An Update on NASA’sSpace-Based and Related Research Activities

Michael J. Kurylo – UMBC / GEST

Kenneth W. Jucks – NASA HQ

Ernest W. Hilsenrath – UMBC / JCET & NASA HQ

WCRP SPARC Scientific Steering Group

17th Session

Kyoto, Japan

26-30 October 20091

NASA’s Operating Satellites• NASA’s Earth Science Division recently completed it’s biennial Senior

Review to determine those missions that will continue to be funded for operation beyond their primary design life.

• Nearly all of NASA’s Earth Science satellites fell under this review, including Aura, CALIPSO, Aqua (i.e, missions with some sensitivity in the UTLS).

• All received highly positive ratings and the missions were extended for 2 years with a provisional additional 2 years (pending the next senior review).

• Aura presently has 3 operating instruments producing forefront science.

– HIRDLS is not operating and most likely will not work again.

– MLS is working nominally; a few channels no longer operate• Other channels will cease operation in time, the rate is difficult to predict.

– TES is operating with a lower duty cycle to extend the lifetime if the interferometer mechanism.

– OMI has an external blockage that is affecting roughly 1/3 of it’s FOV.• The blockage slowly changes with time.

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NASA’s Operating/Forthcoming Satellites

Stratospheric scienceAtmospheric science

NASA Missions in Formulation:

OCO – lost 2.23.09

NPP – 12.2010

LDCM – 12.2012

SMAP – 2013

ICESat-II - 2014

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NRC Earth Science Decadal Survey Missions

Plus: Venture Class

Stratospheric ScienceAtmospheric Science

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“Data sets encapsulating the behaviour of the Earth system are one of the greatest technological achievements of our age – and one of the most deserving of future investment.” [Nature, vol. 450, Dec. 2007, pg. 761]

•The MEaSUREs GOZCARDS project focuses on “patching together” a

stratospheric view of key chemical species (O3, HCl, ClO, ClOx, HF, H2O, CH4, N2O, NO, NO2, NOx, HNO3, zonal and equivalent latitude average profiles) from the 1980’s into the current decade of global satellite observations (and beyond?).

•When publicly available, this data record should lead to a better characterization and understanding of

- the changing state of the stratosphere, as well as - improvements in global atmospheric and climate models, including predictive capabilities.

Projects under the NASA MEaSUREs Program

Making Earth Science Data Records for Use in Research Environments

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Stratospheric Products

Planned Satellite Datasets / Main investigators

O3 (zonal mean time series): profiles & strat. cols

SAGE I, SAGE II, HALOE, UARS MLS, ACE-FTS, Aura MLS, POAMs [RW, JA, LF, RF]

HCl (zonal mean series) HALOE,ACE-FTS, Aura MLS [LF, JA]

ClO (zonal mean series) UARS MLS, Aura MLS [LF/MSa + B. Connor / G. Nedoluha]

ClOx (zonal mean series) UARS MLS, Aura MLS [RS/TC + LF, MSa, RF]

HNO3 (zonal mean series) UARS MLS, ACE-FTS, Aura MLS, Odin/SMR [LF/MSa + I. Fiorucci / G. Muscari]

H2O (zonal mean series) SAGE II, HALOE, UARS MLS, POAM III, ACE-FTS, Aura MLS [JA, RW, LF, RF]

N2O (zonal mean series) ACE-FTS, Aura MLS [LF]

NO2 (zonal mean series) SAGE II, HALOE, POAM II & III, ACE-FTS [RW, JA, LF]

NO (zonal mean series) HALOE, ACE-FTS [JA, LF]

NOx (zonal mean series) SAGE II, HALOE, POAM II & III, ACE-FTS [RS/TC, RW, JA, LF]

CH4 (zonal mean series) HALOE, ACE-FTS [JA, LF]

HF (zonal mean series) HALOE, ACE-FTS [JA, LF]

T (zonal mean series) GMAO MERRA reanalysis [MSc, VP, GM, LF]

EqL/θ binned products All of the above [LF, RF, GM, MSa, MSc]

Co-investigators - M. Santee (JPL) - M. Schwartz (JPL) - J. Anderson (Hmpt. U.)

- R. Wang (GA Tech) - R. Salawitch (UMCP)

Collaborators - - P. Bernath (York Univ.) - T. Canty (UMCP) - D. Cunnold (GA Tech) [Rest in Peace] - K. Hoppel (NRL) - N. Livesey (JPL) - G. Manney (JPL) - S. Pawson (GSFC) - J. Russell (Hmptn. U.)- I. Fiorucci, G. Muscari,- B. Connor, G. Nedoluha- K. Walker + other JPL (RF, VP)

MEaSUREs GOZCARDS Products/Team

Long-term Data Records: MEaSUREs GOZCARDS Products & Investigators

• Agreement between various zonal means for O3 is generally very good (mostly < 5%).

