NASA Technical Memorandum 402 5 NASA Oceanic Processes Program Biennial’ Report-Fiscd Years 1986 afid I98 7 NASA Technical Memorandum 402 5 NASA Oceanic Processes Program Biennial Report-Fiscud Years 1986 und 1987 NASA Ofice of Space Science and Applications Washington, D.C. National Aeronautics and Space Administration Scientific and Technical Information Division 1988 PREFACE The present time is especially active regarding planning and implementation of capabilities for observing the oceans from space. The Navy’s Geosat Exact Repeat Mission has been in operation for almost a year and the data look good. The first SSM/I-equipped Air Force DMSP satellite was launched this past June and appears to be operating satisfactorily. The Navy’s N-ROSS, initially cancelled last November, is now in the process of reinstatement. This is particularly critical for NASA as N-ROSS is the platform upon which we are to fly our NSCAT; the set of six NSCAT flight antennae have been delivered to JPL. Implementation of ESA’s ERS-1 mission is proceeding well, and ESA has just selected the team of investigators in response to their AO. The Japanese are progressing with development of their ERS-1 mission. Implementation for our Alaska SAR Facility (ASF) is proceeding well, and we have reached agreement, in principle, with NASDA in Japan regarding reception of their ERS-1 SAR and optical data at the ASF. TOPEX, a joint mission (TOPEWPOSEIDON) with the French Space Agency (CNES), was approved by Congress in the FY 87 budget; we have selected a science team in response to a joint NASNCNES AO; and Fairchild has been selected as the satellite contractor. Especially considering the demise of the Nimbus-7 CZCS this past winter, we are actively supporting EOSAT to include a color scanner (Sea-WiFS) in the sensor complement of Landsat-6; funding for implementation of Landsat-6 has just been appropriated by Congress. The Canadian Government has approved their Radarsat mission, contingent on working out agreements with their U.S. (NASA, and possibly NOAA) and British partners. This biennial report for NASA’s Oceanic Processes Program, covering fiscal years 1986 and 1987, provides an outline of our recent accomplishments, present activities, and future plans. We hope you find the report useful, and we would appreciate hearing from you in the event you have any questions or comments. We would like to express our appreciation to all those individuals who have contributed material to our report. We are particularly grateful to Penny L. Peters, Joint Oceanographic Institutions Inc., for editing this document. Oceanic Processes Program James R. Greaves Code EEC Eni G. Njoku NASA Headquarters James G. Richman Washington, DC 20546 Robert H. Thomas 2021453-1725 William F. Townsend W. Stanley Wilson James A. Yoder November 1987 Ernest T. Young iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Section i3u.e PREFACE iii SECTION 1 - INTRODUCTION 1-1 A brief description of the components of the Oceanic Processes Program, as well as a summary of international, ocean-related flight projects planned for the next decade. SECTION 2 - PROJECT AND STUDY SUMMARIES 11-1 A brief description of present ocean-related flight projects, and requirernents/definition/implementation studies for future flight projects (includingcertain non-NASA, non-U.S. activities). SECTION 3 - INDIVIDUAL RESEARCH SUMMARIES 111-1 A brief description of each of the individual research activities sponsored by the Oceanic Processes Program. SECTION 4 - BIBLIOGRAPHY IV- 1 A list of recent refereed journal articles sponsored by the Oceanic Processes Program. SECTION I - INTRODUCTION The overall goals of the Oceanic Processes Program are: (1) to develop spaceborne techniques and to evaluate their utility for observing the oceans, (2) to apply these techniques to advance our understanding of the fundamental behavior of the oceans, and (3) to assist users with the implementation of operational systems. We are working closely with the operational oceanographic community because many of the specific research questions being addressed by our program, when answered, will help provide an improved capability for the utilization of spaceborne techniques for operational purposes. The program is organized into five components; they and their respective program managers are: (1) Physical Oceanography -- Dr. James G. Richman and Mr. Ernest T. Young; (2) Ocean Productivity -- Dr. James A. Yoder; (3) Polar Oceans -- Dr. Robert H. Thomas; (4) Oceanic Flight Projects -- Mr. William F. Townsend and Mr. James R. Greaves; and, (5) Ocean Data Systems -- Dr. Eni G. Njoku. Dr. Thomas replaced Dr. Kenneth C. Jezek on October 15, 1987, at which time Dr. Jezek returned to the U.S. Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL), and the Thayer School of Engineering, Dartmouth College. The distribution of NASA's FY 86 and 87 ocean-related funding is approximately as follows: FY 86 FY 87 Jet Propulsion Laboratory' $ 8,250 K $ 6,180K Goddard Space Flight Center 2,250 3,500 Academic Institutions 3,150 5,050 Industry 550 220 Other Government Agencies 60 220 Miscellaneous** 1,920 1,860 TOtA $ 16,180 K $ 17,030 K '$4.2M for TOPEX study activities included in FY-86; TOPEX covered by separate line item in FY-87. "'Includes program manager salaries, support contract services, Resident Research Associate program, and WOCE/TOGA/GOFS planning activities. Additional funding that benefited the Oceanic Processes Program in FY 86 included : $13.1M to initiate development of the NSCAT sensor and its associated data system, $1.1M for operational processing of NIMBUS-7 CZCS and SMMR data at Goddard Space Flight Center, $0.56M for developmental activities related to the NASA Ocean Data System (NODS) at Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and $0.70M for developmental activities related to the Alaska SAR Facility (ASF); this brings the total FY 86 budget of NASA ocean-related funding up to $31.64M. Additional funding that benefits the Oceanic Processes Program in FY 87 includes: $26.5M to continue development of the NSCAT sensor and its associated data system, $18.2M for TOPEX, $0.75M for operational I- 1 processing of NIMBUS-7 CZCS and SMMR data at Goddard Space Flight Center, $0.49M for developmental activities related to the NASA Ocean Data System (NODS) at Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and $5.47M for develomental activities related to the Alaska SAR Facility (ASF); this brings the total FY 87 budget of NASA ocean-related funding up to $68.44M. Various Science Working Group (SWG) activities have been underway during the past few years and are outlined in Table 1, page 1-15. National and international ocean-related spacecraft activities for the next decade, which are at various levels of planning and development, are outlined in Table 2, page 1-16. (In addition to the acronyms and definitions accompanying Table 2, we have included a brief paragraph describing each of the spacecraft listed and commenting on their present status.) A summary of the more recent SWG activities is given in Section 2; written reports for each are available from NASA Headquarters. Notable publications which have recently appeared include: Beal, R. C., ed., 1987: Proceedings of the Symposium Measuring Ocean Waves from Space. Johns Hopkins APL Tech. Digest, 8(1), 147 pp. Carsey, F. D., K. C. Jezek, J. Miller, W. Weeks and G. Weller, 1987: The Alaska Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Facility Project. €OS,68(25), 593-596. Esaias, W. E., G. C. Feldman, C. R. McClain and J. A. Elrod, 1986: Monthly satellitederived phytoplankton pigment distribution for the North Atlantic ocean basin, EOS, 67(44), 835-837. Liu, W. T., 1987: 1982-83 El NiAo Atlas Nimbus-7 Microwave Radiometer Data. JPL Pub. 87-5, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 68 pp. Muench, R. D., S. Martin, J. E. Overland, 1987: MIZEX Special Issue. J. Geophys. Res., 92(C7), 6715-7225. Parkinson, C. L., J. C. Comiso, H. J. Zwally, D. Cavalieri, P. Gloersen and W. J. Campbell, 1987: Arctic Sea Ice, 1973-1976: Satellite Passive-Microwave Observations. NASA SP-489, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 296 pp. PHYSlCAl OCFANOGRAPHY PROGRAM The goal of the Physical Oceanography Program is to develop and apply spaceborne remote sensing techniques to determine the general circulation of the ocean and its variability and response to forcing by wind stress and air-sea heat fluxes, with the aim of developing an improved understanding of the ocean's role in the climate of the earth. To provide a sound scientific framework for the interpretation of satellite data, emphasis is placed on theoretical analyses, field experiments, modeling based studies aimed at the assimilation of satellite and in situ data, and the analysis of historical data collected from space. The Program has two areas of focus, Ocean Circulation and Air-Sea Interactions, based upon the utilization of the data to be obtained from two ocean-related space flight opportunities, the Ocean Topography Experiment (TOPEX) using a satellite altimeter and the NASA Scatterometer (NSCAT), planned for the early 1990's. The Program acitivites are I- 2 being coordinated with the planning efforts for the two large, international field experiments to take place in the early 199O's, the World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE) and the Tropical Oceans-Global Atmosphere Program (TOGA) The significant accomplishments in Ocean Circulation studies during the past two years include analysis of historical data from the GEOS-3 altimeter to describe the seasonal variability of the transport of the Gulf Stream, development of new techniques to reduce orbit errors, and the development of techniques to assimilate satellite data into numerical ocean circulation models. Despite the large instrument and orbit errors in the GEOS-3 altimeter data, a strong seasonal cycle in the Gulf Stream transport can be observed, using a crossover analysis technique. The observed seasonal cycle in the altimeter data is consistent with historical hydrographic data.