The Earth Observing System (EOS) Data and Information System (EOSDIS) is a comprehensive distributed system designed to support NASA's Earth Science missions. Designed in the early 1990's, EOSDIS has been archiving, managing, and distributing Earth science data since 1994. Over the life of EOSDIS an on-going process of technology updates and improvements in user access, distribution mechanisms, and archive management has attempted to keep the system current. However, data volumes have grown rapidly and the science community has gained experience and capability in processing and analyzing their data. The result is a growing desire to re-examine the current operations for gains and improvements in a variety of areas. The objectives of the evolution of EOSDIS are to: increase end-to-end data system efficiency while decreasing operations costs, increase data interoperability and usability by the science research, application, and modeling communities, improve data access and processing, and ensure safe stewardship.

The ultimate goal of NASA's Terra mission is to unravel the mysteries of climate and environmental change. The instruments on board the Terra spacecraft are collecting global data sets needed to study the interrelationships inherent in the Earth's coupled atmosphere-land-ocean-biosphere system. Issues such as the Earth's energy balance, global cloudiness, the effects of atmospheric aerosols, and the impact of trace gases on climate can be addressed with simultaneous data from instruments such as the Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES), the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) and the Measurements Of Pollution In The Troposphere (MOPITT). An important feature of the experiments onboard Terra is the ability to obtain data from multiple instruments viewing the same phenomena. CERES, MISR and MOPITT data available from the Atmospheric Sciences Data Center (ASDC) at NASA's Langley Research Center are used to demonstrate various complementary views of the Earth system. Examples are given of spatially and temporally coincident data covering phenomena such as aerosol concentrations from dust storms, and carbon monoxide and smoke associated with fires. CERES uses broadband radiometric measurements in three channels to provide both solar-reflected and Earth-emitted radiation throughout the atmosphere and, in combination with simultaneous measurements from instruments such as the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS), provides new information on cloud properties. MISR obtains precisely calibrated images taken simultaneously at nine different angles and four wavelengths (blue, green, red and near-infrared) to provide data related to aerosols, clouds, and the Earth's surface. MOPITT is a scanning radiometer designed to measure tropospheric profiles and total column amount of carbon monoxide on both the day and night portions of an orbit. Information about the available CERES, MISR and MOPITT data products, and how to obtain them can be found at the ASDC web site: http://eosweb.larc.nasa.gov.

The Measurements Of Pollution In The Troposphere (MOPITT) instrument measures carbon monoxide and methane in the troposphere over the entire globe. It was launched onboard the NASA Earth Observing System (EOS) Terra satellite in December 1999. MOPITT data products are archived and distributed by the Atmospheric Sciences Data Center (ASDC) at NASA's Langley Research Center. Available MOPITT data products include Level 1 radiances and Level 2 derived carbon monoxide total column and mixing ratio profiles at a horizontal resolution of about 22 km at nadir and a vertical resolution of about 4 km. The ASDC also makes available tools that aid in the visualization and analysis of the MOPITT Level 2 data products. The MOPITT L2 Viewer software package plots images from the MOPITT Level 2 data files. Sample read software extracts data from a MOPITT Level 2 HDF-EOS formatted file and outputs the data in ASCII. The software also allows subsetting by latitude and longitude. Detailed information about the MOPITT data products, tools and documentation is available from the ASDC web site.

NASA's Earth Science Enterprise, working with its domestic and international partners, provides scientific data and analysis to improve life here on Earth. NASA provides science data products that cover a wide range of physical, geophysical, biochemical and other parameters, as well as, services for interdisciplinary Earth science studies. Management and distribution of these products is administered through the Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) Distributed Active Archive Centers (DAACs), which all hold data within a different Earth science discipline. This work highlight selected EOS datasets and focuses on how these observations contribute to the improvement of essential services such as weather forecasting, climate prediction, air quality, and agricultural efficiency. Emphasis can be placed on new data products derived from instruments on board Terra, Aqua and ICES at as well as new regional data products and field campaigns. A variety of data tools and services are available to the user community. This work introduces primary and specialized DAAC-specific methods for finding, ordering and using these data products. Special sections focuses on orienting users unfamiliar with DAAC resources, HDF-EOS formatted data and the use of desktop research and application tools.

