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IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society – Earth Science Informatics Workshop and Hackathon on Remote Sensing Data Systems Held at SRM University, Chennai
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By NASA
Rob Gutro has never been one to stay idle. From his start working at a paper factory as a teenager, Rob navigated his way to NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center where he serves as the deputy news chief in the Office of Communications until he retires in October 2024.
Rob Gutro serves as deputy news chief at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.Photo courtesy of Rob Gutro In this role, Rob manages all the media products, like news stories and videos, that come out of Goddard. He also edits content, creates detailed reports, and coordinates media requests, leaning on decades of experience in communications to help the Goddard newsroom run smoothly.
But his path to NASA was neither paved nor linear. It took a strong will and unflagging passion to overcome obstacles along the way and rise to his current role.
Weathering the Journey
Rob began working at a young age, first at a paper factory, then a bank, and then a law office. But none of these jobs were ever his end goal.
“I loved music as a teenager and always wanted to work on the radio,” Rob says. So he got a degree in radio and television from Northeast Broadcasting School in Boston. “I went straight into radio broadcasting and continued that part-time for 20 years.”
He started out hosting a weekend radio show, but didn’t intend for it to be a career for financial reasons. So he completed another degree, this time in English and business at Suffolk University in Boston.
“I knew that to do the type of broadcasting I wanted to do, I needed to learn how to write so I could explain things via stories and reporting,” Rob says. “And I was particularly fascinated by the weather, so I wanted to be able to communicate broadly about that.”
He then worked for the USDA as a writer and editor for a year before joining NOAA as a writer in the 1990s. The highlight of his NOAA career was a work detail he did for the National Hurricane Center during hurricane season in 1993. He enjoyed it so much he eventually decided to go back to school again, earning a degree in meteorology from Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green. “I call it my third degree burn,” he jokes.
During the program, he refined his broadcasting skills and immersed himself in the science behind the weather and forecasting. He was focusing on what he loved, though it wasn’t an easy journey.
“When I went back to school for meteorology I was working two jobs and making minimum wage, living off of ramen noodles and tuna fish every day because that was all I could afford,” Rob says. “But I was determined!”
Upon graduation, he began working for a private weather company doing marketing and writing. Rob balanced multiple jobs, including a part-time radio gig, while continually applying to The Weather Channel. After eight years of applications, he was finally hired as a radio broadcast meteorologist! “I loved being on the air with The Weather Channel and doing radio broadcasts,” Rob says.
“I think the key to everything is persistence and patience,” Rob says. “My advice to everybody is no matter what your goal is, keep pursuing it because eventually it will happen!”
Navigating NASA
Rob’s desire to understand climate change and return to Maryland brought him to NASA. He became an Earth science writer at NASA Goddard in 2000. By 2005, he was the manager of the Earth science news team, and in 2009 he began working with the James Webb Space Telescope team and also obtained his current role of deputy news chief.
Rob and Lynn to the rescue! One of the highlights of Rob’s career at NASA was working with Lynn Jenner for more than 20 years. Together, the duo –– photographed here at a work party –– managed web pages about hurricanes and fires.Courtesy of Rob Gutro “My degrees have served me well at NASA because I work with the media, I write, and I have to understand science,” Rob says.
His favorite NASA project was the now-retired NASA hurricane page, which he wrote content for and kept updated every single day for the 15 years it was active. The media frequently used NASA imagery shared on the hurricane page, and people worldwide used the information to make decisions about their safety during hurricanes.
“I’ll never forget one experience, where a woman in the Philippines asked if she should evacuate her mother from a nursing home on the island of Visayas,” Rob says. “I said yes, because the island was going to be inundated by an eight-foot storm surge.” So she did, and two weeks later she emailed Rob again saying the entire nursing home was flooded to the roof — her mother would have likely drowned if she’d stayed.
On to the Next Chapter
As busy as his work life has been — Rob had three jobs at any given time until he was 40 years old — his off duty hours haven’t been idle either. In January 2025, he’s publishing his twelfth book, and has another six already mostly written.
