Executive Summary

As you’ll read in the pages that follow, 2018 was another full and productive year for technology development at the NASA Earth Science Technology Of- fice (ESTO), with numerous successes advancing new technologies for Earth science as well as the competitive selection of new projects.

In fiscal year 2018 (FY18), ESTO continued to build upon its 20-year heritage of technology development and infusion. This year, 40% of ac- tive ESTO technology projects advanced at least one Technology Readiness Level, and of the 804 completed projects in the ESTO portfolio, 33% have already been infused into Earth observing missions, operations, or commer- cial applications. We are particularly proud to report that nearly 110 students, high school through PhD, have been directly involved in ESTO-funded proj- ects this year. See pages 3-6 for more on programmatic metrics.

In January 2018, the National Research Council (NRC) released the second decadal survey for Earth science: Thriving on Our Changing Planet: A Decadal Strategy for Earth Observation from Space. As was the case with the 2007 decadal survey, ESTO investments are already well underway to directly sup- port all of the recommended measurements, and future ESTO solicitations will help further advance these goals. (See pages 7-8)

Also of note, three technology validation projects were launched on board 6-unit CubeSats to the International Space Station (ISS) in May 2018. Follow- ing their deployment from the ISS in July, these demonstration spacecraft are taking their first measurements and sending data to the ground. (See pages 15-16)

These successes demonstrate the hard work of our principal investigators and their collaborators. In October 2017, ESTO selected 12 new projects through a competitive solicitation under the Advanced Component Tech- nologies (ACT) program, and in July, four projects were selected under an In-Space Validation of Earth Science Technologies (InVEST) solicitation. As ESTO celebrates its 20th year, we welcome this new cohort of investigators, and we look forward to the contributions they will usher forward, ensuring a bright future for Earth science.

Pamela S. Millar Robert A. Bauer Program Director Deputy Program Director

Photo: On May 21st, 2018, an Orbital ATK Antares rocket launched from Wallops Island carrying 7,400 lbs. of NASA cargo to the International Space Station, including three ESTO technology validation CubeSats. To learn more, see page 15. Credit: Aubrey Gemignani, NASA ESTO By The As the technology development function within NASA’s Earth Science Division, ESTO About performs strategic technology planning and manages the development of a range of advanced technologies for future science measurements and operational requirements. Numbers ESTO employs an open, flexible, science-driven strategy that relies on competition and peer review to produce the best, cutting-edge technologies for Earth science ESTO endeavors. Our approach to Technology Development: • Strategy: Engage with the Earth science community to plan 37Projects Added investments through careful analyses of science requirements • Selection: Fund technology development through competitive solicitations and partnership opportunities • Management: Actively manage the progress of funded projects with the aid of subject matter experts Projects Active in FY18 • Infusion: Encourage and facilitate the infusion of mature 136 technologies into science measurements The results speak for themselves: a broad portfolio of well 455Co-Investigators over 800 emerging technologies – 141 of which were active at some point during FY18 – ready to enable or enhance new science measurement capabilities as well as other Projects29 Completed infusion opportunities. Observation Technology Information Unique Co-I Technology Validation Technology 139Organizations Students Involved Carefully developed technologies Validation on airborne and AIST advances the mission 107 can reduce the risk and cost spaceborne platforms is a of Earth science research of new scientific observations critical step in mitigating the by creating and refining with extended capabilities. risk of new technologies. ESTO new information system ESTO’s strategy for observation actively facilitates and pursues technologies. These projects technologies focuses on new opportunities to flight-qualify increase efficiency, reduce risk, measurement approaches that various emerging technologies and enable new observational 60Unique PI reduce the overall volume, mass, – instruments, components, and techniques that would be Organizations and operational complexity in information systems – in relevant impossible without advances in observing systems. environments. information technology. 31Universities 28States 21States PAGE PAGE PAGE CubeSats4 9 13 17 Launched 7Projects Airborne-Tested

1 2 With 804 completed technology investments and a portfolio during FY18 Super Cloud 2018 (October 1, 2017, through September 30, 2018) of 136 active projects, Simulation (Principal Investigator: improved weather and climate mod- ESTO drives innovation, enables future Earth science measurements, and Library Wei-Kuo Tao, Goddard Space els. Using Apache Spark, an analytics strengthens NASA’s reputation for developing and advancing leading- Flight Center). Cloud resolv- engine for big data process, and edge technologies. To clarify ESTO’s FY18 achievements, what follows The Super Cloud Library (SCL), a ing models are numerical Apache Hadoop, a utility that links METRICS are the year’s results tied to NASA’s performance metrics for ESTO: big data analysis and visualization simulations of convective computers together in a network tool for cloud-resolving models, clouds or storms that for data intensive computations, the has been infused into the Data Ana- help scientists explore SCL has demonstrated 20x speed lytics and Storage System (DASS) at cloud phenomena and improvements over previous manual Annually advance 25% of currently funded technology the NASA Center for Climate aid in the de- processes. Beyond operational use, GOAL 1 projects at least one Technology Readiness Level (TRL). velopment of the DASS expects to use the new tool as a benchmark to evaluate new 25% approaches. Goal FY18 RESULT 40% of ESTO technology projects funded during FY18 advanced one or more TRLs over An example simulation showing a rain event. the course of the fiscal year. 9 of these projects Updraft is shown in red and rain in blue. advanced more than one TRL. Although the Credit: Wei-Kuo Tao, GSFC percentage of TRL advancements tends to be higher in years with large numbers of completing projects, ESTO has consistently met or exceeded this metric in every fiscal year since inception. The average TRL advancement for all years going back to 1999 is 41%. Percentage of Active Projects that advanced at least 1 TRL during each Fiscal Year.

