Earth Observer : January - February 2005 : Vol

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National Aeronautics and Space Administration Earth Observer : January - February 2005 : Vol. 17 : No. 1 The Earth Observer . . . advancing knowledge of Earth through exploration

In This Issue Editor’s Corner Michael King EOS Senior Project Scientist Meeting / Workshop Summaries

AIRS Science Team Meeting I’m pleased to report that NASA Earth Science information—including data from a num- Summary 3 ber of EOS missions—has made signifi cant contributions in the aftermath of the recent Second CERES-II Science Team tsunami disaster. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on Terra Meeting 6 has provided numerous images of various parts of the impacted region that have been helpful in assessing how the coastline has been altered by the disaster. Though MODIS was MISR Science Team Meeting 11 not specifi cally designed to make the very detailed observations that are usually necessary for mapping coastline changes, the changes in this case are so substantial that MODIS can observe them. Other Items of Interest The Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Refl ection Radiometer (ASTER), also on Announcement 10 Terra, captures higher resolution images than MODIS and has also been useful for assessing changes in the landscape caused by the tsunamis. Likewise, the Enhanced Thematic Decadal Study—Request for Information Mapper Plus (ETM+) on Landsat 7 acquired some excellent regional imagery of the tsunami (RFI) from Community 16 damage on December 29, 2004, three days after the event that highlighted the variable extent of the damage. The results were forwarded to the Indonesian government, who found the information helpful as they planned their response to the disaster. Regular Features Meanwhile, the Multi-angle Imaging Spectroradiometer (MISR) on Terra was able to EOS Scientists in the News 18 capture unique time-lapse imagery of the breaking waves on December 26, 2004, off the coast of Sri Lanka. The MISR imagery provides measurements of the location and timing of Earth Science Education Program the breaking waves, their angle relative to the shoreline, and their speed of propagation. In Update 20 conjunction with bathymetric measurements of ocean depth, this information can be used Kudos 20 to refi ne and calibrate tsunami propagation models. Improving these models has two primary benefi ts for society. First, a detailed understanding of wave interactions with coastal Science Calendars 23 areas is necessary for developing damage mitigation approaches. Second, a better predic- tive capability of the models will make possible more accurate near-real-time forecasts of The Earth Observer Information/ tsunami arrival times and effects. Inquiries Back Cover Data from Jason and TOPEX/Poseidon (as well as data from the European Space Agency’s Envisat and the U.S. Navy’s Geosat Follow-On) was useful in tracking the tsunami waves as they propagated across the open ocean. These instruments wouldn’t normally be able to detect such an occurrence and won’t be useful as a detection system; yet it appears that in this specifi c case, the two satellites were in the right position at the right time to detect the changes in sea surface height caused by the waves. Researchers from the NOAA Labora- tory for Satellite Altimetry in Silver Spring, MD, were able to detect the tsunami in profi les of sea level along the satellites’ fl ight paths by comparing the sea level seen on December 26, 2004, with the sea level measurements the satellites picked up a few days, or weeks, earlier. U.S. and French teams, working in parallel with data from the joint NASA/French Space Agency’s Jason and TOPEX/Poseidon, independently confi rmed the satellites’ measurements of the height of the tsunami waves. “These observations are unique and of tremen- dous value for testing and improving tsunami computer models and developing future tsunami early warning systems,” said Lee-Lueng Fu of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA. The Earth Observer : January - February 2005 : Vol. 17 : No. 1 The Earth Observer : January - February 2005 : Vol. 17 : No. 1

Jason data used to track the tsunami waves as they propagated through the Indian ocean (left & right images). ��

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� �� HIRDLS still is providing new science �� results. The fi rst temperature retrieval �� has been obtained and the results compare favorably with analysis. �� In other news, in the last issue, I ac- I’m also pleased to report that the Aura • OMI has acquired preliminary tropo- knowledged the successful launch of Po- spacecraft is doing well and beginning to spheric column maps. Tropospheric larization and Anisotropy of Refl ectances provide valuable new science informa- O over the South Atlantic correlates 3 for Atmospheric Science coupled with tion. nicely with TES tropospheric profi le observations from a Lidar (PARASOL) data. OMI is also producing maps of by the French Centre Nationale d’Etudes • MLS got timely coverage of the Ant- Nitrogen Dioxide (NO ) and recently arctic ozone (O ) hole in October. New 2 Spatiale (CNES). I can now report that 3 obtained some Sulfur Dioxide (SO ) discoveries related to Hydrochloric 2 PARASOL is positioned in its control box profi les over the erupting Manam in the A-Train constellation, 131 seconds Acid (HCl) chemistry have also been Volcano on New Guinea. made. behind Aqua. PARASOL reached the • HIRDLS has a kapton blocking part constellation orbit at 705 km on February • TES has viewed curtains of tropo- of the scan mirror, which prevents 3, 2005. When CloudSat and Cloud- spheric O in the South Atlantic 3 it from being able to make hori- Aerosol Lidar Infrared Pathfi nder Satellite (Ascension Island) associated with zontal scans and reduces some of Observations (CALIPSO) launch later this biomass burning in West Africa. its planned capabilities. However, year, they will be placed between Aqua and PARASOL in the formation. Also, February 25, 2005, marked the fi fth anniversary of the Terra fi rst-light. The Terra Science Team plans a meeting on February 24, and then on February 25, team leaders and Principal Investigators will give presentations highlighting the accomplishments of the past fi ve years in the morning, followed by a party in the afternoon in honor of the fi fth anniversary. Lastly, I would like to acknowledge two EOS missions on the second anniversary of their launch, the Ice Clouds and Land Elevation (ICESat) mission (January 13) and the Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment (SORCE) mission (January 25). Both of these missions continue to provide new scientifi c knowledge about the Earth’s environment. I would like to commend all who have participated in these highly successful missions.

OMI-captured SO2 profi les over the Manam Volcano on New Guinea

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AIRS Science Team Meeting Summary

— Hartmut “George” Aumann, [email protected], Jet Propulsion Laboratory

The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder Level 2 products and results using Joel Susskind (GSFC) discussed the (AIRS) Science Team Meeting was held the European Centre for Medium- performance of the Level 2 V4.0 retriev- November 30 through December 2, range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), als. Comparison with the ECMWF Glob- 2004, at the Greenbelt Marriott in Green- Rawindsonde Observations (RAOBs) al Circulation Model (GCM) shows that belt, MD. The meeting was divided into and Advanced Microwave Scanning the requirement to generate radiosonde three major sessions: 1) Status of the Radiometer for EOS (AMSR-E). The like 1K/1km accuracy has been met. AIRS Project, Instrument and Software; retrievals meet the 1K/1km accuracy The data record contains the results of 2) AIRS Data Assimilation; and 3) Devel- requirement over non-polar oceans with all retrievals, even if quality indicators opment of Advanced Product Generation up to 80% cloud cover. Validation over (QA) indicate that the retrieval is good Algorithms and Research Products. land and under polar conditions is in only under a limited set of conditions, progress. Details of the results will be e.g., over the ocean and/or above 200 Session 1: Status of the AIRS Pro- compiled in the AIRS Level 2 (L2) Prod- mbar. The new multilayer quality indica- ject, Instrument and Software uct Validation Report, which is part of tors are based on empirical thresholds the Version 4.0 delivery to the Distrib- derived from the September 6, 2002 fo- Moustafa Chahine (JPL—AIRS Science uted Active Archive Center (DAAC). The cus day. SY Lee gave a tutorial on how Team Leader) gave the introductory results of the validation effort also form the Level 2 QA is mapped into a number remarks. More than two years of AIRS the basis for 40 papers for the special of 16-bit fl ags. There was consensus data are now available, and the quality of AIRS validation issue in the Journal that the values of the parameters used the AIRS data has exceeded his highest of Geophysical Research (Journal(Journal ooff for the QA threshold should be copied expectations. A paper has been sub- Geophysical Research). Deadline for the into the standard products to allow mitted to the Bulletin of the American Journal of Geophysical Research paper data users to experiment with their own Meteorological Society (BAMS) which submission is February 14, 2005. Level thresholds. summarizes the many AIRS accomplish- 3 products (developed by Stephanie ments. Granger at JPL), which map AIRS L2 Larrabee Strow (University of Mary- retrievals onto global maps, are becom- land, Baltimore County [UMBC]) Tom Pagano (JPL—AIRS Project Man- ing a very useful tool for the evaluation discussed the status of the Rapid ager) summarized the AIRS Project Sta- of the data for real and software-related Radiative Transfer Algorithm (RTA) tus: The AIRS and Advanced Microwave trends. and the absolute frequency calibra- Sounding Unit (AMSU) instruments are tion. The frequencies have been stable in excellent health. Steve Friedman (JPL—Deputy AIRS at the 1 ppm level since September Project Manager) presented the sched- 2002, but the channel spectra shifted George Aumann (JPL—AIRS Project ule for the delivery of the V4.0 to the on November 8, 2003, when the AIRS Scientist) provided the AIRS Calibra- DAAC. V4.0 processing is expected instrument was turned back on after tion and Science Status Overview. With to start at the DAAC in February 2005 the protective shut down during the big the absolute radiometric calibration going forward in time, and going back solar fl are. The RTA delivery in January stability established at the better than to September 2002 at x5 speed. At this 2003 is valid from September 1, 2002, 10 mK/year level, AIRS data are making rate a consistent three-year V4.0 data through October 31, 2003. The Janu- their entry into climate applications. set will be available in October 2005. ary 2004 RTA delivery, with the new The numerical weather forecasting The planned release of the revised channel spectra locations, is valid from centers have made great progress and Level 2 Algorithm Theoretical Basis November 15, 2003 until further notice. now show positive impact in both the Document (ATBD) will be the fi rst post- There are indications of a 0.5-ppm northern and southern hemispheres, as launch release and will describe the ba- day/night and seasonal variability of the will be discussed in the Data Assimila- sis of the V4.0 algorithm. Friedman also frequencies, which is irrelevant for the tion session. discussed milestones for Version 5.0 10 ppm frequency accuracy required (V5.0) upgrades. The highest priorities for retrievals, but needs to be taken into Eric Fetzer (JPL) discussed the meth- for V5.0 are improved surface emissiv- account for critical analysis of the data odology of validation, i.e., accuracy ity retrievals, and improved cloud-clear- for climate signals. An algorithmic cor- assessment of the Version 4.0 (V4.0) ing with, and independent of, AMSU. rection is proposed for V5.0.