“I’m retiring from NASA soon and will focus on my books, continuing the fundraising lectures for animal rescues that I’ve done for the last decade, and teaching paranormal courses in night school for two adult education programs,” Rob says. “And my husband and I have three dogs to keep us busy — they are the joy of my life!”
Rob’s three dogs, as pictured on a 2023 Christmas card. Photo courtesy of Rob Gutro Reflecting on his career, Rob singles out blogging as one of the most effective tools he’s used over the years.
“Whether you want to write a book or science articles, one of the easiest ways to begin is by starting a blog and writing about things you like,” he says. That’s one key to his productivity, as he says, “Whatever you write can always be repurposed, and if you’re constantly leaning into things you’re passionate about, you’ll eventually end up exactly where you’re meant to be.”
By Ashley Balzer
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.
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By NASA
1 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
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FireSage
San José State University (SJSU) and NASA Ames Research Center are offering the FireSage Program; a premier summer internship opportunity designed to equip students with expertise in fire ecology and remote sensing technologies. This 10-week internship program offers a paid opportunity to work on-site at NASA Ames Earth Science Division and SJSU’s Wildfire Interdisciplinary Research Center (WIRC) Geofly Lab and FireEcology Lab. Here, interns will be introduced to cutting-edge technologies and methodologies for wildfire research and management and benefit from a comprehensive learning environment including a one-on-one setting with NASA Scientists and SJSU Faculty.
Learn More About the FireSage Internship
Fire & Air
Ames Research Center and California State University, Stanislaus (CSUStan) are partnering together to offer the Fire & Air program: a yearlong internship for CSUStan undergraduates, with opportunities to work with both NASA Subject Matter Experts and CSUStan MSI Mentors. The program focuses on two main research areas: atmospheric effects and causes of wildfires, and the study of aerosols in biomass burning.
Learn More About the Fire and Air Internship
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Last Updated Sep 17, 2024 Related Terms
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By NASA
3 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
Back to Fire Science Landing Page FireSense
The FireSense project is focused on delivering NASA’s unique Earth science and technological capabilities to operational agencies, striving to address challenges in US wildland fire management. The project concentrates on four use-cases to support decisions before, during, and after wildland fires. These include the measurement of pre-fire fuels conditions, active fire dynamics, post fire impacts and threats, as well as air quality forecasting, each co-developed with identified wildland fire management agency stakeholders.
Strategic Tac Radio and Tac Overwatch (STRATO)
The Strategic Tac Radio and Tac Overwatch (STRATO) system is designed to provide real-time fire observations and last-mile communications with firefighters from stratospheric platforms. By providing persistent communications to a wildfire response team for a week or longer, STRATO is expected to offer capabilities beyond the currently used tethered balloons, which have a limited range and coverage area. By achieving station-keeping at altitudes up to 70,000 feet above ground level—to be demonstrated in flight testing—the STRATO will be able to provide communications to incident response teams in areas with no cellphone coverage.
Surface Biology and Geology (SBG)
Arctic Boreal Vulnerability Experiment (ABoVE)
Climate change in the Arctic and Boreal region is unfolding faster than anywhere else on Earth, resulting in reduced Arctic sea ice, thawing of permafrost soils, decomposition of long- frozen organic matter, widespread changes to lakes, rivers, coastlines, and alterations of ecosystem structure and function. NASA’s Terrestrial Ecology Program is conducting a major field campaign, the Arctic-Boreal Vulnerability Experiment (ABoVE), in Alaska and western Canada, from 2015 – 2025. ABoVE seeks a better understanding of the vulnerability and resilience of ecosystems and society to this changing environment.
Tactical Fire Remote Sensing Advisory Committee (TFRSAC)
Embracing CSDA-Supported Spaceborne SAR Data in NASA FireSense Airborne Campaigns
This project aims to determine the capability of Umbra X-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data to characterize rapidly changing fire landscapes during NASA’s FireSense airborne campaigns.
Opti-SAR
Opti-SAR is focused on accurate and timely mapping of forest structure and aboveground biomass (AGB) with integrated space-based optical and radar observations. This project will make a fundamental contribution to an integrated Earth System Observatory by using the mathematical foundation of RADAR-VSPI and VSPI to integrate SAR and optical data to achieve breakthroughs in forest monitoring and assessment.
