SPOTLIGHT: Thulium Fiber Laser Spins-Off to
Support Medical Applications

A 40 watt, 1.94 micron Thulium (Tm) fiber laser, devel-
oped by IPG Photonics with LRRP funding, was demon-
strated as an emerging tool for urologic procedures by Dr.
Nathanial Fried of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.
Originally developed for wind measurements, the laser
system has received attention from the medical commu-

nity for its promise in prostate and other cancer surgeries.

The Tm fiber laser is, according to Fried, “a promising
new laser technology that may find its niche in medicine
as a single, compact laser platform capable of perform-
ing multiple applications, including precise incision, rapid
vaporization, and adequate coagulation for hemostasis
during soft-tissue procedures." In addition, when com-
pared to current tools, the Tm fiber laser system is much
smaller, eye-safe, more efficient, and is a better match to
tissue absorption lines, which improves precision - leading
to firm commitments in the medical community to pursue

the technology.

THE MAGAZINE FOR THE PHOTONICS & OPTOE

the path
aspherics

An article in Laser Focus World
(September, 2005), “Fiber lasers find
opportunities in medical applications
showcased Dr. Fried’s work in

exploring the feasibility of the laser

Histological image
showing the laser’s
impact on a tissue
sample. The Tm
fiber laser leaves a
clean, distinct cut,
or kerf, with little
damage to the

surrounding tissue

LASERS


YEAR IN REVIEW: OVERVIEW

With more than 300 graduated
technology investments completed and
a current, active portfolio of over 100
projects, ESTO has continually built
upon NASA's reputation for developing
and advancing leading-edge

technologies.

So, how did ESTO do this year?
Here are few of our successes for FY05,
tied to NASA’s performance goals for
ESTO:

GOAL: Annually advance 25% of funded
technology projects one Technology
Readiness Level (TRL).

FYO5 RESULTS: 39% of funded
technology projects advanced at

least one TRL.

52%

FY99 FYOO FYO! FYO2
Fiscal Year

GOAL: Mature 2-3 technologies to the
point where they can be demonstrated
in space or in an operational environ-

ment.

FYO5 RESULTS: 24% (26) of funded
technology projects achieved actual

infusion. Examples include:

Fabry-Perot interferometer for
column CO2 underwent
successful DC-8 flight over
the California Central Valley

An array of prototype smart
antennae were deployed and
successfully received S-Band
signals from EO-1

- “Image Access Layer” program is
now operating in production on the
OnEarth WMS server, which is daily
serving 5 - 10 million maps of Land-
sat 7 data, MODIS data, and other
data sets to science users and the

general public.

GOAL: Enable one new science
measurement capability or significantly
improve performance of an existing

one.

FYOS RESULT: The Far IR
Spectroscopy of the Troposphere
(FIRST) instrument was successfully
demonstrated on a balloon flight on
June 7, 2005. FIRST measures infrared
emissions from 10-100 microns, well
beyond the range of any existing sen-
sors. The instrument is designed to
measure the far-infrared emission from
the troposphere-key data for global
change studies. (See page 5)


ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

A wealth of additional materials is available online at the recently updated
ESTO homepage - http://esto.nasa.gov - including:

+ Visit NASA gov

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS |
AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

raour esto seATONTEGH ee ances rane

Information
Welcome

about ESTO ‘The Earth-Sun System Technology Office (ESTO) manages the development of a wide variety of
icitati technologies for future science measurements and operational requirements. Through diverse

solicitations and technology initiatives and careful plannit

awards reliably applied to a broad range of mi

society at large.