Mature at least three GOAL 2 technologies to the Earth Venture Perkovic-Martin, JPL) and the Por- point where they can be demonstrated in space or 33% Already table Remote Imaging Spectrometer in a relevant operational environment. Infused Suborbital (PRISM: Mouroulis, JPL) to provide an unprecedented view of subme- 45% Path In September 2018, five proposals soscale eddies and fronts and their FY18 RESULT Identified for were selected under the 2017 Earth effects on vertical transport in the The chart to the right shows ESTO’s all-time infusion 22% Awaiting Infusion Venture Suborbital-3 (EVS-3) so- upper ocean. success drawn from 804 completed projects through Infusion licitation, which sought complete, the end of FY18. In this fiscal year, at least 6 ESTO Opportunity suborbital, principal investigator-led • Delta-X: Enabling Deltas to Thrive projects achieved infusion into science measurements, investigations to conduct innovative, in a Century of Rising Seas (Marc Si- airborne campaigns, data systems, or follow-on devel- integrated, hypothesis or science mard, Jet Propulsion Laboratory) will Engineers install the DopplerScatt radar instrument opment activities. Several notable examples follow. question-driven approaches to use state-of-the-art airborne remote on the NASA B200. Credit: Ken Ulbrich, NASA pressing Earth system science is- sensing and in situ instruments to Avalanche technology has also been picked up for potential use in future planetary sues. Four of these include infusions calibrate hydrology, sediment trans- JPL) for spectral measurements of by several other programs for use swath mapping laser altimeters and of ESTO technologies: port and plant productivity models ecosystem, geology, and soil. Photodiode beyond Earth. infrared laser absorption spectrome- around the Mississippi delta flood- The HgCdTe Infrared Avalanche Pho- ters. • The Submesoscale Ocean Dynam- plain in order to understand potential • The Aerosol Cloud Meteorology In- todiode Focal Plane Array (Principal The MARs LIdar (MARLI), a NASA ics and Vertical Transport experiment impacts of sea-level rise. Delta-X will teractions Over the Western Atlantic Investigator: Xiaoli Sun, Goddard planetary instrument technology (S-MODE; Thomas Farrar, Woods utilize the Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle Experiment (ACTIVATE; Armin So- Space Flight Center) is a new type project currently in development, is Hole Oceanographic Institute) will Synthetic Aperture Radar (UAVSAR: rooshian, University of Arizona) will of short-wave infrared to mid-wave making use of the array for poten- study submesoscale ocean dynam- Hensley and Lou, JPL) for land veg- study interactions of aerosol parti- infrared single photon detector array tial measurements of wind and dust ics and their contributions to vertical etation measurements, the Airborne cles and clouds, a large uncertainty that features greater than 90% quan- profiles in the Martian atmosphere. exchange of climate and biologi- Surface Water and Ocean Topog- in global radiative forcing estimates. tum efficiency, near-zero read-out And the NASA Planetary Instrument cal variables in the upper ocean. raphy (AirSWOT: Rodriguez, JPL) ACTIVATE will use the High Spec- noise, and instantaneous multi-chan- Concepts for the Advancement of The experiment will utilize several for water surface elevation mea- tral Resolution Lidar-2 (HSRL-2: nel outputs. Originally developed for Solar System Observations (PICAS- new instruments developed under surements, and the Airborne Visible Hostetler, LaRC) to characterize infrared lidar and spectrometers for SO) program has selected the array ESTO, including the Ka-band Dop- InfraRed Imaging Spectrometer - clouds and aerosols in the atmo- Earth science remote sensing, the for further technology development pler Scatterometer (DopplerScatt: Next Generation (AVIRIS-NG: Green, sphere. The HgCdTe avalanche photodiode array in a mini- Stirling cryocooler. Altogether, this component 3 weights 1.4 kg, measures 7x7x20 cm, and requires 4 4-7 W of power. Credit: Xiaoli Sun, GSFC • Using instruments carried by the high-altitude ER-2 aircraft, the Investigation of Microphysics As with many research and development and Precipitation for Atlantic Coast-Threaten- projects, students are integral to the work and ing Snowstorms (IMPACTS; Lynn McMurdie, success of technology development teams. University of Washington) will provide im- Since ESTO’s founding, more than 825 students portant observations for understanding the from over 143 institutions have worked on mechanisms of snow band formation and various ESTO-funded projects. Aided by their evolution within winter storms, as well as data experiences, these students have often gone for future mission design and model improve- on to work in the aerospace industry and in ments. Among the instruments IMPACTS will related . utilize is the dual frequency (Ku- and Ka-band) High-Altitude