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Steve Gaiser (JPL) discussed upgrades by using only the AIRS footprint at the The assimilation of cloud-fi ltered or to the Level 1b calibration in V4.0. center of every second AMSU foot- above-the-cloud-tops radiances limits Smoothing of the space views for some print. James Cameron (UK Met Offi ce) the potential for forecast impact, since channels has not changed the mean showed small positive impact from only 1% of the data is used. The use radiances, but noise has been improved assimilating raw 324 AIRS radiances of cloud-cleared radiances may allow slightly. The way the once-per-month down to the cloud tops. The 4.3-µm an order of magnitude more data to be

intrusion of the moon into the space CO2 R-branch channels are assimilated used, if they can be quality screened view is handled has also been improved. at night only. Tony McNally (ECMWF), to eliminate outliers. Larrabee Strow The Level 1b radiances are validated for reported getting positive impact over evaluated the cloud-cleared data as ocean. Validation for land and the polar ocean using radiance assimilation to the function of the latitude and total-water regions under very low temperature cloud tops and gamma correction ofof tthehe dependence of (obs-calc.ECMWF) in conditions is in progress. The CalFlag radiances for systematic effects, rather comparison to the (obs-calc.ECMWF) in the Level 1b record is the primary than bias tuning relative to the forecast. for strictly cloud fi ltered radiances. The indicator of the quality of the radiances. John LeMarshall (Joint Assimilation results look very similar for less than Offi ce [JAO]) showed positive impact in 30-mm total precipitable water. Evan Bjorn Lambrigtsen (JPL) gave the the northern and southern hemisphere Fishbein (JPL) found that the spec- presentation on the microwave Level oceans. The results are being written tral clear tests developed by Aumann 1b calibration which is still provisional up for a publication. A super-fast RTA, a for identifying cloud-free data have since it refers to antenna temperatures factor of 30 faster than the current one, little useful skill for quality screening only. These temperatures have to be is under development, which will allow cloud-cleared data over ocean. Mitch adjusted by scan angle and latitude- the ingest of more data. This is expected Goldberg (NOAA/NESDIS) found that dependent corrections of as much as to further enhance forecast impact. MODIS data can be used effectively to several K to convert to scene brightness Bob Atlas (Data Assimilation Offi ce quality control the cloud cleared AIRS temperatures. A correction using em- [DAO]/GSFC), is assimilating Level 2 data. About 30% of the cloud-cleared pirically derived scan-angle dependence retrievals. The analysis of January 2003 radiances pass his tests and are statisti- only is implemented in the Level 2 soft- temperature retrievals shows a positive cally indistinguishable from clear data. ware using ECMWF data from Setpem- impact. Most of the impact is achieved The 324 cloud-cleared channels are now ber 6, 2002 as a 30 x 15 matrix. These through the elimination of spurious distributed to the NWC in BUFR format. corrections agree with Phil Rosenkranz’s cyclones created by the forecast without (MIT) evaluation over the ocean—obs- AIRS data. The attempt to assimilate Session 3: Development of Ad- buoy.calc. Larry McMillin’s (NOAA moisture profi les resulted in a negative vanced Product Generation Algo- NESDIS) derived latitude/longitude, impact. Joanna Joiner (GSFC) showed rithms and Research Products. land/ocean and brightness temperature that AIRS radiances have positive impact dependent microwave tuning coeffi - on forecasts in the fvSSI system for Bob Knuteson (University of Wash- cients ( 30 x 15 x 17 matrix) agree with January 2003 in both hemispheres. She ington [UW]) evaluated the IR surface the above over ocean, but show signifi - stated that the expected forecast impact emissivity returned by the V4.0 PGE cant difference at high latitudes and over improvements in going from cloud- over land using very clear data over land. Implementation of the improved screening to cloud-clearing have not Egypt. He found that the silicate feature tuning coeffi cients and the upgrade of materialized, but the set-up may not be emissivity signal, which is clearly vis- the Level 1b from provisional to beta optimized. Elena Klein (graduate student ible in the raw Level 1b radiances, is validated is planned for V5.0. of Eugenia Kalnay at the University of no longer present in the cloud-cleared Maryland College Park [UMCP]) reported radiances. He is working on an alter- Session 2: AIRS Data Assimilation on progress using the Local Ensemble nate emissivity retrieval algorithm with Kalman Filter(LEKF)/fvGCM with AIRS Chris Barnet, NOAA/NESDIS, which may AIRS Level 1b data have been distributed data. The LEKF may be a breakthrough in minimize the perturbation of the bound- in Binary Universal Format Represen- data assimilation: It knows about the er- ary layer temperature and water due to tation (BUFR) format by the National rors of the day, iitt pprovidesrovides pperfecterfect iinitialnitial emissivity error. Xavier Calbet (EUMET- Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration perturbations for ensemble forecasting. SAT) showed results with an operational (NOAA)/National Environmental Satellite Matrix computations are done in a very algorithm for AIRS data, and ultimately Data and Information Service (NESDIS) low-dimensional space, which is both Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Inter- since May 2003. This distribution is accurate and effi cient, and it does not ferometer (IASI) data, which simulta- a thinned data set of 324 of the 2378 require the adjoint of the Numerical neously retrieves from a single AIRS AIRS spectral channels. Thinning by an Weather Prediction (NWP) model (or the fi eld-of-view (FOV) T(p), q(p) and cloud additional factor of 18 is accomplished observation operator). amount without a formal cloud-clearing

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step. The current algorithm is stabilized from the Measurements of Pollution clear tropical ocean. The sea surface on the forecast surface temperature, for- in the Troposphere (MOPITT) satellite temperature retrieved from AIRS tracks bids super-adiabatic and super-saturat- instrument, which in turn is 10% higher the global fl oating buoys with less than ed retrievals and works only with known than models expected. Striking fl ow 10 mK/year trend. The observed appar- emissivity over ocean. It uses 1900 of patterns can be seen from forest fi res in ent cooling trend of 80mK/year in the

the 2378 AIRS channels. David Staelin Brazil and Alaska. (Figure 1 shows CO CO2 sensitive mid-tropospheric channels (MIT) showed encouraging results us- retrievals from September 29, 2002. The is explained by the global increase in the

ing a neural-net trained cloud-clearing dark areas are very high concentrations CO2 at the rate of 2.2 ppmv per year. The algorithm developed by his graduate of CO, the light gray slivers along the results have been accepted for publica- student, Cho Chen. The test was limited equator are single day-coverage gaps). tion in Geophysical Research Letters. to granule 208 of July 1, 2002. Hank Phil Rosenkranz (MIT) discussed the Revercomb (UW) showed results from validation of the microwave radiative The next AIRS Science Team Meet- the SHIS underfl ights of the EOS Aqua transfer algorithm, which is being writing is planned for early May 2005, in and EOS Aura on October 29, 2004, ten up for the AIRS validation special celebration of the third year of AIRS including preliminary results of compar- Journal of Geophysical Research issue. data. The meeting will be in Pasadena, isons with the Tropospheric Emission Larrabee Strow summarized results CA. Please check the AIRS web site for Spectrometer (TES). SHIS on the WB57 of day and night aerosol optical depth more information, airs.jpl.nasa.gov. The aircraft now has uplooking and down- retrievals over cloud-free ocean, which presentations of the speakers shown in looking capability. Mike Iacono (AER) has been submitted to Geophysical boldface in the text can also be found on discussed algorithms which speed up Research Letters. MODIS retrievals of the AIRS web site. the radiative-transfer algorithm (RTA) aerosol optical depth (day time only) by two orders of magnitude and applied are in good agreement. Joel Susskind them to the analysis of climate trends (GSFC) showed his work on precipita- in High-resolution Infrared Radiation tion estimates and the generation of Sounder (HIRS) data. There is a tradeoff Spencer and Christy-like Microwave between accuracy and speed. There is Sounder Unit (MSU) coarse layer tem- general appreciation that one bottleneck perature trends for long-term climate to the assimilation of AIRS radiances is records using TIROS Operational Verti- Notice: the time required to run the RTA. This is cal Sounder (TOVS) data. He plans to true also for the V4.0 Level 2 software, extend the data record using AIRS and The Earth Observer will no longer which spends 40% of the execution AMSU data. Eric Fetzer showed that be printed after the May-June 2005 time evaluating the RTA. Jon Wright, many low-level temperature inversions issue. We will continue to produce (Georgia Tech), discussed the vertical which are detected in the AIRS Level 2 new issues bi-monthly, but they structure of deep convection and upper algorithm are independently verifi able. will only be available on-line in PDF tropospheric water (UTW) using AIRS The results have been accepted for pub- format at eospso.gsfc.nasa.gov/ retrievals. UTW (water column from lication in Geophysical Research Letters. earth_observer.php. 100-500 mb) provides 35% of the water George Aumann summarized results of vapor feedback in climate models. He two-year AIRS and AMSU trends over noted that the AIRS UTW is slightly less than UTW in the ECMWF GCM. Measurements of UTW from balloons using frost-point hygrometers by Larry Miloshevich (LaRC), represent the con- tinuing effort to verify the accuracy of the AIRS water vapor profi les above 400 mbar, where the accuracy of conventional RAOBs start to degrade rapidly.

Wallace McMillan (UMBC) summarized global results in carbon monoxide (CO) retrievals from AIRS. A write-up has been accepted for publication in Geophysical Research Letters. CO from Figure 1: Large columns of CO rising from forest fi res in Brazil and South East Asia are carried around AIRS is generally 10% higher than that the world (AIRS CO retrievals for September 29, 2002, from Wallace McMillan’s GRL paper presented at the meeting).

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Second CERES-II Science Team Meeting

— Gary G. Gibson, Gary.G. [email protected], NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) — Shashi K. Gupta, [email protected], LaRC

The second meeting of the new Clouds physics ensembles to attempt to infer and suggested minimum improvements and the Earth’s Radiant Energy System more rigorous uncertainty in climate to the FM-5 mirror attenuated mosaic (CERES-II) Science Team was held predictions. Wielicki is a contributing (MAM), calibration, and characterization November 2-4, 2004 in Williamsburg, author on a chapter for changes in top- if used on NPOESS. VA. The meeting was held jointly with of-atmosphere (TOA) fl uxes. This marks the Atmospheric Radiation Measure- the fi rst inclusion of radiation-budget Wielicki briefed the team on the status ment (ARM) and the Global Energy and data in observations of climate change. of the GEWEX TOA and surface radia- Water-cycle Experiment (GEWEX) Cloud tive fl ux assessment activities. One of System Study (GCSS) cloud-modeling At NASA, Space Science and Earth the assessment objectives is to examine working groups. Science are now merged as they were decadal variability and defi ne the accu- in the 1980s. The implications for racy of TOA and surface data. The long- The meeting objectives included a future funding in the Earth Sciences term goal is to merge TOA, atmosphere, review of the status of CERES data prod- segment are not clear. NASA is cur- and surface data sets. Observation ucts; an examination of 4 years of Terra rently planning the next Earth System system requirements are driven by the data to assess variability and potential Science Pathfi nder (ESSP) competi- climate model natural variability, which trends in calibration, radiation, and tion for FY05. Water/energy cycle and defi nes the limits of observing system clouds; a discussion of a new GEWEX modeling research announcements are accuracy. Key issues include climate radiative-fl ux assessment activity; and now underway, and the Cloud-Aerosol radiative forcing, cloud feedback, and an overview of CERES fl ux and cloud- Lidar and Infrared Pathfi nder Satel- aerosol indirect effect. The long-term property capabilities relevant to ARM lite Observations (CALIPSO) lidar and goal is climate-prediction uncertainty- and GCSS cloud modeling. The next CloudSat radar are expected to launch driven requirements. CERES-II Science Team meeting will be in 2005. In the CERES program, 20% hosted at the Geophysical Fluid Dynam- budget cuts were taken in FY04 which Terra/Aqua Instruments and Cali- ics Laboratory (GFDL) in Princeton, NJ resulted in signifi cant staff reductions. brations by Leo Donner and Brian Soden on May The FY05 and FY06 plan calls for further 3-5, 2005. reductions of 5% per year. Dealing with Kory Priestley (LaRC) presented the the implementation of NASA’s full-cost operational and calibration/validation Climate Program Overview accounting system continues to be a status of the four CERES instruments on challenge. Aqua and Terra. The CERES Terra/Aqua Bruce Wielicki (LaRC) reported on the instruments are functioning nominally. state of the U.S. Climate Change Science For the second time, the CERES Flight Edition2 Bi-directional Scan (BDS) and Program (CCSP), NASA Earth Science, Model (FM)-5 instrument has been Earth Radiation Budget Experiment CERES, Intergovernmental Panel on knocked off of the NPP gap-fi lling mis- (ERBE)-Like products are available Climate Change (IPCC), National Polar- sion due to budget problems. CERES through December 2003 for Terra and orbiting Operational Environmental Sat- has been working with NPOESS to June 2004 for Aqua. All radiometric ellite System (NPOESS), and NPOESS estimate costs of transitioning CERES goals have been met for these Edition2 Preparatory Project (NPP). CCSP has data product codes to the NPOESS products. Time series analyses demon- formed an Observations Working Group system. NPOESS has formally requested strate a negative trend in the shortwave with a Data Management sub-work- NASA to provide the stored CERES FM-5 radiation fi eld for the Terra instruments. ing group. The next step is to examine instrument for use on the fi rst NPOESS The CERES calibration/validation pro- observation requirements. The multi- to be launched in 2011. CERES has re- tocol does not recognize this trend as agency report of a workshop on satellite quested that the required processing for being an instrument calibration issue. calibration requirements for climate climate data products be done at LaRC. The sensitivity of the atmospheric win- data records has been published. The CERES has re-examined the radiation- dow channels to scene brightness has IPCC meeting on climate sensitivity was budget data-gap risk and found that the been accounted for in all Aqua Edition2 held in April. The working group report risk moderately exceeds climate goals. data products and in Terra Edition2 data outlines a new way to use perturbed CERES has submitted the gap analysis products for July 2003 and onward. Un-