The possibility to create the new concept for usage of small satellites constellation arises today in connection with development of the circuit technology for manufacturing of real small space vehicles. Their low price allows the formation of a multi-purpose satellite constellation. Such a constellation is created in frames of the Russian Federal space program up to 2006. It is designed for monitoring of natural (typhoons, hurricanes, eruptions of volcanoes etc.) and man-made (radioactive contamination etc.) catastrophes. The space segment will be designed and manufactured by the Research Institute for Electromechanics of the Federal State Unitary Enterprise. The Institute of Terrestrial Magnetism, Ionosphere and Radiowave Propagation (IZMIRAN) will design the set of scientific devices and programs.

The multiyear MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) measurements are full of exciting aerosol events, such as the well-known Asian/Saharan dust outbreaks, biomass burning in South Africa, Southeast Asia, Central America, and Southern Africa, and air pollution all over the world. The MODIS aerosol optical depths (/spl tau//sub a/) are validated against AERONET (aerosol robotic network) and other radiometer/sunphotometer (e.g., airborne sunphotometer, shadowband radiometer, microtops, etc.) measurements within the expected retrieval errors of /spl Delta//spl tau//sub a/ = /spl plusmn/0.05/spl plusmn/0.2 /spl tau//sub a/ (e.g., 25 land and /spl Delta//spl tau//sub a/ = /spl plusmn/0.03/spl plusmn/0.05/spl tau//sub a/ (e.g., 8 for /spl tau//sub a/ = 1) over ocean. The comparisons of monthly MODIS V4 (version 4) and GACP (global aerosol climatology project) AVHRRR (advanced very high resolution radiometer) aerosol optical depths with AVHRR show that the difference of aerosol loading are generally larger in the northern hemisphere than in the southern hemisphere form March to August 2000 and February 2001 in both hemispheres. Similar conclusions can also be drawn from regional analysis, except in pristine oceans in the northern hemisphere where MODIS and AVHRR aerosol retrievals are in agreement throughout the year. The preliminary results of correlating MODIS aerosol optical depths with PM/sub 2.5/ (particular matter with diameter < 2.5 /spl mu/m) mass concentrations measured at surface are promising with the correlation coefficients found as high as 0.8-0.9 in many metropolitan areas. MODIS ability to provide the pseudosynoptic movement of aerosol-laden air mass can greatly improve air quality assessment and forecast.

During 2001, a team of scientists and engineers from NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) led a planning activity for future studies of the sources, sinks, and transport of carbon in the atmosphere, on land, and in the oceans. This study was conducted at the request of NASA headquarters. Members of the Earth sciences community and representatives from other NASA centers and headquarters participated in a series of workshops to further refine the science questions, determine the required measurements, and identify gaps in our current measurements suite. Three critical gaps were identified: (1) global time series of CO/sub 2/ atmosphere-surface exchange, (2) ecosystems carbon storage due to land biomass and its change as well as the carbon consequences of disturbance and (3) measurements of critical biochemicals mediating global ocean surface layer uptake and export of carbon. The observations required to fill these gaps were also defined and include: (1) satellite-based observations of column and profile carbon dioxide concentration, (2) reprocessing of the historic land satellite record to track land use changes over time and quantify their carbon consequences, (3) satellite measurements of chlorophyll and related organic and inorganic compounds in the coastal and upper deep ocean. The status of observation technology to support these new measurements was investigated through detailed science and engineering studies, and developed into nominal missions in the Goddard Integrated Mission Design Center. Technologies are currently not at a high enough technology readiness level to support all of these missions. A program of technology development with properties was recommended. Algorithm development, historical data analysis, in situ and aircraft measurements, field campaigns, calibration and validation requirements, numerical model and data assimilation development, and data synthesis were also included in the recommendations. The various elements were costed, prioritized, and provided to NASA headquarters for consideration. This material was presented to OMB and subsequent activities have benefited from this planning effort.