Program Areas 570 NEWS

Observation Technologies: Oct 14 , 2005

The Power to Soe WELCOME TO THE NEW ESTO

The Advanced Sensors Group leads WEBSITE! (If you need access to
BEBE <evctopments in remote sensing technologies the old site, tis stil temporarly

through the Advanced Component Technologies —_avaabla: cick here)
and Instrument Incubator Programs

Oct 11 , 2005
Thullum Fiber Laser Spins-Off to

‘Support Medical Applications

Abstracts,
papers and

presentations
from the 2005

+ E-BOOKS (REPORTING)
Earth-Sun System = Sep 19, 2005
Information & Computational Technologies:
Technology cee ie The Ability to Understand See the new video about
+ NEWS: — The Advanced Information Systems Group poi yea
Sues SENSOF webs, CoMputing, automation, yodunes

Conference as Toropersbaty, networking, comaunication Computation Technologies

las fi + LINKS protocols, and other technologies to enhance the Project.
well as from Production, colecton, handing, transmission,

BF anaiysis, and comprehension of data. Sep 7, 2005

ESTO-funded Land Information

previous ESTO

System named co-winner of the

TECHNOLOGY SPOTLIGHT

NASA Software of the Year
conferences. Shape Memory Composte - Award
Malorals for Lightwosght,
Deployable Optics Browse and Search Current ‘Aug 25, 2005
TTectincloany RoHiblio Selections released for the 2005

+ Spotight Archive Advanced Component

The Earth piesa ges (ACT) ROSES
Science +News Archive
Technology
Curator: Phiip Larkin
Feet FirsrGov + NASA Privacy, Securty, Notifes S NASA Offi: George J. Komar
System (ESTIPS),
an evolving Fully searchable database of active
database of ESTO investments

science require-
ments linked to
technology
investments



The UAVSAR will have the capability

to conduct rapid repeat pass interfer-
ometry measurements with separa-
tions ranging from minutes to years,
enabling the measurement of surface
deformation to mm level accuracy.
Current space-based assets have a
repeat orbit cycle of 24 to 44 days,
limiting their effectiveness in the study

of rapidly deforming features.

The design of the UAVSAR focuses on
two key challenges. First, repeat pass
measurements will need to be taken
from flight paths that are nearly identi-
cal. The instrument will utilize real-
time GPS that interfaces with the plat-
form flight management system (FMS)
to confine the repeat flight path to
within a 10 m tube. Second, the radar
vector from the aircraft to the ground
target area must be similar from pass
to pass. This will be accomplished
with an actively scanned antenna de-
signed to support electronic steering
of the antenna beam with a minimum
of 1° increments over a range to

exceed +15’ in the flight direction.

Anticipated Technology Benefits:
Enable a repeat pass in as little as
20 minutes

+ Greatly reduced mass and volume to
existing airborne SAR technologies
Modular design to allow integration

on multiple airborne platforms

U 4

Elevation drawing depicts the relative size and location of

the SAR package on a Predator-B UAV.

This illustration depicts
synthetic aperture radar
patterns of seismic defor-
mations associated with
a model earthquake on
the San Francisco section
of the San Andreas Fault
(depicted in yellow).

Pre-programmed, autonomous
operation without need for a radar
operator

Flexible digital system that can trade
data rate for performance and accept
additional frequencies and param-

eters in the future

UAVSAR


YEAR IN REVIEW: INSTRUMENTS

Deployment

scenario for
NEXRAD, an
innovative
Doppler radar
instrument for
detailed monitor-
ing of hurricanes
and rainfall from
@ geostationary

orbit.

The Instrument Incubator Program (IIP) provides funding for new instrument

and measurement techniques, from the concept development through bread-

board and flight demonstration. Instrument development of this scale outside

of a mission stovepipe consistently leads to smaller, less resource intensive,

and easier to build flight instruments. Furthermore, developing and validating

these technologies before mission development improves their acceptance and

infusion by mission planners, thereby significantly reducing costs and schedule

uncertainties.

In FYOS, the IIP awarded funding for 23 new investigations for instrument devel-

opment. The awards, selected from a field of 82 submitted proposals, focus on

high-priority science areas, including aerosol and trace gas measurements in the

lower troposphere, ice topographic mapping, and tropospheric winds measure-

ments. The awarded investigations, which are to last three years, are as follows:

+ Laser Sounder for Atmospheric CO?