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precedented stability levels of ~0.1%/yr Swath (CRS) Edition 2A and 2B. CRS delivered about 20 TBytes of CERES have been achieved for several products is the Surface and Atmospheric Radia- data in FY04. in the CERES climate record. tion Budget (SARB) product. Retrieved fl uxes are routinely compared with Outreach Cloud Properties surface observations at over 50 sites (over half of which subscribe to rigor- Susan Moore (SAIC) gave an overview Patrick Minnis (LaRC) presented ous BSRN calibration standards); no of the CERES education and public CERES cloud algorithms and results. surface radiometric data are used in outreach effort, the Students’ Cloud The objective is to provide a consistent the retrieval. Twenty months of Terra Observations On-Line (S’COOL) Project. cloud-properties data set from the Tropi- CRS Edition 2A, an ungridded and high S’COOL now has 1752 registered cal Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM), volume SARB product, are on archive. participants in 65 countries. The S’COOL Terra, and Aqua to relate cloud proper- Biases of all-sky downwelling surfaces newsletter is published in English, ties to the radiation budget, and provide fl uxes are 4 W/m2 for LW and 12 W/m2 French, and Spanish. data to initialize and validate climate and for SW at the Terra overpass times. weather-prediction models. He summa- For March 25, 2000, global net all-sky Terra ERBE-Like Fluxes rized the extensive ongoing intercalibra- SW+LW aerosol forcing was –0.5 W/m2 tion efforts and algorithm improvements at TOA, +5.3 W/m2 for the atmosphere, Takmeng Wong (LaRC) gave a presen- for Aqua. Terra and Aqua cloud fractions and –5.9 W/m2 for the surface. For a tation showing both the interannual are now very consistent in pattern and theoretically clear globe, the respective variability of Earth radiation budget magnitude. Aqua has more, higher ice aerosol forcings are –1.8 W/m2, 5.0 (LW, SW, and net) and the time series clouds, probably thin cirrus, and lower W/m2, and –6.7 W/m2. A more-advanced analyses of tropical mean, mid-latitude water-cloud heights. Future research Edition 2B will begin to enter the archive mean, polar mean, and global mean will include multilayer cloud detec- shortly. Earth radiation fi elds using the fi rst 4 tion, improvement of nighttime/twilight years of CERES/Terra ERBE-Like data. results, continued validation using ARM Merged CERES/GEO Time Sampling The interannual variability of Earth radia- and CALIPSO, multiangle studies using tion budget showed interesting features geostationary satellites, and in situ icing Dave Doelling (Analytical Services & relating to El Niño events. Time series data; and estimation of sub-pixel cloud Materials, Inc., AS&M) highlighted the analyses showed a negative trend in the amounts. achievements of the CERES Temporal SW radiation fi eld, pointing to a possible Interpolation and Spatial Averaging instrument calibration problem. Simple Surface Fluxes (TISA) group in the implementation of geostationary (GEO) data into the Terra Surface Shortwave Flux (SSF) David Kratz (LaRC) presented valida- CERES gridded product. He showed that Fluxes and Clouds tion of surface shortwave (SW) and the inclusion of GEO-derived longwave longwave (LW) fl uxes for single-scan- fl uxes in the time-space-averaged Norman Loeb (Hampton University ner footprint (SSF) data derived with product removed most diurnal features [HU]) presented results from an analysis simpler surface fl ux algorithms that are resulting from Terra's sampling pattern. of deseasonalized anomalies in CERES based on TOA-to-surface transfer meth- For the SW, an empirical angular nar- SSF parameters based on four years ods or fast radiation parameterizations. rowband-to-broadband radiance model of CERES and MODIS Terra measure- Ground-based fl uxes for validation were was developed using coincident MODIS ments. SW TOA fl uxes from both FM1 obtained from a number of sources and CERES data. This model was and FM2 instruments decreased by such as the Baseline Surface Radiation enhanced using theoretical radiances for 2% between March 2000 and Decem- Network (BSRN) and SURFace RADia- all the GEO satellites. ber 2003 for all-sky, clear ocean, and tion Network (SURFRAD). Clear-sky SW clear desert scenes. The decrease errors were within acceptable range in Data Management is closer to 1% for deep convective most cases, but all-sky SW errors were clouds. SW fl uxes and cloud properties larger. LW errors for clear-sky and for Mike Little (LaRC) reviewed the CE- inferred from MODIS retrievals show all-sky were within the desired range. RES Data Management status includ- no systematic change between March ing an overview of available docu- 2000 and December 2003. FM1 and Terra CRS mentation and a summary of data FM2 nadir SW radiances are consistent product releases. Ed Kizer (SAIC) from March 2000 to August 2002, but Thomas Charlock (LaRC) described of the Atmospheric Sciences Data begin to deviate after August 2002. By the accuracy of surface fl uxes from Center (ASDC) reviewed available user December 2003, the two instruments Terra CERES Cloud and Radiation services and data products. The ASDC differ by 1%.

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Fred Rose (AS&M) presented compari- Comparison Experiment (SOLSTICE), that MODIS-based CERES cloud ID is sons of Terra CRS/SSF calculations and and the XUV Photometer System (XPS) greatly improved over snow/ice surfaces observations at TOA. He conjectured for monitoring other parts of the solar compared to the ERBE results. An inde- that the untuned albedo biases were spectrum. A record of total solar irradi- pendent analysis showed that for polar attributed to improper treatment of aero- ance (TSI) from March 2003 to October regions we should expect a positive sols, inadequate retrieval of multi-layer 2004 showed large variability associ- greenhouse effect over surfaces without clouds, cloud 3-D effects, and cloud ated with solar fl ares and other events. temperature inversions and negative optics. He noted that the observed drift An important and surprising fi nding greenhouse effect over surfaces with in SW bias was consistent with CERES from this limited though highly accurate temperature inversions near the surface. dimming, and the drift in LW bias was dataset is that TSI is around 1361 W/m2, mostly over clear-sky land scenes. The about 4 W/m2 less than the consensus James Coakley (Oregon State Uni- untuned SW bias was greatest over value of 1365 W/m2 from several earlier versity) presented an assessment of overcast ocean. experiments. the methods used to estimate indirect radiative forcing by aerosols through Bruce Wielicki examined a number of Investigator Presentation High- their effects on clouds. The fi rst kind of outstanding science issues using CERES lights indirect forcing is caused by an increase data. He analyzed interannual variations in the number of cloud droplets and of radiation from CERES and other data Amy Clement (University of Miami) a decrease in droplet size while liquid sets and found that the diverse data sets presented results of simulations to water path (LWP) remains constant. A from the Earth Radiation Budget Satel- examine the possibility of reproducing second kind is caused when drizzle is lite (ERBS), International Satellite Cloud the decadal changes in tropical mean suppressed and LWP increases. A third Climatology Project (ISCCP), Advanced TOA fl uxes reported byWielicki et al. kind may be caused when absorbing Very High Resolution Radiometer (2002). Two mechanisms were exam- aerosols suppress cloud growth. Coak- (AVHRR), High-resolution Infra-red Ra- ined as possible causes: 1) changes ley concluded that uncertainties in the diation Sounder (HIRS), Stratospheric in tropical circulation and 2) changes current methods are large and realistic Aerosol and Gas Experiment (SAGE), in cloud microphysics. For the fi rst estimates of indirect radiative forcing and CERES are consistent for detecting hypothesis, changes in the strength of are hampered by the lack of understand- trends. Weilicki also discovered that Hadley circulation were analyzed using ing of the effects of pollution on LWP TOA fl ux trends from the late 1980s to simulations with a Geophysical Fluid and cloud amount. the mid 1990s are positive for outgoing Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL) model LW and positive for net fl ux to warm the and three other Global Climate Models Fu-Lung Chang (University of Maryland, planet. He showed that CERES obser- (GCMs). The second hypothesis was College Park [UMCP]) presented a new vations do not support the Earthshine examined in GFDL simulations only. The method using MODIS data for deriving results of Palle et al. and noted several strength of the Hadley circulation had cloud properties for both layers when concerns with the Earthshine analy- to almost double in order to reproduce high cirrus clouds were present over sis. In another study, he showed that the observed changes. Simulations for low clouds. Results from the current estimates of ocean heat storage tracked the second hypothesis showed that a method were compared with stan- well with ERBS/CERES global net radia- minor change in precipitation effi ciency dard MODIS retrievals as well as with tion anomalies over the past decade. He would reproduce the observed changes. traditional visible-infrared (ISCCP-type) noted that ocean heat storage is consis- Clement concluded that a combination retrievals. For several case studies, tent with climate model predictions of of the two mechanisms might be a likely and for global retrievals, it was shown global warming ocean heating. solution. that MODIS retrievals overestimated high clouds while ISCCP retrievals Invited Presentations Robert Cess (State University of New overestimated low clouds. Chang’s York at Stony Brook) presented a com- results showed better agreement with Gary Rottman (University of Colo- parative assessment of the performance multi-sensor products on cloud vertical rado) presented early results from the of ERBE and CERES cloud identifi cation structure from the ARM Southern Great SOlar Radiation and Climate Experi- (cloud ID) algorithms over snow/ice Plains (SGP) site. ment (SORCE), which is dedicated to surfaces. He obtained ERBE-like the measurement of total and spectral refl ected SW and outgoing LW; corre- Seiji Kato (HU) presented an error solar irradiance. In addition to the total sponding Terra SSF products for CERES analysis of the irradiance derived from irradiance monitor (TIM), and spectral and examined them vis-a-vis ground- Terra snow/sea ice angular-distribution irradiance monitor (SIM), the spacecraft based measurements from the South models (ADMs). Clear-sky permanent also carries the Solar Stellar Irradiance Pole Observatory. Cess determined snow albedos over Antarctica estimated

