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Sec. 14715. Sources of Earth Science data


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42 USC Sec. 14715

Sec. 14715. Sources of Earth Science data

(a) Acquisition The Administrator shall, to the extent possible and while satisfying the scientific or educational requirements of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and where appropriate, of other Federal agencies and scientific researchers, acquire, where cost-effective, space-based and airborne Earth remote sensing data, services, distribution, and applications from a commercial provider.

(b) Treatment as commercial item under acquisition laws Acquisitions by the Administrator of the data, services, distribution, and applications referred to in subsection (a) of this section shall be carried out in accordance with applicable acquisition laws and regulations (including chapters 137 and 140 of title 10). For purposes of such law and regulations, such data, services, distribution, and applications shall be considered to be a commercial item. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to preclude the United States from acquiring, through contracts with commercial providers, sufficient rights in data to meet the needs of the scientific and educational community or the needs of other government activities.

(c) Study (1) The Administrator shall conduct a study to determine the extent to which the baseline scientific requirements of Earth Science can be met by commercial providers, and how the National Aeronautics and Space Administration will meet such requirements which cannot be met by commercial providers. (2) The study conducted under this subsection shall – (A) make recommendations to promote the availability of information from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to commercial providers to enable commercial providers to better meet the baseline scientific requirements of Earth Science; (B) make recommendations to promote the dissemination to commercial providers of information on advanced technology research and development performed by or for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration; and (C) identify policy, regulatory, and legislative barriers to the implementation of the recommendations made under this subsection. (3) The results of the study conducted under this subsection shall be transmitted to the Congress within 6 months after October 28, 1998.

(d) Safety standards Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit the Federal Government from requiring compliance with applicable safety standards.

(e) Administration and execution This section shall be carried out as part of the Commercial Remote Sensing Program at the Stennis Space Center.
 

-SOURCE-

(Pub. L. 105-303, title I, Sec. 107, Oct. 28, 1998, 112 Stat. 2853.) -COD- CODIFICATION Section is comprised of section 107 of Pub. L. 105-303. Subsec. (f) of section 107 of Pub. L. 105-303 amended sections 5621 and 5622 of Title 15, Commerce and Trade.

