Home › Posts tagged MISR
Tag: MISR

MISR News and Events

Posted on by Nyssa Rayne Posted in News and Events

Terra Operational Changes and Data Updates

Over the past three years, the Terra mission has performed multiple maneuvers that have led to changes in the satellite’s consistent 20+ year orbit*. Today, Terra continues slowly drifting to an increasingly earlier overpass time and lower altitude. While the orbital changes have had little to no impact on instrument data collection or quality, data users have expressed the need for regular updates on Terra’s equator crossing time (in Mean Local Time), as well as orbital altitude. Starting this month, we’ll be adding this information to the Terra homepage and updating it bi-weekly using data provided by the Flight Dynamics Team.

Finally, processing of ASTER data has re-started, with updated Level-1processing to account for the lower Terra orbit. Processing of the previously-collected data since late October 2022 to the end of June 2023 is also taking place. See the infographic provided on the Terra website for more information, and for the latest news on all things related to Terra data, visit the Alerts and Issues page available on the LAADS DAAC website (linked here).

*For more information about Terra’s orbit changes, check out the January/February 2023 edition of The Earth Observer — linked here — for summaries of two recent NASA-hosted webinars pertaining to these changes, or visit the Terra website.

Terra Instrument Check-In

Here’s a list of 2023 happenings and publications for each Terra instrument:

ASTER:

The 52nd ASTER Science & Interface Meeting was held at the Kikai Shinko Kaikan in Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan from September 11-15, 2023 (group photo posted below). The meeting included two Plenary sessions, as well as presentations from ASTER working groups, including Operations and Mission Planning (OMP), Applications, Calibration and Validation, Temperature-Emissivity Separation (TES), and the Science Team Acquisition Request (STAR) groups. Meeting presentations showcased diverse applications of ASTER data in various fields and activities, including mineral and other geologic mapping projects, coastal monitoring activities, cryospheric studies, machine learning models for urban land dynamics, and volcanic eruption precursor detection. Additionally, updates were provided on the ASTER Volcano Archive and the Global Land Ice Measurements from Space (GLIMS) Database. A copy of meeting presentations are available upon request.

Photo credit: Mako Komoda, Japan Space Systems

CERES:

The next CERES meeting will be held in-person from October 17-19, 2023 at NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, in New York City, NY. See the “Meeting Logistics and Recommended Hotels” link on the CERES website for more information about attending the meeting and a link to the full agenda (also linked here). Many exciting speakers are scheduled to speak at the meeting, so check back to the Terra website often for an update and summary after the meeting!

MISR:

The MISR team has been working hard on algorithm adjustments needed to finalize the Level-1 data processing take into account the effects of Terra’s orbit lowering in October 2022. Additional updates on the status of this process will be posted on the Terra website, including a notice when processing has begun.

MISR was highlighted during a biannual summer workshop, hosted by NASA Disasters program, to support dialogue and collaboration between NASA experts and members of the Volcanic Ash Advisory Centers (VAACs) team. Find out more about this partnership in a recently-published story from the Disasters program, linked here!

MODIS & MOPITT:

Miguel Román (MODIS) and Helen Wooden (MOPITT) both attended the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) Meteorological Satellite Conference 2023 that took place in Malmö, Sweden, from September 11-15, 2023. A (beautiful) group photo from the meeting is included below.

Miguel Román participated in several sessions to discuss EUMETSAT’s plans for morning-orbit polar orbiting observations. As recommended by NASA’s Terra, Aqua, and Aura Data Continuity Workshop, the EUMESAT Multispectral Visible Infrared Imager (METImage) on the Metop-SG A satellite, due to launch in December 2024, is being explored as a possible source of morning data product continuity, currently represented by the suite of standard science products generated from the MODIS instrument onboard Terra.

Helen Worden presented trends using the MOPITT data record of global carbon monoxide (CO) and plans for continuation of the MOPITT record using MetOP/IASI, NOAA/CrIS and ESA/TROPOMI data. The MOPITT team has long collaborated with the EUMETSAT IASI instrument team on satellite data inter-comparisons. Comparisons with MOPITT data have been especially important for new instruments in space, since MOPITT has the longest available record of satellite CO observations. The EUMETSAT meeting had many useful presentations on atmospheric composition and trends, among other interesting topics, with plenty of networking opportunities for developing new ideas for research and plans for data continuity.