Imaging Wind and Rain Airborne In FY18, 107 students were involved with active Profiler (HIWRAP: Heymsfield, GSFC) as well as ESTO projects. Most typically, these students a W-band antenna developed for the W-band are pursuing undergraduate and graduate Cloud Radar System (Racette and Li, GSFC). Student degrees, but occasionally high school students also join in on the technology development Participation work. The HIWRAP dual frequency Doppler radar. Credit: Bill Hrybyk, NASA Student Spotlight: nications. The result is a substantially Rachel Norris Enable a new science measurement or significantly smaller antenna and orders of mag- GOAL 3 improve the performance of an existing technique. nitude lower power requirements Rachel Norris, a Ph.D. student in than traditional active radar, which Electrical and Computer Engineer- Global root zone soil moisture (or requires a signal transmitter. ing at the University of Michigan and RZSM) measurements – water con- 2018 NASA Earth and Space Sci- tent in the top meter of soil – are a The SoOp-AD instrument was de- ence Fellowship (NESSF) recipient, missing data set that can provide a signed and developed by James is working on the Next-Generation critical link between surface hydrol- Garrison at Purdue University and Global Navigation Satellite System ogy and deeper processes. They includes a P/S-band (240 – 270 (GNSS) Bistatic Radar Receiver (or FY18 RESULT could directly aid our understanding GHz) receiver system made up of NGRx) project with principal investi- of drainage characteristics, water a dual linear polarization antenna, gator Chris Ruf. NGRx is a dual-band A New Approach uptake by plants, food production, and two 4-channel digital receivers. instrument under development capa- and the connection between precip- In late 2016, the project team took ble of measuring ocean surface wind to Soil Moisture itation and fresh water availability, a the instrument on several flights on speed in the core of tropical cyclones factor that is presently available only board a NASA B-200 aircraft over as well as soil moisture, inland flood- Measurements through model assimilation of sur- instrumented field sites near the ing extent, and ice thickness with face soil moisture. Little Washita watershed, Oklaho- relatively high spatio-temporal reso- ma. Further field experiments were lution. It could serve as a follow-on to Credit: Rachel Norris, University of Michigan Various remote sensing concepts conducted at the Purdue Agronomy the NASA Cyclone Global Navigation to measure RZSM have focused Center for Research and Education Satellite System (CYGNSS) mission. on spaceborne L-band radars, to characterize reflected signals and Ms. Norris has a life-long interest which require very large (12-30 me- demonstrate soil moisture retrievals in severe weather and holds B.S. ter) antennas to meet resolution under controlled conditions. degrees in Electrical Engineering requirements and can suffer from and Meteorology from the Univer- interference from other sources. The experiments have proved SoOp- sity of Oklahoma. For NGRx, she is The Signals of Opportunity Airborne AD a viable, and novel, approach for contributing to the radio frequency Demonstration (SoOp-AD) project next-generation soil measurements hardware development and instru- has developed a new passive P- from space. The project team has ment front-end testing, and plans to and S-Band microwave instrument been awarded a 2017 In-Space Vali- play a significant role in upcoming to directly measure root zone soil dation of Earth Science Technologies ground and airborne tests. moisture (RZSM) at depths of 0 to (InVEST) grant to further demonstrate 30 cm using reflected “signals of op- the concept on a CubeSat platform portunity” – signals that are already (see page 14 for the 2017 InVEST being generated by satellite commu- awards). 2x2 element S-Band array from the SoOp-AD project. Credit: James Garrison, Purdue University 5 6 Leading in a New Decade In 2007, the National Research Council (NRC) completed Ten years on, in January 2018, the NRC released a sec- and released the first 10-year survey for Earth science ond decadal survey for Earth science: Thriving on Our – Earth Science and Applications from Space: National Changing Planet: A Decadal Strategy for Earth Observa- Imperatives for the Next Decade and Beyond – which pri- tion from Space. Once again, existing ESTO investments oritized research areas, observations, and missions for are already supporting all of the recommended targeted NASA, NOAA, and USGS. At the time of its publication, observables, with additional awards on the way to fur- ESTO technology investments were already available to ther advance these measurement goals. The table below support all twenty of the recommended measurement shows the distributed applicability, by technology area, concepts. of ESTO projects to the new targeted observables.