Measurements from Orbit

Cascade Laser Systems in Conjunction
with Integrated Electronics for Global
Studies of Climate Forcing and Response
Using UAVs as a Partner with Satellite and
Adaptive Models

Development of UAV-based Global Ozone
Lidar Demonstrator (GOLD)

A High-Accuracy Spectropolarimetric
Camera for Aerosol Remote Sensing from
Space

Multi-Functional Fiber Laser Lidar (MFLL)
for Ice Sheet Topographic Mapping
TWILiTE: Tropospheric Wind Lidar
Technology Experiment

Push-Broom Laser Altimeter
Demonstration for Space-Based
Cryospheric Topographic and Surface
Property Mapping

High-Altitude Imaging Wind and Rain
Airborne Profiler (HIWRAP)

Technology Development for a Combined
High Spectral Resolution and Ozone

Differential Absorption Lidar

Development and Evaluation of a
2-Micron Differential Absorption Lidar for
Profiling CO?

Glaciers and Ice Sheets Interferometric
Radar

Compact, Engineered, 2-Micron Coherent
Doppler Wind Lidar Prototype for Field
and Airborne Validation

Tropospheric Infrared Mapping Spec-
trometers (TIMS) for CO Measurements
Atom-interferometer Gravity Gradiometer
A GNSS Remote-Sensing and Ultra-High-
Accuracy POD Instrument (GRSPI)

In-situ Net Flux Within the Atmosphere of
the Earth

A Ka-Band Digitally Beamformed Radar
Interferometer for Topographic

Mapping of Glaciers and Ice Sheets

Large Aperture, Scanning, L-Band
Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR)
Pathfinder Advanced Radar Ice

Sounder (PARIS)

Development of an Agile Digital Detec-
tor for RFI Detection and Mitigation on

Spaceborne Radiometers


SPOTLIGHT: ESTC2005

ESTO held its fifth annual technol-
ogy conference June 28th-30th, at
the University of Maryland Inn and
Conference Center in College Park.
This year’s conference - ESTC2005
(Earth-Sun System Technology
Conference 2005) - included 59
technical papers presented in two
parallel tracks: Information Technol-

ogies and Observation Technologies. Directorate, gave the plenary

The papers reflected a broad range _ address. Full conference proceedings
of technologies and disciplines with- for ESTC2005, as well as for past ESTO
in the Earth and sun science areas. conferences are available at the ESTO
Dr. Mary Cleave, Director website (http://esto.nasa.gov)

of the NASA Science Mission

Ne

What are the drivers for ESTO’s - A strong focus on technology man-

success? agement results in steady, robust
development progress - over 67%

- A diverse research community - of completed projects advanced at
principal investigators are drawn least 1 Technology Readiness Level
from nearly 100 organizations in (TRL) over the lifetime of their
27 states. funding.

- Acommitment to advanced
planning and technology infusion
by thoroughly vetting technology
requirements and actively seeking

infusion opportunities.
Technologies infused
(over 29%)

‘Awaiting Infusion
i ; ‘Opportunity
ESTO’s Infusion Success (less than 26%)

(366 completed projects through FY05)



Earth-Sun System Technology Office
Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, MD 20771

http://esto.nasa.gov


YEAR IN REVIEW: UAVSAR

The UAVSAR (Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle, Synthetic Aperture Radar) project finds its origins in an
Instrument Incubator Program (IIP) investment at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory entitled: “Repeat
Pass Deformation Measurement Capability for an Airborne Platform.” That IIP investment was
singled out in 2004 for targeted funding - to develop two baseline systems, conduct flight test-
ing on the NASA Gulfstream Ill, and integrate into a Predator-B UAV - and became the UAVSAR
project. With the Gulfstream Ill flight testing slated to begin in early 2007, the UAVSAR project
has met significant schedule requirements including: a requirements review, a Preliminary
Design Review (PDR) of the instrument, pod; and platform; and a Critical Design Review (CDR) of

the instrument.

Anticipated Science Applications:

+ Land Cover(classification)

+ Hydrology (soil moisture)

+ Agriculture

- Ice (velocity, thickness, and age)
+ Oceanography

+ Vegetation Structure

+ Hydrology (Topography)

+ Archeology



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7
SPOTLIGHT: Shape Memory Composite Materials for

Lightweight, Deployable Optics

Large, lightweight, deployable antennas will be a critical component in real-
izing a number of future science measurement objectives. This project dem-
onstrates the applicability of new shape memory materials that can be stowed
compactly for launch, and later deployed to a stiff and stable structure suit-

able for a wide range of applications.

