Science MissionDirectorate

Steve SmithEarth Science Technology ProgramSeptember 13, 2006

Earth Science Technology Program Overview Presentation at the CEOS Working Group on Info Systems & Services

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Overview Earth Science Technology Office (ESTO)

Advanced Information Systems Technology (AIST)• History of AIST NASA Research Announcement (NRA)

solicitations • Most recent AIST NRA: Sensor Web

What Seems to Work

Topics

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Implementation - Program Elements

Observational Technologies:

• Advanced Technology Initiatives (ATI) - provides for concept studies and development of component and subsystem technologies (Advanced Component Technology (ACT) Program) for instruments and platforms

• Instrument Incubator Program (IIP) - provides new instrument and measurement techniques, including lab development and airborne validation

Information Systems Technologies:

• Advanced Information Systems Technologies (AIST) - provides innovative on-orbit and ground capabilities for the communication, processing, and management of remotely sensed data and the efficient generation of data products and knowledge

• Computational Technologies (CT) - provides techniques and systems that enable high performance throughput, archiving, data manipulation, and visualization of very large, highly distributed remotely sensed data sets consistent with modeling needs

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Overall Approach to Technology Development

A Flexible, Science-driven Technology Strategy

• Open, peer-reviewed competitive solicitations enable selection of best-of-class technology investments

• Active management of technology projects: a cost-effective approach to technology development and validation

• Ongoing communication with the technology customer community

• This approach has resulted in:

• a portfolio of emerging technologies that will enhance and/or enable future science measurements

• a growing number of infusion successes: technologies are infused into a mission by competitive selection of science PIs or mission managers, not the Technology Program

A diverse research community • Principal Investigators from almost 100 different organizations• Participants located in 27 states

Regularly exceeds performance metrics set by NASA• Over 70% of all activities advanced at least 1 Technology Readiness Level

(TRL)• At least 1-2 new measurements enabled each year

Results to Date for all of ESTO

Inverts the traditional 80/20 rule-of-thumb for infusion success• 30% already infused into missions/campaigns/ESSP proposals• Over 50% of additional projects have path identified for infusion• Technologies selected for infusion by Principal Investigators and

mission managers, not ESTO

Advanced Information Systems Technology (AIST)

Solicits component, subsystem or system technologies in the development range of ~ TRL1 to TRL6

Research topics tied to Earth Science research requirements, technology gaps

Three year awards: new solicitation every 3 years

To date, four AIST solicitations have been released:

• AIST-99; 30 awards, begun in 2000, completed in 2003

• AIST-02; 21 awards, announced in 2003, nearing completion

• AIST-04; “mini NRA”; 6 awards, emphasized data mining, wrapping up final reviews

• AIST-05; 28 awards selected in July 2006, just beginning in September 2006

Examples of AIST Progress

TRL Advancement• over 75% of all AIST-99 awards advanced at least one TRL level; 20%

advanced more than one TRL level

Training and education of next-generation researchersAIST-99 awards had student involvement at all levels• 25 Ph.D. candidates• 32 MS • 8 BS• 1 High School

Infusion into missions, instruments, proposals, flight experiments, data processing systems, science modeling systems

Broad participation• Across all types of organizations• Across regions

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• Low Power Transceiver (LPT) (QRS, NRA-99 & NRA-02)

Flew successfully on STS-107 – First Space-based Mobile IP use

Competitively selected to fly on AFRL XSS-11 mid-2005

Will fly on Air Force TacSat II Fall 2006

Example Infusion Successes in AIST Projects

LPT Modular Design for Reconfigurable

Communications

• EO-1 Onboard Cloud Cover Detection (QRS & NRA-02)

Performed level 0, level 1 processing and cloud detection algorithm on captured image onboard EO-1

Provided cloudy pixel count to ground

EO-1 Onboard Cloud Cover Detection Ops Concept

Image taken by Spacecraft (hyperion) & appropriate bands

extracted

Retarget for New Observation Goals

New Science Images

Cloud Detection

Feature Detection

Clouds Sparse

Extensive Cloud Cover

Downlink Image

No feature Detected

Feature Detected

Downlink Image

Autonomous Science

Autonomous Planning

Autonomous Execution

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• Integration of OGC and Grid Technologies for Earth Science Modeling and Applications (AIST-02)

Integrate GRID and OGC technologies to make GRID-managed data accessible through NASA HDF-EOS Web GIS Software Suite (NWGISS) OGC servers and allow users to focus on science rather than issues with data receipt, format, and data manipulation

Leverages the OGC-compliant NWGISS, CEOS Grid testbed, Globus and NASA Information Power Grid (IPG) and DOE’s Earth System Grid (ESG)

• Flight Ethernet Switch selected for GPM and JWST (QRS & NRA-02)

Use commercially standardized 10/100 Mb/sec Ethernet bus technology in place of military standard 1553 or custom proprietary bus architectures on all future spacecraft

Example Infusion Successes in AIST Projects (Cont’)

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• Earth Science Mark-up Language (ESML) (QRS)An interchange technology that enables data