Ocean Clouds, Surface Surface Snow Depth & Aerosols Convection & Mass Deformation Greenhouse Surface Ozone & Change Biology & Gases Ice Elevation Trace Gases Snow Water Precipitation & Change Winds & Equivalent Geology Currents

Designated Explorer

Other Targeted Observables Incubation

Aquatic Magnetic Ocean Radiance Surface Planetary Terrestrial Biogeo- Field Ecosystem Inter- Sea Surface Atmospheric Salinity Soil Moisture Topography Boundary Ecosystem Chemistry Changes Structure calibration & Vegetation Layer Winds Structure

Components In-Space Validation

Information Systems Sustainable Land Imaging Graph shows the relevancy of ESTO’s active and recently graduated Instruments Earth Venture Technologies projects – awarded in 2013 and later – to the new observables recommended by the 2017 decadal survey.

7 8 The Instrument Incubator Program (IIP) provides funding for new instrument and observation techniques, from Observation concept to breadboard and flight demonstrations. Instrument technology development of this scale, outside of a flight project, consistently leads to smaller, less resource-intensive instruments that reduce the costs and risks of mission instrumentation. Tech:IIP

PROJECT SPOTLIGHT: of magnetic fields. However, the Testing an Improved current technology can experience instabilities that introduce significant, random errors into the measure- The internal structure of the Earth ments. A new technology developed still holds many scientific mysteries, by Andy Brown at Polatomic, Inc. is Observation and greater insight into deep Earth set to provide the required sensitivity phenomena could aid our under- in a CubeSat form factor that could standing of plate tectonics, seismic one day enable a constellation of activity, and even subtle variations in as called for in the Tech the earth’s rotation. Because of their 2017 Decadal Survey. inaccessibility, subsurface features ABOVE: A view from the DC-3. Credit: Andy Brown can only be studied indirectly, such BELOW: A schematic of the CubeSat-sized sensors The High Accuracy Vector Heli- Carefully developed instrument and component as through measurements of Earth’s and electronics packages in a tow body. um Magnetometer (HAVHM) is an technologies can reduce the risk and cost of new magnetic field. This property, which Credit: Mike Clarke IIP-13 project that finished with an scientific observations with extended capabilities. also provides a layer of protection airborne flight test in October 2017. ESTO’s strategy for observation technologies focuses on from space radiation, changes on The current approach to studying Two tow bodies containing CubeSat- new measurement approaches that can enable improved sub-annual to decadal time scales magnetic fields from space employs sized magnetometers were dragged science capabilities and technologies to reduce the overall and thus requires continuous moni- fluxgate magnetometers, which are behind a DC-3 aircraft to avoid mag- volume, mass, and operational complexity in observing toring from space. adequate for basic investigations netic contamination from the aircraft. systems. Developing and validating novel observation After 5.5 hours of flying over rural technologies before mission development improves Texas, HAVHM was found to perform their acceptance and infusion by mission planners and successfully, and the technology ad- significantly reduces cost and schedule uncertainties. vanced to a final TRL of 6. ESTO’s Observation Technology investments are divided among three main programs: the Instrument Incubator Program (IIP), Advanced Component Technologies (ACT), PROJECT SPOTLIGHT: radar images over time, and faster stellations of InSAR CubeSats to and Sustainable Land Imaging-Technology (SLI-T). Toward a CubeSat InSAR revisit times would greatly enhance monitor deformation events on much understanding of how certain natural shorter time scales. Their flights over The IIP program held 42 investments in FY18. Seven In early July while the Kilauea erup- hazards unfold. Kilauea were the first science collec- projects graduated over the course of the year, all ad- tion continued its slow-motion tion campaign for their instrument vancing at least one Technology Readiness Level: consumption of houses on Hawaii’s Wye’s team has worked to miniatur- and represent a crucial stepping • High Accuracy Vector Helium Magnetometer (HAVHM) – Andy big island, a Cessna 208 flew over ize InSAR technology to the CubeSat stone on their trek towards low earth Brown, Polatomic Inc. the rift zone with a new technology form factor which would allow con- orbit. • TIRCIS: A Thermal Infrared, Compact Imaging Spectrometer for Small Satellite Applications – Robert Wright, University of Hawaii at which aims to help researchers pre- Manoa dict explosive eruptions and other • UWBRAD: Ultra Wideband Software Defined seismic activity in the future. A view of Kilauea Volcano taken from the Cessna for Ice Sheet Subsurface Temperature Sensing – Joel Johnson, The 208 during test flights. Credit: Lauren Wye, SRI Ohio State University The CubeSat Imaging Radar for International • Wide-swath Shared Aperture Cloud Radar (WiSCR) – Lihua Li, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) Earth Science-Instrument Develop- • HSRL for Aerosols, Winds, and Clouds using Optical Autocovariance ment and Detection (CIRES-IDD) Wind Lidar (HAWC-OAWL) – Sara Tucker, Ball Aerospace & project led by Lauren Wye at SRI Technologies Corp International utilizes interferometric • Cold Atom Gravity Gradiometer for Geodesy – Babak Saif, NASA synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) to GSFC • Signals of Opportunity Airborne Demonstrator (SoOp-AD) – James detect millimeter-scale deformations Garrison, Purdue University in the earth’s crust. InSAR works by comparing the phase differences in

