generally applicable and useful in new and future missions that will be supported archivally by HEASARC. The generalized interface will identify additional configurational keywords and permit more extensive calibration parameter and boundary condition specifications for unique file selection. HEASARC scientists and developers from SAO and GSFC have become involved in this work, which is expected to produce a new interface for general use within the current year. (3) DS9: One of the decisions that came from last year's HEADCC meeting was to make the ds9 image display program the primary vehicle for displaying line graphics (as well as images). The first step required to make this possible was to enhance the line graphics capabilities of ds9. SAO therefore spent considerable effort upgrading ds9 to use Tcl 8.4 so that the BLT line graphics package could be built and imported into ds9 from source code, rather than from a pre-built (and generally outdated) shared library. This task, which is nearly complete, allows us to extend BLT as needed for the HEAD community. Following HEADCC discussion concerning archiving and the display of archived data, we extended ds9 to support full access to many astronomical Web-based archives sites, including HEASARC, MAST, CHANDRA, SKYVIEW, ADS, NED, SIMBAD, IRAS, NVRO, SAO TDC, and FIRST. Using ds9's new internal Web access capabilities, these archives can be accessed via their Web page. FITS images, plots, spectra, and journal abstracts can be referenced, down-loaded, and displayed directly and easily in ds9. For more information, see: http://hea-www.harvard.edu/saord/ds9. Also after the HEADCC discussion concerning region filtering, we extended the Funtools sample implementation of region filtering as described in: http://hea-www.harvard.edu/saord/funtools/regions.html. In particular, we added several new composite regions for event and image filtering, including elliptical and box annuli. We also extended the panda (Pie AND Annulus) region support to include box pandas and elliptical pandas. These new composite regions are especially useful in programs that need to count photons in each separate region using only a single pass through the data. Support for these new regions was added to ds9. In the same vein, we developed new region support for filtering images using simple FITS image masks, i.e. 8-bit or 16-bit FITS images where the value of a pixel is the region id number for that pixel. Other important enhancements to DS9 this year, include supporor multiple world coordinate systems, three dimensional event file binning, image smoothing, region groups and tags, the ability to save images in a number of image formats (such as JPEG, TIFF, PNG, FITS), improvements in support for integrating external analysis tools, and support for the virtual observatory. In particular, a full-featured web browser has been implemented within D S 9 . This provides support for full access to HEASARC archive sites such as SKYVIEW and W3BROWSE, in addition to other astronomical archives sites such as MAST, CHANDRA, ADS, NED, SIMBAD, IRAS, NVRO, SA0 TDC, and FIRST. From within DS9, the archives can be searched, and FITS images, plots, spectra, and journal abstracts can be referenced, downloaded and displayed The web browser provides the basis for the built-in help facility. All DS9 documentation, including the reference manual, FAQ, Know Features, and contact information is now available to the user without the need for external display applications. New versions of DS9 maybe downloaded and installed using this facility. Two important features used in the analysis of high energy astronomical data have been implemented in the past year. The first is support for binning photon event data in three dimensions. By binning the third dimension in time or energy, users are easily able to detect variable x-ray sources and identify other physical properties of their data. Second, a number of fast smoothing algorithms have been implemented in DS9, which allow users to smooth their data in real time. Algorithms for boxcar, tophat, and gaussian smoothing are supported.

White, Nicholas↗
NASA NTRS2007

Multi-Sensor Data from A-Train Instruments Brought Together for Atmospheric Research

The A-Train is comprised of a series of instruments, developed independently, that measure highly related atmospheric components along the same flight path. In order to intercompare data from this multitude of sensors, researchers must access, subset, visualize, analyze and correlate distributed atmosphere measurements from the various A-Train instruments. The A-Train Data Depot (ATDD) has been operational for over a year, successfully performing the aforementioned functions on behalf of researchers, thus providing co-registered data from the Cloudsat, CALIOP, AIRS, and MODIS instruments for further intercomparisons. Of late, significant data from OM1 and POLDER are now included in the 'depot'. By specifying the desired spatial and temporal range, the researcher can subset, visualize, co-register, and access multi-sensor A-Train data related to: Cloud, aerosol, atmospheric temperature, and water vapor parameters (vertical profile visualizations); Cloud Pressure, cloud top temperature, water vapor, cloud optical thickness, and aerosol products (horizontal strips subsetted +/- 100km from the profile visualizations), and; Cloud pressure parameters (2-D line plots overlayed on the vertical profiles). All data is plotted using the GIOVANNI data exploration tool. A new feature of GIOVANNI is its ability to have collocated and subsetted data sets as well as PNG image files downloaded to the researcher's computing facility. By providing a convenient way to visualize and acquire multi-sensor data, ATDD affords users more time and effort to further their research.

