SARP

June 15 2015
Randy Albertson
Airborne Science Program
Deputy Director

Airborne Science Program

Mission
The NASA Airborne Science Program exists to enable
scientists to achieve NASA Earth science objectives
and answer science questions that require the use of
airborne platforms and infrastructure. The Airborne
Science Program does this by providing the Earth
Science community access to a pre-eminent suite of
airborne capabilities.
Science and platform agnostic
Right tool for the job
2

Program Objectives
Satellite Calibration and Validation
Provide platforms to enable essential calibration
measurements for the Earth observing satellites, and the
validation of data retrieval algorithms.

Support New Sensor Development

Provide sub-orbital flight opportunities to test and refine new
instrument technologies/algorithms, and reduce risk prior to
committing sensors for launch into space.

Process Studies
Obtain high-resolution temporal and spatial measurements
of complex local processes, which can be coupled to global
satellite observations for a better understanding of the
complete Earth system.

Develop the Next-Generation of Scientists and

Engineers
Foster the development of our future workforce with the
hands-on involvement of graduate students, and young
scientists/engineers in all aspects of ongoing Earth science
investigations.

What does Airborne Science do?

Facilitate access to airborne assets capable of
supporting NASAs scientific measurements
Core, Catalog, Cooperative and New technology
Help get through acquisition, process and regulatory wickets.

Provide capabilities to enhance/enable

scientific measurements
Mission/Project Management and Logistics
Science support systems
Airborne networks
Approvals for Laser and Radiation, dropsonde release, pressure
vessel safety, HAZMAT safety, EMI, foreign clearances, etc

Optimize the use of resources

Science Requirement

Measurements

Platforms

NASA Airborne Science Capable Aircraft

80000
21km
(1) Global Hawk

70000

60000

(2) ER-2
(3) WB-57

Altitude (feet)

15km
50000

(2) C-20/G-III

Lear 25

DC-8
Ikhana

40000

Falcon
S-3B

30000

(4) B-200/UC12

Twin Otter

9km
P-3B
(2) C-130

20000

Sherpa

10000 UH-1 Huey

3km

Rigel
SIERRA

Dragon Eye
0

0
5
Red indicates full Core funding
Blue indicates partial funding
GIII: one fully funded, one partial funded

10

15

Endurance (hours)

20

25

30

NASA Airborne Science Aircraft

80000

(2) ER-2
70000

(3) WB-57

(1) Global Hawk

Altitude (feet)

60000

50000

11,000

(1) Lear 25
(2) G-III

(1) Falcon
40000

11

(1) DC-8

(1) Ikhana

30000

(3) B-200/UC12
20000 (1) Twin Otter
10000

(1) S-3B

(2) C-130 (1) P-3B

(1) Sherpa
(1) SIERRA

0
0

1000

2000

3000

Range (nm)
7

4000

5000

>6000

NASA Manned Airborne Science Aircraft

(with nadir ports & room to work for 4 + people)
80000

70000

Altitude (feet)

60000

50000

(1) DC-8
40000

(1) Falcon

30000

(1) P-3B
20000

(1) Twin Otter

10000

0
0

(1) Sherpa

1000

2000

3000

Range (nm)
8

4000

5000

>6000

Other Factors for Science Platforms

Range
Speed
Payload volume and capacity
Power
Perspectives
Communications/network
Operations cost/constraints
Basing/airspace

ICCAGRA Science Research Aircraft

(excluding NASA)
NOAA

80000

NRL

DOE

CIRPAS

NCAR/NSF

70000

60000

Altitude (feet)

G-V
G-IV

50000

B350

40000

30000

Twin Otter

B-200
P-3

20000

10000

G-I
C206

C-130

Aero Commander

1000

2000

3000

Range (nm)

4000

5000

>6000

Payload Perspectives

ASP Cross Cutting Infrastructure

NASA Airborne Science Data and Telemetry System (NASDAT) airborne network server and low bandwidth Iridium gateway which captures
navigational data as well as allows scientists to talk to their instruments

Experimenter Interface Panel

science instrument to aircraft interface

12

Aircraft Access to Hurricane Forming Regions

GRIP: (Hurricane)
Genesis and Rapid Intensification Processes Field Experiment

The Global Hawk adds considerable

surveillance capability
Greater range and duration than
DC-8 or ER-2
Allows for extended on-station time
in hurricane genesis regions
Geosynchronous simulator

Blue line: DC-8 range for 12-h flight, 6 h on

station
Red lines: GH range for 30-h flight with 15 and
22.5 h on station
Light blue X: Genesis locations for 1940-2006

A Long History of Worldwide Science

Field Campaigns
Supporting: stratospheric/tropospheric chemistry, cryospheric science, hurricane
observations, atmospheric physics/radiation, terrestrial biosphere studies, satellite
cal/val, and instrument development.
Outstanding examples of accomplishments in each area:
Each badge represents a
major multi-platform
science campaign