The shape memory materials used in the production of these optics are similar
to traditional carbon fiber-reinforced composites except that they include a
shape memory polymer resin based on cyanate ester. The unique properties of
this resin allow the optics to be put under high packaging strain without dam-
age. The strain is induced by heating the material, flexing it mechanically, and
then cooling it to “freeze” the strained material in a shape suitable for packag-
ing. Deployment, or shape recovery, is achieved by re-heating the composite
material, which releases its strain to return to its “normal,” pre-packaged

shape.

Anticipated Technology Benefits:

+ Lightweight, compact, and deployable - less than 5 kg per square meter
packing enabled by resin deformations of 10-40%, reducing mission cost and
enabling higher orbits.

- Enables larger apertures that can enhance instrument capabilities

+ Manufacturing process that relies on a master optic makes reproduction fast
and inexpensive

+ Combines high optical surface accuracy with a stiff monolithic structure

- Eliminates the need for complex deployment mechanisms

+ Can be stowed and deployed in a configuration that protects optical surfaces

from abrasion or damage
Time lapse of

nickel/composite
laminate
deployment at
100°C

COMPONENTS



YEAR IN REVIEW: COMPONENTS

Transmit/receive
(T/R) module on
flexible mem-
brane material
for use in large,

space-deployable

antennas.

This latch for a

space-deployable
optical mirror
was developed
using contact
mechanics and
micro-slip friction
models to achieve
sub-micron preci-
sion and nanome-

ter-level stability.

>

The Advanced Component Technology
(ACT) program leads research, develop-
ment, and testing of component- and
subsystem-level technologies to ad-
vance the state-of-the-art of instru-
ments, Earth- and space-based plat-
forms, and information systems. The
ACT program focuses on projects that
reduce risk, cost, size, mass, and devel-
opment time of technologies to enable

their eventual infusion into missions.

In FYOS5, ACT released a solicitation as
part of the NASA ROSES (Research
Opportunity for Space and Earth Sci-
ence) 2005 announcement. 92 pro-
posals were received of which 14 were

selected for awards. These are:

+ A Solid-State Terahertz Receiver for
Atmospheric Spectroscopy

+ Advanced Component Technology for
Exploration of the Heliosphere Using
Neutral Atom Imaging Arrays

+ Aluminum Manganese TES
Development for Large Scale Arrays of
Microcalorimeters

+ Adaptive Self-Correcting T/R module for
Phase-Stable Array Antennas
Lightweight, Low Power, High Speed
Digital Signal Distribution Technology for
Thinned Aperture Radiometer Application
High-Precision Adaptive Control of Large
Antenna Surface
MEMS Actuated Wave Front Controller
Miniature MMIC Low Mass/power Radi-
ometer Modules for the 180 GHz
GeoSTAR Array

Ultra Low Noise Radiometers for Tropo-
spheric and Stratospheric Limb Sounding
Large Lightweight and Deployable Phased
Arrays Using RF MEMS Switches

+ Analog Radio- Frequency Interference
Suppression System for Microwave
Radiometers

+ Shared Aperture Diffractive Optical
Element (ShADOE) Multiplexed Telescope

+ Advanced Performance Two- Channel
Ku- and Ka- Band Dual-Downconverters
for Interferometric Radar Applications

+ Compact Ku-Band T/R Module for Wide-
Swath High-Resolution Radar Imaging of

Cold Land Processes

The ACT program also graduated two

projects in FYOS:
Development of High Performance
Laminated Electroformed Shape Memory
Composite Materials for Lightweight and
Deployable Optics

+ Advanced UV and Visible Ultra-narrow
Interference Filter Technology Develop-
ment (awarded competitive funding by
the Instrument Incubator Program for

further development)


+ Validation of Technique for Measurement

of Tropospheric Winds Using Doppler
Shift of the Oxygen A-band Absorption
Lines

- Airborne Water, Aerosol Cloud and

Carbon Dioxide Lidar

+ Geostationary Imaging Fabry-Perot

Spectrometer (GIFS)

ir
SPOTLIGHT: FIRST (Far Infra-

red Spectroscopy of the
Troposphere) Successfully
Test Flown

The 1IP-funded FIRST (Far Infrared
Spectroscopy of the Troposphere)
instrument was successfully demon-
strated on a high-altitude research

