2021 Earth Science Technology Forum
The 2021 Earth Science Technology Forum (ESTF2021) was held virtually again this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
ESTF2021 consisted of eight virtual sessions, held on Thursdays from May through early July. Each 2.5-hour session included a targeted set of technology presentations around an Earth science theme, followed by a panel discussion.
The 18th forum hosted by the NASA Earth Science Technology Office (ESTO), ESTF2021 showcased a broad array of technology research and development projects related to NASA’s Earth science endeavors. Over 650 attendees registered for the event.
The full conference proceedings, including presentation files and video recordings of the talks, are available below by session
ESTF2021 Sessions
1:30-2:00 EDT – Welcome Plenary (pdf) (video) with Karen St. Germain, NASA Earth Science Division Director
2:00-4:30 EDT – Life on Land: Biology, Vegetation, and Ecosystems
Panelist Presentations:
- Distributed Aperture Radar Tomographic Sensors to map changing surface topography and 3D vegetation structure (pdf) – Marco Lavalle, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
- Statistical inference for spatiotemporal trends in remote-sensing data (pdf) (video) – Anthony Ives, University of Wisconsin
- HyTI: high spatial and spectral resolution thermal imaging of the Earth (pdf) (video) – Robert Wright, University of Hawaii at Manoa
- TuLIPSS: Tunable Light-guide Image Processing Snapshot Spectrometer (pdf) (video) – Tomasz Tkaczyk, Rice University
- A First Generation of Hourly Animations of Boundary Layer Heights along the East Coast from a Lidar-based Observing System (pdf) (video) – Milton Halem, University of Maryland Baltimore County
Additional NASA Panelists:
- Jacqueline Le Moigne, ESTO Advanced Information Systems Technology Program
- Hank Margolis, Terrestrial Ecology Program
- Woody Turner, Biological Diversity Research Program / Ecological Forecasting Applied Sciences Program
Panelist Presentations:
- Supporting Shellfish Aquaculture in the Chesapeake Bay using Artificial Intelligence to Detect Poor Water Quality through Sampling and Remote Sensing (pdf) (video) – Stephanie Schollaert Uz, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
- Using Genetic Programs to Evolve Satellite Algorithms (pdf) (video) – John Moisan, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
- Progress towards implementing a remote vicarious ocean color calibration site, MarONet (pdf) (video) – Kenneth Voss, University of Miami
- NeMO-Net – The Fluid Lensing Neural Network for Global Coral Reef Assessment (pdf) (video) – Ved Chirayath, NASA Ames Research Center
- Progress on a new paradigm for Ocean Color Satellite Calibration: HyperNav, a highly accurate, low uncertainty, hyperspectral radiometric measurements from autonomous platforms (pdf) (video) – Andrew Barnard, Sea-Bird Scientific
Additional NASA Panelists:
- Laura Lorenzoni, Ocean Biology and Biogeochemistry Program
- Laura Rogers, ESTO Advanced Information Systems Technology Program
- Joel Scott, Ocean Biology and Biogeochemistry Program
Panelist Presentations:
- SToRMSAR: Satellite Tomography of Rain and Motion via Synthetic Aperture Radar (pdf) (video) – Kevin Maschhoff, BAE Systems
- TEMPEST-D: Temporal Experiment for Storms and Tropical Systems (pdf) (video) – Steven Reising, Colorado State University
- Observing System Development and UQ in a Parallel Bayesian Framework: Applications for Weather, Clouds, Convection, and Precipitation (pdf) (video) – Derek Posselt, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
- Atmospheric Boundary Layer Lidar PathfindEr (ABLE): Cross-cutting DIAL for Humidity Profiling (pdf) (video) – Amin Nehrir, NASA Langley Research Center
- RainCube: A Precipitation Profiling Radar in a CubeSat (pdf) (video) – Simone Tanelli Jet Propulsion Laboratory
- Compact Midwave Imaging System (pdf) (video) – Michael Kelly, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory
Additional NASA Panelists:
- Gail Skofronick Jackson, Weather and Atmospheric Dynamics Program
- Amber Emory, ESTO Advanced Component Technologies Program
Panelist Presentations:
- CloudCube: a compact, multi-frequency mm-wave radar (pdf) (video) – Raquel Rodriguez Monje, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
