In February, NASA’s ER-2 science plane flew devices designed to enhance satellite tv for pc information merchandise and Earth science observations. From information assortment to processing, satellite tv for pc techniques proceed to advance, and NASA is exploring how devices analyzing clouds can enhance information measurement strategies.
Researchers collaborating within the Goddard Area Flight Heart Lidar Commentary and Validation Experiment (GLOVE) used the ER-2 – primarily based at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Analysis Heart in Edwards, California – to validate satellite tv for pc information about cloud and airborne particles within the Earth’s environment. Scientists are utilizing GLOVE devices put in onboard the plane to measure and validate information about clouds generated by satellite tv for pc sensors already orbiting in area round Earth.
“The GLOVE information will permit us to check new synthetic intelligence algorithms in information processing,” mentioned John Yorks, principal investigator for GLOVE and analysis bodily scientist at NASA’s Goddard Area Flight Heart in Greenbelt, Maryland. “These algorithms purpose to enhance the cloud and aerosol detection in information produced by the satellites.”
The validation offered by GLOVE is essential as a result of it ensures the accuracy and reliability of satellite tv for pc information. “The devices on the airplane present a better decision measurement ‘reality’ to make sure the info is a real illustration of the atmospheric scene being sampled,” Yorks mentioned.
The ER-2 flew over numerous components of Oregon, Arizona, Utah, and Nevada, in addition to over the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California. These areas mirrored numerous varieties of atmospheres, together with cirrus clouds, marine stratocumulus, rain and snow, and areas with a number of varieties of clouds.
“The objective is to enhance satellite tv for pc information merchandise for Earth science purposes,” Yorks mentioned. “These measurements permit scientists and decision-makers to confidently use this satellite tv for pc data for purposes like climate forecasting and hazard monitoring.”
The 4 devices put in on the ER-2 had been the Cloud Physics Lidar, the Roscoe Lidar, the improved Reasonable Decision Imaging Spectroradiometer Airborne Simulator, and the Cloud Radar System. These devices validate information produced by sensors on NASA’s Ice, Cloud, and Land Elevation Satellite tv for pc 2 (ICESat-2) and the Earth Cloud, Aerosol and Radiation Explorer (EarthCARE), a three way partnership between the ESA (European Area Company) and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Company).
“Moreover, the EarthCARE satellite tv for pc is flying the primary ever Doppler radar for measurements of air motions inside clouds,” Yorks mentioned. Whereas the ER-2 is operated by pilots and aircrew from NASA Armstrong, these devices are supported by scientists from NASA Goddard, NASA’s Ames Analysis Heart in California’s Silicon Valley, and the Naval Analysis Laboratory workplace in Monterey, California, in addition to by college students from the College of Iowa in Iowa Metropolis and the College of Maryland Faculty Park.
