National Aeronautics and Space Administration The Earth Observer. March - April 2011. Volume 23, Issue 2. Editor’s Corner Steve Platnick obser ervth EOS Senior Project Scientist There is a lot to report since our last issue, and I regret that little of it is good news. As I expect most of you are already aware, NASA’s Glory spacecraft failed to reach orbit after being launched on an Orbital Sciences Corporation Taurus XL rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on March 4, 2011. About three minutes after the 5:09 AM EST launch, telemetry indicated that the fairing—the protec- tive shell atop the rocket—did not separate as expected and the spacecraft likely fell into the South Pacific. This comes just two years after a similar failure mode occurred for the Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO)—also launched on a Taurus XL. There was an extensive investigation following that February 2009 failure; the fair- ing underwent a redesign of its separation system and had been cleared for use for the Glory mission. A mishap investigation board has been selected to analyze the Glory launch failure and make recommendations to the NASA administrator. continued on page 2 On December 11, 2010, the Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS) on the Orb- view-2 satellite [pictured right] ceased trans- mitting data after a distinguished 13-year life. Shown here is a composite image showing chlo- rophyll concentrations over the ocean and Nor- malized Difference Vegetation Index over land over the course of the SeaWiFS data record. Image Credit: SeaWiFS Project [NASA God- dard Space Flight Center] and GeoEye the ear SeaWiFS Global Biosphere September 1997–December 2010 www.nasa.gov 02 The Earth Observer March - April 2011 Volume 23, Issue 2 This is an extremely disappointing setback for NASA’s eos.nasa.gov Earth Science program, and of course all those directly involved in the Glory mission. With the Aerosol Polar- In This Issue imetry Sensor (APS) instrument, Glory was to obtain unique polarimetric observations of reflected solar ra- diation that would help quantify the role of aerosols in Editor’s Corner Front Cover climate. The mission would also have continued our ongoing measurements of the Total Solar Irradiance Feature Articles with an improved Total Irradiance Monitor (TIM) instrument that was first flown on the SORCE mis- The Enduring Legacy of the Earth sion. In addition to working to determine the cause of Observing System Part I: Forging the launch vehicle failure, NASA’s Earth Science Divi- An “EOS Community” 4 sion is conducting parallel studies to determine first Let It Snow, Let It Snow…Let Us Know! 12 if a rapid reflight of an APS-2 instrument would be NASA Supports UNESCO Kickoff a scientifically viable and valuable mission today, and for International Year of Chemistry 16 second, what would be the minimum cost, risk, and The Evolution of the ESIP Federation 18 schedule implementation approach that could com- NASA DEVELOP Students at the plete such a mission. Mobile County Health Department editor's corner Utilize Earth Observations to On February 14, President Obama’s FY12 budget was Address Public Health Issues in the released. The new budget proposal contains both good Gulf Coast Region 22 and bad news for NASA Earth Science. The perceived balance between the two depends on one’s inclination Meeting/Workshop Summaries to see a glass as half full or half empty, and recognition of the current U.S. budget environment. Ocean Surface Topography Science Team Meeting 26 For clarity, it’s easier to start with the bad news. NA- 38th ASTER Science Team SA’s overall spending would be frozen at $18.7 billion Meeting Report 31 (B). Earth Science would remain flat at about $1.8B Land Atmospheres Near-real time through at least 2016, representing a removal of $1.24B Capability for EOS (LANCE) User from the $2.08B increase proposed in the president’s Working Group Meeting Summary 35 FY11 budget for the years FY12-15. The result of those GRACE Science Team Meeting Summary 39 cuts is that funding for further development of two Tier In The News 1 Decadal Survey missions—Climate Absolute Radi- ance and Refractivity Observatory (CLARREO) and Seeking Feedback and Improvement, Deformation, Ecosystem Structure and Dynamics of NASA's Earth Data System Ice (DESDynI)—will be eliminated. The multiyear Earns Praise 42 budget plan NASA sent Congress a year ago called for JPL Airborne Sensor to Study spending $1.2 billion from 2012–2015 to develop these 'Rivers in the Sky' 44 two missions. Both had recently completed their Mis- Cleaning the Air Would Limit sion Concept Reviews (MCRs) and were expected to Short-Term Climate Warming 46 proceed to Phase A—as reported in the last issue’s edito- rial. However, the Office of Management and Budget Regular Features (OMB) specifically