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A shift in transitional forests of the North American boreal will persist through 2100
This research developed a machine learning model to predict current and future boreal forest canopy heights across northern regions using satellite data and climate projections. The study combines NASA's ICESat-2 satellite's vegetation height observations with climate and soil data to understand how forest canopy heights might change under different future climate scenarios. (Summarized with AI)
Key Staff
- Principal Investigator: Paul Montesano
- Project Manager: Mark Carroll
- Project Scientist: Melanie Frost
- Project Scientist: Jian Li
A-Train: The Afternoon Constellation (A-Train)
NASA and its international partners operate several Earth-observing satellites that closely follow one another along the same (or very similar) orbital “track.” A particular example of a coordinated group of satellites are in a sun-synchronous polar orbit, crossing the equator in an ascending (northbound) direction at about 1:30 PM local solar time, within seconds to minutes of each other—hence the name Afternoon Constellation. This allows near-simultaneous observations from a wide variety of instruments that are synergistically used to aid the scientific community in advancing our knowledge of Earth-system science and applying this knowledge for the benefit of society.
ACE Cosmic Ray Isotope Spectrometer (CRIS)
The Cosmic Ray Isotope Spectrometer (CRIS) measures the abundances of galactic cosmic ray isotopes.
ACE Solar Isotope Spectrometer (SIS)
The Solar Isotope Spectrometer provides isotopically resolved measurements of the elements from lithium to zinc over the energy range 10 - 100 MeV/nucleon. The SIS dectector system consists of two identical telescopes composed of stacks of large-area solid-state detectors.
Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE)
The Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) studies energetic particles from the sun as well as sources within and outside our galaxy. ACE observations contribute to our understanding of the formation and evolution of the solar system as well as the astrophysical processes involved. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center provided detectors and telescopes for several of ACE's instruments. The mission launched in 1997.
Key Staff
- Project Scientist: Eric Christian
Advanced Topographic Laser Altimeter System (ATLAS)
ICESat-2 carries a single instrument – the Advanced Topographic Laser Altimeter System, or ATLAS. Like the altimeter on the first ICESat mission, ATLAS measures the travel times of laser pulses to calculate the distance between the spacecraft and Earth’s surface. ATLAS features new technologies that allow it to collect a more detailed, precise picture of the heights of the planet’s ice, vegetation, land surface, water and clouds. As it orbits over the poles, ATLAS has three major tasks: Send pulses of laser light to the ground, collect the returning photons in a telescope, and record the photon travel time.
AErosol RObotic NETwork (AERONET)
The AERONET (AErosol RObotic NETwork) program is a federation of ground-based remote sensing aerosol networks established by NASA and PHOTONS (PHOtométrie pour le Traitement Opérationnel de Normalisation Satellitaire; Univ. of Lille 1, CNES, and CNRS-INSU) and is greatly expanded by networks (e.g., RIMA, AeroSpan, AEROCAN, and CARSNET) and collaborators from national agencies, institutes, universities, individual scientists, and partners. The program provides a long-term, continuous and readily accessible public domain database of aerosol optical, microphysical and radiative properties for aerosol research and characterization, validation of satellite retrievals, and synergism with other databases. The network imposes standardization of instruments, calibration, processing and distribution.
Aerosol, Cloud, Humidity, Interactions Exploring and Validating Enterprise (ACHIEVE)
Accurate retrievals of aerosol and cloud properties from space-borne sensors have been achieved with certain degrees of confidence. One of the most difficult tasks remaining to be resolved is when aerosols and clouds co-exist and interact with each other.
AI CoE support (AI CoE)
The Data Science Group co-leads the Goddard AI Center of Excellence by connecting partners, hosting events and training, and consulting on cutting-edge AI models for NASA.
Key Staff
- Project Lead: Mark Carroll
- Project Scientist: Melanie Frost
- Project Scientist: Jordan Caraballo-Vega
Airborne and Satellite Investigation of Asian Air Quality (ASIA-AQ)
The Airborne and Satellite Investigation of Asian Air Quality (ASIA-AQ) was an international cooperative investigation to study the factors contributing to local air quality across Asia. Measurements from ASIA-AQ were collected to validate aerosol satellite observations from South Korea’s Geostationary Environment Monitoring Spectrometer (GEMS), the upcoming Multi-Angle Imager for Aerosols (MAIA) mission, and other low-orbiting satellites. ASIA-AQ had one deployment from January to April 2024 across eastern Asia mainly targeting South Korea, Philippines, and Thailand.
