EARTH AND SPACE RESEARCH
1107 NE 45TH ST NO 320, SEATTLE, WA 98105 www.esr.org

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Organizations Filed Purposes: INCREASE SOCIETAL UNDERSTANDING OF THE EARTH SYSTEM THROUGH SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH AND EDUCATION.

NASA1)"MULTI-SENSOR IMPROVED SEA-SURFACE TEMPERATURE (MISST) FOR IOOS" - THIS PROJECT FOCUSES ON IMPROVING THE QUALITY OF THE SATELLITE-BASED SEA SURFACE TEMPERATURE (SST) DATA FROM EXISTING AND NEW SENSORS, PRODUCING MULTI-SENSOR, BLENDED, GAP-FREE SST PRODUCTS FROM US AND INTERNATIONAL DATASETS, AND BROADENING THE USE OF THESE PRODUCTS WITHIN SPECIFICALLY TARGETED COASTAL APPLICATIONS AND THE INTEGRATED OCEAN OBSERVING SYSTEM (IOOS). PROJECT PARTNERS INCLUDE THE UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO BOULDER, UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI, UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND, UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON, NOAA, THE US NAVY, AND SAILDRONE, A PRIVATE COMPANY WHO DESIGNS, MANUFACTURES AND OPERATES A GLOBAL FLEET OF WIND AND SOLAR POWERED OCEAN DRONES, PROVIDING IN SITU DATA COLLECTION SERVICES, GLOBAL OCEAN DATA SETS AND ENHANCED WEATHER FORECAST APPLICATIONS. 2)"OCEAN SURFACE CURRENT ANALYSES REAL-TIME (OSCAR)" - OSCAR IS A GLOBAL DATABASE OF NEAR-SURFACE OCEAN CURRENTS, UPDATED IN NEAR-REAL-TIME AND SERVED TO THE GLOBAL RESEARCH COMMUNITY AND PUBLIC. GLOBAL OCEAN SURFACE MIXED LAYER VELOCITIES ARE CALCULATED FROM SATELLITE-SENSED SEA SURFACE HEIGHT GRADIENTS, OCEAN VECTOR WINDS AND SEA SURFACE TEMPERATURE FIELDS USING OCEAN PHYSICS. OSCAR'S CONTINUING IMPROVEMENT DEPENDS ON BETTER MODELING OF THE MOMENTUM TRANSFER BOTH WITHIN AND ACROSS THE BOUNDARIES OF THE TURBULENT MIXED LAYER. OUR RESEARCH IMPROVES THE GENERATION OF SURFACE CURRENTS BY OCEAN VECTOR WINDS, AND IN DOING SO FURTHERS OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE EXCHANGE OF MOMENTUM BETWEEN THE ATMOSPHERE AND THE OCEAN THROUGH THE PLANETARY BOUNDARY LAYERS. 