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from two independent ADMs are con- ing products obtained directly from the Laura Hinkelman (National Institute of sistent to within 0.6%. The estimated MODIS project. CERES produces two Aerospace [NIA]) presented a talk on mean relative albedo error is 1% for products for each satellite: one using spatial matching error in comparisons very dark sea ice and 0.1% for very a MODIS-type algorithm and the other of satellite and surface fl uxes. She bright sea ice. The estimated regional using an AVHRR-type (Stowe-Ignatov) outlined new efforts to understand root-mean-square (RMS) relative algorithm. MODIS-type retrievals from the limitations of using ground-based albedo errors are 5.6% and 2.6% for Terra and Aqua showed considerable radiometer measurements to evalu- regions with very dark and very bright differences while AVHRR-type retriev- ate surface shortwave fl uxes retrieved sea ice, respectively. als showed better agreement. AVHRR- for CERES SSF. Differences between type retrievals yielded higher values of ground- and satellite-viewing geometry Steven Dewitte (Royal Meteorologi- aerosol optical depth (AOD) than MO- such as fi eld of view size, surface loca- cal Institute of Belgium) presented DIS-type retrievals. The two procedures tion, and sensor position relative to the a validation of Geostationary Earth also showed signifi cant differences in Sun were described. Plans to quantify Radiation Budget (GERB) LW fluxes correlations with cloud amount. these differences for comparisons using corresponding CERES fluxes between CERES and radiometer fl uxes for January-June 2004. He presented Istvan Laszlo (NOAA NESDIS) com- were outlined. scatterplots between coincident pared single- and multi-channel retriev- GERB and CERES LW data. GERB als of AODs using the same input data Lou Smith (NIA) made a two-part pre- fluxes showed a small underestima- set. The single channel retrievals were sentation. The fi rst part was a review of tion that could be represented by a accomplished with the NOAA/NESDIS the comparison of measurements from linear fit. GERB fluxes also showed AVHRR-type algorithm at 644 and 1632 Earth radiation budget instruments some dependence on the view zenith nm while multi-channel retrievals were which have fl own over the last 29 years. angle that was also represented by an done with a MODIS-type algorithm. The The second part discussed the NOAA- analytical fit with an RMS difference common input was the MODIS Atmo- 9 ERBE wide-fi eld-of-view data set, of about 1%. Regionally and instanta- sphere Parameters Subset Statistics which provided global coverage from neously, underestimations as large as (MAPSS) dataset. Comparisons were February 1985 through 1992. The orbit 20 W/m2 occurred frequently. made at about 25 ocean locations. For precessed slowly and ERBE measure- both Terra and Aqua data, single-chan- ments could not be reliably processed Xiquan Dong (University of North nel AODs were found to be slightly to provide global coverage. However, at Dakota) presented a climatology of higher than the multi-channel values. latitudes higher than 60°N, the NOAA-9 mid-latitude continental clouds derived Retrievals from the solar and anti-so- orbit covers near noon and comple- from ground-based measurements at lar side of the satellites showed little ments the ERBS coverage. The NOAA- the ARM SGP site. Monthly averages differences. The differences between 10 orbit gives Southern Hemisphere of total cloud amount, amounts in the the two results also showed a slight coverage near noon at high latitudes. three height categories (low, middle, dependence on the scattering angle. Thus, ERBE data from these two space- and high) and corresponding values of craft together with the ERBS satellite cloud radiative forcing gathered over a Christina Hsu (UMBC) presented an provide global coverage as originally 6-year period (January 1997 – Decem- algorithm for retrieving aerosol proper- planned for the ERBE mission. ber 2002) were presented. Total and ties over bright refl ecting regions using low clouds were more abundant during MODIS data where the standard MODIS Zhonghai Jin (AS&M) presented an the winter months while high clouds algorithm currently does not work. analysis of model and observational were more abundant during summer. Many such regions over Afro-Asian results performed for determining if Cloud radiative forcing for total and deserts, China, and India are major ocean surface albedos for SARB valida- low clouds was highest during spring sources of atmospheric aerosols. The tion can be derived from SW fl ux mea- and summer while that for high clouds algorithm makes use of solar refl ec- surements made at the CERES Ocean peaked during summer. tances in the 412, 490, and 670 nm Validation Experiment (COVE) site. channels and is known as the deep blue Both model results and observations Alexander Ignatov (NOAA National algorithm becausebecause ooff iitsts uusese ooff tthehe 441212 indicated that ocean surface albedo for Environmental Satellite, Data, and In- nm refl ectance. Low refl ectance of des- overcast condition show low variability formation Service [NESDIS]) presented ert surfaces at 412 and 490 nm allows with solar zenith angle (SZA) as well the status of ocean aerosol products retrieval of AOD and Angstrom expo- as sea state. Jin also reported that low derived within the CERES project using nent over those surfaces. Efforts are values of upward and downward fl uxes MODIS data from Terra and Aqua and a underway to implement this algorithm resulted in large uncertainties in com- comparison of those with correspond- into operational MODIS processing. puted surface albedos.

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Joint CERES/GCSS/ARM Session George Tselioudis (Goddard Institute results from an experiment in which for Space Studies [GISS]) presented ARM data were used to evaluate model Bruce Wielicki gave an overview of an overview of the current activities of results and improve parameterizations. CERES as a provider of climate quality GCSS WG3, whose focus is on improv- Differences in ice concentration and ice integrated data for radiation, cloud, and ing the representation of extratropical microphysical properties were identi- aerosol research. He showed that CE- layer clouds in GCMs and NWP models. fi ed as important contributors to the RES is 2 to 10 times more accurate than The scope of activities includes im- defi ciencies. ERBE with capability for deriving TOA, provements to boundary layer, convec- surface, and atmospheric fl uxes. CERES tive, cirrus, and some polar clouds. The joint session closed with a discus- has made advances in calibration, an- Tselioudis presented results from an sion of data needs, joint activities, and gular sampling, temporal sampling, and exercise to identify the defi ciencies in analyses, TWP-ICE collaborations, and the determination of clear-sky fl uxes, the models by comparing GISS GCM the opportunities presented when the surface and atmospheric fl uxes, and and ECMWF NWP model results with A-train becomes reality. cloud properties (from MODIS). CERES ISCCP observations. He also presented offers a range of scales and variables for testing models and overlaps with ERBE and other data sets to improve the On the northwestern coast of Madagascar, the quality of the radiation record through salty waters of the Mozambique Channel penetrate inland to join with the freshwater outfl ow of the the 1980s and 1990s. Merging CERES Betsiboka River, forming Bombetoka Bay. data with vertical measurements from CALIPSO and CloudSat starting in This image from the Advanced Spaceborne Ther- mid 2005 will provide unprecedented mal Emission and Refl ection Radiometer (ASTER) on NASA’s Terra satellite shows Bombetoka Bay opportunities for studying the radiative just upstream of where it opens up into the Mo- effects of clouds. The CERES Working zambique Channel, which separates Madagascar Group leads presented overviews of from Africa to the west. data products and issues of particular NASA image courtesy the U.S./Japan ASTER Sci- interest to the ARM and GCSS teams. ence Team, NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS. ARM researchers briefed the CERES team on their modeling efforts and fi eld experiments including potential collaborations for the upcoming Tropical Warm Pool - International Cloud Experiment Announcement (TWP-ICE). NASA DAAC Annual Publication Celebrates 10 Years Jon Petch (Meteorological Offi ce, U.K.) presented an overview of the activi- The 10th Anniversary edition of the NASA DAAC Annual, titled “Distributed Ac- ties of GCSS Working Group 4 (WG4) tive Archive Centers: Supporting Earth Observing Science 2004,” is now avail- who are tasked to work on improving able from the National Snow and Ice Data Center DAAC. The DAAC Annual is a the parameterizations for precipitating yearly, multidisciplinary publication that highlights applications and research convective cloud systems in GCMs and uses of data from NASA’s Earth Observing System satellites. numerical weather prediction (NWP) models through an improved scientifi c The 2004 edition highlights recent research on atmospheric and cryospheric understanding of cloud system process- processes, natural hazards, oceanography, and human infl uences on the es. The group participants pursue these environment and urban landscape. This edition also features a special 10th objectives by refi ning cloud-resolving Anniversary section, which includes color-data images that illustrate improve- model (CRM) and single-column model ments in instrumentation, DAAC product-user statistics, and an index of all (SCM) simulations with observational DAAC articles published from 1994-2004. data and transferring those refi nements to the large-scale models. Petch outlined Researchers working with data archived at the NASA DAACs are invited to the objectives and plans for the next contact the editor at [email protected] to explore possibilities for devel- WG4 project, which aims to understand oping a future DAAC article. For a free copy of the Annual, contact NSIDC the processes involved in the observed User Services at [email protected]. A PDF version is also available online at transition of tropical convection between nasadaacs.eos.nasa.gov/articles/index.html. active and suppressed conditions.

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MISR Science Team Meeting

— David J. Diner, [email protected], NASA JPL — Graham Bothwell, [email protected], NASA JPL — Roger Davies, [email protected], NASA JPL — Ralph A. Kahn, [email protected], NASA JPL — John V. Martonchik, [email protected], NASA JPL

A meeting of the Multi-angle Imaging using Support Vector Machines. In the metric and geometric calibration. MISR Spectroradiometer (MISR) Science AS session, presentations were made takes unique approaches to measuring Team was held December 7-10, 2004 by Michael Bull, Ralph Kahn, John many Earth system parameters. Its at the Pasadena Convention Center in Martonchik, and Wedad Abdou (JPL), cloud heights, for example, are insensi- Pasadena, CA. It provided an excellent Alexei Lyapustin (GSFC), Hongliang tive to atmospheric temperature profi les opportunity to review enormous scien- Fang (University of Maryland), Bernard and cloud emissivities, and its aerosol tifi c progress made during the interven- Pinty (EC Joint Research Centre), and retrievals are highly accurate over land ing year since the previous meeting, and Yuri Knyazikhin (Boston University). for the range of common particle types, was notable for the number of partici- Much of the discussion dealt with land making these important products for pants who attended a MISR Science- surface property retrievals, which are climate observing and air quality moni- Team gathering for the fi rst time. performed self-consistently with MISR toring. MISR’s ability to sense cloud aerosol retrievals over land. Compari- and aerosol-plume heights, vegetation The fi rst afternoon of the meeting was sons of MISR atmospherically corrected structure, and ice-surface roughness devoted to parallel working groups surface bidirectional refl ectances have also makes it a unique complement to involved with validating the top-of- been compared with similar products active sensors. MISR’s many capabili- atmosphere cloud (TC) products and derived using Aerosol Robotic Network ties, and excellent instrument health, aerosol/surface (AS) products. David (AERONET) aerosol retrievals applied are now poised for extending the data Diner and Kyle Miller (JPL) introduced to MISR radiances, and with AirMISR, record for studying long-term trends. the sessions with a charge to the work- Cloud Absorption Radiometer (CAR) and Diner thanked the science and engineering groups and a presentation on Level Portable Apparatus for Rapid Acquisi- ing team and their associates for their 1 software status, respectively. In the tion of Bidirectional Observations of excellent work and dedication over the TC session, presentations were made Land and Atmosphere (PARABOLA III) course of the mission. by Catherine Moroney, Roger Davies, surface products, with very good con- and Dominic Mazzoni (JPL), Larry sistency. Additional validation studies Overall project status was presented Di Girolamo (University of Illinois), included a comparison of MISR, MODIS, by Graham Bothwell (JPL). During Jan-Peter Muller (University College and Meteosat surface albedo products 2004, MISR obtained Local Mode London), Catherine Naud (GISS), and for Southern Europe and Africa, that data (highest resolution imagery in Gabriela Seiz (ETH, Zurich). Highlights showed very good agreement among all channels) for several fi eld cam- included the comparison of cloud the products and a limited comparison paigns, including the International heights with surface site observations, of MISR Leaf Area Index (LAI) with fi eld Chemical Transport Experiment (IN- showing generally excellent agreement. measurements at selected EOS core TEX-NA), the New England Air Quality Occasional differences were attributed validation sites. Study (NEAQS-ITCD), and the Central to the presence of multilevel clouds Mediterranean Aerosol and Radiation and to thin cirrus. A low bias of about The plenary session of the meeting Experiment (C-MARE). Special regional 600 m was noted in the MISR heights convened for the next two-and-a-half products and web-based data displays for some single cloud layers that may days. David Diner (JPL) welcomed the and access capabilities were provided be related to the physics of multiple participants, and introduced the meeting for the United Arab Emirates Aerosol scattering. Anecdotal reports of high- with a presentation recapping the tre- Experiment (UAE-2) and for the Rain In latitude anomalies in cloud height were mendous and diverse accomplishments Cumulus over Ocean (RICO) campaigns. shown to be due to occasional high of the MISR team and its associates The number of peer-reviewed publica- wind-speed blunders, or to the pres- during the past fi ve years. The instru- tions doubled since 2003. Based on an ence of thin cirrus, and not specifi cally ment continues to work superbly, and independent peer review, MISR’s Where to the latitude. Cloud masks agreed well multiangle, multispectral data products on Earth…? Mystery Quizzes are now against expert labeling and comparisons are being generated with excellent radio- an offi cial part of NASA’s Digital Library