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      Bryan Duncan [GSFC—Aura Project Scientist] closed out the first day with a presentation summarizing predictions of Aura’s drifting orbit. Overall, the impact of Aura’s drift is expected to be minor, and the OMI and MLS teams will be able to maintain science quality data for most data products. He thanked the OMI/TROPOMI ST and user community for expressing their strong support for continuing Aura observations until the end of the Aura mission in mid–2026.
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      Veefkind presented an update on the TROPOMI mission, which provides continuation and enhancements for all OMI products. Tobias Borssdorf [Stichting Ruimte Onderzoek Nederland (SRON), or Netherlands Institute for Space Research] explained how TROPOMI, with its innovative shortwave infrared (SWIR) spectrometer, measures CH4 and carbon monoxide (CO). This approach continues measurements that began by the Measurements of Pollution in the Troposphere (MOPITT) instrument on Terra.
      Hiren Jethva [NASA Airborne Science Program] and Torres presented new TROPOMI near-UV aerosol products, including a new aerosol layer optical centroid height product, which takes advantage of the TROPOMI extended spectral range – see Figure 5.
      Figure 5. Global gridded (0.10° x 0.10°) composite map of aerosol layer optical centroid height (AH) retrieved from TROPOMI O2-B band observations from May–September 2023. Figure credit: Hiren Jethva/NASA Airborne Science Program GEMS–TEMPO–Sentinel-4 (UVN): A Geostationary Air Quality Constellation
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      Gonzales Abad [SAO] presented the first measurements from TEMPO. He explained that TEMPO’s design is similar to GEMS, but GEMS includes an additional visible and near infrared (VNIR) spectral channel (540–740 nm) to measure tropospheric O3, O2, and water vapor (H2Ov). TEMPO can perform optimized morning scans, twilight scans, and scans with high temporal resolution (5–10 minutes) over selected regions. Abad reported that the TEMPO team released L1B spectra and the first provisional public L2 products (Version 3), including NO2, HCHO, and total column O3. Andrew Rollins [National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Chemical Sciences Laboratory (CSL)] reported that the TEMPO team is working on validation of provisional data using both ground-based data from PANDORA spectrometers and data collected during several different airborne campaigns completed during the summer of 2023 and compiled on the AGES+ website.
      Ben Veihelmann [ESA’s European Space Research and Technology Center—PI] explained that ESA’s Copernicus Sentinel-4 mission will be the final member of the GEO AC constellation. Veefkind summarized the Sentinel-4 mission, which is expected to launch on the Meteosat Third Generation (MTG)-Sounder 1 (MTG-S1) platform in 2025. The mission is dedicated to measuring air quality and O3 over Europe and parts of the Atlantic and North Africa. Sentinel-4 will deploy the first operational UV-Vis-NIR (UVN) imaging spectrometer on a geostationary satellite. (Airbus will build UVN, with ESA providing guidance.) Sentinel-4 includes two instruments launched in sequence on MTG-S1 and MTG-S2 platforms designed to have a combined lifetime of 15 years. The mission by the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) will operate Sentinel-4, and the Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR) or German Aerospace Center will be responsible for operational L2 processing.
      These three GEO AC missions, along with the upcoming ESA/EUMETSAT/Copernicus LEO (morning orbit, 9:30 a.m.) Sentinel-5 (S5) mission, will complete a LEO–GEO satellite constellation that will enable monitoring of the most industrialized and polluted regions in the Northern Hemisphere into the 2030s. Sentinel-5 will not continue the OMI–TROPOMI data record in the early afternoon; however, it will be placed in the morning orbit and follow ESA’s Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment (GOME) and EUMETSAT GOME-2 missions. By contrast, GEO AC observations over the Southern Hemisphere are currently not available. Several presenters described ongoing projects for capacity building for LEO satellite air quality data uptake and emission monitoring in Africa and advocated for the new geostationary measurements.
      Synergy with Other Current or Upcoming Missions
      Attendees discussed the synergy between upcoming AC, GHG, and ocean color missions. Current trends in satellite AC measurements are toward increased spatial resolution and combined observations of short-lived reactive trace gases – which are important for air quality (AQ) monitoring – and long-lived GHG – which are important for climate monitoring and carbon cycle assessments. Some trace gases (e.g., O3 and CH4) are both polluters and GHG agents. Others [e.g., NO2 and sulfur dioxide (SO2 )] are aerosol [particulate matter (PM)] and O3 precursors and are used as proxies and spatial indicators for anthropogenic CO2 and CH4 emissions.
