8 January 2007 From Missions to Measurements: an Ocean Color Experience

NASA’s Goal To make available the highest quality ocean color (and sst) data to the broadest user community in the most timely and efficient manner possible.

Uses/requires existing expertise and infrastructure - Minimizes expense & start-up time Allows handling of multiple data sets simultaneously - Not limited to mission-specific requirements and objectives Provides flexibility to support discipline science requirements - Products, algorithms, formats, gridding, reprocessings, etc. Facilitates strong link between flight projects & science community Discipline Processing Rationale Distributed Science-led Geophysical Product Generation/Support

MODIS Ocean Processing Reorganization MODIS Ocean Color processing reorganized by NASA HQ to coincide with new MODIS Ocean Science Team selection. -Ocean color to lead the NASA Earth Science Enterprise transition to “discipline processing”, i.e., move from “missions to measurements” processing. Operational ocean color data processing transferred from MODAPS to the Ocean Color Discipline Processing Group on February 1, 2004 with Sea Surface Temperature following in 2005 Data archive/distribution functions transferred from EOSDIS to Discipline group during active life of mission

GSFC Ocean Color Program Background: A Long History of Achievement Nimbus-7 Coastal Zone Color Scanner ( ) Airborne Oceanographic Lidar (mid-1970’s-present) Community Processing & Analysis Software -SEAPAK ( ); SeaDAS (1991- present) Nimbus-7/Coastal Zone Color Scanner Global Reprocessing ( ) MODIS & MODIS Ocean Team (1989-present) SeaWiFS Project (1991-present) Sensor Intercomparison & Merger for Biological & Interdisciplinary Ocean Studies Project (SIMBIOS; ) Ocean Color Climate Data Record (CDR) Development (REASoN-CAN; recent selection) NASA NPP Science Team (VIIRS ocean color, recent selection) Designated as NASA’s Ocean Color Discipline Group and assumed responsibility for MODIS Ocean Color Processing (Feb. 1, 2004), SST (August 2005) and NPP/VIIRS & Aquarius role

MODIS OC Processing Strategy Initial focus on MODIS/Aqua -MODIS/Aqua more stable than MODIS/Terra -MODIS/Aqua more likely to overlap with NPP/VIIRS Initial emphasis on calibration & Lwn’s* -Large seasonal/regional differences between MODIS/(Terra & Aqua) & SeaWiFS Lwn’s Reduced product set until radiometry verified -Simplify processing for radiometry evaluations -Maintain a baseline consistent with SeaWiFS product suite. Expand product suite later with Community input/feedback * Lwn’s = Water-Leaving Radiances

MODIS Ocean Color Parameters Previous OC Parameter Set -Normalized water-leaving radiances (7) -Aerosol optical thickness (865 nm) -Atmospheric correction epsilon -Aerosol model numbers (2) -Clear water aerosol correction epsilon -CZCS pigment concentration -Chlorophyll-a concentration (3) -Total pigment concentration -Chlorophyll fluorescence line height -Chlorophyll fluorescence baseline -Chlorophyll fluorescence efficiency -Total suspended matter -Coccolithophore pigment concentration -Detached coccolithophore concentration -Calcite concentration -Diffuse attenuation at 490 nm -Phycoerythobilin concentration -Phycourobilin concentration -Instantaneous PAR -Instantaneous absorbed radiation for fluorescence -Gelbstoff absorption coefficient at 400 nm -Phytoplankton absorption coefficient at 675 nm -Total absorption coefficients (5) -Primary production (2 at Level-4) Current OC “Baseline” Parameter Set -Normalized water-leaving radiances (6) -Aerosol optical thickness -Atmospheric correction epsilon -Ångström exponent -Chlorophyll-a (1) -Diffuse attenuation coefficient at 490 nm -SST (day/night) -Same masks & flags as OC products -Recently added Chlorophyll fluorescence line height and Calcite concentration

Calibration/Validation Approach Apply same cal/val approach as for SeaWiFS Common processing codes Work sensor calibration issues with MCST -Solar and lunar calibration analysis and products, e.g., calibration tables, response-vs-scan (RVS), sensor polarization. Systematically test algorithms using both SeaWiFS & MODIS for comparison -Polarization, BRDF, glint, cloud masking, etc. -Global time series with regional analyses (clear-water, deep-water, coastal, basin-latitude zones)

Expertise: Requirements for Success

Expertise: internal -highly integrated project structure with all elements co-located - continuous communication. Requirements for Success