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for Earth System Education. In 2003 Photosynthetically Active Radiation Mark Chopping (Montclair State and 2004, respectively, the MISR TC (LAI/FPAR) products are to be kept at University) discussed using multiangle and AS software teams each received a the provisional level of validation for data to map community types and cover NASA Space Act Award from the NASA the time being since studies are still amount in large areas of the semi- Inventions and Contributions Board. in progress at Boston University and arid southwestern U.S., with eventual MISR’s airborne counterpart, AirMISR, University of Maryland. emphasis on estimating the above- and has been an invaluable tool in MISR below-ground carbon pools for these calibration/validation and research since The next few presentations focused on areas. the start of the mission, but due to application of MISR products to specifi c funding cutbacks was retired at the end science problems. Leal Mertes (University of California at of the 2004 fl ight season. Recent special Santa Barbara [UCSB]) discussed the deployments included data collections in Bernard Pinty (JRC) discussed how use of MISR data in the study of marsh- support of the North American Carbon multiangle surface-refl ectance data, land dynamics, with the potential of Program over several New England interpreted in terms of the Rahman- providing information on water quality forests. Pinty-Verstraete (RPV) bidirectional and sediment concentration, inundation refl ectance factor (BRF) model, could extent, and identifi cation of inundated Terra Project Scientist Jon Ranson be used to infer certain canopy architec- vegetation and other surface types. (GSFC) presented highlights from each ture parameters such as ground frac- of the instruments on the platform. tional cover and canopy gap fraction. Julian Jenkins (University of New Terra has completed more than 25,000 Anne Nolin (Oregon State University) Hampshire) described his group’s work orbits, and there is a large user com- showed results of applying the RPV using AirMISR data and neural-net munity. Currently, solid-state recorder model to snow-covered forested areas, analyses to predict forest-cover distribu- anomalies have reduced recording obtaining a good correlation between tions, basal area and biomass, with the capacity to the minimum needed to forest cover density and the k (bowl-(bowl- oorr results compared against fi eld measure- maintain the baseline science data col- bell-shaped BRF) parameter of the RPV ments. These promising results indicate lection rate. A plan to recycle power to model. Ranga Myneni (Boston Uni- that an optical multiangle instrument the Solid-State Recorder (SSR) boards versity) reviewed the higher scientifi c should be included in any remote sens- has been presented to NASA HQ. value of a variety of specifi c surface ing instrument suite aimed at forest Ranson spent some time discussing the geophysical products when they are characterization. upcoming NASA senior review ofof EarthEarth derived using simultaneous multi-angle science missions. This will be used to measurements. These include: Jon Ranson (GSFC) described a study defi ne an implementation strategy and where the Laser Vegetation Imaging give programmatic direction for the • Surface albedo: An instantaneous Sensor (LVIS) provided forest canopy next 2-4 fi scal years to those missions measurement at a single solar zenith heights, and AirMISR data were used that have already reached or will shortly angle; in a neural-net analysis to predict the reach their nominal design life. Diane • Broadleaf forest LAI: Less prone to canopy height. In light of encourag- Wickland (NASA HQ) noted the impor- saturation; ing results, the study has expanded to tance of results that speak to impacts • LAI/FPAR (in semi-arid ecosys- include MISR and GLAS comparisons, and/or outcomes for end users and that tems): Useful for detecting seasonal again with good correlations. uniquely feature NASA’s role. changes; • FPAR: More accurate when the ef- Nancy Ritchey (NASA LaRC) presented John Martonchik (JPL) summarized fects of diffuse light are included; the Atmospheric Sciences Data Center the results from the surface-product • Land cover classifi cation: More (ASDC) User Services report for MISR. validation session of the previous accurate when angular-signature During 2004, the number of customers afternoon and recommended that the information is included; for MISR data increased to 252, and validation level of the surface radiomet- • Biomass: Based on BRFs, which are the number of organizations receiving ric products be upgraded from provi- more accurate using multi-angle MISR data has doubled, spread to over sional to validated. It was agreed that measurements; 25 states and 29 foreign countries. The the MISR surface albedos, determined • Understory and ground FPAR: volume of data distributed was 89 TB. A from a single overpass, constitute an Improves heat budget calculations in MISR Data User’s Workshop is planned independent standard for cross-vali- climate models; and for the Spring AGU in New Orleans (May dating MODIS albedos, which require • Normalised Difference Vegetation 23-27 2005). Jeff Walter (NASA LaRC) compositing about two weeks of data. Index (NDVI): View angle indepen- and Earl Hansen (JPL) presented ASDC The MISR Leaf Area Index/Fraction of dence. production operations, archiving, and

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data-reprocessing status and plans. Kahn (JPL) presented an overview in the state of Bihar, home to some 100 Processing completion rates are close of the MISR aerosol product-valida- million people. He argued that a combi- to 100%, and ASDC reprocesses MISR tion effort, the quantitative constraints nation of topography, seasonal winds, data at a rate of approximately 3.5 data placed on optical depth accuracy population density, and fuel use con- years/year. There are no near-term based on comparisons with coincident spire to produce this pollution cloud. Di archive space problems, but longer-term Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) Girolamo also discussed MISR partici- issues still need to be addressed. Ken data, initial steps and plans for aerosol pation the Rain in Cumulus over Oceans McDonald (GSFC) provided an update microphysical property validation, and (RICO) fi eld campaign, taking place on discussions leading to a plan to deal current upgrades to the MISR standard in the western Atlantic near Antigua, with this issue. aerosol retrieval’s aerosol climatol- and aimed at observing trade cumulus ogy resulting from the validation work. and their interactions with transported Carol Bruegge (JPL) reported on Olga Kalashnikova (JPL) followed with aerosols. He showed examples of how radiometric calibration status. The a detailed presentation on new min- the data can be used to validate MISR MISR absolute calibration has been eral-dust optical models, and resulting cloud height determinations, and men- tied to a 2000 vicarious calibration and improvements in MISR aerosol retrieval tioned that the multi-platform data will verifi ed using annual follow-on cam- coverage and accuracy. Wei-Ting Chen also be used to study indirect effects of paigns. Instrument stability has been (Caltech) reviewed her work analyzing aerosols on clouds. Later in the day, Di maintained at the 1% level over mission MISR sensitivity to size and single- Girolamo summarized the state of the life, using bimonthly activations of the scattering albedo for biomass burning various MISR cloud masks, noting good on-board calibrator. Cross-comparisons type particles, and validation analysis agreement and useful synergy among with other sensors show the abso- underway using Brazilian fi eld data from the various masks. lute radiometric scales to be typically the Smoke Aerosols, Clouds, Rainfall within 4%. Improvements to the MISR and Climate (SMOCC) Campaign. Alexander Sinyuk and Oleg Dubovik band-to-band and camera-to-camera (GSFC) showed how they are combining calibration were made during the past The discussion of applications began AERONET data with MISR and POLDER year, and this work has brought MISR with Yang Liu (ENVIRON International radiances to retrieve a combination of radiometry to a mature state of develop- Corporation) explaining how the combi- aerosol and surface properties simulta- ment at all light levels. Veljko Jovanovic nation of MISR column aerosol optical neously. Constraining the retrieval with (JPL) discussed geometric calibration depth and aerosol vertical distributions both upward and downward-looking and georectifi cation. For eight of MISR’s predicted by the GEOS-CHEM chemical observations leads to results that can nine cameras, image geolocation and transport model are used to determine reproduce all the observed radiances, co-registration are well within require- near-surface aerosol pollution (PM2.5) and produces surface models very dif- ments. The 70º-backward viewing cam- concentrations across North America. ferent from those currently assumed in era has been showing episodic pointing The results compared favorably with the standard AERONET retrieval. Aero- drifts, though a detailed investigation direct measurements made at Environ- sol size distributions and single-scat- could not isolate a particular cause. mental Protection Agency monitoring tering albedos are also altered for the Due to these pointing issues, this one sites. fi ne-mode and non-spherical dust cases camera has not been used within stereo studied, over dark and bright surfaces, wind-retrieval processing. An algorithm Bin Yu (UC Berkeley) presented the respectively. has been developed that should make initial steps of an international collabo- the geolocation stability of this camera ration to monitor and predict particu- Jens Redemann (NASA Ames) gave consistent with the other eight, and will late pollution in the vicinity of Beijing, a detailed comparison between MISR enable using it as part of stereo wind China, fi rst by correlating MISR aerosol and airborne sunphotometer spectral retrievals. optical depth results with in situ and aerosol optical depth data for the INTEX sun photometer surface measure- campaign during summer 2004, and a The MISR aerosol optical depth product ments, and then using MISR data to more general comparison of MISR and is at a high level of maturity as a result condition a regional aerosol transport MODIS Level 3 aerosol optical depth of many activities during the past year. model. maps and zonal trends across the Pacif- Several presentations reviewed recent ic Ocean. For INTEX, the comparisons papers describing this body of work, Larry Di Girolamo (University of Il- were well within uncertainties reported covered work in progress to validate linois) showed how MISR optical depth by other studies, whereas the Level 3 MISR-retrieved particle properties, observations over India, during the win- study showed signifi cant differences, and discussed applications of these ter months between 2001 and 2004, re- which he attributed to a combination products to terrestrial problems. Ralph veal a concentration of aerosol pollution of differences in sampling and in cloud

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screening, coupled with retrieval dif- Cornet (JPL) continued the description data in the Intercomparison of 3D Ra- ferences that were systematically more of the same cumulus congestus case diative Codes (I3RC) project by Tamas pronounced when mineral dust was a study, showing how the profi le deter- Varnai (JCET, UMBC); fi eld aerosol mea- signifi cant component of the column mined by Seiz could be used not only surements needed to complement satel- aerosol mix. to describe the 3-D cloud geometry but lite multiangle aerosol observations by also to reproject the MISR radiances Ralph Kahn (JPL); aerosol strata in the Roger Davies (JPL) presented high- onto the cloud surface as a prelude to troposphere over southern Africa by J. lights of an improved height-resolved comparison with three-dimensional J. Cumbane (Rand Afrikaans Univ.); the wind-retrieval algorithm, showing radiative-transfer models. Transport Atmospheric Pollutants Model potential accuracies of 2 m/sec rms. He and satellite/sunphotometer aerosol op- continued with a presentation of albedo Several poster sessions took place dur- tical depths by Alexander de Meij (EC differences over the four years of MISR ing the meeting, providing an opportuni- Joint Research Centre); using support data. Accounting for operational stability ty for more informal interactions among vector machines and pattern recognition in the MISR radiometric calibration, the participants. Among the presenta- to classify aerosols and detect plumes the MISR spectral albedos appear very tions: a study of scaling forest canopy by Dominic Mazzoni (JPL); and an consistent over time, with any overall carbon uptake using multiangular and innovative approach to data access for trend appearing to be less than 1%. This hyperspectral remote sensing and eco- a diverse group of atmospheric scien- was followed by Norman Loeb (NASA logical modeling by Julian Jenkins (Uni- tists by Nancy Ritchey (NASA LaRC). A LaRC), who presented results from versity of New Hampshire); studies of MISR tools demonstration was given by a joint MISR-Clouds and the Earth's recent changes in albedo on a Greenland Linda Hunt (NASA LaRC), and a demon- Radiant Energy System (CERES) study outlet glacier and on the use of MISR stration of the MISR data browser and on albedos. He addressed the need to to map forest-cover density over snow analysis tool misr_view version 5.0 was understand albedo uncertainty and the in Glacier National Park by Anne Nolin given by Charles Thompson and Tom signifi cance of cloud radiative forcing. (Oregon State University); making exist- Thaller (JPL). The synergy between MISR and CERES, ing surface albedo products compatible initially through narrow-broadband with the needs of land-surface models Kyle Miller (JPL) introduced a dis- radiance relations, and then through by Bernard Pinty (EC Joint Research cussion on improvements to product multiangle analysis of variations in TOA Centre); a summary of MISR activities formats and data access. Michael albedos was also highlighted. and preliminary results in Australian Bull (JPL) described the status of the surface science applications by Clare simplifi edsummary product capabil- Ákos Horváth (JPL) presented results Averill (Raytheon ITSS/JPL); a presen- ity, which involves new data ordering from a comparison of cloud liquid tation on SpecNet (Spectral Network), interfaces at NASA LaRC. During the water retrieved using coincident MISR, a tool for satellite validation by John past year, the subsetting/reformatting MODIS and Tropical Rainfall Measuring Gamon and Yufu Cheng (Cal State LA); interface was upgraded so that users Mission (TRMM) Microwave Imager detection of subpixel human-induced can order MISR data in conventional (TMI) measurements. Agreement was surface change using MISR multiangle HDF-EOS format, i.e., without the MISR- reasonable for thinner water clouds, but imaging (reporting on work funded by specifi c stacked-block confi guration. A the correlations were poor for thicker the National Reconnaissance Offi ce), joint effort currently under way by JPL clouds, where heterogeneity, saturation case studies on upper tropospheric and LaRC is to put in place a unifi ed and uncertain effective radius all present and lower stratospheric aerosols, and a ordering/subsetting/reformatting inter- challenges to the retrieval techniques. sampling of news items about MISR in face. LaRC is building the web interface 2004 by David Diner (JPL); a study on and archive search/retrieval system, Gabriela Seiz (ETH, Zurich) presented what MISR observations from space can and JPL is implementing the conversion results from a comparison of MISR and tell us about winds over ocean, making and subsetting processes. Initial release ASTER cloud height and 3-D recon- use of multiangle sun glint observations is expected in early 2005. A discus- structions using advanced stereo-photo- by Enrique Gonzalez and David Fox sion of additional capabilities for future grammetric techniques. The operational (JPL); investigation of microphysics vs. upgrades was held, including the need MISR cloud heights were in excellent 3-D effects in cumulus clouds by Pa- for a multi-instrument matchup tool. agreement with the more precise, local- quita Zuidema (RSMAS, University of Brian Rheingans (JPL) discussed new ized ASTER retrievals for a case study Miami); improving polar-cloud detection data analysis tools that are available for over Switzerland. The use of all nine by fusing MISR and MODIS information MISR. For example, a tool is now avail- MISR angles was also demonstrated by Tao Shi (UC Berkeley); MISR cloud able (at eosweb.larc.nasa.govPRODOCS/ in reconstructing the profi le of cumu- top height validation using ARM data by misr/tools/envi_tool.html) that imports lus congestus over the ocean. Céline Roger Marchand (PNNL); using MISR MISR Level 1B2 Ellipsoid and Terrain