      Yasjka Meijer [ESA—Copernicus Anthropogenic Carbon Dioxide Monitoring (CO2M) Mission Scientist]) reviewed the plans for CO2M, which includes high-resolution measurements [~4 km2 (~1.5 mi2)] of CO2 , CH4 , and NO2.
      Jochen Landgraf [SRON] described ESA’s new Twin Anthropogenic Greenhouse Gas Observers (TANGO) mission, which has the objective to measure CO2 , CH4 , and NO2 at even higher spatial resolution [~300 m (~984 ft)] using two small CubeSat spectrometers flying in formation.
      Hiroshi Tanimoto [National Institute for Environmental Studies, Japan] described the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s (JAXA) Global Observing SATellite for greenhouse gases and water cycle (GOSAT-GW) mission, which includes the Total Anthropogenic and Natural Emission mapping SpectrOmeter (TANSO-3) spectrometer to simultaneously measure CO2 , CH4, and NO2 with ~1–3 km (~0.6–1.8 mi) spatial resolution in focus mode. GOSAT-GW will also fly the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer 3 (AMSR3).
      Joanna Joiner [GSFC—Geostationary Extended Operations (GeoXO) Project Scientist and ACX Instrument Scientist] described the plans for the next-generation U.S. geosynchronous satellite constellation, which will consist of three satellites covering the full Earth disk: GEO-East, GEO-West, and GEO-Central. (By contrast, the current Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) series has two satellites: GOES–East and GOES–West.) GEO-Central will carry an advanced infrared sounder (GXS) for measuring vertical profiles of many trace gases, temperature and humidity, and a new UV-VIS spectrometer (ACX), which is a follow-on to TEMPO for AQ applications. Both GXS and ACX instruments will be built by BAE Systems, which acquired Ball Aerospace and Technology, and will also build the GeoXO ocean color spectrometer (OCX).
      Andrew Sayer [UMBC] described NASA’s Plankton, Aerosols, Clouds, and ocean Ecosystem (PACE), which launched on February 8, 2024. The PACE payload includes a high-spatial resolution [~1 km (~0.6 mi) at nadir] Ocean Color Instrument (OCI), which is a UV-Vis-NIR spectrometer with discrete SWIR bands presenting additional opportunities for synergistic observations with the AC constellation. Sayer presented OCI “first light” aerosol data processed using the unified retrieval algorithm developed by Lorraine Remer [UMBC].
      The second day concluded with a joint crossover session with NASA’s Health and Air Quality Applied Sciences Team (HAQAST) followed by a poster session. Several OMI–TROPOMI STM participants presented on a variety of topics that illustrate how OMI and TROPOMI data are being used to support numerous health and AQ applications. Duncan, who is also a member of HAQAST team, presented “20 years of health and air quality applications enabled by OMI data.” He highlighted OMI contributions to AQ and health applications, including NO2 trend monitoring, inferring trends of co-emitted species [e.g., CO2, CO, some Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs)], validation of new satellite missions (e.g., TEMPO, PACE), and burden of disease studies.
      DAY THREE
      Discussions on the third day focused on advanced retrieval algorithms, leading to new products and new applications for OMI and TROPOMI data. Several presentations described applications of TROPOMI CH4 data and synergy with small satellites.
      Advanced Retrieval Algorithms and New Data Products
      Ilse Aben [SRON] described TROPOMI global detection of CH4 super-emitters using an automated system based on Machine Learning (ML) techniques – see Figure 6. Berend Schuit [SRON] provided additional detail on these methods. He introduced the TROPOMI CH4 web site to the meeting participants. He explained how TROPOMI global CH4 measurements use “tip-and-cue” dedicated satellites with much higher spatial resolution instruments [e.g., GHGSat with ~25-m (~82-ft) resolution] to scan for individual sources and estimate emission rates. Most CH4 super-emitters are related to urban areas and/or landfills, followed by plumes from gas and oil industries and coal mines.
      Figure 6. Methane plume map produced by SRON shows TROPOMI large CH4 emission plumes for the week of the OMI–TROPOMI meeting (June 3–6, 2024). Figure credit: Itse Aben/Stichting Ruimte Onderzoek Nederland (SRON) Alba Lorente [Environmental Defense Fund—Methane Scientist] introduced a new MethaneSAT satellite launched in March 2024, which aims to fill the gap in understanding CH4 emissions on a regional scale [200 x 200 km2 (~77 x 77 mi2)] from at least 80% of global oil and gas production, agriculture, and urban regions. Alex Bradley [University of Colorado, Boulder] described improvements to TROPOMI CH4 retrievals that were achieved by correcting seasonal effects of changing surface albedo.