10 Advanced Component Technologies (ACT) implements tech- For over 40 years, the Landsat series of satellites has been providing Observation nology developments to advance state-of-the-art instruments, a continuous stream of moderate resolution, multispectral images that Observation Earth- and space-based platforms, and information systems. The have been used by a broad range of specialists to analyze our world. ACT program funds the research, development, and demonstration To continue the mission of Landsat, NASA initiated the Sustainable of component- and subsystem-level technologies to reduce the risk, cost, size, Land Imaging – Technology (SLI-T) program to explore innovative Tech:ACT mass, and development time of missions and infrastructure. technologies to achieve Landsat-like data with more efficient instru- Tech:SLI-T ments, sensors, components and methodologies. Through SLI-T, Project Spotlight: New The ACT Program included 26 projects in FY18, 12 of which were ESTO currently manages six projects focused on science enhancement and Radiometers To Be Demonstrated added in October 2017 through a competitive solicitation. These reductions in instrument volume, mass, and power usage. In Space new awards are as follows: • Geodetic Reference Instrument Transponder for Small Satellites (GRITSS) – Continuous, precise measurements of the Christopher Beaudoin, University of Massachusetts, Lowell PROJECT SPOTLIGHT: Compact • Metamaterial-Based, Low SWaP, Robust and High Performance Hyperspectral Sun’s radiant energy – usually expressed as the Sensor for Land and Atmospheric Remote Sensing – Igor Bendoym, Phoebus Multispectral Imaging Total Solar Irradiance (TSI) and by wavelength Optoelectronics as the Spectral Solar Irradiance (SSI) – are crit- • Planar Metasurface Reconfigurable W-Band Antenna for Beam Steering – Nacer The Reduced Envelope Multispectral Imager (REMI) push broom scan methods of prior Landsat missions. ical to our understanding of solar variability Chahat, Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL) project at Ball Aerospace is developing a conceptual The REMI architecture also features a single, reflective and the climate here on Earth. Using carbon • Integrated Receiver and Switch Technology (IRaST) – William Deal, Northrop multispectral imager for the Landsat 10 mission that aperture that can also support thermal infrared channels, Grumman Systems Corporation nanotube and micro-machining techniques, • Laser Transmitter for Space-Based Water Vapor Lidar – Tso Yee Fan, MIT/Lincoln could be up to 30-times smaller, 10-times lighter, and and a vastly simplified, and lower risk, focal plane the Carbon Absolute Electrical Substitution Laboratory use 6-times less power than the Operational Land compared to OLI. Airborne engineering tests are planned Radiometers (CAESR) project at the Laborato- • P/I Band Multi-Frequency Reflectometry Antenna for a U-Class Constellation – Imager (OLI) currently on board the Landsat 8 satellite. in late 2018 on board a Twin Otter aircraft, followed by ry for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the James Garrison, Purdue University REMI achieves these reductions using a precision, two- science test flights in 2019. • Very Long Wavelength Infrared Focal Plane Arrays for Earth Science Applications University of Colorado has designed and de- axis mechanism to stabilize the scene during step-scan BELOW: A close-up view of the REMI scan mirror during optical alignment. – Sarath Gunapala, JPL Credit: Dennis Nicks veloped two electrical substitution radiometers • IMPRESS Lidar: Integrated Micro-Photonics for Remote Earth Science Sensing image acquisition, as opposed to the whisk broom or jointly with the National Institute of Standards Lidar – Jonathan Klamkin, University of California, Santa Barbara and Technology in Boulder. These ambient • Computational Reconfigurable Imaging Spectrometer (CRISP) – Adam Milstein, temperature radiometers have nano-watt to pi- MIT/Lincoln Laboratory co-watt noise levels and do not require active • Correlator Array-Fed Microwave Radiometer Component Technologies – Jeffrey Piepmeier, NASA GSFC cooling. The highly-integrated design enables • Advanced Photon-Counting Detector Subsystem for Spaceborne Lidar TSI/SSI measurements that are more precise Applications – John Smith, NASA Langley Research Center and at much lower cost. Both radiometers • A Black Array of Broadband Absolute Radiometers (BABAR) for Spectral have upcoming demonstrations in space on Measurements of the Earth – Michelle Stephens, National Institute of Standards board 6U CubeSats. & Technology

The first radiometer, for SSI measurements, has Five projects also graduated from ACT funding in FY18, all of which a 130 pico-watt noise floor and has excellent advanced at least one Technology Readiness Level: performance across the broad solar spectrum • A G-Band Humidity Sounding Radar Transceiver – Ken Cooper, JPL from extreme ultraviolet to mid infrared. The • Ka Band Highly Constrained Deployable Antenna for RaInCube – Yahya Rahmat- Samii, University of California, Los Angeles Compact Spectral Irradiance Monitor (CSIM) • Compact Magnet-less Circulators for ACE and Other NASA Missions – Anton validation project will utilize this radiometer Geiler, Metamagnetics, Inc. to demonstrate performance against existing • Wideband Radio Frequency Interference Detection for Microwave – Priscilla NASA missions: the Solar Radiation and Cli- Mohammed, Morgan State University mate Experiment (SORCE) and the Total and • Lidar Orbital Angular Momentum Sensor (LOAMS) – Carl Weimer, Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corporation Spectral Solar Irradiance Sensor (TSIS). CSIM is expected to launch in late 2018.

