editor’s corner - earth observing system 2001 vol. 13 no. 5 editor’s corner ... november 1 at...

In this issue

Ear

thObserving System

THE EARTH OBSERVER

September/October 2001 Vol. 13 No. 5

EDITOR’S CORNER CORNERMichael KingEOS Senior Project Scientist

I'm pleased to report that the Appropriations bill that provides funding to theVeterans Administration, Department of Housing and Urban Development,and Independent Agencies (including NASA) for FY2002 has been submittedto the President for approval. The bill appropriates $14.79B for NASA for FY2002, which is $540M more than the FY 2001 budget. The bill allocates $1.573billion for Earth science programs, an increase of $58.5M to the budgetrequest.

The Earth science budget includes $40.5 M in specific earmarks, whichincludes an increase of $23.5M for the Synergy program to develop additionaluses for EOS data, and an increase of $6M for the EOSDIS Core System toexpand its data processing and distribution capabilities. The allocation ofsome earmarks to account for a $17.5M general reduction in the FY02 initialoperating plan was not finished at the time of printing, and may impact theoverall budget for the Earth science program.

The EOS Investigators Working Group meeting was held October 30 -November 1 at the Adam’s Mark Hotel in San Antonio, Texas. The EOS IWGmeeting is the primary forum for sharing information on NASA’s Earthscience program and its scientific accomplishments. Several EOS ProgramManagers and Project Scientists presented updates on strategic planning,current and future missions, and the EOS Data and Information System. Theformat of the science portion of the meeting followed the ESE science researchstrategy, which is based on questions (variabilities, forcing, response, conse-quence, prediction) rather than science themes (e.g., atmosphere, ocean, etc.).Specifically, separate sessions were organized around long-term variabilitiesin the biosphere, their geophysical forcings, and the process-oriented cam-paigns (or responses) designed to study them. A final session on numericalweather and climate predictions addressed new climate model capabilitiesand data assimilation. This format represents a broader view of Earth systemscience, and stimulates thought on individual contributions to the overallEOS Science plan. In addition to the plenary sessions, several science team

SCIENCE TEAM MEETINGSSummary of the AIRS Science Team Meeting 3

MISR Science Team Meeting .......................... 6

User Working Group Meeting: ORNL DAAC for Biogeochemical Dynamics ................... 11

Meeting of Federation of Earth ScienceInformation Partners ................................ 19

Alaska SAR Facility (ASF) User Working Group Meeting .......................................... 21

SCIENCE ARTICLESMODIS Land Rapid Response: Operational Use of Terra Data for USFS Wildfire

Management ............................................... 8

Report from the GOFC—Fire: Satellite ProductValidation Workshop, Gulbenkian

Foundation ................................................ 15

Remote Sensing of Forest Cover in WesternRussia and Fennoscandia ......................... 23

EOS Scientists In The News ......................... 25

ANNOUNCEMENTSKUDOS ........................................................... 2

6,000 See ESE Electronic Theater, in Madison,WI ............................................................. 18

SAGE II V.6.1 data set is now publicly available .................................................... 21

LIS and OTD Gridded Re-analysis Data SetsReleased ................................................... 22

Science Calendars ........................................ 27

Information/Inquiries ..................... Back cover

(Continued on page 2)

THE EARTH OBSERVER • September/October 2001 Vol. 13 No. 5

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The William Nordberg

Memorial Award for Earth

Science is given annually to a

Scientist of the Goddard

Space Flight Center who best

exhibits the characteristics of

Dr. Nordberg's career: broad

scientific perspective, enthusiastic programmatic and

technical leadership on the national and international

levels, wide recognition by peers, and substantial research

accomplishments in understanding Earth System pro-

cesses. This year’s award is presented to Dr. Michael King

for his outstanding leadership as the Senior Project

Scientist for the NASA Earth Observing System (EOS) and

his scientific contribution in the field of radiative transfer

and its application to ground-based, airborne, and satellite

remote sensing techniques of clouds and aerosols.

In his position as the EOS Senior Project Scientist, Dr. King

skillfully orchestrated the day-to-day interfacing of the

Earth Science community with NASA’s Earth Science

Enterprise. This is probably one of the most difficult tasks

in NASA with tremendous responsibility and complexity

which, therefore, earned him the admiration of the Earth

science community. In parallel to this leadership role, Dr.

King continued to lead outstanding research into radiative

transfer through aerosols and clouds, development of

mathematical methods to retrieve atmospheric properties

from remote sensing data, development of instruments for

remote sensing, and design of field experiments. Many of

his numerous scientific papers are cornerstones in the

community with more than 100 citations.

KUDOS

meetings and posters session were also held. Look for adetailed description of the meeting in the next issue of The

Earth Observer.

The Earth System Science Pathfinder (ESSP) program hasapproved six proposals for potential ESSP missions, each witha specific scientific objective. Two missions have been acceptedto address passive and active microwave measurements of soilmoisture, and one each for studying natural hazards, carbondioxide, ocean topography, and ocean salinity. This is the firststep in a two step mission selection process, which will benarrowed to three or four proposed missions undergoingdesign reviews, followed by two final selected missions fundedat $125M each not including launch services.

The Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) Algorithm Theoreti-cal Basis Document (ATBD) review originally scheduled forNovember 5 has been postponed to January or February of2002. The postponement was necessary due to recent travelrestrictions imposed on the Dutch-led OMI Science Team. Fouralgorithm documents have been prepared describing theinstrument and Level 1B data processing; ozone product;cloud; aerosol and radiation product; and trace gas product. Awritten review of these documents is currently underway. OMIis part of the Aura payload, which includes three otheratmospheric chemistry instruments.

Finally, I’m happy to report that the SAGE III Instrument andTest Team have completed testing with the Meteor 3M space-craft in Russia, and the mission is scheduled to launch onDecember 5, 2001. This joint U.S.-Russia mission has facedmany technical and logistical challenges over the past severalmonths, including significant disruptions in the wake of theevents of September 11. SAGE III will continue importantmeasurements of atmospheric chemistry and aerosols obtainedfrom the SAGE I and SAGE II missions, and provide a continu-ous data record of these parameters through the EOS Auramission currently scheduled for July 2003.


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George Aumann presented an overview ofAIRS Hardware, Level 1B Status, the DataAssimilation Workshops, Title/Authorsfor the EOS-Aqua Pre-launch IEEE papers,Validation Support lead scientists andproposal titles, and the high-level timelinefrom the EOS Aqua launch until launch +18 months.

Session 1. Team Exercise Results

The second team exercise during the lastweek of May 2001 was designed to testkey capabilities of the Product GenerationSoftware (PGS) and the validation supportsoftware at JPL. Mike Gunson gave anoverview of the objectives: clear fieldidentification, matchup software, and biasestimation.

Details of the cloud generation algorithmused to simulate the data (based on theDecember 15, 2000, NCEP forecast) werepresented by Evan Fishbein.

a) Clear Flag and Cloud-Clearing: Whilethe AIRS T(p), q(p) retrieval algo-rithm works under clear and cloudyconditions, the evaluation of (ob-served-calculated) statistics where thetruth is known requires the identifica-tion of clear fields of view. An AIRSfield-of-view (FOV) is defined as“clear” if the effect of clouds on theobserved radiances is less than theinstrumental noise, i.e., significantlyless than 0.5 K. This definitioncorresponds to about 1% high cloudsin the FOV. Catherine Gautierpresented details of the VIS/NIR clearfilter algorithm, which has beenrefined using MODIS Terra data tosimulate AIRS data. In addition, thealgorithm uses the AMSU and AIRSthermal IR surface to select surfacetype-dependent thresholds.Hofstadter showed results of thisalgorithm using representativegranules of AIRS simulated data from

the team exercise. Mitch Goldbergdiscussed improvements in the “ClearFOV” identification algorithm thatworks at day and night and detectsless than 2% clouds. Shortwavewindows channels are more sensitiveto clouds than longwave windowchannels because the Planck functionis non-linear under partly cloudyconditions. At night, shortwave andlongwave windows for overcastconditions are similar. However,during day time the reflected solarradiation allows detection of clouds,since the predictor coefficients arederived from clear data.

Joel Susskind described the algorithmand performance of the “Clear flag,”which is integrated into the first passcloud clearing algorithm. It detects1% cloud cover, but it cannot be usedreliably early on, since it is sensitiveto the accurate knowledge of the

Summary of the AIRS Science TeamMeetingJune 19-21, 2001, Pasadena, CA— George Aumann ([email protected]), Jet Propulsion Laboratory


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radiative transfer, i.e., the (observed-calculated) statistical properties forclear cases have to be known. Sincethe systematic bias correctionalgorithm will not be ready untilabout launch + 5 months, he isworking on an “early data” version ofthe “clear flag” algorithm. Susskindthen discussed the performance of thecloud-clearing algorithm and theT(p), q(p) retrieval under clear andcloudy conditions. The algorithmworks under clear conditions andwith a single cloud formation, butadditional work is required to getacceptable performance in thepresence of multiple cloud forma-tions.

Dave Staelin reported that he experi-enced difficulties with cloud-clearingdata from the NAST I/M AndrosIsland 1998 CAMEX III ER-2 flight.Bob Atlas (DAO) pointed out that inthe meteorological community “clear”is defined as less than 10% visualcloud cover reported by the surfaceobserver.

b) Bias Estimation: Reliable estimation ofbias in calculated-observed statistics(using clear data) and bias elimina-tion in the Level 2 software (“tuning”)is key to achieving accurate retrievals.Larry McMillin presented the statusof the software. The bias estimationsoftware uses conventional (routinelylaunched) radiosondes, ACARSreports, ARM data with multiplesensors and well characterizedaccuracy, buoys, surface observations,ozone soundings, and GPS watervapor. The tuning software, whichapplies the bias during the retrievalprocess, has not been tested. Ed Olsenpresented results of matching uproutine RAOBs with the December 15,2000, simulated data as part of the

bias estimation effort. Currentmatchup analysis is L2-retrievaloriented, i.e., it assumes that retrievalalgorithms are “ready” under clearand cloudy conditions. There appearto be quality control problems withthe “quality controlled” PREQC files:dubious quality radiosondes areleaking in, such as truncated profilesand profiles containingdiscontinuities. Of the 2,265 colloca-tions with AIRS overpasses (3-hour,100-km window) there were 728invalid profiles (all temperaturesnonphysical). Eric Fetzer presentedresults of match-up of AIRS to ARMCART Soundings and AVN Gridswithin a ~25 km / 1-hr window in thesimulated data. In order to achievethe best estimate of the state of theatmosphere during ARM CARToverpasses, the meteorologicalconditions have to be stable (andpreferably clear). Supplementalinformation about the synoptic state(e. g., satellite imagery, modelanalyses) is needed to identify thesedesirable conditions.

The Sea Surface Temperature (SST)will be used for the early assessmentof instrumental bias validation of theLevel 1b (under clear conditions), andlater for the validation of the Level 2retrieved surface temperature underclear and cloudy conditions. DeniseHagan presented the status of SSTinformation. The primary source ofSST information is floating buoys.Hagan showed that use of theNCEP_TSurf_Forecast over ocean isan attractive alternative. For Decem-ber 15, 2000, and over tropical ocean,NCEP_TSurf_Forecast-buoy has amean of zero and about 0.5 K stan-dard deviation.