      Daniel Jacob [Harvard University] presented several topics, including the highest resolution [~30 m (~98 ft)] NO2 plume retrievals from Landsat-8 – see Figure 7 – and Sentinel-2 imagers. He also discussed using a ML technique trained with TROPOMI data to improve NO2 retrievals from GEMS and modeling NO2 diurnal cycle and emission estimates. He introduced the ratio of ammonia (NH3) to NO2 (NH3/NO2) as an indicator of particulate matter with diameters less than 2.5 µm (PM2.5) nitrate sensitivity regime. Jacob emphasized the challenges related to satellite NO2 retrievals (e.g., accounting for a free-tropospheric NO2 background and aerosols).
      Figure 7. Landsat Optical Land Imager (OLI) image, obtained on October 17, 2021 over Saudi Arabia, shows power plant exhaust, which contains nitrogen dioxide (NO2) drifting downwind from the sources (the two green circles are the stacks). The ultra-blue channel (430–450 nm) on OLI enables quantitative detection of NO2 in plumes from large point sources at 30-m (~98-ft) resolution. This provides a unique ability for monitoring point-source emissions of oxides of nitrogen (NOx). The two stacks in the image are separated by 2 km (~1.2 mi). Figure credit: Daniel Jacob – repurposed from a 2024 publication in Proceedings of the National Academies of Sciences (PNAS) Steffen Beirle [Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Germany] explained his work to fit TROPOMI NO2 column measurements to investigate nitric oxide (NO) to NO2 processing in power plant plumes. Debra Griffin [Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC)] used TROPOMI NO2 observations and ML random forest technique to estimate NO2 surface concentrations. Sara Martinez-Alonso [NCAR] investigated geographical and seasonal variations in NO2 diurnal cycle using GEMS and TEMPO data.  Ziemkecombined satellite O3 data to confirm a persistent low anomaly (~5–15%) in tropospheric O3 after 2020.  Jethva presented advanced OMI and TROPOMI absorbing aerosol products. Yu described improved OMI and TROPOMI cloud datasets using the O2-O2 absorption band at 477 nm. Nicholas Parazoo [Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)] described TROPOMI Fraunhofer line retrievals of red solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF) near O2-B band (663–685 nm) to improve mapping of ocean primary productivity. Liyin He [Duke University] described using satellite terrestrial SIF data to study the effect of particulate pollution on ecosystem productivity.
      New Applications
      Zachary Fasnacht [SSAI] used OMI and TROPOMI spectra to train a neural network to gap-fill MODIS and Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) ocean color data under aerosol, sun glint, and partly cloudy conditions. This ML method can also be applied to PACE OCI spectra. Anu-Maija Sundström [Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI)] used OMI and TROPOMI SO2 and O3 data as proxies to study new particle formation events. Lindsey Anderson [University of Colorado, Boulder] described how she used TROPOMI NO2 and CO measurements to estimate the composition of wildfire emissions and their effect on forecasted air quality. Heesung Chong [SAO] applied OMI bromine oxide (BrO) retrievals to the NOAA operational Ozone Mapping and Profiling Suite Nadir Mapper (OMPS-NM) on joint NOAA–NASA Suomi-National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Suomi NPP) satellite with the possibility to continue afternoon measurements using similar OMPS-NM instruments on the four Joint Polar Satellite System missions (JPSS-1,-2,-3,-4) into the 2030s. (JPSS-1 and -2 are now in orbit and known as NOAA-20 and -21 respectively; JPSS-4 is planned for launch in 2027, with JPSS-3 currently targeted for 2032.)
      Kim demonstrated the potential for using satellite NO2 and SO2 emissions as a window into socioeconomic issues that are not apparent by other methods. For example, she showed how OMI and TROPOMI data were widely used to monitor air quality improvements in the aftermath of COVID-19 lockdowns. (Brad Fisher [SSAI] presented a poster on a similar topic.)
      Cathy Clerbaux [Center National d’Études Spatiale (CNES), or French Space Agency] showed how her team used TROPOMI NO2 data to trace the signal emitted by ships and used this information to determine how the shipping lanes through the Suez Canal changed in response to unrest in the Middle East. Iolanda Ialongo [FMI] showed a similar drop of NO2 emissions over Donetsk region due to the war in Ukraine. Levelt showed how OMI and TROPOMI NO2 data are used for capacity-building projects and for air quality reporting in Africa. She also advocated for additional geostationary AQ measurements over Africa.
      DAY FOUR
      Discussions on the final day focused on various methods of assimilating satellite data into air quality models for emission inversions and aircraft TEMPO validation campaigns. The meeting ended with Levelt giving her unique perspective on the OMI mission, as she reflected on more than two decades being involved with the development, launch, operation, and maintenance of OMI.  
      Assimilating Satellite Data into Models for Emissions