• We will provide latitudinal and vertical dependence of offsets between datasets

• Such offsets can be used to make adjustments to datasets and produce a merged product.

22 hPa

Latitude

O3

Dif

f.

(%)

O3 Diff. (%) O3 Diff. (%)

Satellite Data Records for the Stratosphere: Ozone

(UMLS-SAGE2)/SAGE2(HALOE-SAGE2)/SAGE2(AMLS-SAGE2)/SAGE2

Original ozone time series After adjustments

Original ozone time series After adjustments

• UARS MLS O3 data after May 1997 have been removed.

• UARS MLS/HALOE ozone data can fill missing data from SAGE-2 after Pinatubo eruption (mid-1991).

HALOE, UMLS and AMLS O3 data have been adjusted offsets (relative to SAGE-2)

Monthly zonal mean ozone from SAGE-I/II, UARS-MLS, HALOE, Aura MLS

Satellite Data Records for the Stratosphere: Ozone

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Existing and Planned Atmospheric Chemistry Missions (Red = Concern Green = Good News)

• Serious gap in ozone and chemical profile measurements from 2015 through 2029

• Earliest Atm. Chem. GEO launch is 2017. NASA last in series

• No LEO profiling missions current with GEO.

• Ideal Constellation would be 3 GEO (103 apart + 1 LEO for UT and stratospheric profiles)

• Gap in aerosol profiles (CALIPSO-like) 2016 - 2021

• No stratospheric aerosols (SAGE III-like)

• Continuity in global (LEO) column ozone and aerosols; Metop, FY-3 (China), Sentinel Precursor, NPOESS, Sentinal-5, ACE

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Chemical and Aerosol Sounding Satellite (CASS)

• Proposed joint NASA-CSA effort

• Mission carries ACE-FTS and SAGE-III

• Scheduled to fill gap between Aura/Envisat/SciSat-1 and GACM

• US Congressional mandate to study ozone change

• Not in NAS Decadal Survey queue, but explicitly wanted to avoid gap. Strongly endorsed by science community

• New science capability– UT/LS Hydration– Lightning contribution to UT/LS NO2

– Biomass chemistry contribution to UT/LS

– CO2 variability in UT/LS

– Variability of sub-visble clouds10

CASS Status

• NASA– SAGE III inspected in lab– Preliminary payload design– Developed cost estimates– Potential approval for s/c RFI

• CSA– Submitted requisition for FTS rebuild

and improvements – Submitted requisition for spacecraft– December completion expected

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2009 2010 2011 2012

GloPac: Global Hawk long-range flights (30 hr capability) mainly in situ O3, H2O, T, aerosols + cloud info (lidar) + UV/Vis + GC (1) N2O, SF6; (2) CO, H2, CH4 or F11, F12, Halon-1211,…

Large Balloon(s)Ft. Sumner, NMFall 2010

Recent and Forthcoming NASA Campaigns

You are here

Western Pacific mission (TC4-type)Investigate transport of short-lived gases, pollutants, and aerosols in western tropical Pacific.Late winter and late summerPlans/funding still TBD

Earth Venture Class 1 Suborbital campaigns- Proposals due in Nov. - Selection: Spring 2010- 5 yr program- re-solicited every 2 years

MOHAVE 2009 H2O, O3 lidars, μwave, FTIR, & sondes; TMF, CAOct. 12-26, 2009

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MACPEx: Midlatitude Airborne Cirrus Properties ExperimentWB-57: cloud/aerosol science(+ H2O, others TBD)Houston-based, ~ May 2010

Longer-term Validation: Some Plans (and Issues)Future validation studies will need to move from averaged coincidences (or other averaged comparisons) for “short” time periods to a validation of seasonal, interannual, and secular changes - whether comparing to in situ, ground-based data, or to other satellite data

Similar plots exist for O3, but there are many ozonesonde sites and files (& different formats)• Validation data (& data access) issues remain for making such comparisons for a global view. - somewhat time-consuming & problematic [for data source, format, quality, screening issues].

