Thirty Years Reporting on NASA’s Earth Science Program National Aeronautics and Space The Earth Observer Administration March – April 2019. Volume 31, Issue 2 Editor’s Corner 1 Steve Platnick 9 8 19 3 9 • 2 0 EOS Senior Project Scientist This issue of The Earth Observer marks the thirtieth anniversary of the publication of our first issue (March 1989)—shortly after the official beginning of NASA’s Earth Observing System (EOS) Program. At that time, when the Internet was still in its infancy, print media was the best way to get the word out about the program, meetings, results, announcements, and the like to hundreds of interested researchers across the country and the world. Enter The Earth Observer! Times have certainly changed since those early days, with digital media now allowing for instantaneous communication. Nevertheless, The Earth Observer has adapted over the years, maintaining its role for three decades. It is well known and respected throughout the global Earth science community, with around 5300 subscribers (including both print and digital, the latter being part of our ‘Go Green’ campaign)1 around the world at last count. Now in Volume 31, the newsletter continues to live out the mission it had from its inception: to report timely news from NASA’s Earth Science Program. The three-decade legacy is a tribute to the contributors and editorial staff who work hard to produce each issue—including the current one, which features a new thirtieth anniversary masthead and tagline. On page 4 of this issue, our Executive Editor, Alan Ward, offers his perspective on the publication’s evolution over the time he has been involved—which encompasses nearly two-thirds of The Earth Observer’s history. 1 Any who are interested can opt to forego receiving the print issue. See back cover for details on how to “Go Green.” continued on page 2 NASA’s Earth Observatory (EO) website (https:// earthobservatory.nasa.gov) will celebrate its twentieth anniversary on April 29, 2019. Not unlike The Earth Observer, which celebrated its thirtieth anniversary in March 2019, EO was intended to help improve communications between Earth scientists and the general public. These two communication platforms work together to report NASA Earth Science. Images and stories originally published on the EO website are sometimes printed in the newsletter. An example is shown here. On March 28, 2019, a stunning aurora borealis—commonly known as the Northern Lights— made an appearance over Hudson Bay in Canada. The Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership satellite acquired this nighttime image of the dancing lights over North America. VIIRS has a day-night band that detects city lights and other nighttime signals such as auroras, airglow, and reflected moonlight. In this image, the sensor detected the visible light emissions that occurred when energetic particles rained down from Earth’s magnetosphere and into the gases of the upper atmosphere. Credit: NASA’s Earth Observatory www.nasa.gov 02 The Earth Observer March – April 2019 Volume 31, Issue 2 In This Issue Editor’s Corner Front Cover In the News Reflection 4 2015–2016 El Niño Triggered Disease Outbreaks Across Globe 33 Feature Article NASA’s Greenland Mission Still Surprises The Vanguard of Earth-Observing Satellites 7 in Year Four 35 Human Activity in China and India Meeting Summaries Dominates the Greening of Earth, NASA Study Shows 36 Summary of 2018 Ocean Surface Topography Science Team Meeting 19 Regular Features Summary of 2018 Precipitation Measurement Mission Science Team Meeting 24 NASA Earth Science in the News 37 Overview of 2018 NASA Sounder Science Calendars 39 Community Activity 30 Reminder: To view newsletter images in color, visit eospso.nasa.gov/earth-observer-archive. editor's corner On a related note, the Earth Observatory website (https:// was foundational to the evolution of Earth science earthobservatory.nasa.gov) celebrates its twentieth anni- investigations as we know them today—the launch on versary on April 29, 2019. The website was launched February 17, 1959 of Vanguard II, which was the first in anticipation of the Terra launch (which took place meteorological satellite. The mission opened the path- in December 1999).2 The site was intended to improve way for the development of the early TIROS series of communication between Earth scientists and the general meteorological satellites, which was then followed by public, taking advantage of Internet technologies, which the Nimbus Program, which in turn led to the develop- were rapidly emerging at that time. Over the past two ment of current high-performance satellites and instru- decades, it has become an outstanding platform for ments capable of observing Earth as a system (e.g., presenting compelling Earth science images and stories EOS). Vanguard’s history is more than a story of satel- in ways the public and mainstream media can easily lite and rocket hardware development, however. It is understand. The site has grown considerably since it also a human drama, as