Smith, Peter M.↗
NASA NTRS2008

Providing Internet Access to High-Resolution Lunar Images

The OnMoon server is a computer program that provides Internet access to high-resolution Lunar images, maps, and elevation data, all suitable for use in geographical information system (GIS) software for generating images, maps, and computational models of the Moon. The OnMoon server implements the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) Web Map Service (WMS) server protocol and supports Moon-specific extensions. Unlike other Internet map servers that provide Lunar data using an Earth coordinate system, the OnMoon server supports encoding of data in Moon-specific coordinate systems. The OnMoon server offers access to most of the available high-resolution Lunar image and elevation data. This server can generate image and map files in the tagged image file format (TIFF) or the Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG), 8- or 16-bit Portable Network Graphics (PNG), or Keyhole Markup Language (KML) format. Image control is provided by use of the OGC Style Layer Descriptor (SLD) protocol. Full-precision spectral arithmetic processing is also available, by use of a custom SLD extension. This server can dynamically add shaded relief based on the Lunar elevation to any image layer. This server also implements tiled WMS protocol and super-overlay KML for high-performance client application programs.

Plesea, Lucian↗
NASA NTRS2008

Providing Internet Access to High-Resolution Mars Images

The OnMars server is a computer program that provides Internet access to high-resolution Mars images, maps, and elevation data, all suitable for use in geographical information system (GIS) software for generating images, maps, and computational models of Mars. The OnMars server is an implementation of the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) Web Map Service (WMS) server. Unlike other Mars Internet map servers that provide Martian data using an Earth coordinate system, the OnMars WMS server supports encoding of data in Mars-specific coordinate systems. The OnMars server offers access to most of the available high-resolution Martian image and elevation data, including an 8-meter-per-pixel uncontrolled mosaic of most of the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Observer Camera Narrow Angle (MOCNA) image collection, which is not available elsewhere. This server can generate image and map files in the tagged image file format (TIFF), Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG), 8- or 16-bit Portable Network Graphics (PNG), or Keyhole Markup Language (KML) format. Image control is provided by use of the OGC Style Layer Descriptor (SLD) protocol. The OnMars server also implements tiled WMS protocol and super-overlay KML for high-performance client application programs.

Plesea, Lucian↗
NASA NTRS2011

Planetary Geochemistry Techniques: Probing In-Situ with Neutron and Gamma Rays (PING) Instrument

The Probing In situ with Neutrons and Gamma rays (PING) instrument is a promising planetary science application of the active neutron-gamma ray technology so successfully used in oil field well logging and mineral exploration on Earth. The objective of our technology development program at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center's (NASA/GSFC) Astrochemistry Laboratory is to extend the application of neutron interrogation techniques to landed in situ planetary composition measurements by using a 14 MeV Pulsed Neutron Generator (PNG) combined with neutron and gamma ray detectors, to probe the surface and subsurface of planetary bodies without the need to drill. We are thus working to bring the PING instrument to the point where it can be flown on a variety of surface lander or rover missions to the Moon, Mars, Venus, asteroids, comets and the satellites of the outer planets.

Parsons, A.↗
NASA NTRS2011

Land and Atmosphere Near-Real-Time Capability for Earth Observing System

The past decade has seen a rapid increase in availability and usage of near-real-time data from satellite sensors. The EOSDIS (Earth Observing System Data and Information System) was not originally designed to provide data with sufficiently low latency to satisfy the requirements for near-real-time users. The EOS (Earth Observing System) instruments aboard the Terra, Aqua and Aura satellites make global measurements daily, which are processed into higher-level 'standard' products within 8-40 hours of observation and then made available to users, primarily earth science researchers. However, applications users, operational agencies, and even researchers desire EOS products in near-real-time to support research and applications, including numerical weather and climate prediction and forecasting, monitoring of natural hazards, ecological/invasive species, agriculture, air quality, disaster relief and homeland security. These users often need data much sooner than routine science processing allows, usually within 3 hours, and are willing to trade science product quality for timely access. While Direct Broadcast provides more timely access to data, it does not provide global coverage. In 2002, a joint initiative between NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), and the DOD (Department of Defense) was undertaken to provide data from EOS instruments in near-real-time. The NRTPE (Near Real Time Processing Effort) provided products within 3 hours of observation on a best-effort basis. As the popularity of these near-real-time products and applications grew, multiple near-real-time systems began to spring up such as the Rapid Response System. In recognizing the dependence of customers on this data and the need for highly reliable and timely data access, NASA's Earth Science Division sponsored the Earth Science Data and Information System Project (ESDIS)-led development of a new near-real-time system called LANCE (Land, Atmosphere Near-Real-Time Capability for EOS) in 2009. LANCE consists of special processing elements, co-located with selected EOSDIS data centers and processing facilities. A primary goal of LANCE is to bring multiple near-real-time systems under one umbrella, offering commonality in data access, quality control, and latency. LANCE now processes and distributes data from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS), Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer Earth Observing System (AMSR-E), Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) and Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) instruments within 3 hours of satellite observation. The Rapid Response System and the Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS) capabilities will be incorporated into LANCE in 2011. LANCE maintains a central website to facilitate easy access to data and user services. LANCE products are extensively tested and compared with science products before being made available to users. Each element also plans to implement redundant network, power and server infrastructure to ensure high availability of data and services. Through the user registration system, users are informed of any data outages and when new products or services will be available for access. Building on a significant investment by NASA in developing science algorithms and products, LANCE creates products that have a demonstrated utility for applications requiring near-real-time data. From lower level data products such as calibrated geolocated radiances to higher-level products such as sea ice extent, snow cover, and cloud cover, users have integrated LANCE data into forecast models and decision support systems. The table above shows the current near-real-time product categories by instrument. The ESDIS Project continues to improve the LANCE system and use the experience gained through practice to seek adjustments to improve the quality and performance of the system. For example, anGC-compliant Web Map Service (WMS) will be added shortly that will allow users to download geo-referenced MODIS images for arbitrary bounding boxes. Further, an OGC-compliant Web Coverage Service (WCS) will be added later this year that will expedite user access to arbitrary data subsets or re-formatted products. AIRS images are now served through WMS and available in multiple formats (PNG, GeoTIFF, KMZ). NASA has established a LANCE User Working Group to steer the development of the system and create a forum for sharing ideas and experiences that are expected to further improve the LANCE capabilities. The LANCE system has proved a success by satisfying the growing needs of the applications and operational communities for land and atmosphere data in near-real-time. NASA's Earth Sciences Division was able to leverage existing science research capabilities to provide the near-real-time community with products and imagery that support monitoring of disasters in a timely manner.