Need to move from here to here (avg. profiles or columns) (time series)

H2O / ppmv

P

ress

ure

/ hPa Costa Rica

Costa Rica

Boulder

H2O CFH data courtesy of H. Vömel[plots from Bill Read]

L. Froidevaux, N. Livesey, and the MLS Team13

• Lidar- MOHAVE Campaign for Water Vapor Measurements- Hohenpeißenberg Ozone Profiling Experiment- Stratospheric Temperature Trends: Randell, Keckhut, et al.

• UV/Vis- CINDI Campaign to Validate Tropospheric NO2 from Satellites- WMO/GAW Assessment of DOAS/SAOZ Total Ozone- BrO Trends; Centralized BrO processing at BIRA prior to Data Archiving

• FTIR- Water Vapor Measurements (1% precision in total column; vertical profile in

troposphere up to UTLS; isotopologue distinction)- Cly / Fy Trends- Close Coordination with TCCON

• Working Group on Water Vapor- Book in progress on “Ground-Based Remote Sensing and In Situ Methods for

Monitoring Atmospheric Water Vapor”

• NDACC /GAW / IGACO Ozone Theme Meetings- 1st meeting (2008) focused on instrument capabilities- 2nd meeting (2009) focused on ozone absorption cross sections

NDACC Activities Pertinent to SPARCJust A Few Examples

MOHAVE Campaign: October 2009• Measurements of Humidity in the Atmosphere and Validation Experiments

– Builds on MOHAVE I and II campaigns that primarily validated the lidar measurements

– Intercomparison and validation of various instruments including AIRS and Aura

• Additional Objectives– Identify and quantify UT Humidity (UTH) changes associated with transport processes in

the vicinity of the Sub-Tropical Jet

– Estimate the capability of the Raman lidar in detecting such UTH changes

– Provide continuous water vapor profiles from the ground to the mesosphere by combining the measurements of the various participating instruments and techniques

• Participating instruments and organizations will include:– 3 water vapor Raman lidars (JPL/Leblanc-McDermid, GSFC/McGee and GSFC/Whiteman)

[0-20 km]

– 15 CFH launches (JPL and GSFC) [0-30 km]

– 3 NOAA Frost-point Hygrometer (FPH) launches (NOAA/Oltmans) [0-30 km]

– 50 RS92 launches (JPL) [0-12 km]

– 2 improved microwave radiometers (NRL/Nedoluha and Univ. Bern/Kampfer) [20-80 km]

– 2 ground-based GPS receivers (GSFC/Whiteman and JPL) [column]

– 1 FTIR (JPL/Toon) [column]

– High resolution PV forecasts and analysis – MIMOSA-PV and MIMOSA-UTLS (JPL & CNRS/France)

0 100 200 300 400 500ozone [101 0 cm -3 ]

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, asl

]

200 210 220 230 240 250 260tem perature [K ]

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Lidar: 27/28. O ct. 2005Sonde: 27. O ct 19:00 U T

H ohenpeißenberg O zone P rofiling E xperim ent (H O PE)N ASA STR O Z/LITE D W D Lidar B /M O zone Sonde

M U C Sonde (23U T) N C EP(in terpolated)

Steinbrecht et al., Atmos. Meas. Tech., 2, 125-145, 2009

Intercomparison of Stratospheric Ozone and Temperature Profiles during the October 2005

Hohenpeißenberg Ozone Profiling Experiment (HOPE)

The Cabauw Intercomparison campaign ofNitrogen Dioxide measuring Instruments

June-July 2009, Cabauw, The Netherlands

Main objectives: Intercompare NO2 measuring instruments that can be used for validation of

tropospheric NO2 from satellites

Give estimate of accuracy of NO2 tropospheric columns and profiles for different atmospheric conditions (clouds/aerosols) and viewing geometries

Give recommendations for harmonization / standardization of instruments settings and retrieval algorithms

Secondary objectives: Study effect of horizontal distribution within satellite pixels

Intercompare other tropospheric measurements, likeaerosol, HCHO, CHOCHO, BrO, HONO, SO2, O3

Conclusions from the WMO SAG Meeting on DOAS/SAOZ Total Ozone Measurements

Helsinki 29-30 June 2009

• Significant progress with V2 processing following NDACC WG recommendations. SAOZ / DOAS of same class as Dobson and Brewer. SAOZ better at polar latitude (V. Fioletov)

• Most of the seasonality differences with Dobson and (likely) with satellites attributed to the temperature dependence of cross-sections in the UV. Difference between Dobson and SAOZ removed after correcting Dobson. Since it is insensitive to temperature, SAOZ can serve as a potential reference (Bob Evans)

Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Composition Changes (NDACC):

Observational Capabilities

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