3)"SALINITY AND DENSITY SCIENCE CONTINUITY RESEARCH FROM AQUARIUS TO SMAP" - THE GOAL OF THIS STUDY IS TO EXTEND AND IMPROVE THE CONTINUITY OF SEA SURFACE SALINITY (SSS) SATELLITE DATA FROM THE NASA AQUARIUS MISSION TO THE NASA SOIL MOISTURE ACTIVE PASSIVE (SMAP) MISSION, TO SUPPORT NASA'S PROGRAM TO CONTINUE OCEAN SALINITY SCIENCE. AQUARIUS WAS NASA'S FIRST MISSION DEDICATED TO MEASURING SSS, AND COLLECTED 45 MONTHS OF GLOBAL DATA UNTIL AN ELECTRICAL MALFUNCTION ON THE SATELLITE ENDED THE MISSION IN EARLY JUNE 2015. 4)"DATA VALIDATION CONTINUITY SUPPORT TO NASA OCEAN SALINITY SCIENCE" - THE PURPOSE OF THIS STUDY IS TO ASSURE THE CONTINUITY OF NASA-SUPPORTED SALINITY VALIDATION AND THE CONSISTENCY OF THE SEA SURFACE SALINITY (SSS) DATA PRODUCTS DURING THE ERA AFTER THE END OF AQUARIUS MISSION PHASE-F (DECEMBER 31, 2017). THE FOCUS OF THIS EFFORT IS TO MAINTAIN AND ENHANCE THE IN SITU VALIDATION DATA SYSTEM DEVELOPED AND USED FOR AQUARIUS, AND PROVIDE FOR CONTINUITY WITH SMAP SSS DATA VALIDATION. 5)"SATELLITE-BASED ANALYSIS OF ICE SHELF VARIABILITY AND RESPONSE TO OCEAN FORCING" - THE GOAL OF THIS PROGRAM IS TO MAP CHANGES IN ICE SHELVES AROUND ANTARCTICA AND GREENLAND USING 25 YEARS OF SATELLITE MEASUREMENTS OF SURFACE HEIGHT FROM SEVERAL DIFFERENT SATELLITES AND SENSOR TYPES, TO IDENTIFY VARIABILITY IN ICE SHELVES AND HOW THEY RESPOND TO CHANGES IN THE OCEAN AND ATMOSPHERE. THESE STUDIES HELP IDENTIFY HOW THE ICE SHELVES WILL CHANGE AS CLIMATE VARIES IN FUTURE. IN TURN, THIS HELPS US IDENTIFY HOW FAST THE GROUNDED ICE WILL FLOW INTO THE OCEANS TO DRIVE SEA LEVEL RISE AROUND THE WORLD. 6)"STUDIES OF THE ROLES OF OCEAN EDDIES ON SEA ICE AROUND ANTARCTICA" - THIS PROGRAM INVESTIGATES HOW OCEAN EDDIES AFFECT THE GROWTH AND MELTING OF THE SEA ICE THAT SURROUNDS ANTARCTICA, GROWING IN AUTUMN AND WINTER AND MELTING BACK IN SPRING AND SUMMER. THE MOTIVATION FOR THIS WORK IS THAT HIGH-RESOLUTION MODELS AND OBSERVATIONS INDICATE THAT EDDIES PLAY AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN THE SEA ICE GROWTH AND DECAY, BUT MOST GLOBAL MODELS DO NOT RESOLVE OCEAN EDDIES. THEREFORE, THESE MODELS DO NOT CAPTURE IMPORTANT PROCESSES THAT SET SEA ICE CHANGES. IN TURN, THE SEA ICE AFFECTS THE PLANETARY HEAT BUDGET BUT CHANGING HOW MUCH SUNLIGHT IS REFLECTED BACK INTO SPACE. OUR RESEARCH USES SEVERAL DATA SETS, AND A VARIETY OF MODELS, TO INVESTIGATE HOW THE INTERACTIONS OF EDDIES AND SEA ICE CAN BE BETTER REPRESENTED IN GLOBAL CLIMATE MODELS.

NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION 1)"COSMOGENIC SURFACE EXPOSURE DATING OF ARCTIC NW LAURENTIDE ICE-SHEET DEGLACIATION: IMPLICATIONS FOR ABRUPT CLIMATE CHANGE" - THIS PROJECT WILL PROVIDE NEW UNDERSTANDING OF THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN ARCTIC ICE SHEET RETREAT, ATLANTIC OCEAN CIRCULATION, AND CLIMATE CHANGE. RETREAT OF THE ARCTIC NORTHWEST LAURENTIDE ICE SHEET AFTER THE LAST ICE AGE WILL BE DETERMINED BY DATING SURFACE EXPOSURE SAMPLES. UNDERSTANDING THE CAUSES OF PRIOR ICE RETREATS WILL HELP US UNDERSTAND HOW MODERN ICE SHEETS, NOTABLY THE ONE ON TOP OF GREENLAND, WILL CHANGE AS CLIMATE CHANGES IN FUTURE. 2)"COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: ASSESSING DRIVERS OF CLIMATE MODEL BIASES ON THE PACIFIC CONTINENTAL SHELF OF ANTARCTICA" - THIS PROJECT STUDIES DIFFERENCES IN HOW DIFFERENT GLOBAL CLIMATE MODELS REPRESENT THE COASTAL OCEAN AROUND ANTARCTICA. THIS IS IMPORTANT BECAUSE THE OCEAN IS A MAJOR FACTOR IN HOW THE ANTARCTIC ICE SHEET WILL RESPOND TO GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE; THEREFORE, TO PREDICT HOW THE ICE SHEET WILL CHANGE MASS, AND THEREBY CONTRIBUTE TO GLOBAL SEA LEVEL RISE, WE NEED TO IDENTIFY CLIMATE MODELS THAT ACCURATELY REPRESENT THE OCEAN CONDITIONS. THE FIRST STEP IN THIS PROCESS IS TO LOOK AT ALL THE MODELS IN THE COUPLED MODEL INTERCOMPARISON PROJECT, PHASE 6 (CMIP6), AND SEE WHETHER THEY CAN CORRECTLY REPRESENT THE OBSERVED OCEAN STATE FOR THE MODERN PERIOD (1995-2014). WE THEN SEEK TO UNDERSTAND WHY SOME MODELS PERFORM WELL, AND OTHERS PERFORM POORLY. FOR THE MODELS THAT REPRESENT THE MODERN STATE WELL, WE THEN INVESTIGATE THEIR PROJECTIONS FOR THE LATE 21ST CENTURY OCEAN AROUND ANTARCTICA, AND TRY TO UNDERSTAND THE CAUSES OF DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THEM. 3)"ROSETTA-ICE - ROSS OCEAN AND ICE SHELF ENVIRONMENT AND TECTONIC SETTING THROUGH AEROGEOPHYSICAL SURVEYS" - ROSETTA-ICE IS A MULTI-INSTITUTION INVESTIGATION OF THE GEOLOGY, GLACIOLOGY AND OCEANOGRAPHY OF THE ROSS SEA AND ROSS ICE SHELF IN ANTARCTICA. THE PRIMARY GOAL IS TO MAP THE GEOLOGIC AND GLACIOLOGICAL STRUCTURE OF THE REGION USING THE "ICEPOD" SYSTEM MOUNTED ON AIR NATIONAL GUARD C-130 AIRCRAFT FLYING A GRID OVER THE ICE SHELF. THIS SYSTEM PROVIDES INFORMATION ON GRAVITY AND MAGNETICS (PROVIDING AN ESTIMATE OF SUB-ICE-SHELF SEABED BATHYMETRY), AND ICE SHELF STRUCTURE (SURFACE HEIGHT, ICE THICKNESS, BASAL REFLECTIVITY, AND NEAR-SURFACE LAYERS). ESR'S PRIMARY CONTRIBUTION TO THIS PROGRAM IS TO USE NEW BATHYMETRY AND ICE-SHELF DRAFT FROM ROSETTA-ICE TO INVESTIGATE, WITH MODELS, HOW MELTING OF THE ICE SHELF WILL RESPOND TO POTENTIAL CHANGES IN OCEAN CIRCULATION AS CLIMATE CHANGES.

"SAILDRONE - SATELLITE VALIDATION" - THIS PROJECT IS A COLLABORATION WITH SAILDRONE, A PRIVATE COMPANY THAT DESIGNS AND MANUFACTURES WIND AND SOLAR POWERED AUTONOMOUS SURFACE VEHICLES CALLED SAILDRONES WHICH MAKE COST-EFFECTIVE OCEAN DATA COLLECTION POSSIBLE AT SCALE. THIS PROJECT IS AUTONOMOUS IN SITU DATA FOR SATELLITE VALIDATION AND RESEARCH INTO UPPER OCEAN PHYSICS AND ECOLOGY. THE GOAL IS TO ENSURE THE SAILDRONE IS SET UP TO COLLECT SEA SURFACE TEMPERATURE AND OTHER OCEANOGRAPHIC DATA AT THE HIGHEST POSSIBLE QUALITY LEVEL.

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