The second, for TSI measurements, is high power, accurate (0.01% radiometric accuracy), and stable across the entire integrated solar spectrum. It forms the basis for the Compact Total Irradiance Monitor (CTIM) validation proj- ect, selected in July 2018 through the InVEST program (see page 14). CTIM will demonstrate TSI measurements from a CubeSat platform for the first time, potentially reducing the risk of data gaps for a measurement that has been made from space continuously for 40 years. LEFT: Flight SSI/CSIM radiometers. RIGHT: Prototype TSI/CTIM detector head. Credit: David Harber

11 Four New Projects Awarded Under the InVEST Program

SigNals-of-Opportunity P-band Investigation (SNoOPI) PI: James Garrison, Purdue University SNoOPI aims to be the first demonstration of the P-band ”signals of oppor- tunity” technique from orbit to estimate the important hydrologic variables of root zone soil moisture and snow water equivalent, circumventing many current limitations under all weather conditions day and night. This technique Technology has great promise for making measurements in previously inaccessible fre- quencies. Technology Heritage: SoOp-AD Instrument, IIP Validation NASA’s vision for future Earth observations necessitates Compact Total Irradiance Monitor (CTIM) the development of emerging technologies capable of PI: David Harber, University of Colorado Boulder making new or improved Earth science measurements. CTIM will apply recently-proven fabrication techniques using carbon-nano- Promising new capabilities, however, bring complexi- tube radiometers to build a Total Solar Irradiance (TSI)-measuring instrument ty and risk, and for some technologies there remains a providing the net radiant input for climate and radiation balance studies. This critical need for validation in the hazardous environment compact, lower-mass instrument has shorter fabrication times and lower of space. ESTO’s In-Space Validation of Earth Science costs which could reduce the risk of future TSI-measurement data gaps. Technologies (InVEST) program facilitates the space Technology Heritage: CAESR Radiometers, ACT; CTIM, IIP demonstration of technology projects that cannot be sufficiently evaluated on the ground or through airborne testing. Once validated in space, technologies are gen- erally more adoptable, even beyond their intended use.

The InVEST program held 13 projects in FY18, four of Compact High-Resolution Trace-Gas Hyperspectral Imagers which were added in July through a competitive solici- PI: Steven Love, Los Alamos National Security, LLC tation: This 3U CubeSat will provide an ultra-compact hyperspectral imager capable

• SNOOPI: SigNals-Of-Opportunity P-band Investigation – James of targeting NO2, SO2, ozone, formaldehyde, and other gases with sufficient Garrison, Purdue University spectral resolution to confidently separate the trace gas signatures from the • Hyperspectral Thermal Imager (HyTI) – Robert Wright, University of atmosphere. Operating in the 300‐500nm spectral region, this instrument Hawaii, Honolulu aims to be competitive in terms of throughput and resolution with larger sat- • Compact Total Irradiance Monitor Flight Demonstration – David Harber, University Of Colorado Boulder ellites. • Compact High-Resolution Trace-Gas Hyperspectral Imagers, with Agile On-board Processing – Steven Love, Los Alamos National Security Hyperspectral Thermal Imager (HyTI) Four other InVEST projects ended over the course of the PI: Robert Wright, University of Hawaii, Honolulu fiscal year: The 6U HyTI plans to provide in the thermal infrared • Advancing Climate Observation: Radiometer Assessment using bands with a spatial resolution not yet achieved from space. Using a combi- Vertically Aligned Nanotubes (RAVAN) – William Swartz, Johns nation of advanced signal processing and sensor fusion algorithms, not only Hopkins University, Applied Physics Laboratory • IceCube: Spaceflight Validation of an 883-GHz Submillimeter Wave will HyTI be able to derive very accurate land surface temperature values Radiometer for Cloud Ice Remote Sensing – Dong Wu, NASA GSFC for a wide range of land surfaces but, and for the first time, these data and • The Microwave Radiometer Technology Acceleration (MiRaTA) information products will be “actionable” at the individual farm level. CubeSat – Kerri Cahoy, MIT Space Systems Lab Technology Heritage: TIRCIS Instrument, IIP • CubeSat Infrared Atmospheric Sounder (CIRAS) – Thomas Pagano, JPL