Process Study - Atmospheric chemistry - smoking gun for stratospheric chemistry

from AAOE demonstrates role of chlorine in destroying polar ozone
Environmental Characterizations - airborne lidar observations of the Greenland ice
sheet; and the effects of large-scale biomass burning in the Amazon & S. Africa
Satellite Validation - CRYSTAL/FACE: detailed in situ observations of clouds being
observed from satellites; SAFARI 2000: validating MODIS aerosol algorithms
Instrumentation R&D - initial tests of remote sensing technologies: Aquarius/sea
surface salinity sensor; ICESat/Lidars; TRMM/Doppler Radars; & many others
Svalbard, Norway

Barrow, AK
Fairbanks, AK

Anchorage, AK

Iceland
Goose
Bay

Surprise
Valley, NV

Honolulu, HI

Edwards, CA
Palmdale, CA
Houston, TX
Vera Cruz, Mexico

OK
Ponca City,

Kona, HI

Kiruna, Sweden

Yellowknife
Cold Lake
Saskatoon

Thule, Greenland

Portsmouth, NH

Wallops, VA

Warner Robins, GA
u FL
Key West,
Ft. Lauderdale, FL

San Jose, Costa Rica

Historical NASA
Deployment Sites

Mildenhall, England

Sal Island, Cape Verde

Papeete, French Polynesia

Ecu
ador

Chil
e
Punta Arenas, Chile

Antarctica

Ja
pa
n
Thailand

Guam

Darwin,
Australia

Genesis and Rapid Intensification Processes

The GRIP experiment was a NASA Earth
science field experiment in 2010 that was
conducted to better understand how tropical
storms form and develop into major hurricanes.
The experiment was done in collaboration with
NOAA and USAF operational hurricane
missions. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSm7pIKUiCM
Screen capture of Real Time Mission Monitor showing the
NOAA 49 & NASA Global Hawk, DC8, & WB57 making a
coordinated pass over Hurricane Karl eye. A NOAA P3 (NOAA
42) & USAF C130 were also sampling the storm at this Wme.

NASA is using the DC-8 aircraft, the

WB-57 aircraft, and the Global
Hawk Unmanned Airborne System
(UAS) configured with a suite of in
situ and remote sensing instruments
that are observing and
characterizing the lifecycle of
hurricanes.
(http://grip.nsstc.nasa.gov/index.html)

GRIP and TRMM Satellite

A coordinated pass over the eye of hurricane Karl with the NASA Global Hawk and
DC8, with a narrow miss by the TRMM satellite.

Operation IceBridge
Snow Radar QC plot

Photo: M. Studinger

MCoRDS radar quick look image

Figure: John Paden/CReSIS

iceberg

Figure: John Paden/CReSIS

ice surface
ice/water interface

Coordinated Airborne Experiments to Measure CO2 column

densities in support of ASCENDS Mission Definition
LaRC/ITT Acclaim lidar
instrument in NASA UC-12

LaRC & ITT instr. team, LaRC aircraft

Ed Browell/LaRC, Team Leader
Instrument development via ITT, Earth
Science AITT funding

GSFC Airborne CO2 lidar

instrument in NASA Lear-25

GSFC team, NASA Glenn aircraft

Jim Abshire/GSFC, Team Leader
Instrument development via ESTO
ACT & IIP programs, GSFC IRAD

JPL Airborne CO2 lidar

instrument in Twin Otter

JPL team, Twin Otter aircraft

Gary Spiers/JPL, Team Leader
Instrument development via Coherent
Techn., ESTO ACT program, JPL IRAD

Objective: Measure & compare CO2 column densities over calibration sites with developmental lidar
candidates for the ASCENDS mission
Approach: Simultaneous CO2 measurement flights at different altitudes over well calibrated areas:
DOE SGP ARM site (Lamont, OK):
7/28 - 8/4/09
North Carolina & Eastern Shore VA
8/17/09
Collaborate with DOE/LBL & Caltech researchers for in-situ & ground-based FTS measurements

Technology Development Global Hawk Instruments

Land, Vegetation, & Ice

Sensor (LVIS)

Global Ozone Lidar

Demonstrator (GOLD)

This task will Integrate the LVIS

capability onto the Global Hawk
and provide an automated, reliable
package for high altitude
measurements.

GOLD will enable, for the first

time, Ozone LIDAR measurements
from a high-altitude aircraft that
support global atmospheric
composition and climate change
investigations.

UAVSAR
The Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle
Synthetic Aperture Radar
(UAVSAR) project will install two
existing UAVSAR pods on a UAV
for the first time. On Global Hawk,
UAVSAR will generate precise
topographic maps and single-pass
polarimetric interferograms of ice
and vegetation.

