Posts

Posted on

NASA Webinar “Big Things Come in Very Small Packages: SeaHawk – A New Way of Looking at the Ocean”

NASA Earthdata webinar of 2022, “Big Things Come in Very Small Packages: SeaHawk – A New Way of Looking at the Ocean” to be held on Wednesday, January 26, 2022, at 2:00 PM ET (UTC/GMT-5). 

Webinar POC: Jennifer Brennan, Host, NASA EOSDIS Communications Lead, Jennifer.L.Brennan@nasa.gov       

Brief Description:  During this webinar we will provide an introduction to the SeaHawk/HawkEye CubeSat ocean color mission, show you how to discover, access, and work with SeaHawk data, and walk through the process of requesting image scheduling for regions of interest. 

Detailed Description: The goal of the SeaHawk mission was to prove a concept—that it is possible to collect scientifically credible ocean color data comparable to that of previous ocean color satellite missions from a 3U (or unit) CubeSat, a small, cube-shaped satellite (also known as a nanosatellite) measuring just 10-centimeters x 10-centimeters x 30-centimeters — and the successful receipt of the first image proved it was. Most current ocean observing satellites cost hundreds of millions of dollars and have a spatial resolution of approximately 1-kilometer. The SeaHawk CubeSat mission cost less than one million dollars and has a 120-meter spatial resolution, revealing details in the patterns of ocean biological processes that cannot be seen by the larger ocean color satellite missions. 

The SeaHawk mission is a unique public, private and federal partnership between the University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW), University of Georgia Skidaway Institute of Oceanography, Cloudland Instruments, AAC Clyde Space, and Spaceflight Inc. Funded by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and NASA/Goddard’s Ocean Color Group Under a Space Act Agreement between UNCW and NASA’s Science Mission Directorate. This webinar will provide an introduction to the SeaHawk mission, show you how to discover, access, and work with SeaHawk ocean color data, and walk participants through the process of requesting image scheduling for regions of interest.

For more information or to register:  https://go.nasa.gov/3I4qud9 

Speaker:  Sean Bailey, Manager, NASA Ocean Biology Distributed Active Archive Center (OB.DAAC) 

Sean Bailey received a Bachelor of Science degree in marine science and biology (dual major) from the University of Miami in 1992 and a Master of Science degree (biological oceanography) from the University of Southern Mississippi in 1997. He joined NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in 1997 as a contractor working for what is now the Ocean Biology Processing Group. His research interests are focused on bio-optical remote sensing of the oceans, specifically with the on-orbit calibration of satellite-based sensors and the validation of their data products. In 2015, he became a civil servant with NASA and currently serves as the manager for the OB.DAAC. 

Posted on

New ORISE Masters or post-doc opportunity

Research Project: The focus of this research training opportunity is remote sensing, specifically:

  1. development and application of mixture density networks (MDN), neural network approaches to predict/map chlorophyll concentrations; and
  2. development of predictive models for cyanobacterial blooms, both within estuaries and freshwater tidal rivers of the United States, using remote sensing images (e.g., Sentinel 2) as inputs. 

The tools to be used include an extensive EPA database of paired chlorophyll/remote sensing reflectances with ancillary explanatory variables, USGS Earth Explorer, Google Earth Engine, toolboxes for atmospheric correction (e.g., ACCOLITE, POLYMER, SIAC), R and Python programming languages, an existing MDN Python toolbox for neural network analysis, and supercomputer access if needed. 

The project integrates remote sensing, programming, and applied statistics.  

The  research participant may be involved in the following research activities:

  1. developing and applying approaches for bulk download of remote sensing images
  2. application of toolboxes for atmospheric corrections
  3. application of MDN methods for chlorophyll prediction, and
  4. development of logistic models to predict cyanobacteria metrics.