Mike Gunson summarized the results

from the May 2001 team exercise: 1) theRAOB and AVN matchup capability,which is the first step to “tuning,” hasbeen demonstrated. However, 2) tuningstill needs to be implemented and tested.As a result, 3) without tuning the Level 2software rejected the data, i.e., no success-ful retrievals were made with biasedradiances without tuning. Larrabee Strowfound the exercise very valuable foranalysis software development: 1) notmany radiosonde matches, particularlyunder clear conditions and over water(where the surface emissivity is simplerthan over land); 2) simulated bias did notmimic the likely patterns due to radiomet-ric or spectroscopy errors; 3) absence ofthe cirrus in the data may be misleadingthe algorithm development in the 10 µmwindow area.

Session 2. Data Validation andQuality Assessment

Mike Gunson summarized the AIRSValidation Plan between launch andlaunch + 12 months. The presentationclarified JPL’s role in support of theScience Team validation activities,including: zeroth order check on all datawithin 24 hours to ensure important fieldsare filled within reasonable bounds; andcheck QA flags set in processing, match-up truth with observed data, dataarchiving, and the analysis of bias trends.The time resolution of the Validation Planwith respect to specific analysis activitiesat JPL and by science team members not atJPL has to be improved to allow efficientand rapid validation to meet the launch +12 month scheduled start for the release ofvalidated data products from the DAAC.Eric Fetzer presented an update to theAIRS Data Quality Assessment Plan(V.2.0), AIRS automatic QA, manual QA,and QA trending. The AIRS Science teamis ultimately responsible for setting datarelease criteria; the QA indicators assist


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this process. The TLSCF Data System(TDS) supports access to the Level 1b data(first year only) and all QA data for thelifetime of AIRS at JPL. The TDS hardwarehas been assembled in a 20 x 15 ft com-puter room (with special fire suppression,power backup, etc). Quentin Sun’spresentation provided details about thefile-structure and access methods.

Mitch Goldberg plans to make use of theNOAA-16 validation support systemalready set up at NESDIS for AIRSvalidation. The NOAA-16 orbit is verysimilar to the Aqua orbit. The NOAA-16operational matchup files are availableevery day. As an example: of the 351NOAA-16 matchups for May 25, 2001, 316also match the AIRS window. He alsoplans to compare AIRS/AMSU/HSBretrievals with ATOVS retrievals. LarryMcMillin’s validation effort at NOAA/NESDIS will make use of all truth dataavailable to AIRS: routinely launchedradiosondes, ACARS reports, ARM datawith multiple sensors and well character-ized accuracy, buoys, surface observations,ozone soundings, and GPS water vaporsoundings.

In order to evaluate the accuracy of theAIRS temperature and moisture profileretrievals, the true state of the atmosphereat selected locations, like ARM/CART, hasto be measured significantly moreaccurate than 1 K/1 km for temperatureand 10%/2 km for moisture. This accuracyis achieved by using the combinedanalysis of research grade radiosondeslaunched at the EOS Aqua overpass,uplooking AERI, microwave radiometers,Lidar, and GPS. Bob Knutsen reported onthe status of the data transfer and analysisof ARM/CART data to be collected duringthe AIRS intensive validation campaignand the type of data analysis activityplanned at the University of Wisconsin forAIRS data. Dave Tobin’s estimate of the

state of the atmosphere (measuring T(p),q(p), etc.) as part of an AIRS overflight isexpected to be significantly more accuratethan the AIRS single profile accuracyrequirement, but does require stableweather conditions to obtain the data.Data obtained by the SHIS during SAFARI2000 validation campaign were used toillustrate the various AIRS validationactivities planned at the University ofWisconsin.

Bob Atlas, GSCF DAO, has been funded tosupport the AIRS validation effort via theEOS Aqua Validation NRA. His team willstart with the global evaluation ofcalculated DAO analysis - observed forclear conditions as soon as the AIRSinstrument has stabilized in orbit (aboutlaunch + 3 months). They will thenprogress to the evaluation and ultimateassimilation of cloud-cleared radiancesand T(p), q(p) retrievals. The earlyassessment of the impact of AIRS data onthe forecast will be based on improve-ments in the six-hour forecast of RAOBsand the 500 hPa height.

Roberto Calheiros discussed the status ofthe AIRS Validation support effort inBrazil. The direct validation data sites arenow set up: nine weather radar sites,seven RAWIN sites (including the islandof Trinidad, about 1100 km east of Rio deJaneiro), and one GPS site. Collaborationsbetween Brazil and Chile (Easter Islands,about 4000 km west of Santiago, Chile),Peru, and Paraguay have not beenfinalized. The data analysis effort in Brazilwill focus on the HSB soundings and HSBprecipitation results.

Peter Schlussel presented details of thesupport provided by the two AIRSValidation sites recently selected byEUMETSAT: Garmisch (Germany) andTolouse (France). Characterization of theatmospheric state with an accuracy of 0.5 K

in temperature and 10% in absolutehumidity at a vertical resolution of 0.5 kmis expected and is consistent with the 1 K/1 km; 10% moisture/2 km retrievalaccuracy achievable with AIRS.

Session 3. Level 2 Workshop

The Level 2 workshop dealt with thedetails of the Level 2 Product GenerationExecutive (PGE) and the validation andanalysis support software. This is summa-rized in the presentation by Sung-YungLee and the action item list.

The next AIRS Science Team meeting isscheduled for November 6, 7 and 8, 2001,in Pasadena. The focus point will bespecific analysis activities at the TLSCFand by the various science team membersduring the first 3 months after launch.


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The MISR Science Team met in June 2001at the Sheraton Pasadena Hotel. The MISRPrincipal Investigator, Dave Diner of JPL,welcomed the meeting participants andoutlined the meeting objectives, whichwere to prioritize the next phase of worktoward completing the project’s basiccommitments; agree upon productmaturity definitions (alpha, beta, provi-sional, validated); agree upon transitioncriteria for key parameters; establishpractical ways to maximize team interac-tions and communication; and establishpractical ways to maximize MISR’s impactand relevance to the scientific communityand the public.

Graham Bothwell, the MISR ProjectManager at JPL, reviewed the status ofMISR instrument operations and the MISRscience data system. Overall the instru-ment has been performing superbly. Anew flight software load was put in placeon May 22, 2001, to enable keeping thecameras powered while on the night sideof the orbit, but keeping data flowinhibited. Having the cameras continu-ously powered significantly reducesthermal cycling and associated stresses oncircuit boards within the camera supportelectronics. Various upgrades and patches

to the ground data system to improverobustness and performance weredescribed. Transition of most productsfrom beta to provisional status is envi-sioned for late 2001 or early 2002. JeffWalter of the NASA Langley DAACpresented the data processing operationsstatus at the Atmospheric Sciences DataCenter. Level 1 data have been in routineproduction since June 2000 and Level 2since February 2001. Level 3 production isundergoing testing. Owing to variousupgrades and fixes, a factor of twoimprovement in production performancewas achieved in the December 2000 timeframe. These presentations were followedby Mark Apolinski of JPL, who discussedthe status of the MISR data productquality assessment (QA) system.

Representatives Charlene Welch andNancy Ritchey of LaRC DAAC UserServices discussed the status of MISR datadistribution. Organizations in manydifferent states and countries have beenreceiving MISR data and the image CD-ROM prepared by the DAAC. Licenses formisr_view software have also been widelydistributed. Robin Pfister of GSFCaccepted feedback from the MISR team onissues regarding the EOS Data Gateway.

The capabilities of several MISR datahandling software packages were dis-cussed next. Jeffrey Hall and CharlesThompson of JPL described recentupgrades to the misr_view tool, which isused to display and analyze MISR Level1B2 and Level 2 data products. BrianRheingans of JPL showed examples of areprojection tool he developed that takesMISR Space Oblique Mercator data andresamples the data to a large number ofother map projections and enables thegeneration of image mosaics in GeoTIFFformat.

Status and performance of Level 1software were presented by Kyle Miller ofJPL. Several specialized patches to thesoftware have been put in place to dealwith various idiosyncrasies of the MISRinstrument and the spacecraft datasystem. Carol Bruegge of JPL describedthe work of the radiometric calibrationteam. A number of independent datasources has been examined in order toestablish the absolute radiometric scale;the on-board detector-based approach hasnot worked as well as hoped due tosuspected incorrect prelaunch compensa-tion for out-of-band radiation, so greaterreliance has been placed on vicarioustechniques. However, most of the on-board calibration photodiodes have beenvery stable since launch and thus providea good measure of camera response as afunction of time. Veljko Jovanovic of JPLnext described geometric calibration.Georectification has been accurate towithin 1 pixel, with the exception of themost oblique aft camera, where the errorsare about twice as large. The reasons arebeing investigated and implementation ofreference orbit imagery, which wasplanned prior to launch and is in theprocess of generation, is expected toreduce these errors to better than 1 pixelfor all cameras.

Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer(MISR) Science Team Meeting

— David J. Diner ([email protected]), MISR Principal Investigator, JPL


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Larry Di Girolamo of the University ofIllinois summarized the Terra Cloud MaskWorkshop which was held in Madison,WI, on May 8-9, 2001. That meeting was agood opportunity for interchange amongscientists from various Terra teams. MISRwill participate in the Terra Cloud MaskIntercomparison Project. With regard tospecifics of the MISR cloud masks, DiGirolamo described how the BandDifferenced Angular Signature does anexcellent job of distinguishing clouds fromsnow and ice. Analysis of the Stereoscopi-cally Derived Cloud Mask led to arecommendation to change the thresholdthat distinguishes cloud from surfaceterrain.

Science presentations were made by anumber of MISR team members and theirassociates. These included Tom Ackermanand Roger Marchand of PNNL; EugeneClothiaux of Penn State; Roger Davies andCatherine Moroney of the University ofArizona; Peter Muller of UCL; JohnMartonchik, Jim Conel, and Ralph Kahn ofJPL; Chris Borel of LANL; Juri Knyazikhinof Boston University; Michel Verstraeteand Jean-Luc Widlowski of JRC; and AnneNolin of NSIDC/CU. Science resultsmaking use of MISR data that werediscussed included distinguishingspherical from non-spherical aerosolparticles, differentiating ice types,detecting subpixel heterogeneity invegetation canopies, and assessing three-dimensional radiative transfer effects incloud property retrievals. Don Frank ofthe GSFC Data Assimilation Officediscussed plans to assess the impact ofMISR cloud heights and cloud-trackedwinds on the DAO numerical analyses. Anew format of short (15 minute) presenta-tions followed by informal, interactiveposter presentations was tried. Thisenabled a number of individuals notdirectly affiliated with the MISR team todisplay posters on their analyses of MISR

data and comparisons with other sensors,such as MODIS and ground-truth data.

Data product maturity definitions (alpha,beta, provisional, validated) were re-viewed by the team. A set of definitionswas agreed upon and it was decided thatthey would be published on the MISR website (www-misr.jpl.nasa.gov). Criteria fortransitioning data products from beta toprovisional, and from provisional tovalidated were reviewed by the team.Susan Paradise and Kathleen Crean of JPLdescribed the current status of the Level 2Top-of-Atmosphere/Cloud and Aerosol/Surface products, respectively, and BobVargo and Earl Hansen of JPL assisted inmoderating the discussions regardingproduct maturity transitions. It wasagreed that the criteria would be pub-lished on the MISR web site.

Plans for building a user base andconstituency for multi-angle data werediscussed, including preparations for aspecial section of IEEE Transactions onGeoscience and Remote Sensing devotedto MISR, and participation in the thirdInternational Workshop on MultiangularMeasurements and Models, to be held inSteamboat Springs, CO, in June 2002(cires.colorado.edu/iwmmm-3/).

