2008 Annual Report - NASA Airborne Science Program
2008 Annual Report - NASA Airborne Science Program
2008 Annual Report - NASA Airborne Science Program
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Engineering: MAS (MODIS<br />
<strong>Airborne</strong> Simulator) Status<br />
After more than 650 highaltitude<br />
missions on the ER-2,<br />
the MAS sensor was taken<br />
out of service for an extensive<br />
re-fit. It is anticipated to be<br />
available for use again in late<br />
2009. A project to design and<br />
build a next-generation data<br />
system for the MAS and related<br />
instruments was also begun, with<br />
support from the EOS-PSO.<br />
MASTER (MODIS/ASTER <strong>Airborne</strong><br />
Simulator)<br />
Three sequential acquisitions<br />
were conducted on the DOE<br />
B-200 aircraft of the major 2007<br />
Southern California fire scars<br />
to document the ecological<br />
impact of severe wildfires (see<br />
page 27). Other MASTER data<br />
collections included an Sudden<br />
Oak Death study site in Big<br />
Sur, CA, Monterey Bay algal blooms, and day/<br />
night thermal IR missions over the city of San<br />
Francisco to study urban heat island effects. A<br />
ten-year time series was also continued over the<br />
USDA long-term study sites near Jornada, New<br />
Mexico, to develop remote sensing of techniques<br />
for desert hydrology, and for using ASTER and<br />
MODIS thermal infrared data to study surface<br />
energy balance. MASTER was also flown on<br />
the ER-2 over calibration sites in Nevada for the<br />
EOS PSO.<br />
AMS (Autonomous Modular Sensor)<br />
The final series of Western States fire missions<br />
were conducted with the AMS mounted in<br />
a wing pod on the Ikhana UAS (see page<br />
Figure 44<br />
The AMS sensor as configured for the Ikhana UAS sensor<br />
pod, for the Western States Fire Missions.<br />
23). Multiple fires across California<br />
were imaged with this multispectral<br />
system, and real-time fire data products<br />
were generated onboard the aircraft<br />
and relayed to users on the ground<br />
via an internet-based data distribution<br />
network. Testing and integration of a<br />
higher performance Applanix POS/AV<br />
geo-location system was conducted<br />
simultaneously. The AMS sensor is<br />
currently being re-configured for<br />
atmospheric research missions on the<br />
Global Hawk UAS, and an Ocean Color<br />
102