Features

Image from TERRA
Eyes on the Snow as Water Supplies Dwindle
Tue, 20 Sep 2022 10:30 EDT

Water departments in the West are using maps and models originally created by a NASA team to help track water.

Image from TERRA
NASA and Google Team up to Better Track Local Air Pollution
Thu, 15 Sep 2022 10:00 EDT

NASA and Google broadened an existing partnership to help local governments improve their monitoring and prediction of air quality for better decision making.

Image from TERRA
Great Air Quality for the Great Lakes Region
Mon, 11 Jul 2022 09:30 EDT

Ozone pollution assessments made for the Great Lakes region now include NASA satellite and other near-real time Earth observations.

Home › Posts tagged MODIS
Tag: MODIS

MODIS News and Events

Posted on by Nyssa Rayne Posted in News and Events

From undergoing an orbit lowering to headlining workshops on novel drifting data, Terra has had a big year so far! (And that’s not even accounting for the satellite’s continuous collection of high quality, earth science data, with no unintended interruptions!)

This news post will provide several important updates on recent instrument team meetings, upcoming virtual workshops featuring Terra, and an overview of three early career scientists using Terra data in their research.

Keep checking the website often for more updates and information on all things Terra!

2022 Meetings and Conferences

  • The CERES instrument team participated in the Fall 2022 Earth Radiation Budget Workshop in Hamburg, Germany from October 12 – 14, 2022. More information, including an agenda and presentation slide decks, can be found on the CERES website.
  • Several members of the Terra team participated in the 22nd William T. Pecora Memorial Remote Sensing Symposium in Denver, CO from October 23 – 28, 2022. More information available on the Pecora 22 website.
  • The ASTER instrument team will hold a science and interface meeting in Tokyo, Japan from November 7-9, 2022.
  • The American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall 2022 meeting will be held in Chicago, IL from December 12 – 16, 2022. For more information and an agenda, visit the AGU Fall Meeting 2022 website.

Upcoming Terra Workshops and Community Forums

Here’s a reminder that it’s your last chance to sign up for the virtual Terra, Aqua, and Aura Drifting Orbits Workshop that starts tomorrow, November 1-2, 2022. For more information and registration, visit the Terra website (or register here!).

On December 8th, 2022 from 12:30 PM – 3:30 PM ET, the Terra team will be hosting a virtual community forum on Terra’s recent orbit lowering maneuvers (that took place October 12th and 18th). See the graphic below for more information and a QR code linking directly to the Webex webinar registration page.

Infographic on upcoming virtual community forum on Terra satellite's new lower orbit.
Information on Terra’s Lower Orbit Community Forum (virtual webinar) scheduled for December 8, 2022, from 12:30 PM to 3:30 PM ET.

Highlighting Two Decades of Terra Talent

Last week, several NASA Early Career researchers presented their current scientific work during the 2022 Early Career Scientist Forum (full agenda linked here).

Kathleen McKee

Explosive Volcanic Eruption Dynamics

Kathleen incorporates data from Terra’s Multi-Angle Imaging Spectroradiometer (MISR) instrument to analyze volcanic ash and aerosols throughout the atmospheric column.

Personal website linked here, and NASA Bio linked below.

Kathleen’s NASA Bio

Ryan Kramer

Global Radiation Budget and Modeling

Ryan uses data from the Clouds and Earth’s Radiant Energy System (CERES) instrument to improve how climate models handle future precipitation predictions.

Link to Ryan’s Early Career Scientist Spotlight, and NASA Bio linked below.

Ryan’s NASA Bio

Andy Feldman

Soil – Plant – Atmosphere Interactions

Andy uses satellite products, like the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), to analyze how changes in precipitation intensity and frequency impacts plant photosynthesis.

Academic Bio linked here, and NASA Bio linked below.

Andy’s NASA Bio

Posted on by Nyssa Rayne Posted in News and Events
Terra Visits Camp Landsat

Summer is in full swing, but it wouldn’t be complete without a visit to “camp”.. Camp Landsat, that is!

“Terra Visits Camp Landsat” is part story map, part interactive virtual series, highlighting the weekly themes of Camp Landsat 2022. Check out our Week 1: People and Places story map below, focused on Black Rock City — a massive urban area that only exists for one week out of the year, during the annual Burning Man event. View the full screen version by clicking on the icon above (and for a challenge, see if you can find the ceremonial “burning-of-the-man” fire signature in satellite data!)

For full screen access to the story map, click the icon above or use this link!