The IIP also graduated eight projects in balloon flight on June 7, 2005

FYO5, all of which advanced at least one

Technology Readiness Level (TRL): FIRST measures infrared emissions

+ Advanced Precipitation Radar Antenna

(APRA)

Microwave Observatory of Subcanopy and
Subsurface (MOSS) UHF/VHF SAR

Laser Absorption Spectrometer for
Global-Scale Profiling of Tropospheric
Carbon Dioxide

ICOS, CAPS and CRDS: New Techniques
for Precise, Low-Cost, Airborne, In Situ
Mapping of Species for AURA
Collaborative Science

Digital Receiver with Interference

Suppression for Microwave Radiometry

+ Advanced Lightweight Rainfall

Radiometer (LRR)

Ultra Stable Microwave Radiometers
(USMR) for Future Sea Surface Salinity
Missions

Fabry-Perot Interferometer for Column
co

from 10-100 microns, well beyond
the range of any existing sensors. The
instrument is designed to measure
the far-infrared emission from the
troposphere, which will provide key
data for global change studies.

The balloon and payload was
launched from the National Scientific
Balloon Facility in Ft. Sumner, NM,
and provided data from 90,000 ft
for 4.5 hours, meeting the test ob-
jectives. During this time, the Aqua
spacecraft (containing the AIRS
instrument, which measures infra-
red emissions from 4 to 15 microns)
passed overhead. The AIRS data from
this pass will be combined with the
FIRST data to provide the first-ever
complete infrared emission spectrum
of the Earth.

Based on the preliminary assessment,
the instrument met its design goals.
Complete data analysis is ongoing
but initial looks at the data show
far-infrared spectra rich in spectral
features.

v

The FIRST

instrument

launching from
Ft. Sumner, NM.

INSTRUMENTS


ABOUT ESTO

From instruments
to data access,
ESTO technolo-
gies enable a full
range of scientific

measurements

As the lead technology office within the
Earth-Sun System Division of the NASA
Science Mission Directorate, the Earth-
Sun System Technology Office (or ESTO)
performs strategic technology planning
and manages the development of a
range of advanced technologies for fu-
ture science measurements and opera-
tional requirements. ESTO technology
investments attempt to address the full
science measurement process: from the
instruments and platforms needed to
make observations, to the data systems
and information products to make

those observations useful.

ESTO’s approach to technology

development is also end-to-end:

+ Planning technology investments
through comprehensive analyses of
science requirements

+ Developing technologies through
competitive solicitations and

partnership opportunities

Access to Knowledge

+ Making technologies available to
scientists and mission managers for

infusion

ESTO employs an open, flexible,
science-driven strategy that relies on
competitive, peer-reviewed solicitations
to produce the best, cutting-edge tech-
nologies. In many cases, investments
are leveraged through partnerships to
mitigate financial risk and to create a
broader audience for technology

infusion.

The results speak for themselves: a
varied portfolio of over 450 emerging
technologies that will enable and/or
enhance future science measurements
and an ever-growing number of infu-

sion successes.


YEAR IN REVIEW: INFORMATION SYSTEMS

Advanced information systems are used
to process, archive, access, visualize,
and communicate science data. Ad-
vanced computing and communications
concepts that permit the transmission
and management of terabytes of data
are essential to NASA's vision of a
unified observational network. ESTO’s
Advanced Information Systems Technol-
ogy (AIST) Program employs an end-to-
end approach to evolve these critical
technologies - from the space segment,
where the information pipeline begins,
to the end user, where knowledge is

advanced.

In FYO5, the AIST program held some

39 investments, several of which

graduated over the course of the year,

including:

+ Planning and Scheduling of
Coordinated Science Observations

+ Merging the NetCDF and HDF5
Libraries to Achieve Gains in

Performance and Interoperability

The AIST program plans to add to these
investment numbers in 2006 with the
release of an additional solicitation, as
part of the NASA ROSES (Research
Opportunity for Space and Earth

Science) announcement.