In the era since Canada followed the Soviet Union and the United States into space, space technology has evolved enormously. No longer the exclusive purview of fully developed countries, space is being harnessed for the benefit of humanity by even small countries and individual establishments. The exploitation of space applications is limited only by the imagination and resolve of the interested parties. Canada's initiation into space took the form of Alouette 1, launched in 1962 to learn more about the physics of electromagnetic phenomena interfering with its radio communications with its northern areas. International collaboration has played an important role and continues to be emphasized as its exploitation of space progressed from science and communications to remote sensing to space robotics. Even today, Canada has declined to develop an independent launch capability, preferring to collaborate with the nations endowed with such a capability. Recent developments in Canada have seen collaboration extend inward, with federal/provincial and private/public sector cooperation on selected space missions. Such collaboration has proven very beneficial to Canada and is recommended globally. Canadian harnessing of space technology began in the domain of communications, moving from R&D into phenomena affecting communications to the world's first domestic geostationary satellite communications system. Today, Canadians have access to not only our own domestic comsats but also international service providers which include Canadian elements. Canadian involvement in space robotics received a big boost with the contribution of the CANADARM to NASA for use on their space shuttles. It grew further with the CANADARM-2 for the International Space Station (ISS), a sophisticated robot which is still evolving, the third main element not yet launched. This arm is available for use by the international partners on the ISS, a major international scientific collaboration.

NASA launched the Terra spacecraft, first major platform for the Earth Observing System, in December 1999. The platform has five instruments that acquire global data for a wide variety of scientific studies of the Earth's land, oceans, and atmosphere. The Terra mission initiated a process of long-term measurements designed to assess and monitor the health of the Earth. This paper provides an overview of the Terra mission and the status of the spacecraft and instruments during the past year.

This paper will describe the day-to-day control of the Measurements Of Pollution In The Troposphere (MOPITT) instrument. The MOPITT onboard software is designed to make maintenance of the instrument fairly simple in nature. Very few commands are required during normal operations, and the instrument, once set up, can be run for several months with no additional intervention. The ground system that controls the Terra spacecraft, of which MOPITT is one instrument, allows both real time commanding and scheduled commanding. The scheduled commanding can be planned far in advance and uses pre-tested blocks of command sequences to do more complicated instrument functions, such as long calibration events. MOPITT commands are arranged in a hierarchy that allows “top level” routine commanding to be carried out efficiently, but also permits “bottom level” commanding to deal with unforeseen conditions. The extensive use of tables, and the ability to update the permanent memory on-orbit, all contribute to a simple yet powerful, control capability. Real time commanding is directed by MOPITT IOT (Instrument Operations Team) members at the University of Toronto (UoT) on a voice line that is permanently connected to the Earth Observing System (EOS) Operations Center (EOC) in Greenbelt, Maryland. A data link permits real-time displays of the instrument status to be viewed by the Toronto personnel. EOC personnel send instrument commands after confirmation from UoT personnel. This method of operation is extremely reliable and has been used extensively to do routine maintenance and configuration changes of the MOPITT instrument.

With the success of the Measurements Of Pollution In The Troposphere (MOPITT) instrument, which has now been operating for over two years on NASA's Terra spacecraft, the utility of continuous tropospheric carbon monoxide (CO) monitoring is being proved. While a number of other space instruments will be capable of making similar measurements in the foreseeable future (e.g. TES and SCIAMACHY), the future of the continuous monitoring role of the MOPITT-type instrument needs to be clearly defined. in this paper I will attempt to outline the plausible future of this type of measurement. Is it best performed from low Earth orbit, from geostationary orbit, or by a combination of the two? What have we learned from the first generation of CO monitors which we could use to improve the next generation? In what way must the instrument and measurement scenario be improved in order to meaningfully contribute to our understanding of lower atmospheric chemistry and dynamics? These questions should be addressed and answered if we are to build on the foundation of the MOPITT measurements to further our goal of understanding the atmosphere.