Earth Science Technology Office (ESTO)

Sensor Integration
J.P. Mahoney, JPL,
overseeing Microwave
Temperature Profiler
integration.

6/30/15

Sensor integration
area next to Global
Hawks

Albertson

New Ku-band
satcom antenna
on Global Hawk
during GloPac
integration20

Disaster Response
Mosaic of MASTER flight lines
over Wallow fire June 16, 2011

Coherence image of Haitis Enriquillo-Plantain Garden Fault

purple indicates low coherence, which may be due to
mudslide, water runoff, or vegetation change

ER-2 flight tracks during Gulf

Oil Spill Response

Unique NASA-only Heavy Lift High Altitude Fleet (50k+ feet)

ER-2 (2)

WB-57F (2)

Global Hawk Range/

Endurance Rings

Global Hawk (2)

Unique NASA-only Reconfigurable Large Flying Laboratories

-Internal Comm and Data
Networks
-Onboard satcom sensor web
networks
-Dropsonde Ejectors
-Specialized Racks for quick
payload reconfiguration
-Nadir and Zenith ports with
sensor attachment provision
-Wing hard points for sensor
mounting
-Specialized ports for probe
mounts with CFD Analysis
-Common Aircraft State data to
Sensor broadcast

Other Programs that make use of Airborne

Organizations outside of Earth Science

Planetary Science: Astromaterials & Astrobiology, (Cosmic
Dust collections, SETI (Leonids/Aurids imagery & MSL
Descent Radar tests)
Heliophysics Science: Radiation Measurements
Space Operations: (WAVE imagery of Shuttle missions,
Columbia debris field imagery, telemetry and ESA-ATV
imagery)
Aeronautics: (Alternative aviation fuel emissions study &
fiber optic wing shaping sensors)
Other government agencies: DoD, NOAA, DOE, DHS

How to Access
Solicited and Unsolicited Proposals
Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Science (ROSES)
Technology infusion
Satellite support

Science Operations Flight Request System (SOFRS):

https://airbornescience.nasa.gov/sofrs/
Details of what, where, when, how much, payload, sponsor/
funding source, etc.
Means to acquire cost estimates, mission planning
Report progress and access status

Process:

Investigators fill out flight requests for each research activity

ASP analyzes for implementation (cost, schedule resources)
HQs program scientists analyze for science merit and alignment
Many times to minimize our flight costs for data collection we are able to
incorporate multiple flight requests into one mission.

How do get access to ASP

Solicited and unsolicited proposals
Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Science (ROSES)
Satellite, new technology

Science Operations Flight Requests

https://airbornescience.nasa.gov/sofrs/
Specific requirements (what, where, when, etc)
Cost estimates, approvals, tracking

Work with aviation service provider regarding mission planning,

integration, deployment logistics, scheduling, etc.
Process:

Investigators fill out flight requests for each research activity.

ASP analyzes for implementation (cost, schedule resources)
HQs Program Scientists analyze for science merit and alignment
Many times to minimize flight costs for data collection ASP is able to
incorporate multiple flight requests into one mission.

Proposals
Relates to NASA need
Need to respond to NASA science plan
How is the global earth system changing?

What are the sources of change in the Earth system and their magnitudes and trends?

How will the Earth system change in the future?

How can Earth system science improve mitigation of and adaptation to global change?

http://science.nasa.gov/media/medialibrary/2010/03/31/Science_Plan_07.pdf

Scientific merit
Adequately addresses measurement approach

Implementability
Can be done within available resources/schedule
Doesnt require Unobtainium

NRA/Cooperative Agreement Notice Proposers Guidebook

http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/procurement/nraguidebook/proposer2015.pdf

Flight Requests
Completed:
FY06
FY07
FY08
FY09
FY10
FY11
FY12
FY13
FY14
FY15

36 FRs for 1307 hours

34 FRs for 996 hours
44 FRs for 1667 hours
70 FRs for 1877 hours
90 FRs for 2694 hours
77 FRs for 2605 hours
80 FRs for 3888 hours
78 FRs for 4392 hours
74 FRs for 4069 hours
32 FRs for 2359 hours (as of 6-15-15)

Note: flight hours include check-out, transit and data

How Can Airborne Data and Policymakers

Benefit Society
How policy has
protected our
planet

Using Airborne Science facilities scientists collect the data that lead to the
determination that CFCs are the main contributor to ozone hole formation

6/30/15

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Summary
ASP Objectives

Satellite Cal/Val
New Sensor and Algorithm development
Process Studies
Next Generation of Scientist and Engineers

Science Aircraft
Modified and capable

ASP Provides the infrastructure and personnel to

conduct these investigations in accordance with NASA,
national and international policies and regulations
Support National Science Objectives to provide the
policymakers with the information to benefit society