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.
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 – Marco Lavalle, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
- Statistical inference for spatiotemporal trends in remote-sensing data – Anthony Ives, University of Wisconsin
- HyTI: high spatial and spectral resolution thermal imaging of the Earth – Robert Wright, University of Hawaii at Manoa
- TuLIPSS: Tunable Light-guide Image Processing Snapshot Spectrometer – Tomasz Tkaczyk, Rice University
- A First Generation of Hourly Animations of Boundary Layer Heights along the East Coast from a Lidar-based Observing System – 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 – Stephanie Schollaert Uz, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
- Using Genetic Programs to Evolve Satellite Algorithms – John Moisan, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
- Progress towards implementing a remote vicarious ocean color calibration site, MarONet – Kenneth Voss, University of Miami
- NeMO-Net – The Fluid Lensing Neural Network for Global Coral Reef Assessment – 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 – 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 – Kevin Maschhoff, BAE Systems
- TEMPEST-D: Temporal Experiment for Storms and Tropical Systems- Steven Reising, Colorado State University
- Observing System Development and UQ in a Parallel Bayesian Framework: Applications for Weather, Clouds, Convection, and Precipitation – Derek Posselt, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
- Atmospheric Boundary Layer Lidar PathfindEr (ABLE): Cross-cutting DIAL for Humidity Profiling – Amin Nehrir, NASA Langley Research Center
- RainCube: A Precipitation Profiling Radar in a CubeSat – Simone Tanelli Jet Propulsion Laboratory
- Compact Midwave Imaging System – 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- Raquel Rodriguez Monje, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
- CAPRi: Cloud-based Analytic Framework for Precipitation Research – John Beck, University of Alabama Huntsville
- IRaST: Integrated Receiver and Switch Technology – William Deal, Northrop Grumman Corporation
- HyperAngular Rainbow Polarimeter HARP-CubeSat – Vanderlei Martins, University of Maryland Baltimore County
- SWIRP: Compact Submm-Wave and LWIR Polarimeters for Cirrus Ice Properties – 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 – Sreeja Nag, NASA Ames Research Center
- Ground Stations as a Service (GSaaS) for Near Real-time Direct Broadcast Earth Science Satellite Data – Louis Nguyen, NASA Langley Research Center
- SPCTOR: Sensing-Policy Controller and OptimizeR – Mahta Moghaddam, University of Southern California
- New Observing Strategies Testbed (NOS-T) Design and Development – Paul Grogan, Stevens Institute of Technology
- Historical Flood Demonstration as a Proof-of-Concept for future New Observing Strategies Technologies and Testbed – 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 – William Swartz, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory
- Predicting What We Breathe: Federating Satellite and Smart City Data – Jeanne Holm, City of Los Angeles
- NACHOS: A 3U CubeSat for High-Resolution Hyperspectral Imaging of Atmospheric Trace Gases – Steven Love, Los Alamos National Laboratory
- Surrogate Modeling for Atmospheric Chemistry and Data Assimilation – Daven Henze, University of Colorado Boulder
- New Approaches to Microwave Remote Sounding of Atmospheric Composition Profiles – 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 – Mahta Moghaddam, University of Southern California
- Next Generation GNSS Bistatic Radar Receiver – Chris Ruf, University of Michigan
- Preparing NASA for Future Snow Missions: Incorporation of the Spatially Explicit SnowModel in LIS – Ethan Gutmann, National Center for Atmospheric Research
- SNOOPI: Signals of Opportunity P-band Investigation – James Garrison, Purdue University
- Wideband Autorcorrelation Radiometry for Measuring Snow and Ice Accumulation – 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 – Cathleen Jones, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
- Simplified Gravitational Reference Sensors for Future Earth Geodesy Missions – John Conklin, University of Florida
- Quantifying Uncertainty and Kinematics of Earthquake Systems (QUAKES) Analytic Center Framework – Andrea Donnellan, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
- GRITSS: Geodetic Reference Instrument Transponder for Small Satellites – Christopher Beaudoin, University of Massachusetts Lowell
- Smart On-Demand Analysis of Multi-Temporal and Full Resolution SAR ARDs in Multi-Cloud & HPC – Hook Hua, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Additional NASA Panelists:
- Pam Millar, Earth Science Technology Office
- Ben Phillips, Earth Surface and Interior Focus Area