Methods of dealing with the large volumeof MISR data were discussed, includingpresentations on the status of Level 3products from Amy Braverman and MikeSmyth of JPL. Level 3 products areplanned to be of two types: componentproducts, which contain means, variances,and covariances derived from individualLevel 1 and Level 2 products; and jointproducts, which contain global datasummaries that involve parameters frommultiple Level 2 products. Additionally,the joint products use an entropy-constrained vector quantization approachfor data compression. Dennis DeCoste of

JPL described the application of datamining techniques to MISR data.

Veljko Jovanovic presented the status ofAirMISR data processing. Discussionamong the team placed the highestpriority on achieving accurategeorectification and registration, with thenext priority being the generation of anatmospherically corrected Level 2 productthat can be used as a link between field-scale bidirectional measurements fromPARABOLA and coarser scales fromMISR.

Action items from the meeting wererecorded and summarized by GrahamBothwell. Following an agreement to holdthe next meeting near the time of the nextAGU meeting (December 2001), themeeting was adjourned.


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Background

Wildfire incidences in 2000 and 2001 havebeen larger, more frequent, and morenumerous than those seen in the contermi-nous United States during recent years.The sheer number of these events duringthe peak of the fire season has severelytaxed federal and state wildfire manage-ment resources. Near real-time Terra dataare now being used by the federal wildfirecommunity to assist in the strategicallocation of assets and in post-firerehabilitation efforts.

Here we describe a new system, MODISLand Rapid Response, that delivers arange of time-critical data to the USDAForest Service (USFS), the NationalInteragency Fire Center (NIFC), and otherfederal and state users. This project hasbeen made possible through a uniquecollaboration between staff at NASAGoddard Space Flight Center (Code 922),the Department of Geography at theUniversity of Maryland (UMD), and theUSFS Remote Sensing Applications Center(RSAC).

The project is rooted in the 2000 wildfireseason, when scientists from the MODISLand Discipline Group (MODLAND)

created a series of hand-crafted imageryproducts in the aftermath of multiple largefires in the Idaho/Montana border region.The team assembled included members ofChris Justice’s MODIS Fire group, YoramKaufman’s Smoke and Aerosol group, andWei Min Hao at the USFS Fire Science Lab(FSL). During this exercise, it becameapparent that there was a significantcontribution that Terra data could make towildfire suppression and rehabilitation–but time was of the essence. In fact, for thepurposes of active fire management, anydata that are more than 24 hours old are ofvery limited value.

To address this need, Tom Bobbe’s groupat the USFS-RSAC initiated an effort toexplore options for obtaining and process-ing MODIS data within hours of sensoracquisition. A partnership was forgedincluding MODLAND scientists at NASAand UMD, as well as researchers at USFSfacilities in Salt Lake City (RSAC) andMissoula (FSL).

Goals & Objectives

The overall goal of the Rapid Responsesystem is to meet science and applicationuser needs with respect to MODIS datawhen the application in question requires

that the data be delivered to the userwithin hours of sensor acquisition. Onesuch important example is the applicationof MODIS data in federal efforts tomanage wildfire. Another importantapplication is the outreach effort of theTerra team, where Rapid Responsecurrently provides a daily feed of globalimage products to the Earth Observatory(earthobservatory.nasa.gov) and otherpublic affairs users.

The MODLAND team has undertaken thiswork with other federal agencies in aneffort to broaden utilization of Terra data,and to gain recognition and support forthe Earth Observing System. This workwill continue to evolve beyond the needsof the USFS. There are currently discus-sions underway with other units of USDAto address the needs of agriculturalmonitoring analysts. We have alsoconducted outreach to international users,and are providing Rapid Response datafeeds to scientists in Brazil and SoutheastAsia under the auspices of the GlobalObservations of Forest Cover program.

It is important to note that this RapidResponse approach is not part of the coreproduction system. It does not replace thecapabilities of MODAPS and the DAACs.Rather, it complements these existingcapabilities. Rapid Response provides thequickest data products possible, but notnecessarily the most advanced for scienceapplications. These efficiencies areachieved in part by eliminating toolkitsand external dependencies such as theassimilated climate and post-processedgeolocation data used by the core system.

System Design, Implementation,and Products

The approach used has been to develop astream-lined and low latency processingsystem using commercial off-the-shelf

MODIS Land Rapid Response:Operational Use of Terra Data for USFSWildfire Management

— Rob Sohlberg ([email protected]), MODIS SCF, Department ofGeography, University of Maryland

— Jacques Descloitres ([email protected]), Rapid Response SystemManager, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

— Tom Bobbe ([email protected]), Center Manager, Remote Sensing ApplicationsCenter, USDA Forest Service


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hardware/software. We have alsoimplemented a distributed computingmodel with data processing and distribu-tion occurring at GSFC, USFS, and UMDfacilities. Where possible we have reusedexisting resources and expertise. Theprocess is fully automated at all sites. Thedesign has also been user-driven. We haveendeavored to form the basis for a long-term partnership with the USFS andNIFC, to understand existing structuresand procedures, to ascertain unmet needs,and to use this knowledge to coopera-tively develop new products.

The high-level data flow is shown inFigure 1. Terra transmits its data via theEDOS system to GSFC. Here we utilize afeed via the NOAA bent-pipe to acquireLevel 0 granules. These are then processedby the Rapid Response system to produceLevel 1B radiance counts. A simplifiedatmospheric correction is applied togenerate corrected reflectance products at250 m and 500 m spatial resolution. TheMODIS fire algorithm is applied toproduce 1 km active fire detections. AJPEG image with pseudo true-color

corrected reflectance isgenerated for all granuleswith the pixel boundary ofthe active fire detectionssuperimposed upon theimage. For a selected sub-set of the global datastream, a reprojection isperformed to eliminate thebow-tie effect and to mapthe image data to a localprojection. An example ofthe end product is shownin Figure 2.

The image data are thenmade available via theinternet for download (seerapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov).The fire locations areingested by a spatialdatabase server at UMD.These data are polled byan automated mapproduction system at theUSFS-RSAC. Finally,image data are sent fromGSFC to UMD and the

Figure 2. Massive wildfires in Siberia on August 4, 2001. Active firedetections are seen as vectors superimposed upon the image. In manylocations, the detections were made despite heavy smoke.

Figure 3. Example of an RSAC fire map covering one of multipleNIFC coordination regions. These products are delivered daily for allregions along with an overview map covering the entire western U.S.

Figure 1. High-level data flows for Rapid Response. Input data flow from sourceson the left of the figure, with processing in the center segment, and delivery to endusers at the right.

TerraFuture USFS

Direct BroadcastReceiving Station

USFSRemote Sensing

ApplicationCenter

GOFC Partners

Earth Observatory

UMD GeographyDept.

NASA/GSFCRapid Response

System

EDOS

NOAA

USERS

Federal Wildfire Community


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RSAC. These image data are provided toBurned Area Emergency Rehabilitation(BAER) teams for use in remediationefforts. The purpose of the BAER effort isto mitigate the encroachment of noxiousspecies and to preserve water quality bycontrolling erosion in the post-firelandscape.

The RSAC generates active fire maps on adaily time-step. The maps, illustrated inFigure 3 on the previous page, show bothcumulative fire detections from previousdays as well as those detected during themost recent satellite overpass. The basemap shows topography, transportationinfrastructure, and urbanized areas forreference. These maps are then used byNIFC for daily stand-up meetings wherestrategic decisions are made regarding theallocation of wildfire management assets.The production schedule is coordinated sothat these maps are available by 6 a.m.local time. Typically, data passes com-pletely through the production systemwithin 4 to 6 hours from the time ofacquisition. These maps are available onthe web at www.fs.fed.us/eng/rsac/fire_maps.html and www.nifc.gov/firemaps.html.

In an additional application interface, theUniversity of Maryland has developed asystem to demonstrate how active fire andother data products can be made availablevia the internet using a geographicinformation system, allowing users tointeract with and customize the dataproducts to their specific needs. A web-based map server at UMD allows the userto query active fire detections spatiallyand temporally. These can then becompared with land cover and otherthematic data layers interactively. Thissystem can be found at rapidresponse.umd.edu.

The Rapid Response system is designed to

be clone-able, and one is currently beingimplemented at UMD. This capacity willbe used to expand the number of re-projected images that can be produced,especially to support ongoing science andfield activities. Two systems are also beinginstalled at the USFS locations in Salt LakeCity and Missoula. These will be used toprocess MODIS data directly from DirectBroadcast dishes that are coming online bythe end of 2001.

The software system is written in C withno dependencies on ECS toolkits. DellPowerEdge multi-CPU servers runningthe Linux operating system are used topower the Rapid Reponse system. Wehave utilized EIDE-to-SCSI RAID units foronline storage, which are available at avery competitive price of approximately$6500 for 0.5 terabytes of usable diskspace. By using hardware sold to thepublic in large quantities, a basic process-ing system can be built for under $20 K.Depending upon the quantity of data to beprocessed, the system is fully scalable.UMD utilizes ESRI’s Internet Map Serverfor web mapping, and the RSAC usesESRI’s ArcInfo for map production.

Into the Direct Broadcast Domain

An important aspect of the project is thatthe Rapid Response system can be used togenerate products from multiple sourcesof input data. These include Level 0granules from either EDOS or from aDirect Broadcast dish. The USFS hascommitted its agency resources tobuilding two receiving stations, one at theRSAC in Salt Lake City and the other atthe FSL in Missoula. The RSAC stationwill be online in early November 2001,with the FSL following in late December.These two systems will then feed the on-site Rapid Response systems to produceproducts directly from the down-link data.This will reduce the latency from the order

of hours (using the current EDOS feed) tominutes (using the Direct Broadcast feed).The NASA/UMD segment will continueto provide data to the USFS for the easternU.S. and Alaska.

All of the software written as part of theRapid Response project has been devel-oped under an “open source” paradigm. Itis the intention of the team to make thissoftware available at no cost to any DirectBroadcast user. As part of this program,the USFS has contributed needed re-sources to package the code for broaderdistribution. Additional assistance hasbeen provided by the Direct Readout Labat GSFC.

It is expected that in the future, otherLevel 2 MODLAND products will beadded to the Rapid Response package.This will allow Direct Broadcast users torun the same standard algorithms thathave been developed by the MODISScience Team.

Future Direction

During 2001, the Rapid Response effortwas driven by getting the core capabilitiesfunctioning as quickly as possible so as tohave the system operating by the begin-ning of the wildfire season in the Ameri-can west. Pathfinding activities were alsoundertaken and will result in newproducts to be available in 2002. Theseinclude products for burn severity andsmoke modeling. The burn severityproduct builds upon the MODIS Vegeta-tive Cover Conversion algorithm bydirectly generating severity classes usedby the USFS’s BAER teams. The newsmoke dispersion product will build uponthe work of Kaufman at GSFC and Hao atthe FSL.



11

The User Working Group of the OakRidge National Laboratory DAAC met onJuly 31, 2001, in Baltimore, Maryland. Thismeeting was devoted primarily todiscussions of the FY 2002 activities of theORNL DAAC.

The User Working Group providesguidance to the ORNL DAAC on dataarchival activities, including prioritizingits activities to ensure that EOS and theEarth Science Enterprise are appropriatelysupported by the DAAC. One of the keyways the User Working Group providesguidance is to review future work plans.

The User Working Group has imple-mented a committee structure to augmentthe User Working Group’s efforts toprovide guidance to the DAAC in specificareas of importance (Table 1). Thesesubcommittees (ecosystem modeling, fieldcampaigns, land validation, and techno-logical developments) met via teleconfer-ences prior to the July 2001 meeting,which facilitated the discussion of FY 2002DAAC tasks.

