2008 Annual Report - NASA Airborne Science Program

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opportunity in the fall has helped prepare for HYSPIRI algorithm-development flights, to be teamed again with MASTER flights planned for 2009. Laser Vegetation Imaging Sensor (LVIS) The Laser Vegetation Imaging Sensor (LVIS) payload package flew approximately 36 hours on a B-200 in New Mexico, Nevada, and California in 2008 in preparation for support of the upcoming DESDynI mission. The LVIS team also used this flight opportunity to demonstrate a new 10-bit, high-speed waveform digitizer that is being investigated for use on the DESDynI Lidar, perform an atmospheric delay experiment, and to collect data along GLAS tracks and Long Valley Caldera. Full-waveform, 25 m footprint lidar data was collected over a variety of vegetation cover types and topographic slopes to determine the impact of off-nadir pointing on measuring vegetation canopy heights and vertical structure with a lidar. Under the currently planned design, the DESDynI mission consists of a multi-beam, 25 m footprint lidar and an Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR). If both instruments are flown on the same spacecraft platform and in a short repeat orbit, the lidar will need to point offnadir by up to 16 degrees to achieve global coverage at the required spatial resolution. The data from this flight series is still being analyzed. If this experiment, data, and the associated modeling efforts determine that the scientific impact of off-nadir pointing is too large, then DESDynI will have to be implemented as two separate spacecraft, one for the InSAR and one for the lidar. Advanced Carbon dioxide and Climate LAser International Mission (ACCLAIM). The ACCLAIM instrument flew locally on the LaRC UC-12 (similar to the LaRC B-200) on 11 flights between September 23 and October 30, 2008. The flight tracks were over southeastern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina, and each flight lasted about three hours (33.8 hours total). ACCLAIM had also previously flown on the Learjet 25 in 2007. The purpose of the campaign was to conduct airborne validation of the remote measurements of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) with the ACCLAIM system. In situ measurements of CO 2 were also made on this aircraft, and spiral maneuvers were done at the center of the flight track for comparison with the remote ACCLAIM CO 2 column measurements. This is a critical step in the development and demonstration of the laser/lidar system that is going to be used for global measurements of CO 2 as part of the ASCENDS (Active Sensing of CO 2 Emissions over Nights, Days, and Seasons) mission. The results from this flight campaign demonstrated that the ACCLAIM instrument can make CO 2 column measurements with high precision and high accuracy (better than 0.75% or 3 ppm of CO 2 ). These were the first high quality, remote, laser measurements of CO 2 made from an airborne platform. Swath Imaging Multi-polarization Photoncounting Lidar (SIMPL) SIMPL was flown on the Glenn Research Center Learjet 25 in 2008 on an engineering test flight to test electrical and mechanical 16
configurations and interfaces. SIMPL is a multi-beam, push-broom, photon-counting laser altimeter that operates at 532 nm and 1064 nm wavelengths. An augmentation being considered for the ICESat-II Decadal Survey Mission is a multi-beam, photon counting laser altimeter operating at 532 nm. The SIMPL data will provide valuable insights into the benefits of this measurement approach for the ICESat-II mission. In the longer term, the efficiencies of photon counting provide a potential pathway to achieving the demanding goal of the Lidar Surface Topography (LIST) mission. LIST is a third tier Decadal Survey mission for global, high-resolution laser altimeter mapping of the Earth. Beginning in 2009, the various Decadal Survey science mission teams will initiate calibration/validation plans, instrument flight test schedules, and in some cases, algorithm development flight programs. The ASP is preparing a requirements document based on a survey of these missions to collect the needs of the science teams and assess and allocate airborne support for these missions in the coming years. 17
Page 2 and 3: On the cover: In the foreground are
Page 5 and 6: TABLE OF CONTENTS Executive Summary
Page 7 and 8: LIST OF FIGURES Fig. # Caption Page
Page 9 and 10: Fig. # Caption Page # 37 ESTO Suppo
Page 11: CONTRIBUTORS The contribution of th
Page 14 and 15: programs to train teachers in remot
Page 16 and 17: NOAA and a DOE aircraft, and aircra
Page 18 and 19: SCIENCE MISSIONS &
Page 21 and 22: ARCTAS Science Focus: Atmospheric C
Page 23 and 24: Figure 4 DC-8 Arrival in Thule, Gre
Page 25 and 26: sample downwind evolution of Canadi
Page 27: Figure 7 ACCLAIM instrument on the
Page 31 and 32: Figure 8 2008 UAS proposed operatio
Page 33 and 34: Figure 10 The Oden Research Vessel
Page 35 and 36: California Fire Emergency Response
Page 37 and 38: Figure 13 AMS-Wildfire sensor data,
Page 39 and 40: Southern California Post Fire Evalu
Page 41 and 42: CALIPSO: Caribbean Validation Missi
Page 43 and 44: Cold Land Processes Science Focus:
Page 45 and 46: Science Focus: Astromaterials Spons
Page 47 and 48: ESA ATV Reentry Science Focus: Atmo
Page 49 and 50: SOGASEX Science Focus: Carbon Cycle
Page 51 and 52: presented unique challenges to a U.
Page 53 and 54: Figure 25 NOVICE instrument payload
Page 55: PROGRAM ELEMENTS: & SCIENCE REQUIRE
Page 58 and 59: s Figure 26 Airborne Science Progra
Page 60 and 61: Science & Requirements The Science
Page 62 and 63: Flight Requests The 2008 calendar y
Page 64 and 65: Collaborations and Partnerships The
Page 66 and 67: Interagency UAS Coordination As the
Page 68 and 69: Interagency Working Group for Airbo
Page 70 and 71: AIRBORNE SCIENCE
Page 73 and 74: NASA DC-8 In November 2007, the NAS
Page 75 and 76: NASA ER-2 NASA operates two ER- 2 (
Page 77 and 78: NASA WB-57 Fiscal Year 2008 saw muc
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NASA P-3 The P-3B Orion is based at
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NASA G-3 During FY 2008, the DFRC G
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Aerosonde The Aerosonde Mark 3 airc
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limited to 28,000 ft in the Nationa
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Twin Otter Twin Otter International
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PROGRAM ELEMENTS: & NEW TECHNOLOGIE
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ground control station, and is resp
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variety of atmospheric and remote s
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Figure 35 Flight Envelope with cont
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additional fuel bladders to the cen
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Wallops, VA Campaign Cleveland, OH
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RTMM is web-accessible, password pr
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B-200 High Spectral Resolution Lida
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Non-Deployment Teams Field Deployme
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AIRBORNE SCIENCE
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Airborne Sensor Technology Lab This
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Figure 43 Taken Oct. 4, 2007, 2-met
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Figure 45 B-200 aircraft trajectory
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Dryden Aircraft Operations Facility
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Media, Education & Outreach NASA Ea
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Figure 48 ARCTAS press article samp
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in Panama City in July and August,
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outside of NASA. This past year, NA
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APPENDICES In Memoriam Airborne Pro
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also helped pioneer the use of loca
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The Founding and Early History of t
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where you couldn’t find them, and
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Figure 52 Early remote sensing payl
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This aircraft was designated NASA 9
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Personnel from both countries were
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APPENDIX D Acronyms & Abbreviations
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DCS DESDynI DFRC DHS DOD DOE DSS Di
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L LAABS LAC LALE LaRC LIDAR LIST LV
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REVEAL RFI RPI RSD RSP RTMM RVSM Re
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2008 Annual Report - NASA Airborne Science Program

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