Tropospheric Regional Atmospheric Composition and Emissions Reanalysis – 1 (TRACER-1)
TRACER-1 is a 20-year atmospheric composition re-analysis product that will enable researchers to answer questions about changes in wildfire emissions and the impact of extreme wildfire events on regional air quality. Active dates: 2005 – 2024
Cultural Burning
The Indigenous People’s Initiative partners with indigenous groups in the US and across the world, many of whom practice a long history of cultural burning.
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Last Updated Sep 17, 2024 Related Terms
General Keep Exploring Discover Related Topics
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By NASA
5 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
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Internet of Animals
The Internet of Animals project combines animal tracking tags with remote sensing, to better understand habitat use and movement patterns. This kind of research enables more informed ecological management and conservation efforts, and broadens our understanding of how different ecosystems are reacting to a changing climate.
https://www.nasa.gov/nasa-earth-exchange-nex/new-missions-support/internet-of-animals/
FATE: dFAD Trajectory Tool
FATE will quantify dFAD (drifting fish aggregating devices) activity in relation to ocean currents, fish biomass, and animal telemetry at Palmyra Atoll, which is a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) National Wildlife Refuge and is part of the U.S. Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument (PRIMNM) in the central Pacific Ocean. This innovative decision support tool will use NASA observations and numerical models to predict future dFAD trajectories and inform resource managers whether they should deploy tactical resources (boats, personnel) to monitor, intercept, or retrieve dFADs that have entered the MPA.
SeaSTAR
SeaSTAR aims to provide multi-spectral aerosol optical depth (AOD) and aerosol optical properties using a custom-built robotic sun/sky photometer. The instrument is designed to operate from a ship and is planned to deploy aboard the NOAA research vessel RV Shearwater in September 2024 to support the PACE-PAX airborne campaign.
PACE Validation Science Team Project: AirSHARP
Airborne asSessment of Hyperspectral Aerosol optical depth and water-leaving Reflectance Product Performance for PACE
The goal of AirSHARP is to provide high fidelity spatial coverage and spectral data for ocean color and aerosol products for validation of the PACE Ocean Color Instrument (OCI). Coastal influences on oceanic waters can produce high optical complexity for remote sensing especially in dynamic waters in both space and time. Dynamic coastal water features include riverine plumes (sediments and pollution), algal blooms, and kelp beds. Further, coastal California has a range of atmospheric conditions related to fires. We will accomplish validation of PACE products by combined airborne and field instrumentation for Monterey Bay, California.
Water2Coasts
Watersheds, Water Quality, and Coastal Communities in Puerto Rico
Water2Coasts is an interdisciplinary island landscape to coastal ocean assessment with socioeconomic implications. The goal of Water2Coasts is to conduct a multi-scale, interdisciplinary (i.e., hydrologic, remote sensing, and social) study on how coastal waters of east, and south Puerto Rico are affected by watersheds of varying size, land use, and climate regimes, and how these may in turn induce a variety of still poorly understood effects on coastal and marine ecosystems such as coral reefs and seagrass beds.
US Coral Reef Task Force (USCRTF)
The USCRTF was established in 1998 by Presidential Executive Order to lead U.S. efforts to preserve and protect coral reef ecosystems. The USCRTF includes leaders of Federal agencies, U.S. States, territories, commonwealths, and Freely Associated States. The USCRTF helps build partnerships, strategies, and support for on-the-ground action to conserve coral reefs. NASA ARC scientists are members of the Steering Committee, Watershed Working Group, and Disease and Disturbance Working Group, and lead the Climate Change Working Group to assist in the use of NASA remote sensing data and tools for coastal studies, including coral reef ecosystems. Data from new and planned hyperspectral missions will advance research in heavily impacted coastal ecosystems.