Airborne Earth Science Microwave Imaging Radiometer (AESMIR)
The Airborne Earth Science Microwave Imaging Radiometer (AESMIR) is a passive microwave airborne imager covering the 6-100 GHz bands that are essential for observing key Earth System elements such as precipitation, snow, soil moisture, ocean winds, sea ice, sea surface temperature, vegetation, etc.
Airborne Validation Unified Experiment: Land to Ocean (AVUELO)
The Airborne Validation Unified Experiment: Land to Ocean (AVUELO) is a partnership between NASA, the Smithsonian Institution’s Tropical Research Institute, and the Costa Rican Fisheries Federation, as well as universities and institutes in the United States and Panama. AVUELO’s goal is to calibrate a new class of space-borne imagers for tropical vegetation and oceans research.
Apache Point Observatory
The Apache Point Lunar Laser Ranging Station utilizes the Astrophysical Research Consortium 3.5-meter telescope at the Apache Point Observatory in Sunspot, New Mexico. The large collecting area of the Apache Point 3.5 m diameter telescope, good atmospheric conditions at the site, and the efficient avalanche photodiode arrays used by the station result in a high-detection rate (even multiple detections per laser pulse) leading to millimeter-level range precision.
Key Staff
- Research Associate: Vishnu Viswanathan
- Research Associate: Nicholas Colmenares
- Project Manager: Stephen Merkowitz
- Instrument Scientist: Evan Hoffman
Applied Sciences
Connecting NASA researchers with interagency activities and partnerships to facilitate practical and innovative uses of Earth observations for societal benefit in six thematic areas: Air Quality and Health, Chesapeake Bay, Climate and Environmental Health, Disasters, Food Security, and Mission Applications.
Aqua
Aqua, Latin for water, is a NASA satellite mission designed to collect information about Earth's water cycle and other aspects of the Earth system. Aqua's six instruments collect a variety of global data on ocean evaporation, atmospheric water vapor, clouds, precipitation, soil moisture, sea ice, land ice, and snow cover on the land and ice. Additional variables that Aqua measures include radiative energy fluxes; aerosols; vegetation cover on the land; phytoplankton and dissolved organic matter in the oceans; and air, land, and water temperatures. Aqua was launched on May 4, 2002.
Key Staff
- Project Scientist: Lazaros Oreopoulos
- Deputy Project Scientist: Linette Boisvert
- Instrument Principal Investigator: Miguel Román
Arctic Mars Analogue Svalbard Expedition (AMASE)
AMASE has established Svalbard as a test bed for life-detection technology that will be used on future NASA and ESA 'Search for Life' mission to Mars.
Arctic- Boreal Vulnerability Experiment (ABoVE)
Climate change in the Arctic and Boreal region is unfolding faster than anywhere else on Earth, resulting in reduced Arctic sea ice, thawing of permafrost soils, decomposition of long- frozen organic matter, widespread changes to lakes, rivers, coastlines, and alterations of ecosystem structure and function. NASA's Terrestrial Ecology Program is conducting a major field campaign, the Arctic-Boreal Vulnerability Experiment (ABoVE), in Alaska and western Canada, for 8 to 10 years, starting in 2015. ABoVE seeks a better understanding of the vulnerability and resilience of ecosystems and society to this changing environment.
Arecibo Legacy Data
NSSDCA maintains the data archive of the planetary data collected by the Arecibo radar facility from 1997 to 2020.
Astrobiology Analytical Laboratory
The Astrobiology Analytical Laboratory is dedicated to the study of organic compounds derived from Stardust and future sample return missions, meteorites, lab simulations of Mars, interstellar, proto-planetary, and cometary ices and grains, and instrument development.
Key Staff
- Program Scientist: Danielle Simkus
- Program Scientist: Jamie Elsila Cook
- Program Scientist: Daniel Glavin
- Program Scientist: Heather Graham
- Program Scientist: José Aponte
- Program Scientist: Hannah McLain
- Program Scientist: Eric Parker
- Principal Investigator: Jason Dworkin