Background

The ORNL DAAC supports the EarthScience Enterprise (ESE) and the Earth

Observing System (EOS) by providingdata and information about the dynamicsbetween the biological, geological, andchemical components of the Earth’senvironment. These biogeochemicaldynamics are influenced by interactionsbetween organisms and their physicalsurroundings, including soils, sediments,water, and air.

Sources of data held by the DAAC includeNASA funded field campaigns (such asBOREAS, LBA, and SAFARI 2000),selected relevant measurements from EOSsatellites, as well as other biogeochemicaldynamics data useful to the global changeresearch community. In addition, theORNL DAAC acquires, archives, anddistributes data related to biogeochemicalcycling that facilitates interpretation,processing, and validation of EOS remote-sensing measurements and data products.The DAAC supports EOS validation byproviding data from FLUXNET and LandValidation field activities (Table 2).

The data at the DAAC are useful fordeveloping and improving process-basedmodels of biogeochemical dynamics, forverifying classifications based on re-motely-sensed information, and forvalidating ecosystem model outputs.

Integration of these data is important tounderstand and predict how Earthsystems function. By linking data aboutclimate, atmospheric trace gases, andbiological processes, we can betterunderstand how global changes mayimpact ecosystems.

DAAC Activities in FY 2001

DAAC accomplishments in FY 2001 werereviewed, laying the basis for FY 2002plans.

Data Archiving

During FY 2001 the DAAC began distrib-uting the following data products:

• Global Gridded Surfaces of SelectedSoil Characteristics (IGBP-DIS) (CD-ROM).

• VEMAP 2 monthly and annualclimate data sets in full-grid net-CDFformat for the conterminous UnitedStates.

• 11 new NPP data sets: (1 grassland, 2boreal forest, 1 tropical forest, 2tundra, 2 tropical, and 3 multi-biomedata sets).

• FLUXNET data, including 100-siteyears of gap-filled records, andEUROFLUX data from 13 sites, andan on-line relational data base system.

• Test data from a MODIS cutoutexercise (7-km x 7-km cutouts ofselected MODIS products for severaltower sites in ASCII format). Eventu-ally 7 MODIS products will be postedfor 52 tower sites as they becomeavailable.

• Jornada PROVE (PROtotype Valida-tion Experiment) data, a field

July 2001 User Working GroupMeeting: ORNL DAAC forBiogeochemical Dynamics

— Robert B. Cook ([email protected]), and Larry D. Voorhees, Oak RidgeNational Laboratory, and

— Curtis Woodcock, Boston University


12

campaign that was conducted in May1997 at the Jornada ExperimentalRange near Las Cruces, New Mexico.

• Complete archival of 284 data setsfrom the BOREAS project plus addedviewers for BOREAS images.

Finding Regional and Global DataSets at other Data Centers

Regional and global biogeochemicaldynamics data can be located and ac-quired through a metadata search systemat the ORNL DAAC. Climate,hydroclimatology, soil, and vegetationdata held by data centers around theworld are available through a systemcalled “Mercury.” Mercury is a distrib-uted, Web-based system for metadatasearch and data retrieval. It works withmetadata residing on a central web serverand organizes the metadata with Internetsearch engine software. Users search theindex at ORNL and can be connected tothe data by a hypertext link. (seemercury.ornl.gov/ornldaac).

The data sets indexed in Mercury werechosen by the ORNL DAAC’s UserWorking Group as important to the globalchange research community for under-standing the function of terrestrialecosystems and for examining patternsacross temporal and spatial scales.

Systems Activities

Key computer systems activities in FY2001 included:

• Beginning design and development ofMercury-EOS, the ORNL DAAC’salternative to the EOSDIS ECSsystem.

• Formalizing security procedures.

• Making Web site changes to become

compliant with the AmericanDisabilities Act.

DAAC Activities Planned for FY2002

The User Working Group recommendedthat the DAAC perform the followingactivities during FY 2002:

• Respond to user requests for data andinformation offered through the on-line system-wide and local interfacesand the User Services Office.

• Maintain and operate the local ORNLDAAC custom online interfaces.

• Complete the development ofMercury-EOS, which will improve theDAAC’s ability to serve users andposition it strategically for the future.

• Archive and distribute BOREASFollow-on project data sets at theDAAC. Some of these data sets havebeen provided on a six-disk CD-ROMset as follows: Derived SurfaceParameters, Flux Data, Hydro-metData, and Gridded Meteorological(Mesonet station) Data. These datasets and other BOREAS Follow-Ondata (AVIRIS and GOES Level 2) willbe made available via the DAAC’s on-line system during the first half of FY2002.

• Provide data management support tothe SAFARI 2000 project, which haschosen the DAAC’s Mercurymetadata search and data retrievalsystem to share data. A version ofMercury has been established forSAFARI 2000 at the following URL:mercury.ornl.gov/safari2k. DAACstaff will assist SAFARI 2000 investi-gators in preparing data sets to shareand archive.

• Archive and distribute LBA-Ecologydata that are archive-ready.

• Provide data management support tothe FLUXNET science community bycompiling new data and metadatafrom regional flux tower networks,compiling additional site characteris-tics information from literature andPIs, and processing and postingcutouts of selected MODIS productsfor selected towers.

• Support EOS Land Validation bycontinuing to post subsets of selectedMODIS products for Core Sites,allowing the Mercury system toenable registry and access of fielddata, and compiling additional sitecharacteristics information fromliterature and PIs.

• Archive and distribute data sets thatare important to understandingglobal cycle processes and projectingfuture effects; data sets identified bythe User Working Group include soilrespiration (Raich and Schelsinger),NPP and model driver data compiledfor Ecosystem Model - DataIntercomparison Project, litter data(Holland, Matthews, Post), and rootdata (Jackson).

• Work with the User Working Group’sRegional and Global Data Subcom-mittee to identify important rasterand point-based data sets and registerthose data sets in Mercury.

End Note

John Vande Castle, who is a chartermember of the User Working Group andhas served since 1994, attended his lastUser Working Group meeting. CurtisWoodcock (User Working Group Chair)thanked John for his long and conscien-


13

tious service. Jim Ehleringer, Mike Goulden, and Sue Trumborehave served three years and are rotating off of the User WorkingGroup. We also thank them for their advice and service to theORNL DAAC and its user community

ORNL DAAC User Working Group Members andSubcommittee Assignments.

Curtis Woodcock (Boston University) is the Chair of the User

Working Group, Diane Wickland (NASA/HQ) is the ORNL DAAC

Program Scientist, and Howard Dew (NASA/GSFC) is the ORNL

DAAC Systems Engineer.

Subcommittee Members

Land Validation

Tom Gower, University of Wisconsin

Jeff Privette (lead), NASA/GSFC

Sasan Saatchi, NASA/JPL

Curtis Woodcock, Boston University

Dick Olson (ORNL DAAC Representative)

Field Investigations

Jim Ehleringer, University of Utah

Bev Law, Oregon State University

Sue Trumbore (lead), University of California-Irvine

Mike Goulden, University of California-Irvine

Larry Voorhees (ORNL DAAC Representative)

Regional and Global Data, Jon Foley (lead), University of Wisconsin

Mac Post, ORNL

Hank Shugart, University of Virginia

Ruth DeFries, University Of Maryland

Bob Cook (ORNL DAAC Representative)

Technical Innovations

Charlie Vorosmarty, University of New Hampshire

Phil Teillet, Canada Centre for Remote Sensing

John Vande Castle, University of New Mexico

Tim Rhyne (ORNL DAAC Representative)

ORNL DAAC for Biogeochemical Dynamics:An Overviewwww.daac.ornl.gov

Field Campaign Data

NASA’s Terrestrial Ecology Program sponsors field campaigns that

combine ground-based, aircraft-based, and satellite-based measure-

ments of biogeochemical features in specific ecosystems. Field

campaigns are focused on a particular problem or set of problems

and are crucial to providing an integrated understanding of

biogeochemical dynamics that can be extended across spatial and

temporal scales. The ORNL DAAC archives the data from six field

campaigns that include climate, radiation, vegetation, soil,

hydrology, and atmospheric measurements.

• Boreal Ecosystem-Atmosphere Study (BOREAS), 1994-1996

• First ISLSCP (International Satellite Land Surface Climatology

Project) Field Experiment (FIFE), 1987-1989

• Large-Scale Biosphere-Atmosphere Experiment in Amazonia

(LBA), ongoing

• Oregon Transect Ecosystem Research (OTTER), 1990-1991

• SAFARI 2000, Southern African Regional Science Initiative,

1999-2001

• Superior National Forest (SNF), 1983-1984

Land Validation Data

The ORNL DAAC supports the comprehensive assessment of land-

based EOS science data products by compiling data, such as leaf

area index (LAI) and net primary productivity (NPP), to compare

with satellite-derived products. The locations include global core

test sites, which are unique in having ground-based observations

coincident with satellite data.

• FLUXNET—Measurements of carbon dioxide, energy, and

water vapor fluxes from towers throughout the world are

available for 1990 to the present.

• EOS Land Validation—Ground-based and airborne measure-

ments from 24 (soon to be 26) worldwide sites used to assess

EOS instruments, and algorithms used to generate remote

sensing images. Data are available through the Mercury

system.

Table 1

Table 2


14

Regional and Global Data Archived at the DAAC

The ORNL DAAC compiles, archives, and distributes regional

and global data that may be used to improve our understanding

of the structure and function of terrestrial ecosystems and to

enable prediction across temporal and spatial scales.

Climate—Holdings include U.S. climate data, regional and global

climate model scenarios, and long-term global climate data. Dates

of the seven historical data sets range between 1753 and 1999.

Hydroclimatology—U.S. precipitation and streamflow data, as

well as global river discharge data are available. Dates of the data

sets range between 1807 and 1991.

Soil—U.S. and global data about soil properties include depth,

texture, conductivity, chemical content, pH, and temperature.

Dates of the data sets range between 1940 and 1996.

Vegetation—Global data on vegetation, biomass, net primary

productivity (NPP), historical leaf area index, and results from the

Vegetation-Ecosystem Modeling and Analysis Project (VEMAP),

which examines the conterminous U.S. Dates of the data sets

range between 1895 and 1996.

Regional and Global Data Via Mercury—The ORNL DAAC’s

User Working Group recommended that the DAAC make

additional regional and global data held at various data centers

around the world available through Mercury. Mercury is a Web-

based system that allows searching of metadata files to identify

data sets of interest and directs the user to them

(mercury.ornl.gov/ornldaac).

There are 100 data sets currently registered in Mercury in the

following categories:

• Vegetation - 15 data sets

• Land Use - 16 data sets

• Soil - 15 data sets

• Climate - 18 data sets

• Hydrology - 23 data sets

• Gas Exchange - 7 data sets

• Human Dimensions - 5 data sets

• Models - 1

A field support program is also being developed that will takeUSFS and MODLAND scientists directly into the field to supportrehabilitation efforts for a half dozen major incidences in 2002.This will include the use of MODIS and other instruments fromthe EOS and Landsat programs as well as commercial highresolution data.

Additionally, the cooperation between agencies is makingpossible new validation opportunities. The MODLAND team willbe working with the USFS to evaluate the results of MODISalgorithms using data gathered by NIFC airborne instruments inground-based GIS datasets.

Finally, there will be additional work in improving and expand-ing the suite of MODLAND products available from the RapidResponse system and the user interface for querying and manipu-lating the data sets. It is expected that in 2002 we will beginpublic distribution of the source code for the system.