CyanoSCape
Cyanobacteria and surface phytoplankton biodiversity of the Cape freshwater systems
The diversity of phytoplankton is also found in freshwater systems. In Southern Africa, land use change and agricultural practices has hindered hydrological processes and compromised freshwater ecosystems. These impacts are compounded by increasingly variable rainfall and temperature fluctuations associated with climate change posing risks to water quality, food security, and aquatic biodiversity and sustainability. The goal of CyanoSCape is to utilize airborne hyperspectral data and field spectral and water sample data to distinguish phytoplankton biodiversity, including the potentially toxic cyanobacteria.
mCDR: Marine Carbon Dioxide Removal
The goals of this effort are to conduct literature review, analysis, and ocean simulation to provide scientifically vetted estimates of the impacts, risks, and benefits of various potential mCDR methods.
Ocean modeling
Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) in a changing climate
The goals of this project are to build scientific understanding of the AMOC physics and its implications for biogeochemical cycles and climate, to assess the representation of AMOC in historical global ocean state estimates, and evaluate future needs for AMOC systems in a changing climate.
Elucidating the role of the ocean circulation in changing North Atlantic Ocean nutrients and biological productivity
This project will conduct analysis of NASA’s ECCO-Darwin ocean biogeochemical state estimate and historical satellite ocean color observations in order to understand the underlying causes for the sharp decline in biological productivity observed in the North Atlantic Ocean.
Integrated GEOS and ECCO Earth system modeling and data assimilation to advance seasonal-to-decadal prediction through improved understanding and representation of air-sea interactions
This analysis will build understanding of upper ocean, air-sea interaction, and climate processes by using data from the SWOT mission and ultra-high-resolution GEOS-ECCO simulations.
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By NASA
Earth ObserverEarth Home Earth Observer Home Editor’s Corner Feature Articles Meeting Summaries NewsScience in the News Calendars In Memoriam MoreArchives 16 min read
ICESat-2 Hosts Third Applications Workshop
Introduction
The NASA Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite-2 mission (ICESat-2), launched September 15, 2018, continues the first ICESat mission, delivering invaluable global altimetry data. Notwithstanding its icy acronym, ICESat-2 can do more than measure ice – in fact, the expanded acronym hints at these wider applications. From vegetation to inland surface water to bathymetry, ICESat-2 has emerged as a more versatile mission than originally planned, thanks in part to the ingenuity of research scientists, the Science Team (ST), and users of the data – see Figure 1.
Figure 1. A word cloud designed to highlight terms that occur most frequently in all ICESat-2 publications since 2018. The larger the word, the more often it is used.Figure credit: Aimee Neeley ICESat-2 was among the first NASA missions to develop an applications program that engages both scientists and potential users of the science data to accelerate user uptake. Throughout this program, ICESat-2 has demonstrated the value of Earth Observation data to end users, stakeholders, and decision makers. The ICESat-2 Early Adopter (EA; pre-launch) program, now the Applied User program (post-launch), was created to “promote applications research to provide a fundamental understanding of how ICESat-2 data products can be scaled and integrated into organizations, policy, business, and management activities to improve decision making efforts.” This article summarizes the workshop objectives met through plenary talks, lightning talks, an applied user panel, and a breakout session. The ICESat-2 Applications page contains more about the ICESat-2 Applications Program.
Motivation and Objectives
To meet Applications Program initiatives, the ICESat-2 Applications Team hosted its third Applications workshop June 3–4, 2024 at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) in a hybrid environment. A total of 113 participants registered for the workshop, representing multiple government agencies, including NASA Centers, non-profit organizations, and academic organizations – see Figure 2. Approximately 20 individuals attended the workshop in person with the majority participating online through the Webex platform. This workshop provided the space to foster collaboration and to encourage the conceptualization of applications not yet exploited.
Figure 2. A ‘donut’ plot showing the proportion of ICESat-2 Applications Workshop attendees identified by institution. This information was provided during the online registration process.Figure credit: Aimee Neeley The objectives of the Applications workshop were to:
provide an overview of the mission status, data products, and support services from the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC); build partnerships among applied users, data producers, and end users; foster synergies with all participants, decision makers, and satellite operators; identify new potential applications or products from ICESat-2; review available tools for extracting ICESat-2 data; and understand the challenges faced by applied users, data users, and end users, and identify solutions. The remainder of this article will summarize the meeting highlights. Rather than give a strict chronological survey, the report is organized around the meeting objectives listed above. Readers interested in more details can find the full agenda and slide decks from individual presentations mentioned in this summary on the ICESat-2 Workshop website.