Posted on by Nyssa Rayne Posted in News and Events

It’s been a busy summer for the MODIS instrument! Here are a few highlights you may have missed:

‣ On July 1st, our long-serving MODIS instrument lead, Dr. Michael King, officially retired. While we’re sad to see him go and wish him the best in his new adventures, we’re excited to introduce our new MODIS lead, Dr. Miguel Roman! Look for his updated bio on the Terra website soon.

‣ The NASA Land and Atmosphere data teams held meetings in May and June (you can find presentation materials and more info with this link to the MODIS newsfeed). 

‣ A brand new reprocessed MODIS cloud properties dataset that combines both Terra and Aqua data is now available for download and use. Find out more information in this informative post from the LAADS DAAC. 

‣ Check out these two recent research features on the Natural Capital Project (links here and here), a collaboration among scientists, farmers, and the luxury clothing industry. Terra MODIS vegetation index data products are being used as part of this effort to model future goat-grazing land use in order to benefit both farmers and the environment. Frequent sampling and wide area coverage of MODIS normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) dataset were leveraged and used as input for climate models, resulting in more sustainable land-use practices.

Posted on by Nyssa Rayne Posted in News and Events
Pictures of the three scientists featured in the post.

With Terra’s 25th Anniversary only two years away (December 2024), we’re kicking off the celebration early in our News and Events section with a new series highlighting some of Terra’s researchers, data users, educators, and science communicators. We’re especially excited to promote current and proposed research that uses Terra data in unique or novel ways!  (Do you know someone who’s made important contributions to the Terra mission? Or a groundbreaking Terra study that you feel made a substantial impact in the fields of earth science or remote sensing? We’d love to feature them – email us your ideas!)

Our first post in this series highlights three trailblazing women at NASA who have contributed to Terra’s scientific legacy, while showcasing the collaborative efforts among scientists at Goddard, JPL, and NCAR/UCAR. Check out their stories below!

Dr. Nai-Yung Christina Hsu (GSFC)

Dr. Christina Hsu, a researcher from GSFC, has incorporated data from many of Terra’s instruments into her research. Most notably, in 2004, she developed a Deep Blue algorithm for MODIS data that better characterizes aerosol properties over deserts and urban areas. (Read the groundbreaking article here!)

More recently, Dr. Hsu collaborated with a team studying regional differences in air pollution reductions, due to the global COVID-19 lockdowns of 2020. She used datasets from MODIS and MISR (two instruments on Terra) to analyze aerosol optical depth (click the link to learn more!).  Learn more about Dr. Hsu’s research using this link, and access the full article here!

Abigail (Abbey) Nastan (JPL)

Check out this recent Earthdata feature of our own MISR instrument Applications and Communications lead, Abbey Nastan! This summary gives an overview of the diverse portfolio of projects that Abbey is currently working on, including MERLIN – a unique visualization tool that leverages the MISR Plume Height Project dataset, giving new life to “old-er” data.

For more information on the MERLIN tool and how it was made, download this PDF.

Dr. Rebecca Buchholz (NCAR/UCAR)

Meet Dr. Rebecca Buchholz, a MOPITT Project Scientist who has worked at NCAR/UCAR since 2014 and has used MOPITT’s carbon monoxide dataset to study long-term patterns of air pollution transportation, especially that associated with wildfires. In a Scientific American news article last month, Dr. Buchholz summarized her recent research findings (published in Nature Communications) that show a significant increase in Western U.S. wildfire air pollution during the month of August, a new peak that largely negates California’s efforts to reduce annual air pollution. (She also gave Terra’s long data-record a shout-out!)  Read more about her research here!

Posted on by Nyssa Rayne Posted in News and Events

Mark your calendars for these upcoming instrument and data team meetings.

CERES Spring 2022 Science Team Meeting: April 26-28, 2022

You can find more information, including the meeting agenda and virtual meeting link, by visiting the CERES website.

Check the Terra website often for additional 2022 instrument team meeting dates, as they’re made available.

Data Webinar — Learn How to View and Download Data from LAADS DAAC: April 28, 2022; 2 pm – 3 pm EDT

Want to learn how to access and download Level-1 or atmospheric data sets from NASA’s Level-1 and Atmosphere Archive and Distribution System Distributed Active Archive Center (LAADS DAAC)? Unsure about how to use the new View Data tool? Join experts from LAADS DAAC to learn about how to search and order from LAADS DAAC’s vast collection of Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS), European Space Agency Copernicus Sentinel-3A and -3B, and ESA Envisat MEdium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS) datasets. Also, learn how to order datasets with post-processing operations in the Find Data tool, allowing researchers to download just the data they need, in the desired output. You can find more information on the webinar homepage, and can register for the webinar using this link (also available on the webinar homepage).