Acknowledgements

The Rapid Response team would like to thank several NASAofficials for their support of these efforts. Martha Maiden and theNASA Earth Science Information Partnership program supportedthe MODIS 250-m System — this technology provided the basisfor the Rapid Response system. Vince Salomonson has provideddata storage capacity to enhance flows of data to public affairsand outreach users. Ed Masuouka assisted by providing facilitiesand system support for the project. Pat Coronado has providedthe expertise of the Direct Readout Laboratory to assist withquestions related to Direct Broadcast data feeds. The University ofWisconsin has provided access to the IMAPP Level 1B processingsystem. We also thank NOAA for providing access to real-timeLevel 0 granules.

(Continued from page 10)

MODIS Land Rapid Response:Operational Use of Terra Data for USFSWildfire Management


15

The objective of the Global Observation ofForest Cover (GOFC) project is to improvethe quality and availability of observationsof forests at regional and global scales.GOFC has currently established twoprimary implementation teams: ForestCover and Forest Fire.

The Forest Fire Implementation Team isresponding to a critical need by scientists,fire management authorities, internationalagencies and policy makers at national,regional and global levels, for accurateand timely information regarding wild-fires in forest land and other vegetatedareas. A number of satellite-derived fireproducts are now available to meet theseneeds. To help move forward on theaccuracy assessment and validation ofglobal fire products, a workshop on “FireSatellite Product Validation” was heldjointly between GOFC-Fire and theCommittee on Earth Observation Satellites(CEOS) Land Product Validation (LPV)Working Groups at the GulbenkianFoundation, Lisbon, Portugal, July 9-11,2001. The Workshop was organised by theInstituto de Investigação CientíficaTropical, in collaboration with the SpaceApplications Institute, Joint ResearchCentre, National Aeronautics and SpaceAdministration (NASA), the EuropeanSpace Agency/European Space ResearchInstitute (ESRIN), and the Department ofGeography, University of Maryland. The

objectives of the GOFC-Fire SatelliteProduct Validation Workshop were:

• to provide an update on develop-ments within GOFC and to reviewand refine the GOFC-Fire Implemen-tation Goals;

• to provide a forum for presentation ofrecent developments and results onsatellite fire product validation, andto explore opportunities for interna-tional validation coordination; and

• to establish a fire validation groupjointly with the Committee on EarthObservation Satellites Land ProductValidation (CEOS LPV) subgroup andto develop an agenda for LPV fireactivities.

The initial session of the Workshopincluded presentations on the purposes ofthe GOFC-Fire; the work of the Inter-agency Task Force Working Group on

Wildland Fire, of the United Nations (UN)International Strategy for DisasterReduction; the interaction between GOFC-Fire and the newly formed CEOS LandProduct Validation Working Group; and aperspective on the needs of the researchcommunities working on the globalcarbon cycle and atmospheric chemistry,in particular the emission of aerosols, forsatellite-derived fire products.

This was followed by a technical sessionwith presentations on the status andresults of active fire product validationactivities, which covered some of themajor ongoing global initiatives, such asthe Joint Research Centre (JRC’s) WorldFire Web, and European Space Agency(ESA’s) World Fire Atlas. Initiatives basedon the Defense Meteorological SatelliteProgram (DMSP), Moderate ResolutionImaging Spectrometer (MODIS), andTropical Rainfall Measuring Mission(TRMM) sensors were also presented, aswell as validation and data comparisonexercises for Brazil, Africa, and the borealforest biome. Table 1 summarizes thecurrently available global fire productspresented at the meeting.

A second technical session addressed thecurrent status of product developmentand validation results for burned areaproducts. Presentations were structuredaround major international initiatives[Global Burned Areas (GBA) 2000,Southern African Regional ScienceInitiative (SAFARI) 2000, Globscar], and

Report from the GOFC - Fire:Satellite Product Validation Workshop,Gulbenkian FoundationJuly 9 - 11, 2001, Lisbon, Portugal

— J. Morisette ([email protected]), C. Justice, J. Pereira, J.M. Grégoire, and P. Frost

Product Sensor Agency URL

Global Fire andThermal Anomalies MODIS NASA modis-fire.gsfc.nasa.gov/

Global Fire Detection DMSP OLS NOAA www.ngdc.noaa.gov/dmsp/fires/globalfires.html

World Fire Atlas Project ERS-2 ATSR-2 ESA shark1.esrin.esa.it/ionia/FIRE/

World Fire Web AVHRR JRC www.gvm.sai.jrc.it

Table 1: currently available global fire products


16

also covered other product developmentand validation work being done in NorthAmerica and Australia. Overviews of themain objectives and validation strategiesfor these initiatives were complementedby case studies covering tropical biomes inAfrica, Australia, and Brazil, and borealbiomes in Siberia and Canada.From the technical sessions it was clearthat there are multiple agencies generating

products on active fires, developing burn-scar products, and considering fire-emissions products. To date, no consistentprotocol for validation of these globalproducts has been developed andadopted. There is a critical need toorganize a concerted international effort todevelop, test and document protocols forvalidating satellite-derived fire andburned area products.

Following the technical sessions themeeting broke out into in-depth workinggroup sessions to discuss the followingtopics:

1. Defining CEOS Land ProductValidation & GOFC Fire activities,namely the development of a globalnetwork of fire validation sites, andthe development of active fire andburned area validation protocols andreporting guidelines.

2. Refining GOFC-Fire goals andimplementation steps.

3. Assessing progress on recommenda-

tions from previous meeting, anddeveloping recommendations fromthe Lisbon meeting.

Fire Validation Site Network

The purpose of developing a globalnetwork of fire-product validation sites isto provide a focus for satellite, aircraft,and ground data collection for thevalidation of active fire and burn scarproducts. In addition these sites would beused for comparing detection algorithmsand development and testing new orimproved sensing systems and fireproducts. The network will engage inlong-term fire monitoring in support ofalgorithm development, testing andvalidation. It is meant to facilitate access toand sharing of existing continuous datasets, and the development of new ones, fortime series analyses of fire occurrence.Such a network of sites will provideinternational cost-sharing opportunities.The selection of network sites is aimed atgetting representative coverage of biomeswith significant fire activity. To this end, itwill rely as much as possible on existingregional and thematic networks, such asthe World Fire Web partner institutions,the World Fire Atlas validation partici-pants, the MODIS fire validation sites andnational fire inventories. Data collected atthe network of validation sites will beparticularly useful if it can provide a “one-stop-shopping” opportunity for thoseinterested in fire product developmentand evaluation. This requires developing aminimum set of guidelines for reportingand validating fire data. Future delibera-tions for establishing this network willinclude: the data suite required for fireproduct validation, the size of validationareas and minimum mapping unit, thedesired accuracy levels of reference data,and the statistical measures and analysisfor product comparison and integrationmethodologies.

Refining GOFC-Fire Goals

Revision of the goals for GOFC-Firehighlighted the key issue of improving thelinks to users. It is important to improvethe quality, scope, and utility of GOFC-Fire inputs to the various user communi-ties through:

• gaining a better understanding of therange of users of fire data, their needsfor information, how they might usesuch information if it was available,and with what other data sets suchinformation might be linked;

• increasing the awareness of users ofthe potential utility of satelliteproducts for global change research,fire policy, planning, and manage-ment; and

• developing enhanced products basedon ongoing interaction with represen-tatives of the various user communi-ties.

Emerging opportunities to implementsuch objectives were identified throughinteraction with, or involvement in,various international programs. Develop-ment of a consensus on methodologiesand procedures for documenting andreporting fire at a range of scales may bepursued in collaboration with the Inter-agency Task Force on Disaster Reductionthrough the establishment of a commonnetwork of regional nodes. Food andAgriculture Organization (FAO’s) ForestResource Assessment 2010 will benefitfrom improved fire data and products inorder to better analyze the role of fire inchanging forest cover. Long-term trendsand implications of changing fire regimesare of interest to the IntergovernmentalPanel on Climate Change (IPCC) 4thAssessment Report, and to the UnitedNations Environment Programme

The technical sessions reinforced theneed for a coordinated and concertedinternational effort to develop, test,and document protocols for validationof satellite derived fire and burnedarea products.


17

(UNEP’s) Global Environment Outlookinitiative. Future scientific goals shouldconsider the role of changing fire regimesand the impact on the global carbon cycle.

Recommendations from Meeting

The current status of recommendationsfrom the previous GOFC-Fire Meeting,held at the Joint Research Centre, in Ispra,Italy, in November 1999, was assessed,and new recommendations were formu-lated. The overall focus of the meetingwas on future activities that can enhancethe production and use of fire-relatedproducts. Based on successful experiencesin Brazil, Canada, Portugal, Russia, andthe Association of Southeast AsianNations (ASEAN), several recommenda-tions were made to the GOFC-Fireimplementation team:

• Promote the development and testingof prototype operational algorithmsfor active fire detection and burnedarea mapping, and the pre-opera-tional testing of these algorithms invarious fire regimes through theGOFC Regional Networks andpartners.

• Assess the advantages and disadvan-tages of different sensors and prod-ucts for fire monitoring and make thisinformation widely available to thefire data user communities.

• Develop targeted activities in theGOFC Regional Networks to enhancethe flow of fire data between produc-ers and GOFC Regional data brokersand fire data users.

• Develop metadata and productstandards to build consistent globalproducts.

Based on the technical sessions and

participants’ understanding of futureplans, the following were decided asrecommendations to the space agenciesand fire-product producers:

• Support fire management and globalchange research efforts by ensuringthat requirements for fire monitoring,as specified by the user community,are included in the criteria for thedesign of future operational systems(e.g., National Polar-orbiting Opera-tional Environmental Satellite System[NPOESS] and the MeteorologicalOperational polar satellites [METOP]of the European Organisation for theExploitation of MeteorologicalSatellites [EUMETSAT]), and thatinformation on fires (detection andmapping of active fires and burnscars, and estimates of aerosol andgas emissions) is provided as opera-tional products.

• Support the maintenance of historical(“heritage”) Earth observation time-series data, improve their accessibilityto potential users, and encourage theuse of these data in support of long-term global change research.

• Support the development andmaintenance of a global network offire validation sites, incorporatingstandard procedures and protocolsfor fire product validation and thetimely publication of accuracyassessments for all the various fireproducts.

• Provide the satellite data necessary toachieve the goals of GOFC-Fire indetermining the accuracy of fireproducts, promoting informed use ofsatellite fire data, and developingimproved product suites based onuser requirements.

It was recommend that the coordination ofthe latter two activities be undertakenthrough the CEOS Land Product Valida-tion Group.

Finally, regarding the GOFC-Fire imple-mentation team and its interaction withthe general user community, it wasrecommended that GOFC-Fire:

• Increase efforts to develop directcollaboration and invite participationand inputs from the three targeteduser communities, i.e., naturalresource managers, global changeresearchers (atmospheric chemistry,carbon, ecosystem disturbance), andpolicy makers.

• Better define operational require-ments for future fire-monitoringaspects of planned systems, such asthe NPOESS Preparatory Project -Visible/Infrared Imager RadiometerSuite (NPP-VIIRS) (U.S.) , Satélite deSensoriamento Remoto [RemoteSensing Satellite, Brazil] (SSR)(Brazil), and “FOCUS” instrument onthe International Space Station (ISS);and satellites such as FUEGO andothers, based in part on experiencegained from previous operational andexperimental systems such asAdvanced Very High ResolutionRadiometer (AVHRR), GOES, DMSP,MODIS, Système Probatoired’Observation de la Terre (SPOT)Vegetation, and Along Track ScanningRadiometer (ATSR).