it encompasses the successes began, becoming one of NASA’s most popular websites. and failures of the efforts of scientists and engineers Its longevity and growth are due to the many dedicated who envisioned this new frontier. The story involves individuals who have worked to produce content for national politics, budget uncertainties, military service the site over the years. A sincere thank you to the Earth rivalries, technological challenges, and scientific compe- Observatory team, past and present, for a remarkable job. tition. For those curious to know more, turn to page 7 The Earth Observer plans a more detailed feature article of this issue to read the story. on the activities related to the Earth Observatory’s twenti- eth anniversary later this year. Even as we celebrate our past history, NASA’s Earth Science Division (ESD) must have a strong leadership These milestone anniversaries for The Earth Observer team in place to guide our activities and ensure the and Earth Observatory come during a season of mile- achievement of future milestones. Michael Freilich, stones for NASA. Last year was the Agency’s sixtieth who had been the Director of the ESD since 2006, anniversary, and also the sixtieth anniversary of the officially retired at the end of February.3 A search to launch of Explorer 1—the first satellite launched by the find Freilich’s successor did not result in a selection. U.S. This year the milestones continue. July will mark Thomas Zurbuchen, Associate Administrator for the fiftieth anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon land- the Science Mission Directorate, noted that this is an ing, and more specific to the realm of Earth science, important period of time when a strong team needs December will mark the twentieth anniversary of the to be in place to implement the 2017 Earth Science launch of EOS Terra. Decadal Survey recommendations. In approximately one year, the call for candidates will be reopened. In This issue contains an article on another sixtieth anni- 3 versary milestone that, while somewhat lesser known, Freilich’s retirement was announced in the Editorial of the September–October 2018 issue of The Earth Observer 2 See “NASA Unveils The Earth Observatory Web Space” in [Volume 30, Issue 5, p. 3]. His accomplishments during his the March–April 1999 issue of The Earth Observer [Volume 11, tenure as Director of the Earth Science Division were summa- Issue 2, pp. 17-18—https://eospso.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/eo_ rized in https://science.nasa.gov/news-articles/nasa-earth-science- pdfs/mar_apr99.pdf#page=17]. director-announces-retirement. The Earth Observer March – April 2019 Volume 31, Issue 2 03 the meantime, Sandra Cauffman, the ESD’s Deputy Thus far, the TSIS-1 instruments that measure total and Director since May 2016, will continue to serve as spectral irradiance have been performing as designed. Acting ESD Director. In addition, Paula Bontempi Comparisons between the TSIS-1, SORCE, and TCTE has been appointed to serve as Acting Deputy ESD Total Irradiance Monitors (TIM) show that they agree Director. At ESD since 2003, Bontempi has a back- within their respective uncertainties, even though they ground in ocean biology, biogeochemistry, and carbon were calibrated at the component level over a period cycle science, and is the program scientist for MODIS of 15 years. The performance of the TSIS-1 Spectral (Terra and Aqua), Suomi NPP, and PACE. My congrat- Irradiance Monitor (SIM), the first rebuild of the trail- ulations, and great appreciation, to Cauffman and blazing SORCE SIM, has been equally impressive. The Bontempi for taking on these roles in the coming year. changes in design of the TSIS-1 SIM, based on lessons learned from SORCE, appear to have achieved the Some of our Earth-observing satellite missions achieve expected results. It will be fascinating to see what these milestones of longevity, thereby ensuring continuity of observations reveal during the early phase of the next crucial climate data records. One recent example is the solar cycle, since uncertainty abounds over how quiet Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment (SORCE), the Sun has become—stay tuned. which marked the sixteenth anniversary of its launch in January 2019. Considering that the SORCE prime The Orbiting Carbon Observatory-3 (OCO-3) is mission ended in 2008 and had to overcome techni- now at Cape Canaveral Air Force Base in Florida cal challenges related to a failed reaction wheel, failed getting ready for launch as a part of the Commercial star tracker, and diminished battery power, it is noth- Resupply Service #17 (CRS17) to the ISS, scheduled editor's corner ing short of remarkable that SORCE survived long for April 25, 2019. The OCO-3 payload was trucked enough to overlap by more than a year with the Total from NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California and Spectral Solar Irradiance Sensor-1 (TSIS-1), which to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in December 2018.