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EcoSar FAQs

What is an interferogram?

Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) is a technique for using pairs of high resolution SAR images acquired with a small baseline to generate high quality digital elevation maps, monitor crustal deformation due to natural and anthropogenic activities, based on the interference of complex SAR images. For more information one can refer to the articles below.

EcoSar Data

Available Data Products

All available data products are made available via the following anonymous FTP site:

ftp://fusion.gsfc.nasa.gov/radar/EcoSAR/

We closely follow the UAVSAR PolSAR Data Format, with some added fields that are unique to EcoSAR. For completeness here we provide the entire structure.

EcoSAR data format

The format of the following files are described:

Deep Blue Contact Us

If you have questions about Deep Blue or this website, click here to send us an email.

The Deep Blue Team

The current Deep Blue team members are:

Field Campaigns

GPM

The Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission is an international network of satellites that provide the next-generation global observations of rain and snow.

Impacts

Winter snowstorms are frequent on the eastern seaboard and cause major disruptions to transportation, commerce, and public safety. Snowfall within these storms is frequently organized in banded structures that are poorly understood by scientists and poorly predicted by current numerical models. Since that last study on snowstorms, the capabilities of remote sensing technologies and numerical weather prediction models have advanced significantly, making now an ideal time to conduct a well-equipped study to identify key processes and improve remote sensing and forecasting of snowfall.

CR-AVE: Costa Rica Aura Validation Experiment

The Costa Rica Aura Validation Experiment (CR-AVE) is a mission designed to explore the tropical upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UTLS) and to provide information for comparison to satellite observations.

Space Missions

GRIP Hurricane Mission

The Genesis and Rapid Intensification Processes (GRIP) experiment is a NASA Earth science field experiment in 2010 that was conducted to better understand how tropical storms form and develop into major hurricanes.

Website:

GRIP Hurricane Mission

GOES

The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) – R Series is the nation’s most advanced fleet of geostationary weather satellites. The GOES-R Series significantly improves the detection and observation of environmental phenomena that directly affect public safety, protection of property and our nation’s economic health and prosperity.

Website:

GOES

GLAS

GLAS (the Geoscience Laser Altimeter System) is the first laser-ranging (lidar) instrument for continuous global observations of Earth. From aboard the Ice Cloud and Elevation Satellite (ICESat) spacecraft, it will make unique atmospheric observations, including measuring ice-sheet topography, cloud and atmospheric properties, and the height and thickness of radiatively important cloud layers needed for accurate short term climate and weather prediction.

Website:

Geoscience Laser Altimeter System

Research Areas

Aerosols & Clouds

Clouds play an important role in weather and climate on local to global scales. Clouds reflect sunlight and trap heat, affecting the Earth’s heat budget. The release of latent heat energy through the formation of clouds and precipitation is an important heat source for the atmosphere, affecting the large-scale circulations of the atmosphere.

Outreach

Data Files

Aura/OMI Solar Spectral Irradiances: Comparisons with Independent Datasets and Model Predictions

Instruments

TOLNet

The primary scientific objective is to provide time/height ozone measurements from near the surface to the top of the troposphere to describe in high-fidelity their spatio-temporal distribution. These high-fidelity measurements provide the GEO-CAPE science team with accurate representations of the PBL and FT ozone structure as proxies for the high time resolved observations from a geosynchronous satellite.

TOLNet

Organizations:

ACD

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. Solid ground-based observations of the aerosol-cloud-water cycle interactions are critical for providing independent assessments.

Organizations:

Climate

CubeSat MiniCarb

An occulation-viewing 6U CubeSat for observations of CO2, CH4, and H20 in Earth's atmosphere.

Organizations:

ACD

Models

Global Modeling Initiative (GMI)

The Global Modeling Initiative (GMI) Chemical Transport Model (CTM) is part of the NASA Modeling Analysis and Prediction (MAP) program. The GMI CTM is used to assess the impacts of atmospheric circulation and composition change due to anthropogenic emissions, such as those from aircraft, biomass burning, fossil fuel combustion, and use of ozone depleting substances (ODS). GMI studies investigate changes in stratospheric ozone and the roles of long-range transport and changing emissions on air quality.