• Define specifications for enhancedproduct suites combining satellite andin situ data and model outputs on fireemissions, for example linkingsatellite burned area data with dataon fuel loads, moisture content, fireintensity, fire severity, fuel consump-tion, flaming-versus-smoldering


18

combustion, fire damage, emissionfactors, and emissions rates.

• Arrange future workshops aimedspecifically at refining the require-ments of: 1) the fire emissionsmodeling community, and 2) the firemanagement community.

• Together with the Inter-Agency TaskForce for Disaster Reduction (ITFDR)encourage individual countries toestablish mechanisms for collatingnational information on fire andassessing its significance.

• Facilitate further developmentthrough identifying appropriatetechnologies and products andhelping to articulate needs to fundingagencies.

• Help build capacity in and transfertechnology to developing countries toassist them to access, utilize, andshare fire data and compile nationalgreenhouse gas inventories in aconsistent and transparent manner.

The Meeting endorsed a proposal to holdthe next Annual GOFC-Fire Workshop atthe University of Maryland in the summerof 2002 on the topic of AtmosphericEmissions from Biomass Burning: Model-ing and Comparisons with Satellite,Ground, and In Situ Observations.

6,000 See ESE Electronic TheaterOctober 16-17, 2001, in Madison, WI

The NASA/NOAA/AMS Earth Science Electronic Theater presentations at the AMSSatellite Conference during the week of October 15 in Madison, WI, came very closeto living up to the advance billing.

Presentations were made to a total audience of 5500 middle and high schoolstudents from all over Wisconsin in four daytime presentations, Tuesday andWednesday, October 16 and 17, and a little under 500 AMS Satellite Conferenceattendees, University of Wisconsin students, and area residents, Wednesdayevening.

This was the first time that the American Meteorological Society has sponsored aprogram that reaches out to the local community as part of a conference. Thanks tothe efforts of the University of Wisconsin Space Science and Engineering Center andthe Monona Terrace Convention Center, the school outreach program was a hugesuccess. The presentation was made on the huge AMS 18 foot by 72 foot IMAX sizescreen using the latest computer graphics, HDTV, and projection technology in themain exhibit hall of the Frank Loyd Wright-designed Monona Terrace ConventionCenter. The Space Science and Engineering Center, NASA, and the ConventionCenter provided five video projectors including a 10,000-lumen super-projector forthe high-definition television display

Fritz Hasler, NASA/GSFC,and students at the AMS

Satellite Conference.


19

The full assembly of theFederation of Earth ScienceInformation Partners (ESIPFederation) held its seventhmeeting at the Universityof North Dakota, July 24-26, 2001. Ninety-threepeople represented thevarious ESIPs. The mainobjective of the meetingwas to reach consensus onthe next phase of theFederation’s evolution.That objective was realized: the Federationwill continue its collective efforts ofproviding Earth science products andservices to the full spectrum of users asthe framework upon which new data andinformation systems and services(NewDISS) can be built. It agreed to use itsresources to fund prototype NewDISSprojects, competitively selected fromamong the Partners.

A second major accomplishment wasagreement to create an ESIP Foundation.The Foundation is a non-profit organiza-tion that can administer funds for theFederation, as well as cultivate sources offunding other than NASA. In the monthsfollowing the meeting, the ESIP Founda-tion was incorporated in Washington, DC.

Background

NASA’s Associate Administrator for EarthSciences, Ghassem Asrar, opened thebusiness session via a video conferencelink from Headquarters. He deliverednews so fresh that he himself had hadlittle time to digest it. The news was thatthe Senate committee for appropriatingNASA funds had removed all ESIPFederation funding from the 2002 fiscalyear budget. The House version of the billleft the funding fully intact, in accordancewith the President’s budget submission.Asrar indicated his support for theFederation and advised not to let the newsdistract it from its vision. His hope wasthat, before a final bill was passed by bothhouses of Congress, funding for the

Federation would be restored. During thesubsequent two and one-half days,members of the Federation committedthemselves to a vigorous effort to ensurecontinued funding for an experiment thatappeared to be successful.

Jack Kaye, Director of the ResearchDivision of NASA’s Earth Science Enter-prise, also appearing via video conference,summarized ESE’s future science plan. Hecalled for linkages among ESE’s ResearchGoal, Applications Goal, and TechnologyDevelopment, so that the three steps,Characterize/Understand/Predict (CUP),can be accomplished.

U.S. Senator Byron Dorgan then appearedover satellite communications from theCapitol. His hope for NASA was that itgather information in such a way as tomake it useful for people, in fact, for allAmericans.

Meeting of Federation of EarthScience Information Partners

— George A. Seielstad ([email protected]), University of North Dakota

Saxon Holbrook, University of Montana,tries out the cab of John Deere's latestcomputer-rich tractor at the Wagner Farm.

Gary Wagner explains to the ESIP Federation how he uses satelliteimagery supplied by the Upper Midwest Aerospace Consortium’sESIP on his farm in Minnesota. Meeting attendees witnessed the endof the value chain from satellite data to decision-support information.

Martha Maiden, NASA HQ, ProgramManager for the ESIP Federation, and KarenMoe, NASA GSFC, study the crops grownon the Wagner Farm. In the background,another farmer applying satellite imagery toprecision agriculture, Pete Carson (facing),St. Thomas, ND, explains his practices toSanthosh Seelan (left) and Soizik Laguette(back to camera) of the University of NorthDakota.

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Membership

The Federation admitted three newpartners: (1) NOAA’s National ClimaticData Center, an ESIP Type 1, (2) theUniversity of Montana’s NumericalTerradynamic Simulation Group, an ESIP2, and (3) TERC, an ESIP 3 dedicated to K-12 science education. These three bring themembership to 41 partners. Representa-tion is balanced reasonably among thetypes who specialize in data acquisition,processing, and management (ESIP 1s),scientific research (ESIP 2s), and applica-tions development (ESIP 3s). What is moreimportant than the number of individualorganizations belonging is the synergiesthat have emerged from their workingtogether. Every step in the conversion ofdata to practical useful information—orbetter yet, societal wisdom—is equallyimportant. No organization can accom-plish them all. Only through the collabora-tions that have spontaneously arisen withthe Federation can Partners forge thepathways that serve their target communi-ties.

Continuing growth from the originallyselected 24 ESIPs is a sign of how posi-tively the Earth science community isassessing the Federation. New membersjoin because of the advantages theyperceive and the services they wish tocontribute; none is funded any extra tobecome a Partner.

Entity Formation

Upon the advice of a National ResearchCouncil committee, NASA created theESIP Federation as an experiment todetermine how well a distributed,decentralized, heterogeneous, bottom-uporganization could serve the comprehen-sive needs of the scientific community andthe general public. The original ESIPsreceived funding for participation, as did

the Federation as a whole. NASA’scommitment has been the bedrock uponwhich an organization was built. Otherfederal agencies and private businessesare also involved in Earth science researchand applications. A goal of the Federationhas been to include them as majorpartners (Type 4), and has financialcontributors as well as beneficiaries of theFederation’s products and services. A firststep toward that goal is to form a legallyrecognized, non-profit organization towhich funds can be contributed. That stephas now been taken. As noted, a Founda-tion of Earth Science Information Partnershas been incorporated.

The MODIS Cluster

In keeping with the bottom-up design ofan effective organization, FederationPartners organize themselves into clusters.These are groupings of people withcommon interests who come together toaddress significant issues. They persistonly as long as the cluster’s membersdecide it is needed. One such clusterwhose accomplishments were highlightedat the meeting is the MODIS Cluster. Notall the MODIS sensor’s products aremature yet. Not all the data can beprocessed quickly after acquisition. Hand-wringing and finger-pointing are unlikelyto improve the situation. This particularcluster, therefore, has made itself part ofthe solution. An impressive list of projectsundertaken by ESIPs was presented.Various ESIPs have concentrated onparticular user communities, and becauseand only because they belong to theFederation, they have been able to weavethe strands that exist among other ESIPsinto a fabric that meets their users’ needs.As a next step, the MODIS Clusterproposes functioning as an online brokerfor which each ESIP serves as a redistribu-tion point. Later, it may be possible tocreate a federation of MODIS DODS

servers, which would function as agigantic MODIS processor.

NewDISS, a Goal toward which theFederation Is Evolving

Steve Wharton, NASA Goddard SpaceFlight Center, presented a progress reporton the work of the NewDISS ProgramFormulation Team he heads. The basicprinciples of a heterogeneous, distributed,decentralized organization were the sameas those upon which the ESIP Federationwas founded. Attendees to theFederation’s meeting thoroughly dis-cussed the future of their organization.The central message from the discussionwas that the Federation is doing now whatNewDISS is proposing to do. Not yet onas grand a scale, but certainly it is anappropriate model with a three-yearheadstart toward implementation.Invaluable lessons learned were ex-changed with the Formulation Team. Socommitted was the Federation to helpingbuild NewDISS that it set aside roughly athird of its funds to support innovativeexperiments in NewDISS prototyping.

Landsat Data Continuity Mission

Most, if not all, ESIPs are relying heavilyon Landsat data. The presentation by JeffMasek on the Landsat Data ContinuityMission was, therefore, particularlywelcome. Attendees were invited tocomment upon the RFP before its release.

New Officers

The full assembly of Earth ScienceInformation Partners elected its newofficers for the forthcoming year. BruceCaron will serve as President and MichaelGoodman as Vice President. Committeechairs will be Doug Kliman, Finance andAppropriations; Menas Kafatos, Partner-



21

A meeting of the Alaska SAR Facility(ASF) User Working Group (UWG) tookplace in Seattle on October 8-9, 2001.Attendance included ten members of theUWG, ASF management, and twoprogram managers from NASA Head-quarters. A summary of the meetingfollows.

ASF has been doing well in terms ofdelivering data to users. ASF receivedpraise from National Oceanic and Atmo-spheric Administration (NOAA)/NationalIce Center (NIC), from the JPL/RadarsatGeophysical Processor System (RGPS)team, and from Level 0 users. Processingof data for the Modified Antarctic Map-ping Mission (MAMM) is going well. Thegroup felt that ASF is operating better nowthan it has for several years.

There was much discussion about thefuture of ASF. The current five-yearcontract ends in March 2003. In theabsence of U.S. participation in futureSynthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) missions,the ASF budget is expected to decline,with ASF becoming just a data archive.NASA would continue to support ASFand the needs of the data users throughmaintenance of the archive and servicingof data requests. If ASF wants to sustain ahigher level of funding, then it must findthe means to do so, for example throughselling its services to government orcommercial interests.

Alaska SAR Facility (ASF) UserWorking Group Meeting

— Harry Stern ([email protected]), Co-chair, ASFUWG, Universityof Washington,Seattle

The SAGE II version 6.1 data set isnow publicly available. SAGE IIcontinues to operate and nearly 17years of ozone, aerosol extinction,nitrogen dioxide, and water vaporprofile data are available. Thisrelease includes several newproducts—aerosol surface areadensity, effective radius, andneutral density. The data cancurrently be obtained by anony-mous ftp at: ftp-rab.larc.nasa.govfrom the /pub/sage2/v6.10directory. Sample software to readthe data files can be found in azipped tar file in the same directoryor as individual files under the /pub/sage2/readers directory. Youcan learn more and also access thedata via your browser at:www-sage2.LaRC.NASA.gov/.

This site will be kept up to datewith information on knownlimitations of the data set and otherquality related information as wellas new data. In the very nearfuture, these data will be availablethrough the EOSDIS system and ona 2-disk set of CD-ROMs.