Learning Objectives: The research participant may learn about atmospheric corrections for Sentinel 2 data, managing and analyzing large imagery datasets within Google Earth Engine, machine learning approaches for predicting chlorophyll a, and development of predictive logistic models for cyanobacteria.  The research participant may author or co-author on peer-reviewed publications, and may present at local and national meetings (possibly virtually). The participant will be a member of a multi-disciplinary research team.

https://www.zintellect.com/Opportunity/Details/EPA-ORD-CEMM-ACESD-2021-04

Posted on

9th-Asian Workshop on Ocean Color

9th-Asian Workshop on Ocean Color
18th-Japan/Korea Workshop on Ocean Color

This year, 18th-JKWOC/9th-AWOC will be held in an online format again due to the continuation of this pandemic situation, which is organized by Prof. Wonkook Kim and Prof. Young-Heon Jo in Pusan National University, Korea. This workshop is drawing a growing number of participants every year from more than 10 countries worldwide. This year’s workshop will host training sessions before the main technical program, and will also feature a special session dedicated to the space agencies of Asian countries as well as many presentations for the recent research activities of diverse groups.

[Recent Updates]

[Update 1]

A concise web page for JKWOC/AWOC is now available at

JKWOC/AWOC (google.com)

[Update 2]

Thankfully, two ocean color researchers, Prof. Zhongping Lee and Dr. Elígio Maúre agreed to offer us very educating lecturers for ocean color researchers. Please do not miss this great opportunity! A link to the application will be sent out soon as soon as the details are finalized. Stay tuned!

– Tutorial#1 : IOPs-centered system for ocean color remote sensing and applications (by Prof. Zhongping Lee)

– Tutorial#2 : Google Earth Engine for ocean color (by Dr. Elígio Maúre)

[Update 3]

In the main workshop (21-22, Dec.), there will be a special session from several space agencies in Asia, which include Japan(JAXA), Korea, China(SIO), and Vietnam(VAST). More countries are now being contacted. Check out their recent news on space missions and ocean color research based on diverse remote sensing platforms.

[Update 4]

Registration due date was extended to 15th November, which is also the due date for 1-page abstract. Please register JKWOC/AWOC 2022 through the following links. Early submission of the abstracts is also welcomed.

REGISTRATION

Posted on

EPA Fellowship in Remote Sensing for Water Quality Modeling

Title: EPA Fellowship in Remote Sensing for Water Quality Modeling
Reference Code: EPA-ORD-CEMM-WECD-2021-11
The opportunity details can be found: https://www.zintellect.com/Opportunity/Details/EPA-ORD-CEMM-WECD-2021-11

EPA has new positions to build forecast models using satellite data for cyanobacteria and coastal seagrass work. Please help us spread the word to potential candidates. Briefly, the position is for someone with a recent Master’s degree, or close to finishing their degree, and starts Winter 2022. More details are below. Please contact me if you have any questions.

Posted on

IOC/OTGA/INCOIS Course: Discovery and Use of Operational Ocean Data Products and Services

We are pleased to inform that the call for applications for the course IOC/OTGA/INCOIS: Discovery and Use of Operational Ocean Data Products and Services to take place online between 25 October and 5 November 2021 Is now open. The deadline for applications is 30 September 2021.

Summary

This course will demonstrate the data resources available from operational services of INCOIS. The focus will be on operational activities, various data and data products, outputs from INCOIS services, how to download them and use software to visualize. It will be a mix of practical and theoretical.

The course is aimed to provide an introduction to operational oceanography, discovery and use of operational ocean data products and services, hands on for visualizing the in situ, remote sensing and model derived data products. 

Learning Outcomes 

After the course participants will have the knowledge, skills and experience to be able to gain:

  1. Knowledge and understanding of operational oceanography.
  2. Tasks involved in Operational Analysis and Forecast methods.
  3. Oceanographic Data sources, Quality Control/Quality Assurance, monitoring systems and methods.
  4. Tools for visualizing the operational ocean data products
  5. Recognize the importance of good research data.
  6. Access to operational data and products for Indian Ocean.
  7. Gain awareness of main Indian Ocean operational research data and products.