Workshop Overview and Structure
The agenda of the 2024 ICESat-2 Applications workshop was intended to bring together end-users, including ICESat-2 applications developers, satellite operators, and decision makers from government and nongovernmental entities to discuss the current state and future needs of the community – see Figure 3.
On the morning of the first day, the workshop participants contributed to a plenary session and ICESat-2 data tool demonstrations. These presentations were intended to provide a broad overview of the ICESat-2 mission, data, science, and applications. Plenary talks during the afternoon session provided an overview of the Earth Science-to-Action initiative and measuring impacts of science. The afternoon also included lightning talks from participants and an Applied User Panel. The second day consisted of a plenary presentation and more lightning talks from participants. The workshop ended with a thematic breakout session with pre-constructed topics and a report out to create a forum for direct interaction between participants.
Figure 3. Graphic showing the different levels of data available from the NASA Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2) mission.Figure credit: NASA, adapted from the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) Distributed Active Archive Center’s ICESat-2 page Objective 1: Provide an overview of the status of the mission and current data products and support services from the NSIDC.
To fulfill the first meeting objective, the workshop included a series of overview presentations given by ICESat-2 team members about the status of the ICESat-2 mission and its data products, as well as a review of the NASA Applied Sciences Program.
Aimee Neeley [NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)/Science Systems and Applications Inc. (SSAI)—ICESat-2 Mission Applications Lead] and Molly Brown [GSFC/University of Maryland—ICESat-2 Mission Applications Scientist] served as cohosts for the event. Neeley opened the first day with a brief overview of workshop goals, logistics, and the agenda. On the second day she gave a brief overview of the agenda for the day and opened it up for questions.
Thomas Neumann [GSFC—ICESat-2 Project Scientist and Deputy Director of Earth Sciences Division] provided an overview of the ICESat-2 measurement concepts, which includes activity of GPS positioning, pointing angle, altimetry measurements, and ground processing. He continued with an overview of the Advanced Topographic Laser Altimeter System (ATLAS) instrument, the wavelength and spatial resolution of the lasers, and the distributed data products. Neumann presented the mission outlook, with an expected lifespan until December 2035.
Walter Meier [University of Colorado, Boulder (UC, Boulder)—NSIDC DAAC Scientist] provided an overview of ICESat-2 data tools and services. He walked the audience through the ICESat-2 data website, as well as the instructional guides that are available for all the tools and services. Meier provided an overview of ICESat-2 standard data products – see Figure 3. Most of the products have a ~45-day latency while quick look data sets have an ~3-day latency. Future data sets include ATL24 and ATL25 and quick look data sets for ATL03, ATL20, and ATL25. Next, he described webinars and tutorials, access tools, and customization services for different users and workflows, including graphical user interfaces and programmatic tools in Earthaccess and the NSIDC website.
Helen Amanda Fricker [Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California (UC), San Diego—ICESat-2 ST Leader and Professor] provided an overview of the ST members and ST goals. Fricker described the ST goals to: 1) provide coordination between the team, project science office, and NASA headquarters; 2) use science talks, posters, and social events to stimulate collaboration within the ST and across disciplines; and 3) maintain the visibility of the ICESat-2 mission through publications, press releases, white papers, open science, and synergies with other missions. Next, Fricker shared the list of ST members that can be found on the ICESat-2 website. She concluded with an overview of a recent publication by Lori Magruder [University of Texas, Austin] and coauthors published in Nature Reviews.
Stephanie Schollaert Uz [NASA GSFC—Applied Sciences Manager] provided an overview of the NASA Applied Science Program, including the current NASA Earth Science Satellite missions that are monitoring Earth systems. The NASA Applied Science Programs “tackle challenges on our home planet in areas for which Earth science information can respond to the urgent needs of our time.” Earth science data products are used to “inform decisions and actions on management, policy and business.” Uz provided examples of applications using Earth science data, including economic activity, active fire mapping, food security, and monitoring air quality – see Figure 4.