The Aqua Model-Based Advisor, developed at NASA Goddard
Space Flight Center with AIST funding, helps safeguard the

AQUA satellite by constantly monitoring it’s flight software
and alerting mission operators of errors via email. The tech-
nology can be readily modified for use in almost any remote
system where complexity requires advanced

monitoring tools.

In addition, the end of FYO5 marks the
graduation of 26 major investments in
the computational technologies area
(formerly the ESTO Computational
Technologies Project). Among these
graduates are: the award-winning Land
Information System; the Earth Science
and Space Weather Modeling Frame-
work projects; and the QuakeSim earth-
quake modeling portal. In the coming
years, AIST will build on this work by
actively pursuing technologies in com-
putational, modeling and visualization

areas.


FUTURE CHALLENGES

While ESTO is uniquely situated to pursue a wide range of technology requirements, we have identified

five crosscutting technology areas that will serve a multitude of science disciplines:

Remote Sensing Technologies to enable measurements of the atmosphere,
hydrosphere, biosphere, lithosphere, and magnetosphere.

- Atmospheric chemistry using interferometry from L1

- Snow water equivalent and snow wetness using Radar from LEO

+ Soil moisture and sea salinity measurements using P-band from Geo

Large Deployable Apertures to enable future weather, climate, and natural
hazards measurements.

+ Tropospheric winds, temperature, and moisture using Dial-Lidar from Geo
- Soil moisture and sea salinity measurements using P-band from Geo

- Tropospheric chemistry using Lidar from Geo

Platform Technologies to enable measurements from unique vantage points.
+ High Delta-V propulsion

+ Advanced navigation and control

+ High-performance on-board processing

- Advanced solar collection efficiency

Intelligent Distributed Systems using advanced communication, on-board
radiation-tolerant reprogrammable processors, autonomous operations and
network control, data compression, high density storage.

+ Long-term weather prediction linking observations to numerical models

+ Space weather monitoring and prediction linking observations to numerical

models

Information Knowledge Capture through novel visualizations, memory and
storage advances, and seamlessly linked models.

+ Intelligent data fusion to merge multi-mission data

+ Discovery tools to extract knowledge from large and complex data sets

+ Real time science processing, archiving, and distribution of user products to

drive decision-support systems


CONTENTS

About ESTO

Year in Review:
4. Instruments
6. UAVSAR

8. Components
10. Lasers

12. Information Systems

. Future Challenges

. Additional Resources


EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

A s reported in the pages that follow, 2005 has been another highly productive
year for Earth-Sun system technology development. NASA’s Earth-Sun System
Technology Office (ESTO) graduated some 40 technology projects over the fiscal
year, of which nearly 90% advanced at least one Technology Readiness Level (TRL)
during the course of their funding. Competitive solicitations added 37 new proj-
ects to the ESTO portfolio: 23 to the Instrument Incubator Program (IP) and 14 to
the Advanced Component Technologies (ACT) program.

Two recent graduates deserve special attention for achievements in FYOS. The Far
Infrared Spectroscopy of the Troposphere (FIRST) instrument was test flown on a
high-altitude balloon and recorded the first-ever complete infrared spectrum of
the Earth, more than half of which is beyond the range of existing sensors. Also,
the Land Information System, a high-performance land surface modeling and

data assimilation system, was named co-winner of the NASA Software of the Year

award.

ESTO has continued to build on its history of technology infusion success as well.
In FY05, 24% of active ESTO technology projects achieved actual infusion in sci-

ence measurements, live system demonstrations, or spin-off applications.

Finally, our program name was altered early this year - from “Earth Science...” to
“Earth-Sun System...” - to reflect ESTO’s new role as the lead technology office
within the Earth-Sun System Division of the NASA Science Mission Directorate.

As we approach the challenges of the coming year, we look forward to working
closely with our colleagues across NASA and to forming new partnering and fund-

ing relationships across the nation.