(both structural and semantic) interoperability with applications without enforcing a standard format within the Earth science community

Semantic tags can be added to the ESML files by linking different domain ontologies to provide a complete machine understandable data description

Integrated into the Atmospheric Science Modeling at University of Alabama Huntsville and Adam Data Mining System

Example Infusion Successes in AIST Projects (Cont’)

• Advanced SSR SchEduling Tool (ASSET) (QRS-SOMO Leverage)

Reduce the manually intensive activity of planning Solid State Recorder (SSR) buffer playbacks for Terra spacecraft special events and difficult scheduling period

Result: What was once a 20-hour task now takes only one hour using ASSET to plan and document non-nominal satellite procedures on Terra

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Federal Labs (6)Air Force Research Lab (ATI - 1)Lawrence Berkeley NL (CT - 1)US Naval Research Lab (AIST – 1)NCAR (AIST - 1; CT - 1)UCAR (AIST – 1)

Small Corp. (12)AER Inc. (AIST - 1)BBN Technologies (AIST - 1)GST, Inc. (AIST – 1; CT - 2)Spectrum Astro (AIST - 1) L-3 Comm. EER Systems, Inc. (AIST – 1)Institute for Global Env (AIST – 1)Institute fo Sci. Research (AIST - 1)SGT, Inc. (AIST – 1)QSS / MEDS (AIST – 1)Picodyne (AIST – 1)

JPL (32)AIST 22 CT 10

GRC (6)AIST 5ATI 1

Cal Institute of Tech (CT - 1)Carnegie Mellon (AIST - 2)George Mason U. (AIST - 4)Ohio U. (AIST – 1)Howard U. (AIST – 1)MIT (CT - 1)Georgia Tech (AIST – 1)U. of Rhode Island (AIST – 1)U. of Virginia (AIST – 1)U. of Alaska (AIST - 2)U. of California, Los Angeles (CT - 1)U. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (AIST - 1; CT - 1)U. of Alabama, Huntsville (AIST – 7)U. of Maryland (CT - 1; AIST-1)U. of Michigan (CT – 1; AIST – 1)U. of Oklahoma (AIST - 2)USC/ISI (AIST - 3)U. of Arizona (AIST – 1)U. of Kansas (AIST - 2)U. of Washington (AIST – 3)Washington State U. (AIST – 1)

Academia (41)

LaRC (3)AIST 3

GSFC (51)AIST 43 CT 8

AIST: 140ATI: 2

Comp. Tech.: 28____

Total: 170

Large Corp. (14)Draper Labs (AIST - 3)ITT Industries (AIST - 3)Lockheed Martin (AIST - 4)Northrop Grumman (AIST – 1)SAIC (AIST – 2)TRW (AIST – 1)

ARC (4)

Info Systems

AIST 4

Info Systems Technology Investments (NRA99-05)

MSFC (1)AIST 1

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Goals of Proposed Research• The AIST-05 NRA (in ROSES) solicited component technologies that will

enable the Agency to pursue sensor webs as a way to achieve Earth science objectives in the future

• Proposal Research Topics • Smart Sensing - to enable autonomous event detection and

reconfiguration of sensor assets• Sensor Web Communications - to support dialog control for autonomous

operations• Enabling Model Interactions in Sensor Webs - to support the creation

and management of new sensor web enabled products• Objectives

• To develop selected component technologies to enable sensor webs• To evolve concepts that demonstrate the benefit or sensor webs to

Earth science• To build a community to enhance sensor web collaboration

• TRL of 2 to 5, with at least one TRL advancement over the duration of the research

• Annual Sensor Web Workshop participation• Up to 3 year award (grant or cooperative agreement)• 28 awards were made

Recent AIST Sensor Web Solicitation Overview

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AIST Sensor Web Solicitation: Awards

Sensor Web award abstracts at esto.nasa.govSmart Sensing -

• 12 projectsSensor Web Communications -

• 6 projectsEnabling Model Interactions in Sensor Webs -

• 10 projects

Steps toward building a community to enhance sensor web collaboration

• Projects just getting started - Sep 2006 - Jan 2007

• Interoperability Day at OGC Sensor Web Enablement (SWE) meeting in Oct 2006 (session led by AIST PI’s)

• AGU Conference session Dec 2006

• ESTO Workshop on Sensor Webs for Earth Science in 2007 (TBD)

14 28 awards: Distributed over 16 states and DC

AIST-05 Award Distribution, by State

WA

OR

CA

AZ

UT

MT

NE

CO

NM

TX

OK

KS

AK

HI

LA

AR

MSAL

GA

FL

SC

MO

IL IN

KY

NC

VA

OH

PA

MN

WI

IA

NY

MD

ME

NH

MACTMI

SD

WY

NV

ND

WV

VTID

NJ

DEDC

RIWY

MST

What Seems to Work

Setting Directions • Clear connection to science needs• specific areas of emphasis

Soliciting Ideas• competitive, peer-reviewed proposals• overlapping of award periods • funding at requested levels

Guiding Progress• distributed management• periodic independent reviews • automated reporting• metrics

Encouraging Utilization• collaborations