Figure 4. Near real-time active fire mapping as well as air quality monitoring and forecasting are available via NASA’s Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS).Figure credit: FIRMS U.S./Canada Molly E. Brown [University of Maryland—ICESat-2 Mission Applications Scientist] began her presentation by defining the term application in the context of this workshop, which includes “innovative uses of mission data products in decision-making activities for societal benefit.” Brown stated that the ICESat-2 Mission Applications program “works to bring our data products into areas where they can help inform policy or decisions that benefit the public.” End users include the private sector, academia, and government agencies. Brown described the benefits of the program and strategies to extend ICESat-2 to new communities – see Figure 5. Brown concluded with an overview of recent publications and new research efforts to assess the impact of ICESat-2 data.
Figure 5. Strategies to extend ICESat-2 to new communities through activities and trainings such as those hosted by the Applied Remote Sensing Training (ARSET) program.Figure credit: Molly Brown Mike Jasinski [NASA GSFC, Hydrological Sciences Laboratory—Assistant Chief for Science] provided an overview of ICESat-2 inland water standard and quick look data products, ATL13QL and ATL22QL. ICESat-2 covers approximately one million lakes each year. Jasinski also listed application areas for water resources decision support, including river elevation and discharge, lake and reservoir water balance and management, and validation of Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) data. He provided metrics for each data product and quick look product and the advantages and disadvantages of ATL13 and ATL22 data products.
Mary D. Ari [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Office of Science—Senior Advisor for Science] provided an overview of the Science Impact Framework (SIF). Ari explained that our partners and public need “evidence to support practice or policy or decision making, accountability for public finds, and research focus to advocate for research priority.” A major goal is to translate findings into practice or action. Next, she presented ways by which impact can be measured, including bibliometrics (quantitative) and value (qualitative). Ari further explained the Science Impact Framework (SIF), which includes five domains of scientific influence: disseminating science, creating awareness, catalyzing action, effecting change, and shaping the future – see Figure 6.
Figure 6. The Science Impact Framework, which allows the impact of scientific work to be quantified and to determine if the science we produce is being put into action.Figure credit: Mary Ari Woody Turner [NASA Headquarters—ICESat-2 Program Applications Lead] provided an overview of NASA’s Earth Science to Action Strategy. Turner explained that NASA’s Earth Science to Action strategy is integral to the Earth Science Division’s 2024–2034 strategic plan. The overall strategy has two objectives: 1) observe, monitor, and understand the Earth System and 2) deliver trusted information to drive Earth resilience activities. He also summarized the “three key pillars” for this new Earth Action paradigm to 1) be user centered, 2) build bridges between research, technology, flight, data, and Earth Action elements, and 3) scale up existing efforts to get NASA data into the hands of end users. Lastly, Turner listed NASA’s core values, including safety, integrity, inclusion, teamwork, excellence, trustworthiness, innovation, and collaboration.
Objective 2: Review available tools for extracting ICESat-2 data for a diverse community.
To achieve this objective, the meeting included a series of presentations in which each speaker described a different tool that is being used to download and analyze ICESat-2 data.
Jessica Scheick [University of New Hampshire] provided an overview of a set of Python tools, named icepyx, that can be used to obtain and manipulate ICESat-2 data. Scheick, who developed icepyx, described how the tools address challenges with ICESat-2 data. Lastly, she performed a live demonstration of icepyx.
Tyler Sutterley [Applied Physics Laboratory/University of Washington] presented a live demonstration of Sliderule, an ICESat-2 plugin module that uses an application programming interface (API) to “query a set of ATL03 input granules for photon heights and locations based on a set of photon-input parameters that select the geographic and temporal extent of the request.”
Joanna D. Millstein [Colorado School of Mines] provided an overview of CryoCloud, which is a “JupyterHub built for NASA cryosphere communities in collaboration with 2i2c.” The goal of CryoCloud is to create a “simple and cost-effective managed cloud environment for training and transitioning new users to cloud workflows and determining community best practices.” CryoCloud makes it possible to “process data faster, minimize downloading and democratize science.” The CryoCloud GitHub provides access to a Slack channel, trainings and tutorials, and community office hours.