removed those funds from its 2012 budget proposal. Further, NASA was directed to stop EOS Scientists in the News 48 work on the second GPM Microwave Imager (GMI #2) NASA Science Mission Directorate— instrument, that NASA had been building while look- Science Education Update 50 ing for an international partner to complete the GPM Science Calendars 51 Low Inclination Orbiter (GPM-LIO) mission. Reminder: To view the images in this newsletter in color, visit: eospso.gsfc.nasa.gov/eos_homepage/for_scientists/earth_ob- More specifically, all funding for CLARREO and DES- server.php DynI for FY12–FY16 was removed from the NASA budget. For CLARREO, NASA has been directed to hold the mission in preformulation through FY16. The first year of the recently awarded CLARREO Science The Earth Observer March - April 2011 Volume 23, Issue 2 03 Definition Team will be funded. The DESDynI lidar is for a more tenacious little spacecraft and instrument that cancelled, and NASA was directed to find an interna- has served us so well for the past 13+ years. Not bad for a tional partner to contribute a space-based lidar mission. spacecraft and mission that so many people thought would NASA was directed to look for affordable alternatives to never get off the ground let alone make it through the pro- the DESDynI radar, though no funds were provided to jected five-year mission life.” do so. The DESDynI Science Team solicitation may be revised with a delayed release. For both CLARREO and SeaWiFS was NASA’s first data-buy—meaning that in- DESDynI, support commensurate with a mission in stead of NASA designing, building, and operating the early pre-formulation is expected to continue. instrument and spacecraft, NASA defined the data and mission specifications and we purchased the data from Now, the good news. With the exception of the individ- a private company. The data have been distributed far ual missions or mission elements above, the president’s and wide, and in the minds of many people, have revo- FY12 budget fully funds all other requested Earth Sci- lutionized the way we view our world. Since its launch ence Division flight activities. The overall budget se- in August 1997, the SeaWiFS project has distributed cures funding for the other two Tier 1 Earth Science nearly 20-million data files, has over 3500 authorized missions identified in the 2007 Decadal Survey—Soil SeaWiFS researchers, has an international collaboration Moisture Active-Passive (SMAP) and ICESat-2. The of 132 ground receiving stations, and has been the basis missions remain budgeted for launch in 2014 and for more than 2600 peer-reviewed science papers. Says 2016, respectively; both are currently in Phase A of their Feldman, “I have no doubt that this data set will continue development. The budget also continues to support the to provide new discoveries and insights into the workings of editor's corner so-called foundational missions currently in the imple- this incredible planet that we call home.” mentation phase (Aquarius, NPP, LDCM, GPM Core Observatory) and climate missions (SAGE-III, OCO- Our periodic Perspectives on EOS series returns this is- 2/-3, GRACE-FO, PACE). The current operating mis- sue with the first of two planned articles from Ghassem sions, all of which submitted mission-continuation ”Se- Asrar on page 4. In these articles, we have been shar- nior Review” proposals on March 4, are funded in the ing reflections on EOS from those who participated President’s budget (a graphical timeline of recent past, in its development. In addition to providing historical operating, and future Earth Science missions is available information, the hope is that these articles and lessons- at eospso.gsfc.nasa.gov/eos_homepage/mission_profiles/docs/ learned might help inform those tasked with planning mission_profile.pdf). Further, the Earth Venture-class so- future Earth observing missions. Asrar actively partici- licitations and funding continue as planned, including pated in EOS (as a Science Program Manager, Program the release of the EV-2 small mission Announcement of Scientist, and Associate Administrator), and brings Opportunity (AO) in Spring 2011, and the EV-Instru- us recollections from those days at NASA as well as a ment facility mission AO expected to be released before unique perspective on EOS and how it fits into our the end of FY11. overall Earth observing capabilities. Asrar’s article will appear in two parts. Part I focuses on the efforts that Given the challenging federal budget environment, con- went into “Forging an EOS Community”; Part II (slated tinued support of these missions signifies the adminis- for our May–June issue) will focus on both the chal- tration’s strong belief in the importance of NASA’s Earth lenges of incorporating new technology into the EOS Science efforts. But a caveat is warranted.