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stacked-block data into the Environment Level 3 web page now has a Java applet whether differences between ISCCP data for Visualizing Images (ENVI) program. that allows data to be viewed on a globe and models are due to data or model The data are automatically geolocated that can be rotated by computer mouse problems. Members of the modeling and the band information is correctly movements. Plans for the next quarter community have been identifi ed who are interpreted. The tool consists of a set of include a conversion capability from interested in collaborating on this devel- routines written in IDL that implements HDF-EOS to netCDF, and continuation opment. Futher details on this activity an ENVI User Function for working of prototyping work on a MISR-based were presented by Amy Braverman with MISR L1B2 data. Rheingans also ISCCP-like product. (JPL) and Roger Marchand (PNNL). described the concept of a software ap- Plans for the next six months include plications toolkit that users could exploit Thomas Ackerman (PNNL) discussed comparisons between MISR data and for codes they are developing, to assist cloud data and climate models, focusing ISCCP DX data over the Pacifi c Ocean. with manipulating large amounts of data in particular on the question of how to These presentations were followed by stored in MISR products. This applica- use data to evaluate model performance. a discussion on strengthening the con- tion program interface (API) tookit In general, modelers do not use cloud nection to the modeling community. would include routines for conversion data at their native resolution. New and mapping, data query, data access, directions are heading toward genera- David Diner polled the team on publica- and map projection. Overall the concept tion of frequency plots and multivariate tions status and plans, upcoming meet- was well received. (joint) distributions, statistically robust ings, and workshops. A list of relevant hypothesis testing, classifi cation by conferences in 2005 has been compiled, Michael Smyth (JPL) presented the dynamical regime, focusing on physical with abstract due dates. This is designed Level 3 software and product status. processes, and working at high resolu- to help the team in planning for commu- Work is in progress for making glob- tion in both data and models. One moti- nicating MISR results at meetings. The ally-gridded aerosol particle properties vation for generating a MISR ISCCP-like meeting concluded with a discussion and cloud albedos public. Regionally- product is that ISCCP cloud-top heights of how to further increase engagement mapped products were made available are emissivity based, whereas MISR with the science community. in support of the UAE-2 campaign. The geometric heights can help resolve

Crater Lake National Park is one of the oldest parks in the United States, created in 1902 by President Theodore Roosevelt. The fi rst lodge in the park opened in 1915, and the Rim Drive around the lake gave the public easy access to the entire lake in 1918. Soundings of the lake show it is exceedingly deep, reaching as low as 1,943 feet (592 meters), making it the deepest lake in the United States. The lake is in the former caldera of Mount Mazama, which erupted around 7,700 years ago. Native American legends from the area include accounts of this eruption.

This Landsat 7 image of Crater Lake National Park shows the lake from an unusual perspec- tive: directly above. In the western (left) side of the lake, the small island visible is Wizard Island. Wizard Island is a cone that was rebuilt by volca- nic processes in the mountain after the eruption that formed the caldera. Utlimately, the volcano became dormant, with no measured activity in the past several thousand years. East of the lake, (a little south of 3 o’clock), is the other summit peak in the image, Mt. Scott, which has just a trace of snow on its peak. The rim wall of Crater Lake is a natural barrier over which no river reaches. All the water in the lake comes from rainfall or snow that fell directly into the crater and accumulated over time. The only way water leaves the lake is through evaporation.

NASA image created by Jesse Allen, Earth Obser- vatory, using data obtained from the University of Maryland’s Global Land Cover Facility.

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Decadal Study—Request for Information (RFI) from Community

— Rick Anthes, [email protected], University Corporation for Atmospheric Research — Berrien Moore, [email protected], University of New Hampshire

As you may know, the Space Studies dressing Earth Science research and between $200 M and $500 M. Board, in consultation with other units applications, we are soliciting input from 3. Large missions that cost more than of the National Research Council (NRC), the broad community. We are especially $500 M. has begun a study to generate priori- seeking ideas for missions or programs tized recommendations from the Earth that are directly linked to societal needs Each of the proposed missions may and environmental science and applica- and benefi ts. contribute to research or operations, or tions community regarding a systems both. Note: Mission costs refer to costs approach to the space-based and The ideas and concepts received will be that would be incurred by NASA in cur- ancillary observations that encompass reviewed by one or more of the Survey’s rent (FY05) dollars. the research programs of NASA and the seven study panels, which are address- related operational programs of NOAA. ing the following themes: We invite you to write a concept paper The study will also consider such cross- for a new space-based mission or mea- agency issues as the development of an 1. Earth Science Applications and surement, from existing or new vantage operational capability for land remote Societal Needs points, that promises to advance an sensing. 2. Land-use Change, Ecosystem existing or new scientifi c objective, Dynamics, and Biodiversity contribute to fundamental understand- The study, which will be carried out over 3. Weather (including chemical ing of the Earth system, and/or facilitate a two-year period and organized in a weather and space weather) the connection between Earth observa- manner similar to other NRC decadal 4. Climate Variability and Change tions and societal needs. We anticipate surveys, seeks to establish plans and 5. Water Resources and the Global concepts that will range from free-fl ying priorities within the sub-disciplines Hydrologic Cycle spacecraft to instruments that might be of the Earth sciences as well as an 6. Human Health and Security included in follow-ons or as additions integrated vision and plan for the Earth 7. Solid-Earth Hazards, Resources, to the NPOESS and GOES series of sciences as a whole. It will also consider and Dynamics spacecraft. Constellations of spacecraft Earth observations requirements for or spacecraft that fl y in formation with research and for a range of applications Based on their potential to contribute existing, planned, or future satellites with direct links to societal objectives. to research and/or applications and may also be considered. We have been appointed by the NRC as societal needs, each panel may select study co-chairs. one or more of the concepts for further All responses will be considered non- technical and cost assessments. The proprietary public information for dis- An open web site qp.nas.edu/ panels will recommend, in priority order, tribution with attribution. The concept decadalsurvey has been created to a number of proposed missions for papers should be no longer than ten describe the study and to provide carrying out over the period 2005-2015, pages in length and provide the follow- an opportunity for community input taking into account a set of established ing information, if possible: throughout the study process. In addi- criteria as described below. The Execu- tion, a number of outreach activities are tive Committee of the Decadal Study will 1. A summary of the mission concept, planned, including community forums. interleave the panel recommendations, including the observational variable(s) A forum was held at the Fall 2004 to produce a fi nal set of recommended to be measured, the characteristics AGU meeting and at the January 2005 missions, in priority order. of the measurement if known (hori- meeting of the American Meteorological zontal, vertical and temporal resolu- Society (AMS). In addition, forums will Three categories of missions are solicit- tion), and domain of the Earth system be planned at the Fall 2005 AGU and the ed, following the approximate total (over (e.g., troposphere, upper-ocean, land January 2006 AMS. lifetime of mission) cost guidelines: surface).

In order to obtain the greatest possible 1. Small missions that cost less than 2. A description of how the proposed input of ideas from the community $200 M. mission will help advance Earth sci- about potential mission concepts ad- 2. Medium-size missions that cost ence and/or applications, or provide a

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needed operational capability, for the on Earth Observations (IWGEO: Describe each proposed mission in next decade and beyond. iwgeo.ssc.nasa.gov); terms of its contributions to science and b. Makes a signifi cant contribution to applications, how the mission meets the 3. A rough estimate of the total cost more than one of the seven panel above prioritization criteria, its benefi ts (large, medium, or small as defi ned themes; to society, technical aspects, schedule above) of the proposed mission over c. Questions facing Earth sciences and rough estimate of costs. The de- ten years. For operational missions today (scientifi c merit, discovery, scription should provide enough detail the costs should include one-time exploration); that the potential value and feasibility costs associated with building the d. Contributes to applications and/or of the mission can be evaluated by an instrument and launch and ongoing policy making (operations, applica- independent group of experts. operational costs. tions, societal benefi ts); e. Contributes to long-term monitoring For full consideration, please submit 4. A description of how the proposed of the Earth; the concept paper by April 15, 2005 via mission meets one or more of the fol- f. Complements other observational e-mail to: rfi @nas.edu. Questions about lowing criteria, which will be used to systems; the RFI may be directed to the study evaluate and prioritize the candidate g. Affordable (cost-benefi t); director, Art Charo ([email protected]), proposals: h. Degree of readiness (technical, or to us: ([email protected]); resources, people); ([email protected]). You can also a. Identifi ed as a high priority or i. Risk mitigation and strategic re- contact Dr. Charo by telephone at (202) requirement in previous studies, dundancy (backup of other critical 334-3477, or by fax at (202) 334-3701. for example NRC and WMO reports systems); and existing planning efforts such j. Fits with other national and interna- as the International Working Group tional plans and activities.

Heavy rain and snow have swollen the rivers of Indiana, Illinois, and Kentucky, pushing many past fl ood stage during the fi rst two weeks of January 2005. The fl ooding occurred after several days of rain and snow fell on the already saturated ground of the U.S. Midwest. Since the water could not be absorbed into the soaked ground, it ran off as fl ood water. The storms were followed by warm temperatures, which melted the snow and produced further fl ooding. By January 17, some of the fl ooding had started to recede, but large tracts of land along the Ohio and Wabash Rivers were still under water.

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiom- eter (MODIS) fl ying aboard NASA’s Aqua satellite captured the bottom image of the fl ooded rivers on January 17. The Ohio and Wabash Rivers are the most noticeably fl ooded, but many other rivers are also much larger than they were on November 25, 2004. On November 25 (top), the Wabash River measured less than 3 pixels across in the 500-meter-resolution MODIS image. On January 17, the river spanned 18 pixels at its widest point, increasing its width from approximately 1.5 kilometers to 9 kilometers. The Ohio River similarly grew to a width of 13.5 kilometers in the top image.

Floods along the Ohio are not unusual, but the timing of this fl ood is. The Ohio River and its tributaries often fl ood in the spring when winter’s snow melts and runs into regional rivers. This fl ood is occurring in the middle of the winter, which is unusual.

NASA images courtesy of the MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC.