Target Audience 

Target audiences include, but not limited to the following:

  1. Ocean and coastal data managers.
  2. Researchers intending to use operational data products for scientific analysis.
  3. Research scholars at various universities.

Course Pre-requisites 

Applicants are expected to: 

  1. Have a fundamental knowledge of oceanography and meteorology.
  2. Knowledge of data formats of the oceanographic data sets.
  3. Preferably working in institutions responsible for the management of oceanographic and/or atmospheric data.
  4. Good working knowledge of English.

Language of Instruction

English 

Costs: No tuition fee.

For more detailed information please check the event details on the IOC calendar on: https://oceanexpert.org/event/3198

Contacts:

In case of need for further clarifications please use the contact(s) above, always using as email subject the name of the course.

Links:

Posted on

Civil servant position at The Ocean Ecology Laboratory

Open position:

The Ocean Ecology Laboratory at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center is looking to hire an Ocean Biogeochemical Modeler.  This is a full-time civil servant position at the GS-14 level, and it is open to all USA citizens. 

Background:

The Ocean Ecology Laboratory is responsible for the collection, processing, calibration, validation, archive, and distribution of ocean-related products from many operational, satellite-based remote-sensing missions providing ocean color, sea surface temperature, and sea surface salinity data to the international research community since 1996. The Ocean Ecology Laboratory also conducts research in ocean Biology and Biogeochemistry, atmospheric composition, and laboratory protocols using a combination of laboratory and field experiments, remote sensing measurements, and modeling.  The Ocean Ecology Laboratory is located at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD.  More information about our lab can be found at:

https://science.gsfc.nasa.gov/earth/oceanecology/

https://oceancolor.gsfc.nasa.gov/

Duties:

The selected candidate will lead efforts in the assimilation of ocean color remote sensing data into global and regional biogeochemical models. This effort has two goals: 1) Develop a better understanding of regional and global biogeochemical processes, 2) evaluate how satellite ocean color products can be improved or modified to increase usefulness for global and regional modeling.

Specific duties include:

  • Lead the development and application of global and regional biogeochemical modeling for Earth System Science research.
  • Lead the assimilation of satellite remote sensing data into biogeochemical models.
  • Publication of research papers in peer-reviewed journals

·      Support the Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) Mission’s Project Scientist in the evaluation of ocean and atmosphere retrieval algorithms developed within the competed PACE Science and Applications Team (SAT).

·      Lead and participate in research proposals in the fields of ocean and atmospheric remote sensing, ocean biology and biogeochemistry, atmospheric composition and modeling.  The successful candidate is expected to maintain a portfolio of funded research. 

·      Lead and participate in the publication of research manuscripts.  The successful candidate is expected to publish 1-2 papers per year. 

·      Contribute to the development of future airborne and spaceborne instrumentation and missions, in-situ instrumentation, and field campaigns pursued within The Ocean Ecology Laboratory, including requirements analyses and proposal development.

·      Other duties as required by the civil service

Education:

Ph.D or equivalent experience in Engineering or Physical Sciences.

Experience:

Demonstrable experience in:

  1. Global and regional biogeochemical modeling
  2. Assimilation of satellite remote sensing data into biogeochemical models
  3. Sensitivity analyses
  4. Publication of research papers in peer-reviewed journals
  5. Preparation of successful research proposals

Applications for this position will have to be submitted via USA Jobs https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/607108500 . The position will be open for applications from July 22 through July 26.  Those who might be interested in applying are encouraged to become familiar with USA Jobs.

Posted on

SeaHawk begins routine operations

It is our great pleasure to announce that after 2 ½ years of intensive and at times, quite challenging commissioning efforts, our little SeaHawk Cubesat with the HawkEye ocean color instrument onboard entered its routine operations phase on Monday, 21 June 2021.  As with all things that are being attempted for the first time, there were many unforeseen hurdles to overcome and problems to solve but to quote William Shakespeare from Henry VIII – “To climb steep hills requires slow pace at first”.  