SAGE II V.6.1 dataset is nowpublicly available

— Joe Zawodny([email protected]),NASA Langley Research Center

The director of ASF resigned at the end ofSeptember, at about the same time that anew deputy director was hired. The searchfor a new director must be a top priority atASF. With a target date of March 2002 forthe new director to take over, the nextmeeting of the User Working Groupshould be in late spring or summer, 2002,in Fairbanks.

Some of the recommendations made bythe UWG to ASF and NASA are:

• Investigate business models that willposition ASF to acquire new SARmissions, including continued pursuitof the Advanced Land ObservingSatellite (ALOS) data node for theAmericas.

• Investigate the operating model ofNSIDC, in which scientists are on theDistributed Active Archive Center(DAAC) staff.

• While NASA is not participating inRADARSAT-2 because of its commer-cial aspects, NASA should pursueinvolvement with RADARSAT-3while it is still on the drawing board.

More information, including notes frompast meetings and current contactinformation, is available at the Alaska SARFacility User Working Group web site:psc.apl.washington.edu/ASFUWG/


22

The Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS)Science Team (thunder.msfc. nasa.gov)released four new LIS/OTD griddedreanalysis datasets in September 2001.These datasets can be ordered from theGlobal Hydrology Resource Center(GHRC) using:

a. HyDRO (ghrc.msfc.nasa.gov/ghrc/search.html), or

b. from the Earth Observing System(EOS) Data Gateway:(ghrc.msfc.nasa.gov:3333/~imswww/pub/imswelcome/plain.html).

Below are the dataset names and a shortdescription of each dataset. You can findmore information about these datasets atghrc.msfc.nasa.gov/.

1. LIS/OTD 0.5 Degree High ResolutionFull Climatology (HRFC)

This product provides a single 0.5° x0.5° gridded composite map of total(IC+CG) lightning bulk production,expressed as a flash rate density (fl/km2/yr). Individual climatologiesfrom the 5-yr OTD (4/95-3/00) and 3-yr LIS (12/97-11/00) missions areincluded, as well as a combinedOTD+LIS climatology (having the

total observations from both the LISand OTD instruments) and support-ing base data (flash counts andviewing times). Best-availabledetection efficiency corrections andinstrument cross-normalizations, as ofthe product generation date (8/1/01),have been applied.

2. LIS/OTD 2.5 Degree Low ResolutionFull Climatology (LRFC)

This product provides a single 2.5° x2.5° gridded composite of total(IC+CG) lightning bulk production,expressed as a flash rate density (fl/km2/yr). Individual climatologiesfrom the 5-yr OTD (4/95-3/00) and 3-yr LIS (12/97-11/00) missions areincluded, as well as a combinedOTD+LIS climatology (having thetotal observations from both the LISand OTD instruments) and support-ing base data (flash counts andviewing times). Best-availabledetection efficiency corrections andinstrument cross-normalizations, as ofthe product generation date (8/1/01),have been applied.

3. LIS/OTD 2.5 Degree Low ResolutionAnnual Climatology (LRAC)

This product provides 365 daily 2.5° x

2.5° gridded composite maps of total(IC+CG) lightning bulk production,expressed as a flash rate density (fl/km2/day). Individual climatologiesfrom the 5-yr OTD (4/95-3/00) and 3-yr LIS (12/97-11/00) missions areincluded, as well as a combinedOTD+LIS climatology (having thetotal observations from both the LISand OTD instruments) and support-ing base data (flash counts andviewing times). Best-availabledetection efficiency corrections andinstrument cross-normalizations, as ofthe product generation date (8/1/01),have been applied.

4. LIS/OTD 2.5 Degree Low ResolutionDiurnal Climatology (LRDC)

This product provides 24 (local hour)2.5° x 2.5° gridded composite maps oftotal (IC+CG) lightning bulk produc-tion, expressed as a flash rate density(fl/km2/hr). Individual climatologiesfrom the 5-yr OTD (4/95-3/00) and 3-yr LIS (12/97-11/00) missions areincluded, as well as a combinedOTD+LIS climatology (having thetotal observations from both the LISand OTD instruments) and support-ing base data (flash counts andviewing times). Best-availabledetection efficiency corrections andinstrument cross-normalizations, as ofthe product generation date (8/1/01),have been applied.

GHRC User Services OfficeGlobal Hydrology Resource Center320 Sparkman DriveHuntsville, AL 35805Phone: 256-961-7932/FAX: 256-961-7859E-mail: [email protected]

LIS and OTD Gridded Re-analysis DataSets Released

— Steve Goodman ([email protected]), Marshall Space FlightCenter


23

This workshop was a follow-up from theNovosibirsk Global Observation of ForestCover (GOFC) Boreal Forest Workshop(August 2000), which recommended aseries of more focused workshops to beconvened within different regions of theboreal forest to address the issues specificto those regions. The regional workshopfor the Western Russia-Fennoscandiaregion was held in St. Petersburg, Russia,on June 25-27, 2001, at the Center forInternational Environmental Cooperation(INENCO) of the Russian Academy ofSciences. GOFC management (JohnTownshend, David Skole, and ChrisJustice) attended the workshop andhelped guide the workshop deliberations.Several global, regional, national, andlocal programs are active in the region andwere represented at the workshop (i.e.,GOFC, NASA, European Space Agency(ESA), Russian Academy of Sciences,Forest inventory (Russia), EFI and others).The workshop location enabled a largeparticipation by the Russian scientific andforestry community.

The general theme of the workshop wasthe integration of satellite and in situ

observations for monitoring forest andland cover. Within this general theme theworkshop addressed three main objec-tives: (i) review current uses of remotesensing in studies of forest cover in theregion; (ii) examine data requirements andinformation needs at global, regional, andnational scales; (iii) identify mechanismsfor improved coordination amongscientists, in particular assess the need fora regional network that would addressinformation needs unique to the region.

Recent and current research projects werepresented and discussed during days oneand two of the workshop. They addressedprimarily two GOFC themes: “ForestCover Characteristics and Change” and“Forest Biophysical Processes.” The thirdtheme, fires, was addressed at an all-Russia scale because it is of relativelyminor significance for the Western Russia–Fennoscandia region where fires arelargely controlled. The results of ongoingprojects indicate that the region hasdistinct characteristics that set it apartfrom other boreal forest regions. Thedistinctive features include:

• significant direct human impact

throughout the region. There are veryfew remaining intact landscapes, and

the natural disturbance regime hasbeen replaced by logging for manydecades. There is great interest in theregion in conservation measures andin monitoring the remaining intactforests.

• active forest management for timberproduction and recreational use of

forests. This creates a large group ofcurrent and potential operationalusers of remote sensing.

• large areas of aggrading forests likelyresult in a major carbon sink.

Monitoring carbon accumulation isimportant for the global and regionalstudies of carbon exchange.

• extensive knowledge base, researchinfrastructure, forest inventory, and

monitoring systems can provide awealth of in situ data for interpreta-tion and validation of remotelysensed observations.

Studies in the region developed methodsand experience with integration ofremotely sensed and in situ observations.In several projects, Landsat, Resurs, ERS,and SPOT imagery were integrated within situ data to map vegetation types andforest biomass. Geographic InformationSystems (GIS) were developed foroperational forest management and firemonitoring. Multiple studies examinedthe impact of pollution, urban develop-ment, and logging on the hydrologicalnetwork. In situ data sets and models arebeing developed for projecting the futuredynamics of water run-off, soil organiccarbon, and peatland growth. Biophysicalproperties of forest ecosystems areanalyzed with a combination of flux towermeasurements and modeling. The reviewof ongoing projects in the region included24 oral and poster presentations. Theabstracts are available at www.inenco.org.

Regional GOFC Workshop

Remote Sensing of Forest Coverin Western Russia and Fennoscandia— Garik Gutman ([email protected]), NASA Headquarters— Olga Krankina, Oregon State University— John Townshend, University of Maryland


24

Several long-term research priorities wereidentified for the region:

Further development of methodologies to

address the following user needs:

a. assessing and mapping carbon stocksand annual deposition at regional andnational levels based on integrateduse of remotely sensed and forestinventory data;

b. detecting changes in vegetation coverwith spatial resolution of 10-100 mand annual–decadal temporalresolution;

c. detecting biomass change due toforest growth and non-clearcut timberharvest; and

d. assessing the capabilities of MODIS,MERIS, ASAR, and other instrumentsfor improved mapping of majorcategories of forest lands, tree speciesand age composition of forests andthe detection of forest decline.Appropriate algorithms will have tobe developed.

Development of inter-disciplinary research:

a. increasing affiliation with socialsciences for better understanding ofdriving forces and consequences ofland-use change; and

b. integrating studies to advanceunderstanding of interaction betweenhydrological processes and carboncycling.

Harmonization of forest cover mapping

between countries that make up the region.

The workshop participants discussedoptions for improved coordination andinformation exchange among scientists

and operational data users in the region.The roles of GOFC and regional networkswere presented by J. Townshend. Theexperience with SEARIN (South-East AsiaRegional Information Network) and twoAfrican networks (Miombo Network –Southern African Woodlands) and OSFAC(Central African Network – Rainforest)was reviewed based on presentations byD. Skole and C. Justice. It was decided thata regional network for Northern Europewould address the regional needs forcoordination and information exchange. Itwould also promote collaborative projectsand region-wide harmonization of forestcover mapping. Covered by the networkwill be the forest zone of Western Russia –Baltic countries – Scandinavia, roughlyNorth of 55º N. A separate Siberia-FarEast network should be considered toinclude the eastern part of Russia,Mongolia, China, Korea, and Japan.

As the first step towards organization ofthe North-European Regional InformationNetwork (NERIN) the following activitieswere recommended:

• Inventory of ongoing and plannedprojects in the region and associateddatasets. The information will becollected from workshop participantsand other interested professionals andposted at INENCO web site. Victorovof INENCO Center and Krankina ofOregon State University (OSU) willtake the lead on compiling thisinformation.

• Form a coordinating committee toplan the development of the regionalnetwork, identify research prioritiesand benefits for users, and defineinformation and data distributionsystem. A. Isaev and T. Hame agreedto co-chair this committee. Krankinawill coordinate its work with GOFCand NASA. Additional members will

be invited to join this committee asneeded.

• Convene a follow-up meetingpossibly in Finland in June of 2002.This next meeting should includespace agencies, forest inventoryorganizations, and other establishednetworks (European Forest Institute[EFI], IUFRO). Hame will contact EFIDirector, Paivinen, with a request tohost the next workshop.

• In preparation for this next workshopscientists active in the region areinvited to propose to the coordinatingcommittee their ideas for pilot/demonstration projects to helpcement the newly establishednetwork.

Conclusions

The western part of the Former SovietUnion and Fennoscandia represent adistinct region within the boreal forestwith common land-use history and foresttypes, controlled fires, and active forestmanagement for timber productionplaying an important role in local econo-mies. Strong evidence was presented toindicate that the region has been an activecarbon sink in the past decades. Countrieswithin the region share many commonchallenges in land and forest resourcemanagement. The systems for collection ofin situ observations, in particular the forestinventory systems, are extensive and wellmaintained. The proposed development ofthe regional information network will helpintegrate these and other extant data setsinto the framework of GOFC. The networkwill promote international cooperationand coordination within the region andadvance the GOFC goal to improve thequality and availability of satellite



25

Major EOS hotspots in the news thisperiod include the Northern Hemispherebecoming a “Greener Greenhouse,” andtracking changes in ozone, ice, dust,hurricanes, and stratospheric winds.