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NASA Research Balloon Makes Record-Breaking Flight, January 28; Antarctic Connection, Interspace News, Science Daily, and more. A NASA scientifi c balloon broke the fl ight record for duration and distance. It soared for nearly 42 days, making three orbits around the South Pole. David Pierce, Chief of the Balloon Program Offi ce (NASA GSFC, Wallops Island, Va.) said the balloon carried the Cosmic Ray Energetics And Mass (CREAM) experiment designed to explore the supernova Earth Gets a Warm Feeling All Over, 5; Astronomie (France), Headliner acceleration limit of cosmic rays, the February 8; ABC Network News, Aus- News, Hospitals Worldwide Network, relativistic gas of protons, electrons tralian Broadcasting Corp., AlJazeera, Moreover.com, and more. Invasive spe- and heavy nuclei arriving at Earth from Bloomberg News, CNN, Reuters, UPI, cies of plants and insects now have a outside the solar system. and more. Jim Hansen and Makiko Sato new enemy: NASA satellites. Recently, (both of NASA/GISS) concluded that NASA accepted an invitation to join Scientists Studying Wintry Ice in 2004 was the fourth warmest year in the National Invasive Species Council Summer Clouds, January 28; Ed- over a century. Drew Shindell and Gavin (NISC) to help 12 other Federal agen- monton Observers Group (Canada), Schmidt (both NASA GISS) were also cies combat invasive species across Newmexicostate.Com, Noticias Info quoted in several articles on the study. the country by providing information (Spain), Spacedaily, and more. Scien- from satellites. Ed Sheffner (NASA HQ) tists showed that their instruments can Get Ready for Rain Maybe, February 10; was quoted. identify the ice crystals in clouds and Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, Pasadena now they can begin to classify the crys- Star-News. Bill Patzert (NASA JPL) International Science Team Measures tals. By learning to classify the ice crys- interviewed with Leo Greene, staff writer Arctic’s Atmosphere, February 4; tals, these scientists like Vincent Noel about the rains in California. Portsmouth Herald Local News (NH),(NH), (NASA Langley), hope to contribute to Space Weekly, Spacewire, Spatial improving weather and climate models, Soggy Season. Storm Drops More Rain News, and more. An international team the complex computer programs used on Saturated Southland, February 12; of scientists embarked on a journey to show future atmospheric conditions. Pasadena Star-News. Bill Patzert (NASA/ to improve modeling of global-scale JPL) interviewed with Kimm Groshong, air quality and climate change pre- Scientists Take Big Steps to Measure staff writer with the Pasadena Star-News, dictions by conducting high quality Sunlight Refl ected by Earth, January for a front-page article on California’s measurements of the Arctic region’s 19, earthobservatory.nasa.gov. Mi- rainy season. atmosphere. The Polar Aura Validation chael King, Earth Observing System Experiment (PAVE) gathered informa- Senior Project Scientist (NASA/GSFC), Changes in the Arctic: Consequences tion to validate data from NASA’s Aura discussed his work to create snow-free for the World, February 6; All American satellite. Michael Kurylo, Program albedo measurements of Earth’s surface Patriots, Climate Change.com, Climnet, Scientist (NASA Headquarters), was for the entire globe. Hindustan Times ((India).India). Jiping Liu quoted. (Georgia Institute of Technology) discov- Satellite Data to Track Wildlife: El- ered that the total Arctic sea ice extent Siberian Fires Most Common Near ephants in Space, January 17; Scien- and area decreased, respectively, by People, February 3; Earth System tists from the Bronx Zoo-based Wildlife 11,910 and 13,660 square miles per year Scholars, EIN News, Physorg, Sci- Conservation Society (WCS) in New using ice data between 1978 and 2002. Central, and more. Until now, most York City have been monitoring endan- The feature also highlighted a study led researchers assumed that lightning gered wildlife populations for more than by Kevin Arrigo (Stanford University). caused most of the fi res that burned in 100 years. The WCS’ recent use of satel- Arrigo surveyed the impact of declining Siberia. But a new study by Katalin Ko- lite technology, sponsored by NASA, sea ice on marine ecosystems in the vacs (NASA GSFC) and others used a may revolutionize the way endangered Canadian Arctic. NASA satellite to map where and when wildlife in remote areas of the world are fi res lit up over a three year period. counted and monitored. Eric Sander- NASA Research to Aid Federal Inva- The satellite showed that Siberian fi res son, a WCS landscape ecologist, and sive Species Council Efforts, February burned mostly near people.

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Richard L. Lattis, General Director of TV, KNBC-TV and KUTV-TV (Los Ange- appears to be infl uenced by big climate WCS’ zoos and aquarium were quoted. les), KNX, KFWB and KABC Radio (Los events that cause changes in the mass Angeles), WCCO-TV (Minneapolis), La of water stored in oceans, continents Students get NASA Lesson on Weather, Canada Valley Sun, Lompoc Record, Los and atmosphere. January 14; The Record, Northern New Angeles Daily News, Los Angeles Times, Jersey. Louis Nguyen (NASA Langley), New York Times, Pasadena Weekly, San ‘Milestone in Humankind’s Search for research scientist, gave a video confer- Diego Tribune, Santa Barbara Press- Life’: Science Magazine Hails Twin ence lecture to students in Camden, News, SpaceRef, USAToday, Weather Mars Rovers as Breakthrough of ‘04, New Jersey. The lecture, “Satellites: Notebook Radio Network, and many January 6; Richmond Times-Dispatch, Tracking Weather to Your Front Door,” more. January brought torrential rains Richmond, Virginia. The article dis- taught the students how NASA scien- in Southern California, and by Tuesday, cusses Science magazine’s announce- tists use weather satellites to gather January 11th, 19 people had died. Bill ment and its implications for future and collect data about cloud cover, Patzert (NASA/JPL) was presenting at research and exploration. Quotes Joel temperature, pollution and other phe- the American Meteorological Society Levine (NASA Langley) senior research nomena. Nguyen is quoted: “I defi nitely conference in San Diego at that time, scientist and PI for ARES, the proposed enjoy what I do and want to share that and was “deluged” by reporters before, Mars airplane project: “Water is the key information with the kids so that I can during and after the meeting. to life. For life to have originated and promote science. Hopefully they will evolved on Mars, the presence of water grow up to be the leaders of tomorrow.” Earthquake Affected Earth’s Rota- was needed. Now there is chemical tion, Day, Shape and North Pole, evidence that salty seas existed on Mars Watching Earth’s Climate Change in January 7; Al Jazeera-TV, Assai Shim sometime in its early history.” the Classroom, January 10; Forbes, (Japan), Atlanta Journal Constitution, Morien Institute, Night Sky Observer, Baltimore Sun, Canadian TV Network, Yahoo!News, and more. Slashdot Discovery.com, the Hindu (India), and inspired over 9,000 downloads of the more. NASA scientists like Ben Chao software, and crashed GISS servers! (NASA GSFC) and Richard Gross College and high school students can (NASA/JPL) using data from the Indo- now see how Earth’s climate is changing nesian earthquake calculated it affected without leaving their computers. NASA Earth’s rotation, decreased the length of and other organizations use NASA’s day, slightly changed the planet’s shape, global climate computer model (GCM) and shifted the North Pole by centime- to see how Earth’s climate is chang- ters. ing. Mark Chandler (NASA GISS) was quoted. NASA Satellites See Gorillas In The Midst Of Extinction, January 6; Afri- Saharan Dust Affects Thunderstorm can Conservation, Haiti Sun, Science Behavior in Florida, January 10; Earth Recruitment, WTOP-AM/FM News radio, Changes TV, Mysan De (Germany), Washington, D.C., and more. NASA is Space Times, Weather Outlook, WTOP- now providing satellite imagery and AM/FM Newsradio, Washington, DC, funds to help conservationists track Yahoo! News, and more. Susan C. van remote wild areas where until now it has den Heever (Colorado State University) been close to impossible to get informa- and colleagues found that dust affects tion on land cover and land-use change. the size of a thunderstorm’s “anvil” or Nadine Laborite, head of the Africa top, the strength and number of warm Program at WHRC was quoted. updrafts, and the amount of rain that This image from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua builds up and falls from the convective Changes In The Earth’s Shape Could satellite shows Cyclone Harvey in the Gulf of Car- thunderstorms. Be Tied To Climate Swings, January pentaria at 4:30 UTC on February 7, 2005. At the 6; Big News Network, National Geosci- time, Harvey had maximum sustained winds of 58 Record California Rainfall In January, mph (50 knots) with maximum gusts near 75 mph ences Database of Iran, Red Nova, UK (65 knots) and was moving towards the southwest January 2005; ABC News Network, CBS Weather World, and more. Minkang at 15 mph (13 knots). News various Affi liates, Daily Breeze Cheng and Byron Tapley (University (LAX to L.A. Harbor), KPCC’s (89.3 FM of Texas at Austin) used NASA satellite NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response radio) data and found the shape of the Earth Team at NASA GSFC. The image is available in Talk of the City program, KABC- additional resolutions.

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Earth Science Education Program Update

—Ming-Ying Wei, [email protected], NASA Headquarters —Diane Schweizer, [email protected], NASA Headquarters —Theresa Schwerin, [email protected], Institute for Global Environmental Strategies

ESSE 21 ANNUAL MEETING Science Education related content/ It wraps complex computer modeling AUG. 4-7, 2005, FAIRBANKS, programs/materials. Additional infor- programs with a graphical interface ALASKA mation will be available in the coming familiar to most PC users. weeks at esse21.usra.edu. Sponsored by NASA through the Univer- The climate model runs on a desktop sities Space Research Association, ESSE MY NASA DATA: WORKSHOP FOR computer to allow teachers and stu- 21 (Earth System Science Education REASONING THROUGH THE USE OF dents to conduct experiments identical for the 21st Century) is a collaborative EARTH SCIENCE DATA SETS, July to those scientists run on supercomput- undergraduate/graduate education pro- 25-29, 2005 ers to simulate past and future climate gram offering small grants to colleges Application Deadline: April 8, 2005 changes. EdGCM links the climate and universities to engage a diverse model to both a database and scientifi c NASA Langley Research Center will interdisciplinary community of faculty visualization utilities, making it simpler host a hands-on workshop designed for and scientists in the development of to create and organize data and images. the grade 6-12 educator. Earth science courses, curricula and degree programs For more information about the EdGCM, teachers are particularly encouraged and sharing of learning resources visit: www.edgcm.org. to apply. The workshop will focus on focused on the Earth system and the the implementation and use of Earth To download EdGCM software from application of that understanding for the Science data sets developed for student the Internet, visit: www.edgcm.org/ classroom and laboratory. researchers in grades K-12 as part of EdGCMCooperative/Downloads.php. The ESSE 21 Annual Meeting is an the Research, Education, and Applica- For more information about climate opportunity for program participants tions Solutions Network (REASoN) study in the classroom, please visit: and the community at large to come program. The data sets, which will www.nasa.gov/vision/earth/everydaylife/ together and share ideas regarding center on atmospheric science, are climate_class.html. Earth System Science in the classroom, derived from the archive of remotely learning from each other as well as from sensed data retrieved from the myriad Earth system scientists and educators of NASA’s Earth Observing System and other invited speakers. The annual satellites. Participating teachers will three-day meeting offers formal and explore topics in atmospheric science, informal opportunities to make presen- educational application of data sets, use tations, demonstrate capabilities and of weather measurements, and hands- techniques, report on progress and offer on classroom activities. Participants hands-on tutorials to acquaint attendees will also explore how data sets can be with the most recent innovations in used to enhance their curriculum and Earth science learning. how students can utilize these data for inquiry-based learning and research. The University of Alaska Fairbanks will host the 2005 ESSE 21 Annual Meet- For more information, visit ing from August 4-6 with an optional mynasadata.larc.nasa.gov or email fi eld trip on August 7. The theme of Joyce Fischer, j.d.fi [email protected]. this year’s meeting will center on Earth Ribbons and swirls trace out regions of high NASA FREE COMPUTER MODEL System Science and education oppor- chlorophyll concentration in the Arabian Sea in AVAILABLE TO CLASSROOMS this Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradi- tunities of the upcoming International ometer (MODIS) image, taken by NASA’s Aqua Polar Year. The Educational Global Climate Model satellite on February 22, 2005. High chlorophyll (EdGCM), available for both Windows concentrations indicate that tiny ocean plants, This is an open meeting. Space will called phytoplankton, are thriving near the ocean’s and Mac platforms, incorporates a 3-D be available for posters/demos/ surface. The plants can both nourish and destroy a climate model developed at NASA’s God- presentations of your Earth System marine ecosystem. NASA image courtesy Norman dard Institute for Space Studies (GISS). Kuring, MODIS Ocean Color Team.