Expertise: internal and external -highly integrated project structure with all elements co-located - continuous communication. -Strong links with mission-specific expertise (MCST) and research community (algorithms, validation data, new products) Requirements for Success

Expertise Infrastructure -flexible data processing system that constantly upgrades procedures, technologies and equipment Requirements for Success

Expertise Infrastructure -flexible data processing system that constantly upgrades procedures, technologies and equipment SCIENCE drives the system rather than the SYSTEM driving the science Requirements for Success

Current Capabilities Fully automated, distributed data system for acquiring, processing, analyzing, archiving, and distributing scientific data Current system supporting SeaWiFS, MODIS, MOS, OCTS, CZCS, and NPP (future) Approximately 40 distributed multiprocessor Linux PC’s with 300 terabytes of online storage shared by all project components including web/ftp-based data distribution system. processing rate for SeaWiFS global data currently at 4000x and MODIS/Aqua 150x

Expertise Infrastructure Data -Most efficient and ultimately most cost effective when source data is available online for all needs including processing, reprocessing, evaluation testing, distribution. Requirements for Success

Expertise Infrastructure Data Communication - Open and Continuous Requirements for Success

OceanColor Web oceancolor.gsfc.nasa.gov Consolidated data access, information, services and community feedback

OceanColor Web oceancolor.gsfc.nasa.gov Consolidated data access, information, services and community feedback

Expertise Infrastructure Data Communication - Open and Continuous Intuitive and efficient data distribution Requirements for Success

Evaluation Products The table below shows the increase in coverage over the single mission product realized through the merging of the Aqua and SeaWiFS data sets. Day % increase over SeaWiFS = % increase over MODIS = Day % increase over SeaWiFS = % increase over MODIS = Month % increase over SeaWiFS = % increase over MODIS = Year % increase over SeaWiFS = % increase over MODIS =

Expertise: internal and external Infrastructure Data Communication - Open and Continuous Intuitive and Efficient data distribution Community access to data processing/analysis tools Requirements for Success

1- Extensive user support with over 500 sites, active online Forums. > 3500 posts 2- SeaDAS ported to the Macintosh OS X including new Intel architecture. Also runs on Linux, Sun, SGI 3- Redesigned GUI and website are now much more user-friendly 4- New simple online installer and four SeaDAS ftp mirrors (Australia, Brazil, Japan, UK) 5- Automated ancillary data Download during processing 6- SeaDAS-lite option for display/analysis only 7- Modis Direct Broadcast And High Resolution processing module. 8- User training workshops

Oceans Group 1 (Tuesday SeaDAS Course) Ajit Subramaniam Anthony Greenaway Ben Galuardi Chi Hin Lam Darryl Williams Debra Fischman Jeffrey Smart Li Zhang Nikolay Nezlin Robert Vaillancourt Santiago Gasso Santina Wortman Scott Chubb Vicky Lin Oceans Group 2 (Wednesday SeaDAS Course) Abby Mason Alexander Gilerson Barry Lesht Carla Caverhill Carla Makinen Dan Holiday Erik Crosman Heidi Maass Ioannis Ioannou Jiangang Luo Jing Zhou John Marra Lucia Lovison-Golob Matthew Upton Michael King Timo Pyhalahti Vanderlei Martins Wendy Wang Wesley Moses William Jerez

Ingest queue table L0 Ingest process L1A-L1B ( MOD_PR02 ) L1B-L2 (MSl12) MODISA L2 table Archive - Distrib Server L3BIN (l2bin) MODISA L3-bin table Archive - Distrib Server MODISA L3-map table Archive - Distrib Server Operational MODIS-Aqua Data Flow (NRTPE) Terra and Aqua Software process Hardware system Database table Ancillary input data Sensor CAL Sensor attribs Atm corr Browser CGI / httpd Ocean Color Web Server User Community MySQL DB Ozone L3MAP (smigen) MET MET, Ozone, and OISST data are dynamically selected for each L1A granule Product meta data are populated from production DB October 30, 2006 OISST Ocean Color Ingest MODISA L0 table Archive - Distrib Server ATT/EPH Ingest process MODISA atteph table Archive - Distrib Server L0-L1A ( MOD_PR01 ) Geo-Location ( MOD_PR03 ) MODISA L1 table Archive - Distrib Server Full-resolution day- and nighttime via SEN (~60 GB per day/mission) NOAA Realtime System NASA EDOS System Missing L0 process MODAPS L0 Archive MODAPS L0 Archive Granules not received from NOAA realtime flow