Murphy, Kevin J.↗
NASA NTRS2012

FERMI/GLAST Integrated Trending and Plotting System Release 5.0

An Integrated Trending and Plotting System (ITPS) is a trending, analysis, and plotting system used by space missions to determine performance and status of spacecraft and its instruments. ITPS supports several NASA mission operational control centers providing engineers, ground controllers, and scientists with access to the entire spacecraft telemetry data archive for the life of the mission, and includes a secure Web component for remote access. FERMI/GLAST ITPS Release 5.0 features include the option to display dates (yyyy/ddd) instead of orbit numbers along orbital Long-Term Trend (LTT) plot axis, the ability to save statistics from daily production plots as image files, and removal of redundant edit/create Input Definition File (IDF) screens. Other features are a fix to address invalid packet lengths, a change in naming convention of image files in order to use in script, the ability to save all ITPS plot images (from Windows or the Web) as GIF or PNG format, the ability to specify ymin and ymax on plots where previously only the desired range could be specified, Web interface capability to plot IDFs that contain out-oforder page and plot numbers, and a fix to change all default file names to show yyyydddhhmmss time stamps instead of hhmmssdddyyyy. A Web interface capability sorts files based on modification date (with newest one at top), and the statistics block can be displayed via a Web interface. Via the Web, users can graphically view the volume of telemetry data from each day contained in the ITPS archive in the Web digest. The ITPS could be also used in nonspace fields that need to plot data or trend data, including financial and banking systems, aviation and transportation systems, healthcare and educational systems, sales and marketing, and housing and construction.

Ritter, Sheila↗
NASA NTRS2013

Usage of Data-Encoded Web Maps with Client Side Color Rendering for Combined Data Access, Visualization and Modeling Purposes

Current approaches to satellite observation data storage and distribution implement separate visualization and data access methodologies which often leads to the need in time consuming data ordering and coding for applications requiring both visual representation as well as data handling and modeling capabilities. We describe an approach we implemented for a data-encoded web map service based on storing numerical data within server map tiles and subsequent client side data manipulation and map color rendering. The approach relies on storing data using the lossless compression Portable Network Graphics (PNG) image data format which is natively supported by web-browsers allowing on-the-fly browser rendering and modification of the map tiles. The method is easy to implement using existing software libraries and has the advantage of easy client side map color modifications, as well as spatial subsetting with physical parameter range filtering. This method is demonstrated for the ASTER-GDEM elevation model and selected MODIS data products and represents an alternative to the currently used storage and data access methods. One additional benefit includes providing multiple levels of averaging due to the need in generating map tiles at varying resolutions for various map magnification levels. We suggest that such merged data and mapping approach may be a viable alternative to existing static storage and data access methods for a wide array of combined simulation, data access and visualization purposes.

Pliutau, Denis↗
NASA NTRS2013

Subsurface In Situ Elemental Composition Measurements with PING

This paper describes the Probing In situ with Neutron and Gamma rays (PING) instrument, that can measure the subsurface elemental composition in situ for any rocky body in the solar system without the need for digging into the surface. PING consists of a Pulsed Neutron Generator (PNG), a gamma ray spectrometer and neutron detectors. Subsurface elements are stimulated by high-energy neutrons to emit gamma rays at characteristic energies. This paper will show how the detection of these gamma rays results in a measurement of elemental composition. Examples of the basalt to granite ratios for aluminum and silicon abundance are provided.

Parsons, Ann↗