Center for Rapid Environmental Assessment and Terrain Evaluation (CREATE)
Annual REPORT NASA Grant NNS04AB25G
AUGUST 25, 2005
Prepared By Louis A. Scuderi
Director, CREATE
Project Description AND BACKGROUND
The Center for Rapid Environmental Assessment and Terrain Evaluation (CREATE) at the University of New Mexico (UNM) was established in 2003-2004 under NASA NAG13-03020 as a result of the Federal Appropriations process that began in 2003. The primary goals of the NASA NAG13-03020 grant were to 1) Produce an operational facility, 2) Put to in place the mechanisms that would allow CREATE to supply data to end users, and 3) Set up the infrastructure that would allow CREATE to participate in a range of research and data support efforts. As reported in the Final Report for NASA NAG13-03020 these goals were successfully reached at project closeout in August 2005.
NASA Grant NNS04AB25G was proposed as a follow up to NASA NAG13-03020 and was designed to expand the research and applications areas begun in the original grant (use of real-time satellite imagery and environmental data for analysis of water, air, and vegetation responses to rapidly changing environmental conditions) and to increase the number of focus areas. As well, NNS04AB25G was designed to increase CREATE’s interaction with federal, state and local government agencies and to improve the dissemination of NASA imagery data sets in near real-time to a variety of end users.
NNS04AB25G First Year Status and Results-
1) Research and Products
During NNS04AB25G CREATE staff were involved in a wide variety of projects. Some of these are continuations from earlier work in NAG13-03020. Specific to NAG13-03020 were projects dealing with Vegetation Mapping and Change Detection, Evapotranspiration Modeling and Assessment of Volcanic Gas Emissions. In the proposal for NNS04AB25G we added additional tasks and subtasks that increase the scope of CREATE’s activities. As outlined in the proposal these Tasks include work on:
1) Decision Support Systems and Products
2) Contributions to Earth System Science, and
3) Collaborative Efforts with Federal State and Local Governments
Under Task 1 we identified four subtasks that addressed economic and environmental issues of vital importance to New Mexico with a focus on building working relationships within the State of New Mexico to further the use of NASA data and products in supporting management decisions for rangelands, water resources, wildfire planning and response and livestock monitoring.
Under Task 2 we identified four subtasks designed to provide support information for scientific projects dealing with the Earth Sciences. Specifically CREATE has focused on assessment of vegetation die off in response to climate change, monitoring and prediction ecological boundaries, assessments of utilizing MODIS as an alternative environmental sensor net, and finally evaluation and monitoring of invasive species. In addition to these subtasks, CREATE has in collaboration with Dr. Peter Fawcett of the University of New Mexico, begun a fifth subtask in this area to evaluate changes in pluvial lake levels associated with climatic variability and to evaluate lake-filling events and evaporation rates across the western United States. A sixth subtask, dealing with quantification of sulfur dioxide loading from volcanic eruptions was actually begun during the end of NAG13-03020 and continues into NNS04AB25G.
Under Task 3 we identified two collaborative subtasks designed to improve our interactions with Federal, State and Local Agencies, with other researchers and with the educational community at all levels.
During the first year of NNS04AB25G CREATE staff and graduate students have worked on all three Task areas. Below we summarize our contributions in these areas.
A. Projects
1) CREATE staff began working with the Bureau of Land Management under Grant NAG13-03020 to prototype and develop a MODIS-based updating of BLM’s Vegetation Monitoring and Analysis Program (VMAP-1). (VMAP) is designed to support the rangeland management, grazing administration, resource inventory and monitoring, and range improvement programs. VMAP currently uses field data collected on a five-year rotation to assess rangeland condition.
In NNS04AB25G we have incorporated (MODIS) remote sensing vegetation indices into the existing VMAP-1 rangeland management DSS. The final product, an improved VMAP (VMAP-2), will allow ranchers and federal land managers to monitor rangelands synoptically, and in near real-time, using scientifically validated data products. VMAP-2 will enable decision makers to manage larger areas with fewer staff. CREATE continues to work with BLM to meet the goal of having a VMAP-2 product available by the summer of 2007.
