1999 EOS Reference Handbook A Guide to NASA’s Earth Science Enterprise and the Earth Observing System http://eos.nasa.gov/ 1999 EOS Reference Handbook A Guide to NASA’s Earth Science Enterprise and the Earth Observing System Editors Michael D. King Reynold Greenstone Acknowledgements Special thanks are extended to the EOS Prin- Design and Production cipal Investigators and Team Leaders for providing detailed information about their Sterling Spangler respective instruments, and to the Principal Investigators of the various Interdisciplinary Science Investigations for descriptions of their studies. In addition, members of the EOS Project at the Goddard Space Flight Center are recognized for their assistance in verifying and enhancing the technical con- tent of the document. Finally, appreciation is extended to the international partners for For Additional Copies: providing up-to-date specifications of the instruments and platforms that are key ele- EOS Project Science Office ments of the International Earth Observing Mission. Code 900 NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Support for production of this document, Greenbelt, MD 20771 provided by Winnie Humberson, William Bandeen, Carl Gray, Hannelore Parrish and Phone: (301) 441-4259 Charlotte Griner, is gratefully acknowl- Internet: [email protected] edged. Table of Contents Preface 5 Earth Science Enterprise 7 The Earth Observing System 15 EOS Data and Information System (EOSDIS) 27 Data and Information Policy 37 Pathfinder Data Sets 45 Earth Science Information Partners and the Working Prototype-Federation 47 EOS Data Quality: Calibration and Validation 51 Education Programs 53 International Cooperation 57 Interagency Coordination 65 Mission Elements 71 EOS Instruments 89 EOS Interdisciplinary Science Investigations 157 Points-of-Contact 340 Acronyms and Abbreviations 354 Appendix 361 List of Figures 1. Changes in Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide Concentration 7 2. NASA’s Earth Science Enterprise 9 3. Earth Science Mission Profile 20 4. Earth Science Program and Flight Elements 21 5. EOSDIS Architecture 30 6. Geographic Distribution of EOSDIS DAACs 31 7. Terra Payload 71 8. U.S. and International Partner Earth Observing Missions 86-87 9. EOS Program-Level Architecture 88 List of Tables 1. ESE Phase I: NASA Contributions 10 2. ESE Pre-EOS: Non-NASA Contributions 11 3. EOS Era (First Series) Remote-Sensing Satellites 13-14 4. EOS Program History 15 5. EOS, NMP and ESSP Instrument Complement: Phase 1 22 6. EOS and NMP Platform Instrument Counts and Data Rates 23 7. Links to IPCC Areas of Uncertainty 24 8. EOS Distributed Active Archive Centers 28 9. Some of the Major Foreign Contributions to NASA’s Earth Science Enterprise 60 10. Some of the Major Satellite Missions in the International Earth Observing System 61-63 Preface This 1999 edition of the Earth Observing System (EOS) Reference Handbook has been prepared to present the latest status of this evolving program. As will become clear through reading this Handbook, the Earth Science Enterprise has adopted a more-flexible approach to planning new missions in the period follow- ing 2002. This has become possible, in part, through the funding of technology development that supports more-efficient and cost-effective instrument implementa- tion that shortens mission development cycles. A special feature of this edition is the addition of the descriptions of new Interdis- ciplinary Science Investigations (IDS) that have been added to the EOS Program since the 1995 edition was published. The new investigations will significantly broaden the scope of the science that has been the province of the original IDS Investigations from the very beginnings of EOS. IDS Investigations have the special function of perform- ing the scientific analyses that will benefit from the vast array of remote-sensing data that are now becoming available from various sources. The investigations are develop- ing and applying the skills needed to take advantage of data from the highly sophisti- cated instruments that will be launched onboard EOS satellite platforms and onboard the complementary satellite platforms from the international community. Functioning in an interactive mode, the various IDS investigations are testing the capabilities of NASA’s new Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS). Prior to launch of the first EOS spacecraft in 1999, they are using early versions of EOSDIS to perform their scientific studies. Their experiences in using the system now permit them to feed back suggestions for improvement to the EOSDIS developers. The scientific investigations associated with EOS instruments play a major role in supporting overall EOS science objectives. The geophysical parameters that are supplied to the interdisciplinary investigations