It has been nearly 15 years since the MOPITT program began. In that time the MOPITT team and the scientific community have developed a new instrument, new retrieval algorithms, and new models to utilise the data. The increase in our understanding over that time has been profound and the MOPITT data now being produced are set to further increase that knowledge as we incorporate the data into our current models and as we strive to understand how the troposphere transports minor constituents. In this talk I will give an overview of the background to the MOPITT project from inception to the present day. I will show how our knowledge has steadily increased, and how we arrived at our current understanding. In the context of a brief overview of the present position, I will show some examples of how the MOPITT data confirm (or deny) our current understanding of tropospheric transport and also what needs to be done in the near-term to make the maximum use of the MOPITT data.

Validation of the MOPITT retrievals of carbon monoxide (CO) has been performed with a varied set of correlative data. These include in situ observations from a regular program of aircraft observations at five sites. Additional in situ profiles are available from several short-term research campaigns. These in situ profiles are critical for the validation of the retrieved CO mixing ratio profiles from MOPITT. Ground-based spectroscopic measurements are compared to MOPITT CO total column densities to validate the observed seasonal cycles. The current validation results indicate good quantitative agreement between MOPITT and in situ profiles, with an average bias less than 20 ppbv. The same seasonal cycles are see in MOPITT and the ground-based spectroscopic data. These validation comparisons provide critical assessments of the retrievals, and continuing improvements to the retrieval algorithms are reducing the validation biases.

The MOPITT (Measurement of Pollution in the Troposphere) instrument uses gas-correlation spectroscopy to retrieve the tropospheric profile of CO and the total column of CO and CH/sub 4/. The instrument's 2.2-2.3 /spl mu/m channel signals can be used to determine the CH/sub 4/ and CO columns. At these wavelengths, surface effects are important since the channel radiances are determined by reflected solar radiation. Small changes in scene during data acquisition for a given pixel can introduce important variations in surface reflectivity, even when averaged over the instrument field-of-view. These variations must be carefully accounted for to ensure a quality column retrieval. MOPITT simulations based on reflectivity measurements from the MODIS Airborne Simulator are used to construct examples illustrating these effects, along with a method for their mitigation.

The Measurements Of Pollution In The Troposphere (MOPITT) instrument is designed to measure the spatial and temporal variation of the carbon monoxide (CO) profile and total column amount in the troposphere from space. MOPITT channels are sensitive to both thermal emission from the surface and target gas absorption and emission. Surface temperature and emissivity are retrieved simultaneously with the CO profile. To obtain the desired precision for the retrieved CO profiles, it is important to retrieve the surface skin temperature accurately and understand the effects of any errors in retrieved skin temperature on retrieved CO. To demonstrate the impacts of surface skin temperature on the retrieval of the tropospheric CO profile, a simulation study is performed. The collocated Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) surface temperatures are used to validate the accuracy of the retrieved MOPITT surface temperatures.

MOPITT (Measurements Of Pollution In The Troposphere) is a carbon monoxide and methane remote sounder launched in 1999 with the Terra spacecraft. An aircraft replica (MOPITT-A) has been developed at the University of Toronto to perform validation of MOPITT radiances as well as small-scale pollution studies. MOPITT-A is based on the engineering model of MOPITT, modified for flight in NASA's ER-2 research aircraft. The instrument was first tested over California from the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center in July 2000. In August and September 2000, it participated in the SAFARI 2000 field campaign in South Africa. This paper presents some of the data collected during SAFARI 2000. MOPITT-A is financed by the Canadian Space Agency and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council.