2) CREATE scientists developed a new algorithm for detection of volcanic plumes during NAG13-03020 and this work continues. Current plume detection algorithms typically utilize MODIS thermal channels 28, 31 and 32 to determine temperature differences and atmospheric effects and from these measurements the sulfur and ash content of the plumes can be derived. Principal Components Analysis (PCA) of the range of MODIS thermal bands suggests that bands 20, 22 and 23 may have information content levels useful for plume delineation and retrieval of plume chemistry and optical depth.
This work was presented at the IAVCEI Commission on the Chemistry of Volcanic Gases, 9th Gas Workshop, Palermo Italy, May 1-10th, 2005 by Louis Scuderi and his graduate student Vanessa Meier.
3) CREATE has focused a portion of its work on understanding the hydrology of pluvial lake basins in the western United States and northern Mexico. This produced a proposal to the National Science Foundation titled “Unraveling climate change in the Chihuahuan Desert: Integration of modern and ancient hydrologic records of the pluvial Lake Palomas system” (Drs. Peter Fawcett and Louis Scuderi co/PI’s). The proposal is currently under review with a decision date expected in late-2005. The effort uses algorithms (primarily from MODIS visible and near-infrared bands) to delimit pluvial lake boundaries and to quantify total inundation in response to storm systems. The results of our playa filling analysis are of direct interest to water resource managers. These playas have also been identified as major dust emission hotspots that can affect much of the central United States. An understanding of the frequency of standing water in the playas will be important for future assessments of dust emissions. Evaluation of playa emptying directly associated with meteorological events will also provide estimates of evaporation rates.
4) CREATE has also been involved in a study of evapotranspiration (ET) rates in the southwestern United States. The approach integrates ground based tower measurements, digital elevation models and MODIS imagery. The current approach to understanding ET focuses on a few measurements from towers and an energy balance model that utilizes Landsat imagery on a monthly basis. This leads to a lack of temporal resolution and an inability to use the results for water management. The CREATE approach uses a 62.5 meter Digital Elevation Model (1/4 of the finest MODIS resolution cell) and applies an energy balance model to produce estimates of the shortwave and longwave radiation. MODIS supplies twice daily albedo estimates- (using the minimum scaled reflectance for channels 1, 3 and 4) and surface temperatures using a scaling of MODIS band 32 and produces an estimate of ET twice a day. The model was tested and validated against ground based tower measurements in the summer of 2005 and a comparison study of different approaches will be published as a group effort in 2006 . The work described is also jointly funded by NSF as part of the EPSCOR Program under an award to Dr. Louis Scuderi.
5) CREATE has been involved in a significant number of educational efforts. Two well reviewed but unfunded proposals to NSF are currently being redefined and will be submitted during calendar year 2006. These included:
a) Enhancement of Undergraduate Geoscience Education and Teacher Training at the University of New Mexico: Using Hands-On Inquiry-Based Learning and Visualization Techniques. Submitted to NSF: Course Curriculum and Laboratory Improvement (CCLI), Adaptation and Implementation. PI Scuderi, Co-PI’s Nyman, Selverstone and Elrick.
b) Development and Pilot-Testing of an Inquiry-Based, Data-Intensive Science Course for Elementary Education Majors at the University of New Mexico NSF: Resources for Professional Development, Proof-of-Concept Projects.
B. Presentations and Posters During NNS04AB25G:
A brief overview of Presentations and Conference Proceedings is provided below. Additional educational outreach and more informal information meetings with Federal and State Agencies are not included. (Note- Ellwein, Montano, Meier and Gordon are students associated with the CREATE project)
Daily evaporative flux estimates using MODIS imagery in a coupled energy balance model, NM. EPSCoR Annual Conference, Albuquerque, NM. Ellwein, A.L. and Scuderi, L.A., July 2005
Real-Time Assessment of Low-Level Volcanic Emissions Utilizing MODIS. IAVCEI Commission on the Chemistry of Volcanic Gases 9th Gas Workshop, Southern Italy, 1st to 10th May, 2005. Vanessa Meier, Louis Scuderi, Tobias Fischer and David Hilton.