      Brian McDonald [CSL] described advance chemical data assimilation of satellite data for emission inversions and the GReenhouse gas And Air Pollutants Emissions System (GRA2PES). He showed examples of assimilations using TROPOMI and TEMPO NO2 observations to adjust a priori emissions. He also showed that when TEMPO data are assimilated, NOx emissions adjust faster and tend to perform better at the urban scale. Adrian Jost [Max Planck Institute for Chemistry] described the ESA-funded World Emission project to improve pollutant and GHG emission inventories using satellite data. He showed examples of TROPOMI SO2 emissions from large-point sources and compared the data with bottom-up and NASA SO2 emissions catalogue.
      Ivar van der Velde [SRON] presented a method to evaluate fire emissions using new satellite imagery of burned area and TROPOMI CO. Helene Peiro [SRON] described her work to combine TROPOMI CO and burned area information to compare the impact of prescribed fires versus wildfires on air quality in the U.S. She concluded that prescribed burning reduces CO pollution. Barbara Dix [University of Colorado, Boulder, Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences] derived NOx emissions from U.S. oil and natural gas production using TROPOMI NO2 data and flux divergence method. She estimated TROPOMI CH4 emissions from Denver–Julesburg oil and natural gas production. Dix explained that the remaining challenge is to separate oil and gas emissions from other co-located CH4 sources. Ben Gaubert [NCAR, Atmospheric Chemistry Observations and Modeling] described nonlinear and non-Gaussian ensemble assimilation of MOPITT CO using the data assimilation research testbed (DART).
      Andrew (Drew) Rollings [CSL] presented first TEMPO validation results from airborne field campaigns in 2023 (AGES+ ), including NOAA CSL Atmospheric Emissions and Reactions observed from Megacities to Marine Aeras (AEROMMA) and NASA’s Synergistic TEMPO Air Quality Science (STAQS) campaigns.
      A Reflection on Twenty Years of OMI Observations
      Levelt gave a closing presentation in which she reflected on her first involvement with the OMI mission as a young scientist back in 1998. This led to a collaboration with the international ST to develop the instrument, which was included as part of Aura’s payload when it launched in July 2004. She reminisced about important highlights from 2 decades of OMI, e.g., the 10-year anniversary STM at KNMI in 2014 (see “Celebrating Ten Years of OMI Observations,” The Earth Observer, May–Jun 2014, 26:3, 23–30), and the OMI ST receiving the NASA/U.S. Geological Survey Pecora award in 2018 and the American Meteorological Society’s Special award in 2021.
      Levelt pointed out that in this combined OMI–TROPOMI meeting the movement towards using air pollution and GHG data together became apparent. She ended by saying that the OMI instrument continues to “age gracefully” and its legacy continues with the TROPOMI and LEO–GEO atmospheric composition constellation of satellites that were discussed during the meeting.
      Conclusion
      Overall, the second OMI–TROPOMI STM acknowledged OMI’s pioneering role and TROPOMI’s unique enhancements in measurements of atmospheric composition: 
      Ozone Layer Monitoring: Over the past two decades, OMI has provided invaluable data on the concentration and distribution of O3 in the Earth’s stratosphere. This data has been crucial for understanding and monitoring the recovery of the O3 layer following international agreements, such as the Montreal Protocol. Air Quality Assessment: OMI’s high-resolution measurements of air pollutants, such as NO2, SO2, and HCHO, have significantly advanced our understanding of air quality. This information has been vital for tracking pollution sources, studying their transport and transformation, and assessing their impact on human health and the environment. Climate Research: The data collected by OMI has enhanced our knowledge of the interactions between atmospheric chemistry and climate change. These insights have been instrumental in refining climate models and improving our predictions of future climate scenarios. Global Impact: The OMI instrument has provided near-daily global coverage of atmospheric data, which has been essential for scientists and policymakers worldwide. The comprehensive and reliable data from OMI has supported countless research projects and informed decisions aimed at protecting and improving our environment. OMI remains one of the most stable UV/Vis instruments over its two decades of science and trend quality data collection. The success of the OMI and TROPOMI instruments is a testament to the collaboration, expertise, and dedication of both teams.
      Nickolay Krotkov
      NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
      Nickolay.a.krotkov@nasa.gov
      Pieternel Levelt
      National Center for Atmospheric Research, Atmospheric Chemistry Observations & Modeling
      levelt@ucar.edu
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