Mikala Beig [UC, Boulder—NSIDC User Services] provided and overview of OpenAltimetry, a platform for visualizing and downloading surface elevation data from ICESat and ICESat-2. OpenAltimetry was developed to alleviate the challenges faced by researchers, including the “steep learning curves and heavy demands on computational resources” necessary to download and manipulate large volumes of data. The strengths of OpenAltimetry include fostering user engagement, lowering technical hurdles for visualizing data, and allowing deeper data exploration. Lastly, Beig demonstrated the platform for the audience – see Figure 7.
Figure 7. Searching ICESat-2 tracks in OpenAltimetry, a map-based data visualization and discovery tool for altimetry data.Figure credit: Mikala Beig Objectives 3 and 4: Foster synergies between all participants; Identify new potential applications or products from ATLAS data not currently under investigation.
To meet these two meeting objectives, workshop organizers scheduled a round of lightning talks, where a series of presenters gave five-minute presentations on their research or activities. The talks are distilled below. The reader is directed online to find formal presentation titles and additional information. There was also an applied user panel and a breakout session to facilitate synergies between participants and identify new applications.
Younghyun Koo [Lehigh University/ Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Science (CIRES)] described a method to filter landfast ice (or sea ice “fastened” to the coastline) for accurate examination of thermodynamic and dynamic sea ice features using the ICESat-2 ATL10 data product – see Figure 8.
Chandana Gangodagamage [OeilSat—Principal Investigator] described the company’s efforts to track freshwater in the Congo River for the purposes of water resources management and other water-related applications that require river bathymetry data.
Daniel Scherer [Technischen Universität München (TUM), Germany] provided an overview of the ICESat-2 River Surface Slope (IRIS), a global reach-scale water surface slope dataset that provides average and extreme water slopes from ICESat-2 observations. The data can be dowloaded from Zenodo.
Louise Croneborg-Jones [Water In Sight—Chief Executive Officer] described her company’s effort to use satellite data and mobile and cloud technology to digitize river and rainfall observation at scale in Malawi. Water In Sight has emphasized getting local communities involved in monitoring water resources to increase observations of water levels for conservation.
Ravindra Duddu [Vanderbilt University] provided an overview on a project called Modeling Antarctic Iceshelf Calving and Stability (MAGICS), which involves using computation, data, and machine learning to map the rift and crevasse configurations of ice shelves in Antarctica to better understand calving events.
Shawn Serbin [GSFC] discussed use of harmonized above ground products from ICESat-2 and other earth observing platforms, including Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI), Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP), and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), for terrestrial ecosystem carbon cycle reanalysis and near-term, iterative forecasting for North America and the globe.
Wengi Ni-Meister [Hunter College of the City University of New York—ICESat-2 Early Adopter] summarized an effort to retrieve canopy and background reflectivity ratio from ICESat-2 data and use it for the retrieval of vegetation cover and snow distribution in boreal forests.
Morgaine McKibben [GSFC–Plankton, Aerosol, Clouds, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) Applications Lead] provided an overview of NASA’s PACE mission, suggesting possible synergies between ICESat-2 and PACE with the intent of opening the door for further discussion on collaboration between the two missions. (To learn more about planned applications for PACE, see Preparing for Launch and Assessing User Readiness: The 2023 PACE Applications Workshop. (Also published in The Earth Observer, Nov–Dec 2023, 35:6, 25–32.)
Anthony Campbell [GSFC/ University of Maryland, Baltimore County] discussed his group’s research into using ICESat-2 data to monitor changes in coastal wetland migration, including coastal elevation and canopy height.
Brian A Campbell [NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility (WFF)—ICESat-2 Mission Education Lead] described the Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) program’s network of citizen scientists who collect several different kinds of data using the GLOBE Observer app. He highlighted one data type with particular relevance to ICESat-2. GLOBE Trees – see Figure 8 – equips citizen scientists with the tools to take tree height measurements using their mobile devices. These observations could then be compared to data from NASA satellite missions.