as EOS instrument products are them- selves the products of considerable research by members of the many EOS instrument teams. Research by the instrument team members makes possible the conversion of instrument signals to the geophysical parameters that are then used by the interdisci- plinary investigators as well as instrument investigators in their work. The instrument team members not only provide the geophysical parameters (standard instrument products), but also participate in the field experiments and mathematical analyses required to provide the necessary assurances of the validity of the data. They also conduct inter-instrument investigations that are the basis for multi-sensor products that would not be available from instruments flying alone. An electronic version of this Handbook is available online at: http://eos.nasa.gov/eos_homepage/misc_html/refbook.html. I hope you will find this document informative as well as useful. I will be glad to respond to any comments or questions you may have. Michael D. King EOS Senior Project Scientist 1999 EOS Reference Handbook Preface • 5 Earth Science Enterprise Background monitoring lack the spatial, temporal, and spectral coverage needed to provide observations of the accuracy In the next century, planet Earth faces the potential hazard and precision desired to interpret the interactions among of rapid environmental changes, including climate these variables and their individual and combined warming, rising sea level, deforestation, desertification, contributions to global climate. Furthermore, current atmospheric ozone depletion, acid rain, and reduction in modeling of these interactive processes does not represent biodiversity. Such changes would have a profound impact them with sufficient accuracy to generate reliable on all nations, yet many important scientific questions predictions of the magnitude and timing of global climate remain unanswered. For example, while most scientists change. agree that global warming is likely, its magnitude and timing (especially at the regional level) are quite uncertain. Additional information on the 370 rate, causes, and effects of global change is essential to develop the understanding needed to cope with it. The National Aeronautics and Space 360 Administration (NASA) is working with the national and international scientific communities 350 to establish a sound scientific basis for addressing these issues through research efforts coordinated 340 under the U.S. Global Change Research Program ppmv (USGCRP), the International Geosphere- CO2 330 Biosphere Program (IGBP), and the World Climate Research Program (WCRP). Scientific research shows that the Earth has 320 changed over time and continues to change. Human activity has altered the condition of the 310 1960 1970 1980 1990 Earth by reconfiguring the landscape, by Year changing the composition of the global atmosphere, and by stressing the biosphere in Figure 1. Atmospheric carbon dioxide monthly mean mixing ratios as observed countless ways. There are strong indications that by Tans and Keeling at Mauna Loa, Hawaii. Data prior to May 1974 are from the natural change is being accelerated by human Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and data since May 1974 are from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). intervention. In its quest for improved quality of life, humanity has become a force for change on the planet, building upon, reshaping, and modifying nature—often in unintended ways. Only through systematic, comprehensive research can The byproducts of human activities, such as carbon scientists further knowledge of Earth’s climate and its dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and other gases, trap heat variations, thereby providing guidance to policymakers, emitted from the Earth’s surface, thus potentially warming who must balance the needs of constituents with the wel- the global atmosphere. Measurements over the past several fare of the planet and the species that inhabit it. The study decades have documented a rapid rise in concentrations of ozone levels by the Upper Atmosphere Research Pro- of these greenhouse gases (e.g., Figure 1). Changes in gram (UARP) illustrates how Earth science research yields other variables, such as global cloudiness, concentration a clear picture of human-induced global change. In the of atmospheric dust particles, sea-ice concentrations, and 1970s, scientists first proposed the chemical processes by ocean circulation patterns, also have an impact on Earth’s which human-made chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) deplete climate. The existing space-based systems for global stratospheric ozone. After a long-term research program 1999 EOS Reference Handbook Earth Science Enterprise • 7 based on in situ and space-based