The EOS Measurements Of Pollution In The Troposphere (MOPITT) is the first free-flying instrument for global measurement of carbon monoxide (CO) in the atmosphere from space. Because biomass burning is one of the major sources of CO to the atmosphere, the capacity of MOPITT to detect CO released from biomass burning is important and is the subject of this investigation. A study area with a series of fire events in the year 2000 in the northwest United States is selected. Fire data, detected with Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) from the satellite, were acquired and processed to spatially and temporally match the CO data. It is found that the increase of CO in the atmosphere is closely related to burning area and density in the study area. It appears that MOPITT can detect the CO increase due to biomass burning in a forested area when the fire size is over 40 km/sup 2/, i.e. 8 pixel.

A detailed radiative transfer model of the MOPITT instrument and the Earth's atmosphere was developed and validated. This model simulates the various radiometric sources for the instrument (atmosphere, space, onboard and laboratory calibration targets) as well as a number of detailed internal features not considered in the operational MOPITT retrieval algorithm (optical imbalance, chopper emission, etc.). It was employed to establish sensitivity levels of MOPITT to the uncertainty in various instrument parameters. It should also prove useful in the development of successor MOPITT instruments, and related correlation radiometers. The sensitivity studies highlighted several critical parameters including the filter positions, gas cell lengths and pressures, and optical imbalance. MOPITT calibration events are shown to reduce the impact of instrument parameter uncertainties on target gas retrievals, but in-flight validation is likely required for MOPITT to achieve its stated accuracy objectives.

Remotely sensed observations are inherently incomplete, and some method must be used to obtain a complete and global state of the atmosphere. Data assimilation is a method that combines an atmospheric model with observations in a dynamically and chemically coherent state of the atmosphere. The degree to which measurements contradicts model-predicted fields can also be an indicator of problems with the instrument, the measurement technique, the inversion, or of the model. The research presented here aims towards obtaining the chemical state of the atmosphere with an emphasis on global atmospheric pollution in the troposphere using observations from MOPITT.

The MOPITT (Measurements Of Pollution In The Troposphere) Airborne Test Radiometer (MATR) uses gas filter correlation radiometry to measure tropospheric carbon monoxide (CO) using one length-modulated correlation cell and one pressure-modulated correlation cell. The aircraft that carries MATR usually also carries an in situ sampling system. This paper presents an overview of the MATR instrument and its validation (using in situ data), and then presents results from a flight over Los Angeles.

The region of Europe is interesting for the study of CO due to the combination of local sources of pollution and transport of high levels of CO from distant sources. Since the former more readily affects the boundary layer, and the latter may involve lofting to higher altitudes as well as long range transport, the profile shape of CO may vary considerably. Typical model profiles of CO for ocean and continental Europe are compared to those retrieved from MOPITT observations.

The MOPITT instrument is measuring atmospheric columns and profiles of carbon monoxide and columns of methane from NASA's Terra satellite. To make these measurements, MOPITT utilises six length modulated radiometers (LMRs). Prior to the integration of MOPITT onto Terra, the radiometric response of the LMRs to simulated atmospheres was measured. Comparison of these measurements to theoretically calculated signals have shown that the response of the carbon monoxide radiometers is within the errors of the calculations. The primary sources of error in these calculations are errors and/or uncertainties in the LMC gas pressure, LMC correlation cell length, and LMR imbalance.

The optical design of a new high-resolution Fourier Transform infrared Spectrometer (FTS) is described. The FTS is dedicated to ground-based atmospheric measurements from Toronto, Canada. The solar absorption observation geometry and measurement parameters are presented. Finally, instrument performance is discussed in terms of instrumental line shape (ILS) and baseline stability.

The MOPITT (Measurements Of Pollution In The Troposphere) instrument aboard the Terra Spacecraft was launched on Dec. 18, 1999 and has operated successfully since then. Instrument radiances are calculated from a total of 8 channels, which are combined in a retrieval scheme to measure the carbon monoxide (CO) profile and methane (CH/sub 4/) column in the troposphere. The instrument gain and offset, which are the key parameters to utilize the instrument measurements and to evaluate performance, are determined through an in-flight 2-point calibration scheme. Fluctuations and trends in the ga