“Advancing Weather Prediction” (October19) United Press International - MarkBaldwin of Northwest Research Associatesdiscussed his study, funded in part byNASA, that indicates that shifting windsin the stratosphere during the winter maybe used to make better weather predic-tions on the Earth’s surface.

“NASA Experiment Sheds Light onHurricanes” (October 5) United PressInternational - The CAMEX-4 experimentflew over Hurricane Humberto and tookradar, temperature, and wind measure-ments, which may lead scientists to betterhurricane predictions. This articlespotlighted efforts by Gerry Heymsfield,Scott Braun, and Jeff Halverson, all ofNASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

“Icelandic Weather System May ExplainMelting Arctic Ice” (October 3) ScientificAmerican on-line, United Press Interna-tional - New research by Claire Parkinson(NASA GSFC) indicates largely naturalfluctuations in a semi-permanent lowpressure system over Iceland has contrib-

GSFC) noted that conditions are ripe for alarge ozone hole over the Antarctic thisyear.

“Northern Hemisphere is a GreenerGreenhouse” (September 4) WashingtonPost, Reuters, Associated Press, andhundreds of media outlets world-wide -Compton Tucker (NASA/GSFC) andRanga Myneni (Boston University) saythat, according to satellite data, theNorthern Hemisphere has been gettinggreener as a result of greenhouse gases.

“Dust From Africa Linked to Red Tide”(August 31) MSNBC, Associated Press,New York Times - New NASA-fundedresearch by Jason Lenes and John Walsh(Univ. of South Florida) shows thatSaharan dust clouds that contain iron helpto set the stage for blooms of toxic red tidealgae in the Gulf of Mexico.

Attention EOS Researchers:Please send notices of recent mediacoverage in which you have been involvedto:Rob Gutro, EOS Project Science OfficeCode 912.1, NASA/GSFCGreenbelt, MD 20771Tel. 301-286-4044; fax (301) 441-5607E-mail: [email protected]

— Rob Gutro ([email protected]), EOS Project Science Office,NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771

uted to decreases in sea ice in the Arcticover the last two decades.

“Ozone Lost in Waves” (September 26)Nature, The Weather Channel - PaulNewman and Eric Nash (NASA/GSFC)used 22 years of satellite-derived data andconfirmed a theory that the strength of“long waves,” bands of atmosphericenergy that circle the Earth, regulate thetemperatures in the upper atmosphere ofthe Arctic, and play a role in controllingozone losses in the stratosphere.

“Dust Forecasts Could Help Breathing,Fishing” (September 21) The WeatherChannel and weather.com - Mian Chin(NASA/GSFC) discussed how a newatmospheric computer model could helppredict future arrivals of airborne dustlinked to respiratory problems and redtide blooms in the United States.

“El Niño and La Niña Linked to Polar IceShifts” (September 20) The WeatherChannel and weather.com - New findingsby David Rind of NASA’s GoddardInstitute for Space Studies suggests for thefirst time that El Niño and La Niña arebehind shifts in ice at the South Pole.

“It’s Back and Big” (September 7)ABCnews.com - Paul Newman (NASA/


26

observations of forests at regional andglobal scales and to produce useful,timely, and validated information prod-ucts from these data for a wide variety ofusers. The network will synthesize andupdate the region-specific requirementsfor observations and products, work withgovernment agencies to improve access todata, and help coordinate regionalresearch agendas with the global remotesensing community.

(Continued frompage 24)

Remote Sensing of ForestCover in Western Russia andFennoscandia

ship; Dave Etter, Community Engage-ment; Michael Goodman, Constitutionand By-laws; Steve Kempler, Products andServices; Rob Raskin, Interoperability; andDoug Kliman, Commercial Development.The Federation will be well served bythese leaders.

Special Events

The ESIP Federation exists so that en-hanced understanding of the globalenvironment and humankind’s impactsupon it will lead to more benevolenttreatment of our home planet. It was,therefore, fitting that the Summer 2001meeting was opened and closed by aNative American leader, Dennis Bercier,Senator in North Dakota’s legislature andsenior administrator in Turtle MountainCommunity College on a Chippewareservation. Dennis conveyed informationfrom the residents of the environment inwhich the meeting was held who have thelongest history living in it.

Gary Wagner and his brothers hosted aPrairie Farmer’s Breakfast (translation, amore than ample breakfast) to show oneend product of the Earth Science Enter-prise. Gary uses images from a variety ofsatellite and aerial sensors to manage hisfarm in such a way as to maximize incomeand minimize environmental impact.Morning coffee was sweetened withAmerican Crystal sugar, the cooperative towhich Gary delivers sugar beets forprocessing. Those who acquire the data,then others in the chain of adding value tothem, saw the end result of all theirefforts.

Professor Vaclav Smil, University ofManitoba, reminded us why our work isimportant in his keynote address aboutthe environmental history of Earth since1950.

Tragic Footnote

Less than two months after the meetingconcluded, Charles S. Falkenberg, his wife,and their two children were aboard theplane that terrorists crashed into thePentagon on September 11. All werekilled. Charles was a valued member of anESIP team. The Federation has establisheda Charles S. Falkenberg Award to bepresented annually to an outstandingyoung Earth scientist. Contributions to theAward fund are welcome. Make checkspayable to AGU. Indicate on them,“Charles S. Falkenberg Award,” and sendthem to American Geophysical Union,

(Continued from page 20)

Meeting of Federation ofEarth Science InformationPartners

When this southward-looking photograph was taken by the Expedition 2 crew aboard the International SpaceStation, the city of Catania (in shadow, ~25 km SSE of the volcano) was covered by a layer of ash andFontanarossa International Airport was closed. On that day an ash cloud was reported to have reached amaximum height of ~5.2 km. Plumes from two sources are visible here—a dense, darker mass from one of thethree summit craters and a lighter, lower one.

The record of historical volcanism of Mt. Etna is one of the longest in the world, dating back to 1500 BC. Twostyles of activity are typical: explosive eruptions, sometimes with minor lava flows, from the summit craters,and flank eruptions from fissures. (Digital photograph was taken on July 22, 2001 from Space Station Alphaand was provided by the Earth Sciences and Image Analysis Laboratory at Johnson Space Center. Additionalimages taken by astronauts and cosmonauts can be viewed at the NASA-JSC Gateway to AstronautPhotography of Earth.)

2000 Florida Avenue, NW, Washington,DC 20009-1277, USA.


27

Global Change Calendar

December 5-7MISR Science Team Meeting, Pasadena, CA.Contact Dave Diner, e-mail:[email protected].

December 17-19MODIS Science Team Meeting, BWI AirportMarriott, Baltimore, MD. Contact BarbaraConboy, e-mail:[email protected].

2002

January 21-23CERES Science Team Meeting, Brussels,Belgium. Contact: Jennifer Hubble, NASALangley, e-mail: [email protected].

January (Date TBD)ASTER Science Team Meeting. For furtherinformation contact Anne Kahle, ASTER U.S.Science Team Leader, e-mail:[email protected], tel. (818) 354-7265.

February 26-28Science Data Processing Workshop, Martin’sCrosswinds, Greenbelt, Maryland. Contact:Mike Seablom, tel. (301) 286-2406, MaryReph, tel. (301) 286-1006 or visit Website atthat.gsfc.nasa.gov/gss/workshop2002/index.html. Send e-mail [email protected].

March 4-6AIRSAR Earth Science and ApplicationsWorkshop, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory.Contact David Imel, e-mail: [email protected] detailed information see Website atairsar.jpl.nasa.gov.

July 22-26The International Tropical RainfallMeasurement Mission (TRMM) ScienceConference, Honolulu, Hawaii. Contact: RobertAdler, e-mail: [email protected].

October 14-19COSPAR Scientific Commission A, Houston,TX. Contact Robert Ellingson, e-mail:[email protected], tel. (301) 405-5386.

Global Change Calendar

2002

January 13-17American Meteorology Society AnnualMeeting, Orlando, FL. For detailed informationsee URL at www.ametsoc.org/AMS/.

January 21-23Non-CO2 Greenhouse Gases (NCGG-3)scientific understanding, control options andpolicy aspects, Maastricht, The Netherlands.Contact Dr. Joop van Ham. e-mail:[email protected]; tel. 31-15-285-2558; Fax:31-15-261-3186; URL: www.et.ic.ac.uk/Dept/Local/News/greenhouse.htm.

February 14-19American Association for the Advancement ofScience, Boston. Contact: AAAS MeetingsDept. 1200 New York Ave. NW. Washington,DC 20005, tel. (202) 326-6450; e-mail:[email protected]; Website atwww.aaasmeeting.org.

March 5-8Oceanology International 2002, Excel, London,UK. Contact Kari Jaeobson, e-mail:[email protected], URL:www.oceanologyinternational.com.

April 7-1229th International Symposium on RemoteSensing of Environment “Information forSustainability and Development,” BuenosAires, Argentina. Call for Papers. ContactSecretariat, e-mail: [email protected],URL: www.symposia.org.

April 22-262002 American Society of Photogramentry andRemote Sensing Annual Conference,Washington, DC. See Website atwww.fig2002.com/.

May 28-June 1American Geophysical Union (AGU) 2002Spring Meeting, Washington DC. See Websiteat www.agu.org/.

May 20-22Seventh International Conference RemoteSensing for Marine and Coastal Environments,Miami. Call for Papers. Contact NancyWallman. e-mail: [email protected]; URL: www.erim-int.com/CONF/marine/MARINE.html.

June 11-13Third International Symposium on “RemoteSensing of Urban Areas,” Istanbul, Turkey. Callfor Papers. Contact Assoc. Prof. Filiz SunarErbek, e-mail: [email protected], URL:www.ins.itu.edu.tr/rsurban3.

July 7-102nd Large Scale Biosphere-AtmosphereExperiment in Amazonia (LBA) ScienceConference, Manaus, Brazil. Contact FlavioLuizao of the National Institute for SpaceResearch (INPE), Manaus, Brazil,e-mail: [email protected].

July 9-122002 Joint International Symposium onGeoSpatial Theory, Processing andApplications, Ottawa, Canada. Call for Papers.For details, tel. +1 613 224-9577;e-mail: [email protected];URL: www.geomatics2002.org.

September 2-6ISPRS Commission V Symposium,Thessaloniki, Greece. Call for Papers. ContactProf. Alexandra Koussoulakou,e-mail: [email protected].

September 3-6Pan Ocean Remote Sensing Conference(PORSEC) 2002, Bali, Indonesia. ContactBonar Pasaribu, e-mail: [email protected], URL: www.porsec2001.com.

October 26-283rd International Symposium on SustainableAgro-environmental Systems: NewTechnologies and Applications, Cairo, Egypt.Contact Prof. Derya Maktax, e-mail:[email protected].

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The Earth Observer

The Earth Observer is published by the EOS Project Science Office, Code 900, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center,Greenbelt, Maryland 20771, telephone (301) 614-5559, FAX (301) 614-6530, and is available on the World Wide Web athttp://eos.nasa.gov/ or by writing to the above address. Articles, contributions to the meeting calendar, and sugges-tions are welcomed. Contributions to the Global Change meeting calendar should contain location, person to contact,telephone number, and e-mail address. To subscribe to The Earth Observer, or to change your mailing address, pleasecall Hannelore Parrish at (301) 867-2114, send message to [email protected], or write to the address above.

The Earth Observer Staff:

Executive Editor: Charlotte Griner ([email protected])Technical Editors: Bill Bandeen ([email protected])

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