Well, we have climbed a very steep hill but the view from the top is magnificent as you can see by taking a look at just a few example images that have been acquired by HawkEye. Full details including links about the mission, its history, data products, operations and data access can be found at: https://oceancolor.gsfc.nasa.gov/data/hawkeye/

Over the course of the commissioning phase of the mission (3 December 2018 – 21 June 2021), a number of different instrument configurations were tested to try and maximize the scientific quality of the images finally settling on a configuration on 16 April 2021 that was decided would be the default as we moved into nominal operations. The current calibration configuration that is used in our production system and that is provided in new version of SeaDAS that will fully support HawkEye data and is being released today, is optimized for data collected after that date.

With the transition to operations, all HawkEye data starting with the very first image taken on March 21st, 2019 through today are now available for browse, download and ordering on the OceanColor Web Browser.

It is anticipated that within the next few weeks, we will start providing the opportunity to the international research community with the ability to schedule the HawkEye instrument to acquire images anywhere in the world and will be sending out all the details on how to do that soon.

Source: Gene Carl Feldman, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

Posted on

FIRST CONTACT ESTABLISHED WITH SEAHAWK

This morning at 12:12 UTC, the clyde space ground station in glasgow, scotland was able to establish contact with seahawk.  as part of that contact, they downlinked the log file and commanded the onboard beacon to send out a signal – all with complete success. in analyzing the data, they reported that the separation/activation sequence that took place 45 minutes after seahawk was deployed from the lower free flyer performed perfectly with all antennas and both solar panels being deployed successfully.  the remaining two panels, one of which serves as the lens cover for the hawkeye instrument will remain closed until we believe that sufficient time has passed for the post-launch out-gassing to have completed and then they will be commanded to deploy.  in addition, the battery voltage is as expected and the logs show that the spacecraft has been “alive” for 15 hours.  


attached is a screenshot showing the location of the seahawk when this first contact was made as well as an actual recording of seahawk’s beacon that was captured by a radio amateur in the u.k. 

for those of you who may have missed the absolutely beautiful launch and spectacular landing, or if you would just like to relive the experience, you can watch a replay of yesterday’s events starting at about 4:50 into the video at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wq8kS6UoOrQ&feature=youtu.be&t=289

while we were waiting and hoping for that first contact, i was reminded of the tension that the folks in nasa’s mission control center must have felt back in july of 1969 while waiting to hear if armstrong and aldrin had successfully landed on the moon.  

Neil Armstrong: Houston. Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed. 

CAPCOM: Roger Tranquility. We copy you on the ground. You got a bunch of guys about to turn blue. We’re breathing again. Thanks a lot.

while i am not saying that this morning’s event is anywhere close to the historical significance of landing on the moon, but for those us who were waiting for that signal, hearing it certainly allowed our hearts to beat and our lungs to breathe once again.

now on to the next step which involves a careful checkout of the spacecraft and activation of all the key systems that will be needed before we can start to do what seahawk was designed to do – to further our understanding of this incredible planet that we call home.

with my very best regards,

gene

Posted on

KJWOC 2018 Yokohama

It is with great pleasure to announce that the 6th Asian Workshop on Ocean Color, or the 15th series of Korea-Japan Workshop on Ocean Color (KJWOC) 2018 will be held in Yokohama as detailed below:

Dates: 3 – 5 December 2018
Place:  Miyoshi Hall, Yokohama Institute for Earth Sciences (YES),
           Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC)

In order to give us an estimation of participant number, we would very much appreciate if you could submit a registration form (attached) before 31 August 2018.

And for abstract (template attached), please submit it before 29 September 2018.
Please submit both registration form and abstract to Dr. Hiroto Higa (higa-h@ynu.ac.jp)and CC Eko Siswanto (ekosiswanto@jamstec.go.jp).

AWOC-2018_abstract_submissionDownload
AWOC-2018_registration formDownload