George Komar

Program Director, ESTO


YEAR IN REVIEW: LASERS

The Laser Risk Reduction Program
(LRRP) was established in 2002 by
the NASA administrator under the
recommendation of the Earth Science

Independent Laser Review
LRRP works to
formalize design, testing,
and development procedures

Panel.

for durable laser/lidar

systems and architectures,
particularly in the critical
1- and 2- micron wavelengths. In
doing so, the LRRP aims to:

Solid model of a ;
chor + demonstrate laser technologies that

high-energy, high- can be reliably and confidently

efficiency, infused;
conductively + prepare technologies well in advance
of missions;

+ maintain NASA's in-house laser ex-

cooled 2-micron
laser for space
lidar applications pertise and capabilities; investigate
science-technology trade-offs; and
+ test engineering flight models in final

configurations.

Laser/lidar remote sensing

techniques can satisfy a variety of mea-
surement and operational
requirements:

Earth Science: Clouds/
= Aerosols, Tropospheric Winds,

Ozone, Carbon Dioxide, Bio-

mass, Water Vapor, Land, Ice,

and Ocean, Surface Mapping,
and Laser Altimetry

Space Science: Surface
Materials, Physical State,
Surface Topography, Molecular

Species, and Atmospheric
Composition and Dynamics

Exploration: Lander
Guidance/Control, Atmo-
spheric Winds, Biochemical
Identification, Optical Com-
munication, and Automated
Rendezvous & Docking

Aeronautics: Turbulence
Detection, Wind Shear

Detection, and Wake Vortices
The LRRP currently funds 27 projects at
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and
NASA Langley Research Center. Part-
ners and collaborators include: Ameri-
can University, Boston College, the Jet
Propulsion Laboratory, Johns Hopkins
University Applied Physics Labora-
tory, Montana State University, Sandia
National Laboratory, the University of
Maryland, and numerous industrial
partners. The investments also cover
a broad range of laser/lidar challenge
areas, including:

+ High-performance 1- and 2- Micron
Lasers

+ High-reliability Pump Laser Diode
Arrays

+ Space Radiation Tolerance

+ Frequency Control and Wavelength
Conversion

+ Electrical Efficiency

+ Heat Removal and Thermal
Management

+ Contamination Tolerance

+ Photoreceiver and Detector
Development


POS aaa

INS

S468 1Ginformation System
SPOTLIGHT: 2005 NASA
Software of the Year Co-
Winner: Land Information
System

NASA selected two teams to receive
the agency’s Software of the Year
Award. A team from NASA’s Goddard
Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.,
and funded by AIST, was recognized
for their Land Information System
Software (LIS) V4.0.

The LIS software is a high-perfor-
mance land surface modeling and
data assimilation system. LIS realisti-
cally predicts the water and energy
cycles, including runoff, evapora-
tion from plants and soil, and heat
storage in the ground. This enables
observation-driven modeling to help
revolutionize the nation’s weather
and climate forecasting

systems.

The LIS has helped advance NASA’s
software engineering principles and
practices, while promoting portabil-
ity, interoperability and scalability.
LIS is being used by the science teams
from the orbiting Gravity Recovery
and Climate Experiment (GRACE), the
Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mis-
sion (TRMM) and the Aqua satellite.

SPOTLIGHT: QuakeSim project

Novel space-based assets and in situ techniques make
measurements of Earth’s tectonic processes more precise
and more productive than ever before. QuakeSim is a
web-services based geophysical modeling environment
that can enable a better understanding of these mea-
surements, provide insights into tectonic activity, and

pave the way to reliable earthquake forecasts.

The QuakeSim portal includes a wide range of tools,
including: simulation and analysis software; a federated
database providing access to earthquake fault, GPS, and
seismic data; and visualization tools. This portal architec-
ture offers flexibility to expand available resources, such
as the addition of data and the inclusion of new modeling
codes. Three major simulation tools - Virtual California,
Geophysical Finite Element Simulation Tool (GeoFEST),
and PARK - are under continuing development and are

available online at http://quakesim jpl.nasa.gov.

Finite element
mesh (right) used
in a Landers
earthquake
simulation and
an interferogram
from a GeoFEST
finite element
model of the dis-
placement during
the1992 Landers,

California event.

INFORMATION SYSTEMS