Figure 8. NASA’s Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) has developed an app called GLOBE Trees that allows users take measurements of tree height data using a mobile device. Those data can then be uploaded, and scientists can use them to validate satellite tree height measurement (e.g., from ICESat-2/ATLAS).Figure credit: Brian Campbell Caio Hamamura [University of Florida/School of Forest, Fisheries & Geomatics Sciences—Postdoctoral Associate] summarized a literature review his team had conducted of studies using ICESat-2 data for land and vegetation applications as well as results of an assessment of the current capability and limitations of ICESat-2 data for land and vegetation applications – see Figure 9.
Figure 9. Illustration of the ATL18 canopy height product at 1 km (~0.6 mi) spatial resolution at the global scale. The height values represent the median of all ATL18 height estimates within a given grid size of 1 km.Figure credit: Jordan Borak and Ciao Hamamura Jacob Comer [Cultural Site Research and Management Foundation] summarized results from an evaluation of the use of ICESat-2 data for archaeological prospection and documentation of archaeological sites – particularly in the Federal States of Micronesia.
Juradana M. Iqrah [University of Texas at San Antonio] described her group’s effort to obtain high resolution sea ice classification and freeboard information from ICESat-2 ATL03 observations to understand the impact of global warming on the melting and retreat of polar sea ice cover.
Michael MacFerrin [National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI)—Coastal Digital Elevation (DEM) Model Team] provided an overview of the NOAA/CIRES ICESat-2 Validation of Elevations Reporting Tool (IVERT) tool, which is used to generate land-based validation statistics of digital elevation models (DEM) anywhere in the word using the ATL03 and ATL08 datasets – see Figure 10.
Figure 10. Digital Elevation Model output before and after Hurricane Michael in Florida, October 2018.Figure credit: Michael MacFerrin Gretchen Imahori [NOAA National Geodetic Survey, Remote Sensing Division] presented an overview of satellite derived bathymetry using ICESat-2 data, including the new Level 3 (L3) bathymetry data product (ATL24) that will be available later in 2024 – see Figure 11.
Figure 11. Bathymetry data from ICESat-2 have been used across a wide variety of morphologies [some of which are illustrated in the photos above] and disciplines. Figure credit: Gretchen Imahori and the ICESat-2 bathymetry working group Objectives 5 and 6: Understand the challenges faced by applied, data users, and end users and identify solutions. Build partnerships between applied users, data producers, and end users.
To achieve these two objectives, planners organized an applied user panel and a breakout session as means to foster conversation among participants. The applied user panel consisted of five panelists– three participating virtually and two in-person. The presenters in the session shared their responses to three prepared discussion prompts: 1) an introduction of ICESat-2 data products; 2) use of ICESat-2 data products for their application; and 3) potential data latency impacts. The conversation was brief, but it provided a unique opportunity to hear from experienced applied users.
A breakout session consisted of pre-planned discussion prompts through two virtual breakout groups and one in-person group. Group One discussed questions that covered examination of ice crevassing and rifting, community tools for shallow water mapping, and slope measurement bias and uncertainties. Group Two discussed a variety of current and potential surface water applications, identified challenges using ICEat-2 data, and developed suggestions to increase the accessibility and usability of ICESat-2 data products. Group Three covered a gamut of topics, including potential products for Alaskan and Canadian communities, increased accessibility to products, and applications through central cloud storage systems, central repositories and detailed documentation, and the desire for future topic-specific workshops and focus sessions.
Conclusion
The 2024 NASA ICESat-2 Applications Workshop was the third in a series of workshops – with the first workshop occurring in 2012, six years prior to launch. The EA program was transitioned to the Applied User program, which deployed a post-launch program per the NASA Early Adopter Handbook “that acts as a continuation of the Early Adopter program to engage with Communities of Practice and Potential.” This workshop provided the space to foster collaboration and conceptualization of applications not yet exploited that may be developed using ICESat-2 data products. The workshop met its objectives and created an environment that fostered collaboration between participants. The workshop was a success, and participants requested another one focused on a thematic topic. Updates, future workshops, and other events will be posted on the ICESat-2 ‘Get Involved’ page.
Aimee Renee Neeley
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Science Systems and Applications, Inc.
aimee.neeley@nasa.gov
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Last Updated Sep 17, 2024 Related Terms
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