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President, Institute of Global Environ- given to young, promising atmospheric Kudos ment and Society, Inc., Calverton, Mary- scientists who have recently shown out- land “for fundamental contributions and standing ability and are under 40 years inspired leadership in understanding of age when nominated. The award was The American Meteorological Society the variability and predictability of the presented to the following Earth-Sun bestowed awards on the following climate system on seasonal-to interan- System/EOS colleague: Earth-Sun System/EOS colleagues at nual time scales.” its annual meeting held January 9-13 in Steven C. Sherwood, Associate San Diego. Jule G. Charney Award Professor, Department of Geology and Geophysics, Yale University, New Haven, Fellows This award is granted to individuals Connecticut “for fundamental studies of in recognition of highly signifi cant the interactions among cumulus con- The honor of Fellow is given to an research or development achievement in vection, aerosols and cloud microphys- individual for recognition of outstand- the atmospheric or hydrologic sciences. ics, and large-scale dynamics.” ing contributions to the atmospheric or The award is in the form of a medallion. related oceanic or hydrologic sciences, It was presented to the following Earth- Henry G. Houghton Award or their applications, during a substan- Sun System/EOS colleague: tial period of years. Only two tenths of This award is given to an individual in one percent of membership are ap- Graeme L. Stephens, Professor, Depart- recognition of research achievement in proved as Fellows each year. In addition, ment of Atmospheric Science, Colorado the fi eld of physical meteorology, includ- winners of the AMS prestigious Rossby, State University, Ft. Collins, Colorado ing atmospheric chemistry. The award is Charney, Suomi, Sverdrup, Stommel, “for pioneering advances in radiation given to young, promising atmospheric Brooks, and Abbe Awards are elected as processes and their roles in climate.” scientists who have recently shown out- Fellow. Following are Earth-Sun System/ standing ability and are under 40 years EOS colleagues elected. Verner E. Suomi Award of age when nominated. The award was presented to the following Earth-Sun • Antonio J. Busalacchi Jr., Director, This award is granted to individuals in System/EOS colleague: Earth System Science Interdisciplin- recognition of highly signifi cant techno- ary Center, University of Maryland logical achievement in the atmospheric Mark Z. Jacobson, Associate Profes- • Thomas J. Jackson, United States or related oceanic and hydrologic sci- sor, Civil and Environmental Engineer- Department of Agriculture ences. The term technological is here ing, Stanford University, Stanford, • Yoram J. Kaufman, NASA Goddard used in the broadest sense; it encom- California “for signifi cant contributions Space Flight Center passes the entire spectrum of obser- to modeling aerosol chemistry and to • Joan E. Rosenfi eld, NASA Goddard vational, measurement, data transmis- understanding the role of soot and other Space Flight Center sion, and data analysis and synthesis carbon particles on climate.” • William B. Rossow, NASA Goddard methodologies. The award is in the form Institute for Space Studies of a medallion. The following Earth-Sun The Award for Outstanding System/EOS colleague was elected: Achievement in Biometeorology Carl-Gustaf Rossby Research Medal William B. Rossow, NASA Goddard This award is given to an individual who Institute for Space Studies, New York, has made outstanding contributions to This award is presented to individuals New York “for tireless efforts using the theory, teaching, and/or application on the basis of outstanding contri- multi-satellite observations to study of knowledge about interactions between butions to the understanding of the clouds and their role in radiation and the atmosphere and biological systems. structure or behavior of the atmosphere. climate.” Names of nominees are submitted by It represents the highest honor that the the Committee on Biometeorology and Society can bestow upon an atmo- Clarence Leroy Meisinger Award Aerobiology, with input from the Chair of spheric scientist. The award is in the the Agricultural and Forest Meteorology form of a medallion. It was presented This award is given to an individual in Committee, to the STAC Commissioner, to the following Earth-Sun System/EOS recognition of research achievement who reviews the recommendations and colleague: that is, at least in part, aerological in then makes a recommendation to the character and concerns the observation, Council for fi nal approval. The award Jagadish Shukla, Professor, George theory, and modeling of atmospheric was presented to the following Earth- Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia; motions on all scales. The award is Sun System/EOS colleague:

20 21 The Earth Observer : January - February 2005 : Vol. 17 : No. 1 The Earth Observer : January - February 2005 : Vol. 17 : No. 1

John M. Norman, Professor, Soil Sci- of the scientifi c community contrib- Franco Einaudi received his B.S. in elec- ence and Atmospheric and Oceanic Sci- utes much time and painstaking effort, trical engineering from the Politecnico ence, University of Wisconsin-Madison, largely unheralded, in a spirit of selfl ess of Turin, Italy, and his M.S. and Ph.D. in Madison, Wisconsin “for outstanding commitment to the ideals of accuracy electrical engineering (plasma physics) achievement in advancing the under- and lucidity in scientifi c writing. The from Cornell University. He is presently standing of the soil, plant, atmospheric Publications Commissioner presents the director of the Earth-Sun Exploration continuum, done in a spirit of gener- a list to the Council for approval. The Division at the NASA Goddard Space ous cooperation with colleagues and award was presented to the following Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, students.” Earth-Sun System/EOS colleague: where he also occupied the positions of head of the Severe Storms Branch The Walter Orr Roberts Lecturer in T.N. Krishnamurti, Professor, Depart- (1988–90) and chief of the Laboratory Interdisciplinary Sciences ment of Meteorology, The Florida State for Atmospheres (1990–2000). As a University, Tallahassee, Florida “for con- NOAA employee, he served as a Fellow This award is given in recognition of sig- sistently providing insightful and timely of the Cooperative Institute for Research nifi cant contributions to the understand- reviews that signifi cantly benefi ted the in Environmental Sciences from 1969 to ing of atmospheric processes through Monthly Weather Review editorial 1979. From 1979 until he joined NASA the effective interchange of knowledge process.” in 1987, he was a professor of geophys- between atmospheric science subdisci- ical sciences at the Georgia Institute of plines or between atmospheric scien- The Editor’s Award — Journal of Technology. He has served the AMS on tists and scientists of other disciplines. Atmospheric and Oceanic Technol- a variety of committees, including as a The lecture is presented at an AMS ogy member and chair of the Committee on Annual Meeting or an appropriate Atmospheric and Oceanic Waves and specialized conference and published in This award is given to an individual Stability, and as a member of the Com- the Bulletin. Recommendation of a Lec- who has contributed a referee’s report mittee on Mesoscale Processes. He has turer is made by a panel composed of of outstanding merit on a manuscript served our community in a number of the chairpersons of the STAC commit- submitted for publication in one of the assignments, including as a member of tees providing nominations and a chair Society’s journals. It draws attention to the Board on Atmospheric Sciences and appointed by the STAC Commissioner. the fact that the quality of the Society’s Climate of the National Research Coun- Nominations are solicited annually from journals depends in a crucial way upon cil. He is a Fellow of the AMS and the the STAC committees by the STAC Com- the reviewing process, and that this Royal Meteorological Society. He twice missioner. The award was presented to process is one to which a large segment received the Meritorious Rank Award, a the following Earth-Sun System/EOS of the scientifi c community contrib- Presidential Rank Award in the Senior colleague: utes much time and painstaking effort, Executive Service. largely unheralded, in a spirit of selfl ess Dennis P. Lettenmaier, Professor, Civil commitment to the ideals of accuracy and Environmental Engineering, Univer- and lucidity in scientifi c writing. The sity of Washington, Seattle, Washington Publications Commissioner presents “for signifi cant research contributions a list to the Council for approval. The and leadership in fostering effective award was presented to the following interchange of knowledge between Earth-Sun System/EOS colleague: atmospheric and hydrologic students.” Lee-Lueng Fu, Senior Research Scien- The Editor’s Award –— Monthly tist, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Califor- Weather Review nia Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California “for consistently thoughtful In early January 2005, it appeared that the B-15A This award is given to an individual and detailed reviews, often returned well iceberg was on a collision course with the Drygalski who has contributed a referee’s report in advance of the requested due dates.” Ice Tongue, the fl oating portion of a glacier fl owing of outstanding merit on a manuscript off the Scott Coast of Antarctica and into the Ross submitted for publication in one of the 2005 American Meteorological Sea. In mid- to late January, however, the berg’s forward progress was arrested. After coming within Society’s journals. It draws attention to Society President-Elect just a few kilometers of collision, the big berg the fact that the quality of the Society’s appears to have run aground in the shallow coastal journals depends in a crucial way upon Franco Einaudi, Director, Earth-Sun waters and is no longer headed for Drygalski. NASA the reviewing process, and that this Exploration Division, NASA Goddard image created by Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using data provided courtesy of the Landsat Project process is one to which a large segment Space Flight Center Science Offi ce and the USGS EROS Data Center.

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Monitoring for Sustainability and Secu- EOS Science Calendar Global Change Calendar rity,” Saint Petersburg, Russia. Call for papers. URL: www.niesrc.spb.ru/isrse/ March 22-24 April 24 - 29 call_for_papers.shtm MODIS Science Team Meeting, BWI European Geosciences Union General Airport Marriott, Baltimore, MD. Assembly 2005. Vienna, Austria. URL: July 24 - July 29 Gordon Research Conference on Radia- URL: modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/sci_team/ www.copernicus.org/EGU/ga/egu05/ tion and Climate. Colby College, Water- meetings/200503/index.html. index.htm ville, Maine. URL: www.grc.uri.edu/ May 3-5 May 16 - 18 AIRS Science Team Meeting, Pasadena, Third International Workshop on July 31-August 4 CA. Third Anniversary Meeting focus- the Analysis of Multi-temporal Re- SPIE’s Earth Observing Systems X ing on new results and capabilities. mote Sensing Images (MultiTemp Conference. San Diego, California. URL: spie.org/conferences/calls/05/am/ URL: airs.jpl.nasa.gov, click on Events/ 2005). Biloxi, Mississippi. URL: Meetings. Registration available in www.multitemp05.org March. September 19-22 June 20 - 24 Remote Sensing Europe 2005 May 3-5 5th International Scientifi c Conference Bruges, Belgium. Congress Ctr. CERES Science Team Meeting, Princ- on the Global Energy & Water Cycle, Or- SEC@Bruges. URL: spie.org/ eton, NJ. Contact: Gary Gibson, ange County, CA. URL www.gewex.org/ conferences/calls/05/ers/ [email protected]. 5thconf.html

May 17-18 June 20 - 24 ORNL DAAC User Working Group Meet- 31st International Symposium on Re- ing. Location TBD. mote Sensing of Environment, “Global

May 18-20 Earth Science Community Educa- tion Meeting, Orlando, FL. Con- tact: Theresa Schwerin, theresa_ [email protected].

May 23-27 MISR Data User’s Workshop, New Orleans, LA. Contact: Nancy Ritchey, [email protected].

May 24-27 AVIRIS Science Workshop, Pasadena, CA. URL: aviris.jpl.nasa.gov.

October 3-7 International EOS/NPP Direct Broadcast Meeting, Benevento, Italy. Contact: [email protected]

Heart Mountain is a dramatic, 8,123-foot (2,476- meter) peak just north of Cody, Wyoming, on the fl oor of the Bighorn Basin. This image of Heart Mountain and the surrounding area was acquired on July 24, 2000, by the Enhanced Thematic Map- per plus aboard NASA’s Landsat Satellite. NASA image by Robert Simmon, based on Landsat 7 data provided by the Global Land Cover Facility.

22 23 Code 900 PRSRT STD National Aeronautics and Postage and Fees Paid Space Administration National Aeronautics and Space Administration Goddard Space Flight Center Permit G27 Greenbelt, Maryland 20771

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The Earth Observer

The Earth Observer is published by the EOS Project Science Offi ce, ce, Code Code 900, 900, NASA NASA Goddard Goddard Space Space Flight Flight Center Center,, Greenbelt, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771, telephone (301) 614-5561, FAX (301) 614-6530, and is available on the World Wide Web at eos.nasa.gov/earth_ observer.php or by writing to the above address. Articles, contributions to the meeting calendar, and sugges tions are welcomed. Contributions to the calendars should contain location, person to contact, telephone number, and e-mail address. To subscribe to The Earth Ob serv er, or to change your mailing address, please call Hannelore Parrish at (301) 867-2114, or send a message to han- [email protected], or write to the address above.

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Notice

The Earth Observer will no longer be printed after the May-June 2005 issue. We will continue to produce new issues bi-monthly, but they will only be available on-line in PDF format at eospso.gsfc.nasa.gov/earth_observer.php. Printed on Recycled Paper