- CAPRi: Cloud-based Analytic Framework for Precipitation Research (pdf) (video) – John Beck, University of Alabama Huntsville
- IRaST: Integrated Receiver and Switch Technology (pdf) (video) – William Deal, Northrop Grumman Corporation
- HyperAngular Rainbow Polarimeter HARP-CubeSat (pdf) (video) – Vanderlei Martins, University of Maryland Baltimore County
- SWIRP: Compact Submm-Wave and LWIR Polarimeters for Cirrus Ice Properties (pdf) (video) – Dong Wu, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Additional NASA Panelists:
- Bob Connerton, Earth Science Technology Office
- Hal Maring, Atmospheric Composition Focus Area Lead and ACCP Program Scientist
Panelist Presentations:
- D-SHIELD: Distributed Spacecraft with Heuristic Intelligence to Enable Logistical Decisions (pdf) (video) – Sreeja Nag, NASA Ames Research Center
- Ground Stations as a Service (GSaaS) for Near Real-time Direct Broadcast Earth Science Satellite Data (pdf) (video) – Louis Nguyen, NASA Langley Research Center
- SPCTOR: Sensing-Policy Controller and OptimizeR (pdf) (video) – Mahta Moghaddam, University of Southern California
- New Observing Strategies Testbed (NOS-T) Design and Development (pdf) (video) – Paul Grogan, Stevens Institute of Technology
- Historical Flood Demonstration as a Proof-of-Concept for future New Observing Strategies Technologies and Testbed (pdf) (video) – Ben Smith, ESTO / Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Additional NASA Panelists:
- David Green, Applied Sciences, Disasters Program
- Michael Seablom, ESTO Advanced Information Systems Technology Program
Panelist Presentations:
- CHAPS: A Compact Hyperspectral Imager for Atmospheric Composition Space Remote Sensing (pdf) (video) – William Swartz, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory
- Predicting What We Breathe: Federating Satellite and Smart City Data (pdf) (video) – Jeanne Holm, City of Los Angeles
- NACHOS: A 3U CubeSat for High-Resolution Hyperspectral Imaging of Atmospheric Trace Gases (pdf) (video) – Steven Love, Los Alamos National Laboratory
- Surrogate Modeling for Atmospheric Chemistry and Data Assimilation (pdf) (video) – Daven Henze, University of Colorado Boulder
- New Approaches to Microwave Remote Sounding of Atmospheric Composition Profiles (pdf) (video) – Nathaniel Livesey, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Additional NASA Panelists:
- Richard Eckman, Atmospheric Modeling and Analysis Program
- Keith Murray, Earth Science Technology Office
Panelist Presentations:
- Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) Soil Moisture Integration (pdf) (video) – Mahta Moghaddam, University of Southern California
- Next Generation GNSS Bistatic Radar Receiver (pdf) (video) – Chris Ruf, University of Michigan
- Preparing NASA for Future Snow Missions: Incorporation of the Spatially Explicit SnowModel in LIS (pdf) (video) – Ethan Gutmann, National Center for Atmospheric Research
- SNOOPI: Signals of Opportunity P-band Investigation (pdf) (video) – James Garrison, Purdue University
- Wideband Autorcorrelation Radiometry for Measuring Snow and Ice Accumulation (pdf) (video) – Roger De Roo, University of Michigan
Additional NASA Panelists:
- Marge Cole, Earth Science Technology Office
- Jared Entin, Global Water and Energy Cycle Focus Area
Panelist Presentations:
- An Automated Smart Tasking System to Support NASA Urgent Response (pdf) (video) – Cathleen Jones, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
- Simplified Gravitational Reference Sensors for Future Earth Geodesy Missions (pdf) (video) – John Conklin, University of Florida
- Quantifying Uncertainty and Kinematics of Earthquake Systems (QUAKES) Analytic Center Framework (pdf) (video) – Andrea Donnellan, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
- GRITSS: Geodetic Reference Instrument Transponder for Small Satellites (pdf) (video) – Christopher Beaudoin, University of Massachusetts Lowell
- Smart On-Demand Analysis of Multi-Temporal and Full Resolution SAR ARDs in Multi-Cloud & HPC (pdf) (video) – Hook Hua, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Additional NASA Panelists:
- Pam Millar, Earth Science Technology Office
- Ben Phillips, Earth Surface and Interior Focus Area