Monitoring of Grassland Health and Condition Using TeraScan: Fusion of MODIS and NEXRAD Data for Rangeland Monitoring & Assessment, 15th International TeraScan Users Conference, Austin, TX, April 12-14, 2005. Watson, R.P., Watson, T.R.
Daily Evapotranspiration Estimates using MODIS and TeraScan in a Coupled Balance Model, 15th International TeraScan Users Conference, Austin, TX, April 12-14, 2005. (Poster) Scuderi, L.A.
Natural Resources Monitoring and Management Using Near Real-Time Environmental Satellites, New Mexico Bureau of Land Management sponsored - Resource Management Tools and Geospatial Conference: Envisioning Information, April 18-22, 2005. Watson, R.P., Watson, T.R.
Fusion of VMAP Rangeland Condition Observations and MODIS Satellite Imagery for Real-Time Monitoring, New Mexico Bureau of Land Management sponsored - Resource Management Tools and Geospatial Conference: Envisioning Information, April 18-22, 2005. Montaño, E.L. and Gordon, H.C.
Before the First Day of School: Pre-Service Teacher Preparation and the Role of the Earth and Space Science Community, NASA-LPI National Meeting, Houston, Texas. Invited Talk. Nyman, M.W. and Ellwein, A.L., March, 2005.
Note: Three papers have been accepted for publication at the International EOS/NPP Direct Readout Meeting, Benvento, Italy to take place in October 2005.
2) Graduate Student Involvement
CREATE has hired graduate students who are involved in specific day-to-day operations of the CREATE system, including data acquisition, processing and dissemination to outside users. Currently CREATE is supporting Ms. Amy Ellwein, a PhD student in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences and Ms. Vanessa Meier, an MS. student in E&PS. An additional student, Mr. Enrique Montano, who is employed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), will primarily be involved in the development of computer algorithms and products to fulfill BLM’s resource management mission. Ms. Crystal Krause, an MA. Student in the Department of Geography will begin work soon on projects related to vegetation change. One student funded by CREATE, Mr. John Ennis, left the PhD program in Earth and Planetary Sciences and is now the GIS/Remote Sensing Manager for Fort Bliss in Southern New Mexico and Texas.
As additional end-users are identified and new projects (for example; NSF EPSCOR- evapotranspiration modeling) come online we will identify required processing capabilities and add staff and equipment as necessary to meet contractual demands. The current graduate students as well as future hires will be involved in specific project development. This will include both research and applications oriented work.
3) Collaborators
CREATE has engaged a number of UNM researchers in research projects. In some cases CREATE has provided data for existing projects, in other cases CREATE has been involved in team efforts that have produced proposals. A partial list of collaborators and researchers using CREATE products and facilities includes:
UNM Scientists
Dr. Peter Fawcett, EPS- Pluvial Lakes
Dr. Tim Wawrzyniec, EPS- LIDAR
Dr. Scott Collins, LTER- LIDAR
Dr. Les McFadden EPS- Surficial processes
Dr. Horton Newsom, IOM, Undergraduate Education, SIPI
Dr. Elizabeth Ritchie EPS, Engineering- Climatology
Dr. Tobias Fischer, EPS- Volcanology
Dr. Matthew Nyman, EPS- Education
Dr. Jane Selverstone, EPS- Geoscience Education
Dr. Karl Benedict, EDAC- EPSCOR
EPSCOR scientists at UNM, NM Tech and NM State University
At UNM
Dr. Julie Coonrod, UNM Civil Engineering
Dr. Cliff Dahm, UNM Biology
Dr. Jim Gosz, UNM Biology
NMTech
Dr. Jan Hendrix, Hydrology
NM State University
Dr. Zohrab Samani, Civil Engineering
OTHER COLLABORATORS
Dr. Joe McAuliffe, Director of Research, Desert Botanical Garden, Phoenix AZ- Invasive Species
Dr. Vincent Realmuto, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena CA- Volcanology/RS
Dr. Albertus Johannes Wickel, National Commission for the Knowledge and Use of Biodiversity (CONABIO), Mexico City, Mexico- Biodiversity