Photo Credit: EUMETSAT

Posted on by Nyssa Rayne Posted in News and Events

From undergoing an orbit lowering to headlining workshops on novel drifting data, Terra has had a big year so far! (And that’s not even accounting for the satellite’s continuous collection of high quality, earth science data, with no unintended interruptions!)

This news post will provide several important updates on recent instrument team meetings, upcoming virtual workshops featuring Terra, and an overview of three early career scientists using Terra data in their research.

Keep checking the website often for more updates and information on all things Terra!

2022 Meetings and Conferences

  • The CERES instrument team participated in the Fall 2022 Earth Radiation Budget Workshop in Hamburg, Germany from October 12 – 14, 2022. More information, including an agenda and presentation slide decks, can be found on the CERES website.
  • Several members of the Terra team participated in the 22nd William T. Pecora Memorial Remote Sensing Symposium in Denver, CO from October 23 – 28, 2022. More information available on the Pecora 22 website.
  • The ASTER instrument team will hold a science and interface meeting in Tokyo, Japan from November 7-9, 2022.
  • The American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall 2022 meeting will be held in Chicago, IL from December 12 – 16, 2022. For more information and an agenda, visit the AGU Fall Meeting 2022 website.

Upcoming Terra Workshops and Community Forums

Here’s a reminder that it’s your last chance to sign up for the virtual Terra, Aqua, and Aura Drifting Orbits Workshop that starts tomorrow, November 1-2, 2022. For more information and registration, visit the Terra website (or register here!).

On December 8th, 2022 from 12:30 PM – 3:30 PM ET, the Terra team will be hosting a virtual community forum on Terra’s recent orbit lowering maneuvers (that took place October 12th and 18th). See the graphic below for more information and a QR code linking directly to the Webex webinar registration page.

Infographic on upcoming virtual community forum on Terra satellite's new lower orbit.
Information on Terra’s Lower Orbit Community Forum (virtual webinar) scheduled for December 8, 2022, from 12:30 PM to 3:30 PM ET.

Highlighting Two Decades of Terra Talent

Last week, several NASA Early Career researchers presented their current scientific work during the 2022 Early Career Scientist Forum (full agenda linked here).

Kathleen McKee

Explosive Volcanic Eruption Dynamics

Kathleen incorporates data from Terra’s Multi-Angle Imaging Spectroradiometer (MISR) instrument to analyze volcanic ash and aerosols throughout the atmospheric column.

Personal website linked here, and NASA Bio linked below.

Kathleen’s NASA Bio

Ryan Kramer

Global Radiation Budget and Modeling

Ryan uses data from the Clouds and Earth’s Radiant Energy System (CERES) instrument to improve how climate models handle future precipitation predictions.

Link to Ryan’s Early Career Scientist Spotlight, and NASA Bio linked below.

Ryan’s NASA Bio

Andy Feldman

Soil – Plant – Atmosphere Interactions

Andy uses satellite products, like the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), to analyze how changes in precipitation intensity and frequency impacts plant photosynthesis.

Academic Bio linked here, and NASA Bio linked below.

Andy’s NASA Bio

Posted on by Nyssa Rayne Posted in News and Events
Pictures of the three scientists featured in the post.

With Terra’s 25th Anniversary only two years away (December 2024), we’re kicking off the celebration early in our News and Events section with a new series highlighting some of Terra’s researchers, data users, educators, and science communicators. We’re especially excited to promote current and proposed research that uses Terra data in unique or novel ways!  (Do you know someone who’s made important contributions to the Terra mission? Or a groundbreaking Terra study that you feel made a substantial impact in the fields of earth science or remote sensing? We’d love to feature them – email us your ideas!)

Our first post in this series highlights three trailblazing women at NASA who have contributed to Terra’s scientific legacy, while showcasing the collaborative efforts among scientists at Goddard, JPL, and NCAR/UCAR. Check out their stories below!

Dr. Nai-Yung Christina Hsu (GSFC)

Dr. Christina Hsu, a researcher from GSFC, has incorporated data from many of Terra’s instruments into her research. Most notably, in 2004, she developed a Deep Blue algorithm for MODIS data that better characterizes aerosol properties over deserts and urban areas. (Read the groundbreaking article here!)