14 Three CubeSats Launched in 2018 RainCube and TEMPEST-D Take Concurrent Data of are Starting Technology Typhoon Trami On May 21, three InVEST CubeSats On September 28, RainCube and TEM- were launched to the Internation- Validation Operations PEST-D overflew Typhoon Trami shortly al Space Station (ISS) on board the after it had weakened to a Category 2 storm Cygnus OA-9 resupply mission. Over off the southern coast of Japan. Separated the next few months, and following RainCube in time by less than five minutes, the Rain- their deployment from the ISS on Developed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), RainCube will demon- Cube nadir Ka-band reflectivity (vertical July 13, the 6-unit CubeSats began strate a new architecture for miniaturized Ka-band precipitation radars. On peaks) is shown overlaid with four levels taking their first measurements and August 27, the RainCube radar was turned on and successfully acquired the of resolution provided by TEMPEST-D’s sending data to the ground. vertical range profiling measurements of precipitation and land surface at a sounding channels (horizontal layers), il- nadir-pointing configuration. Since then, it has continued to acquire addition- lustrating the complementary nature of al measurements, including this vertical precipitation profile of an over-ocean these sensors for observing precipitation. weather system off the south coast of Mexico and Guatemala on Septem- ber 14. This profile features (A) stratiform precipitation under an anvil cloud; (B) a partial view of a deep convective tower; and, (C) convection and stratiform pre- cipitation under an anvil cloud. A B C TEMPEST-D The Temporal Experiment for Storms and Trop- ical Systems Demonstration (TEMPEST-D) CubeSat, led by Colorado State University with support from JPL, is testing a new five-frequen- cy, millimeter-wave (89, 165, 176, 180 and 182 GHz) radiometer for observations of the time evolution of clouds and precipitation processes. TEMPEST-D took its first data at the beginning of September, including of Hurricane Norman off the coast of Hawaii on September 5. Shortly after becoming fully operational, TEMPEST-D captured this first full swath image of Hurricane Florence on September 11. The colors reveal the eye of the storm, surrounded by towering, intense rain bands. CubeRRT The CubeSat Radiometer Radio Frequency Interference Technology (CubeRRT), devel- oped at The Ohio State University, will validate real-time radio frequency interference (RFI) de- tection and mitigation technologies for future microwave radiometers. CubeRRT deployed its antenna on September 4, and is demon- strating the ability to detect RFI and filter out RFI-corrupted data in real time on board the spacecraft. Shown here are 128-frequency spectrum data collected over the Pacific Ocean on September 9, before (left) and after (right) The Orbital ATK Antares rocket launch on May onboard RFI detection, flagging, and removal. 21st, 2018. Credit: Aubrey Gemignani, NASA White areas mark RFI removal from the data.

16 PROJECT SPOTLIGHT: Harmonizing Precipitation Data Sets Information Global Precipita- tion Measurement (GPM) is an inter- Tech national satellite mission launched in 2014 to measure precipitation from Visualization of AMPR data with space. Data from its overlay of corresponding ER-2 flight path. Credit: Helen Conover two primary instru- ments are regularly compared to, and validated against, data from other sat- ellites, as well as the GPM ground validation (GPM- GV) program which features a wide variety of ground-based, airborne, PROJECT SPOTLIGHT: Tracking Global Biodiversity Information and satellite assets. These varied in- struments create measurements that Scientists’ ability to track biodiversi- open-source software work flows ca- are likewise diverse in their formats, ty is an important tool for monitoring pable of fusing large biodiversity data spatial and temporal scales, and oth- ecosystem health, understanding sets. Thus far, they have successfully Tech er variables. This results in datasets species life cycles, and even predict- synced three major biodiversity cata- that can be difficult to use together. ing natural disasters. Until recently, logs and established direct access to however, several challenges have the Google Earth Engine raster cata- Advanced information systems play a critical role in The Visualization for Integrated Sat- prevented the achievement of a ho- log. An early prototype user interface the collection, handling, and management of the vast ellite, Airborne and Ground-based listic monitoring system. Differences is currently being tested with nearly amounts of Earth science data, both in space and data Exploration (VISAGE) project in data-types, including GPS tracks, one billion records to visualize spe- on the ground. Advanced computational systems is bringing together these disparate sensor-based inventories, citizen cies’ climatic niches. and technology concepts that enable the capture, data sources into a common frame- science observations, the breadth transmission, and dissemination of terabytes of data are work with the goal of facilitating of data available, and measurement This tool, in conjunction with new essential to NASA’s vision of a distributed observational efficient research. Using web-based scale disparities all add complexity low-cost animal tracking systems, network. ESTO’s Advanced Information Systems interfaces, VISAGE aims to enable to the data fusion required to provide will allow for a dramatic improve- Technology (AIST) program employs an end-to-end rapid collection and integration of a more complete picture. ment in the ability to study animal approach to develop these critical technologies — data so that scientists can make movements and migration and to from the space segment where the information pipeline qualitative and quantitative analyses Walter Jetz at Yale University is track biodiversity changes on a glob- begins, to the end user where knowledge is advanced. and select events or features of inter- spearheading a project to change al scale. est (such as weather events) in near this. His team is working to create The AIST program held 40 active projects in FY18. Five real time. projects graduated from funding during FY18, all of which A bird outfitted with a solar-powered backpack advanced at least one Technology Readiness Level: Now in their second and final year, transmitter. Credit: Max Planck-Yale Center for • AMIGHO: Automated Metadata Ingest for GNSS Hydrology within the VISAGE team led by Helen Con- Biodiversity and Global Change OODT – Kristine Larson, University of Colorado Boulder over at the University of Alabama is • NASA Information And Data System (NAIADS) for Earth Science Data Fusion and Analytics – Constantine Lukashin, NASA Langely integrating system components into Research Center a cloud environment – data readers, • Multi-Channel Combining for Airborne Flight Research using metadata catalog, SQL query func- Standard Protocols – Joe Ishac, NASA Glenn Research Center tion, on-the-fly tile generation, etc. • Development of Computational Infrastructure to Support They hope to complete testing of Hyper-Resolution Large-Ensemble Hydrology Simulations from Local-to-Continental Scales – Martyn Clark, National Center for the full system in late 2019, and in- Atmospheric Research tegrate it into the Global Hydrology • Arctic Demonstration for SoilSCAPE (Soil moisture Sensing Controller Resource Center (GHRC) Distributed and oPtimal Estimator) – Mahta Moghaddam, University of Southern Active Archive Center (DAAC) at NA- California SA’s Marshall Space Flight Center.