More recently, Dr. Hsu collaborated with a team studying regional differences in air pollution reductions, due to the global COVID-19 lockdowns of 2020. She used datasets from MODIS and MISR (two instruments on Terra) to analyze aerosol optical depth (click the link to learn more!).  Learn more about Dr. Hsu’s research using this link, and access the full article here!

Abigail (Abbey) Nastan (JPL)

Check out this recent Earthdata feature of our own MISR instrument Applications and Communications lead, Abbey Nastan! This summary gives an overview of the diverse portfolio of projects that Abbey is currently working on, including MERLIN – a unique visualization tool that leverages the MISR Plume Height Project dataset, giving new life to “old-er” data.

For more information on the MERLIN tool and how it was made, download this PDF.

Dr. Rebecca Buchholz (NCAR/UCAR)

Meet Dr. Rebecca Buchholz, a MOPITT Project Scientist who has worked at NCAR/UCAR since 2014 and has used MOPITT’s carbon monoxide dataset to study long-term patterns of air pollution transportation, especially that associated with wildfires. In a Scientific American news article last month, Dr. Buchholz summarized her recent research findings (published in Nature Communications) that show a significant increase in Western U.S. wildfire air pollution during the month of August, a new peak that largely negates California’s efforts to reduce annual air pollution. (She also gave Terra’s long data-record a shout-out!)  Read more about her research here!

Posted on by Tassia Owen Posted in News and Events

Printed Wire Assemblies Back Online

To return function to 16 printed wire assemblies, including the two most recent, Terra’s Flight Operations Team rebooted Terra’s solid state recorder, on September 22, 2021. The successful reboot of Terra’s solid state recorder returned Terra to a level that allows full science acquisitions from all five instruments (ASTER, CERES, MISR, MODIS, and MOPITT). 

The recorder reboot took nearly 12 hours to complete. The board-by-board power up sequencing resulted in all 16 printed wire assemblies of the 16 offline assemblies returning to operational status.  Terra now has all 58 assemblies in service, and Terra’s data storage capacity is at the same level it had at launch. There are currently no known hardware limitations to the operation of Terra or any of its sensors and there is currently no official passivation (mission end) date. 

For over two decades Terra has collected valuable data about Earth’s systems. In February 2020 Terra stopped doing platform maneuvers that would control its equator crossing time in order to maintain fuel for collision avoidance maneuvers. The remaining fuel will also be used to lower Terra’s orbit as part of its eventual passivation process.  Now with the printed wire assemblies being returned to full function, Terra will be able to collect full data acquisitions from all five instruments throughout this process.

Terra will also continue collecting data after an orbit lowering maneuver planned for Fall 2022. The maneuver upholds agreements to ensure Terra is a safe distance from the other missions in the 705-km Earth Observing Satellite Constellation when fuel to maintain Terra’s orbit has been depleted.

“The science community views the changes in crossing time and orbit altitude as continuation of normal data collection for those products not affected by the orbital changes as well as an opportunity to do novel science with those that are affected,” according to Kurtis Thome, Terra Project Scientist.  The Terra Project fully expects the Terra platform and all five instruments to operate past 2026 allowing them to maintain their status as leaders in Earth science data production.  Terra’s long-term data record will continue to contribute to the Earth Science Division’s key science questions:

  • How is the global Earth system changing?
  • What causes these changes in the Earth system?
  • How will the Earth system change in the future?
  • How can Earth system science provide societal benefit?

Terra, the flagship Earth Observing Satellite, continues to be a leader in Earth science data, contributing to scientific research and applications worldwide, now with data capacity levels restored by a successful solid state recorder reboot.

Posted on by Tassia Owen Posted in News and Events

New evidence shows that California’s clean air programs that reduce particle pollution in California are working.

Scientists from Emory University, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and the California Air Resources Board analyzed the 15-year trend of fine particle pollution based on satellite data from Terra’s Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) instrument. This type of pollution, known as PM2.5 (less than 2.5 microns in diameter) accounts for the greatest percentage of health impacts attributable to air pollution in California.

The study was recently published in the journal “Atmospheric Environment” is the first to evaluate long-term changes in major PM2.5 components using spatially comprehensive satellite data, according the the California Air Resources Board.

Read the press release from the California Air Resources Board.