13 0010101010010101011010 1101101010010010111101 0101000100100101010010 1010100110010010010111 0011110101010100110100 0111100101010010010100 1011101010010010100111 1010101010100101010101 0010101010010101011010 1101101010010010111101 For nearly 20 years, ESTO investments have strategic planning. It is the result of 0101000100100101010010 1010100110010010010111 High Volume reflected and anticipated science require- a commitment to monitor emerging 0011110101010100110100 ments to enable many new measurements technologies and match them to 0111100101010010010100 Data Analytics and capabilities. That ESTO technologies evolving needs through engagement 1011101010010010100111 Large volumes of data from multi- Future 1010101010100101010101 were already underway to address the priori- with the science community. 0010101010010101011010 ple platforms and different vantage 1101101010010010111101 ties outlined by the 2017 National 0101000100100101010010 points requires a new approach to Academies’ Decadal Survey for Here are just a few of the emerging 1010100110010010010111 data intercalibration and uncertain- Earth Science and Applications technology areas that could have Graphene Detectors 0011110101010100110100 ty quantification. ESTO is pursuing Directions 0111100101010010010100 from Space is a testament to dramatic impacts on the future of Light, strong, and electrically and 1011101010010010100111 modernized, rapid processing work- 1010101010100101010101 ESTO’s broad-based, inclusive Earth science: thermally conductive, graphene is 1010101010100101010101 flows that can produce products poised to make an impact on infrared 0010101010010101011010 within hours of observations. 1101101010010010111101 imaging. Of note, the use of graphene 0101000100100101010010 Integrated could enable instruments that previ- 1010100110010010010111 Micro-Photonics 0011110101010100110100 ously required cooling to operate at 1010101010100101010101 Unlike electronic integrated circuits, room temperature. 0011110101010100110100 1010100110010010010111 photonic Integrated Circuits (PICs) 0011110101010100110100 use light rather than electrons to 0111100101010010010100 perform a wide variety of optical functions and can dramati- Metamaterials/ cally reduce the cost, size, Metasurfaces weight, and power of remote These engineered nanostructured sensing instruments while materials can respond to light in Machine Learning potentially improving perfor- entirely new ways – hyperlensing, Artificial intelligence systems that mance and reliability. PICs negative refraction index, complex can learn from data, identify pat- could enable more frequent, filtering, light channeling, etc – and terns, and make decisions with little lower cost missions using small have the potential to greatly reduce or no human intervention are already satellite platforms. the size and mass of optical systems. helping to sift through the terabytes Low profile metasurface antennas of data produced by Earth science are also under development that are instruments. Machine learning will capable of beam shaping, pointing, be a crucial tool for the complex and simple on-surface control of the Earth-observing scenarios envi- aperture fields. sioned for the future. Distributed Observing System Design Future missions will take advantage of autonomy, on-demand tasking, and dynamic reconfigurability to make entirely new measurements and- obser vations. From early in the planning stage, these kinds of multi-platform, distributed observations require careful mission design, estimation of science value, and coupling of data products.

Free-Form Optics Advancements in manufacturing techniques have enabled precision free-form optics – optics that lack translational or rotational symmetry on at least one surface – that can be used for high spectral and spatial resolution imaging in a much smaller optical layout, saving volume and weight on a spacecraft. In some cases, they can even provide better overall imaging performance for high aspect ratio applications.

1319 National Aeronautics and Space Administration Earth Science Technology Office NASA GSFC, Code 407.0 Greenbelt, MD 20771 www.esto.nasa.gov