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Arctic Collaborative Activities

NOAA – Canadian Ice Service MeetingSeptember 25-26, 2012

Presentation by: Marty Kress, VCSI Steve Spehn, EUCOM

The Arctic is increasingly important to regional economic and national security.

Our collective challenge is to frame a systems solution for a complex issue – to think differently about the region and our options – capitalize on the full portfolio of regional capabilities and assets – provide a suite of needed services and capabilities.

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Briefing Goals and Objectives

• Introduce Our Team & Innovative Multi-Agency Collaboration • Introduce Arctic Collaborative Environment (ACE) Project – A DOD

Sponsored Joint Capability Technology Demonstration (JCTD)• Demonstrate the Beta Version of ACE• Showcase First Research Activity and Data Sets That Will Be

Integrated into ACE • Highlight the Value of UASs to the Arctic -- Data and Assets –

Discuss An Ongoing Activity and Event• Provide an Update on ARC-Sat – another innovative collaboration• Get you engaged in ACE/ARC-Sat/UAS activities • Engage in an Open Dialogue and Discussion – Ideas for Enabling

More Collaborative Activities

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Operational View of the Arctic Collaboration is the Norm

Ships

SensorBuoys

GroundStations

A/C One-day of coverage

A/C

UAS NASA Near-Earth Network and DoD GIG

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Mini-Overview of ACE Project

• The ACE JCTD will provide a web-based, open-access, Arctic-focused, environmental research and decision-support system that integrates data from existing remote sensing assets and in situ observations to provide monitoring, analysis, and visualization based on earth observation data and modeling. The ACE JCTD will enable local, regional, and international cooperation and coordination on long-term environmental planning and near-term actions in response to climatic and environmental changes occurring in the Arctic Region.

• The ACE tool capitalizes on prior earth science applications work done at NASA MSFC: RTMM, SPoRT, SERVIR, AMSR-E, etc.

• ACE was designed to capitalize on the IPY, foster and promote the exchange of data and models for use in the Arctic Region – create a common area of interest for the Arctic Nations.

• ACE is directly applicable to other regions and applications.

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Six Key Dimensions of ACE

• Create an open access tool to integrate disparate data sets in response to key user requirements in the Arctic Region

• Facilitate data and model sharing and the creation of new and/or enhanced products for end users

• Transition the System to the National Ice Center to sustain its viability and value to regional operators & researchers

• Transition the tool to other regions and applications • Get the next generation of researchers working together• Serve as the first step to additional collaborative projects and

activities – ACE was and is part of a integrated strategy that now includes ARC-Sat and a UAS initiative

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Arctic Collaborative Environment Team

• We have an incredible team – been able to work with and integrate some of the best people and organizations in the business

– Pablo Clemente-Colón, National Ice Center– Thorsten Markus, NASA Goddard– John Calder, NOAA– Corky Clinton/Joe Casas, NASA MSFC– John Farrell, U. S. Arctic Research Commission – Julie Payette, Government of Quebec – Julie Gourley, State Department, Arctic Council – Brendan Kelly, OSTP– EUCOM, NORTHCOM, NORAD, USCG, Navy Task Force Climate Change, U. S. Navy, AMRDEC,

DLR, CRREL, ORNL, NOAA, Arctic ERMA, NWS, NSF, ONR, OSTP, State Department – Norwegian Polar Institute, DLR, German Embassy, Finnish Meteorological Institute, Inuit

Circumpolar Council, SAON– University of Alabama in Huntsville, University of Alaska Fairbanks, University of Maryland

College Park, University of Delaware, Aurora Research Institute, Universities Space Research Association

– Working to Fully Integrate Canada and Russia into Project

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WWW

Data Flow & Product Generation: Current

Global,Regional,& LocalData Sources

Arcti

cD

ata

NIC, NOAA, CIS, NAIS, NSIDC, NASA, NWS, GINA, MASIE, NDBC, NCEP, …

Arcti

cD

ata

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#1 Access the ACE tool

Choose your database(s)

CADIS

NSIDC

NOAA

NIC

NWS

NAIS

International

Proprietary

Maritime Domain

Awareness

#2 Utilize selected databases - perform focused tasks

SAR

Environmental Response

Focused Res Project

#3 Feeds data for 3rd party apps or apps to fit your needs

File Formats for Displaying User Data

Currently Supported• Viewable in 2D Map/3D

Globe– KML/KMZ– Images tiles from Web Map

Service (WMS) requests– NetCDF

• Viewable in ACE Web Viewer– Image: jpeg, jpg, gif, png, tiff– PDF– Web Pages: XML, XHTML,

HTML

Coming Soon• GRIB2• HDF• ShapeFile• NITF• GeoTIFF

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Key Data Requirements

• Sea Ice– Location: Area, Onset, Growth,

Drift, and Decay– Characterization: % Coverage,

Thickness, and Type• Sea Surface

– Temperature– Movement: Sea State, Tides,

Currents, and Swells• Surface Weather

– Visibility– Air Temperature– Winds: Speed, Direction, and Gusts– Relative Humidity & Dew Point– Forecast

• Icing– Propensity for Superstructure Icing– Propensity for Infrastructure Icing

• Snow cover– Depth– Drift

• AIS– Vessel Location– Vessel Characterization

• Special– Buoy data– Integrate active and passive data

• Other– Volcanic activity– Fires

Data Centers

• Provide data via WMS capabilities– Implement tiling– Implement EPSG projections: q, r, t– Provide metadata, data legends

• Provide KML/KMZ data via web interface– Consistency of filenames (date / time)

• Provide static file link to most current data sets.• Provide a consistent web structure, proactively

notify ACE of content restructure.

What makes ACE unique?• Free• Openly accessible by anyone with access to the public Internet• Open source for community development and special purpose replication

– Designed for immediate extension to other regions of the world• Not tailored to a specific community or application, but provides general capabilities that end

users can customize for various purposes– Users can upload their own data files and share this information to a specific group of people

[researchers, rescuers, educators, etc] or share with the general public– Users can share uniquely tailored workspace [maps and data views] within their own group – Group collaboration and support for areas/topics of interest

• Rich catalog of data sources, including searchable metadata– Access to multiple data sources, including complex forecast data such as NetCDF

• Able to use temporal slider to view a time series of NetCDF files • Incorporates KML/KMZ and links to Web Map Servies

– (Easily) extensible to include additional data sets• Unique data sets from partners including a database of Arctic surface air temps with the inclusion of Russian

stations not previously available. Some stations date back to late 1800s. • Future data sets include previously unavailable early NIMBUS satellite images, sea ice forecast model, HDF, GRIB2

and ShapeFiles

• Multiple simultaneous 2D Map and 3D Globe map views with persistence, including differing layers, geographic regions and zoom levels.

• Sustained through partnered research proposals

Tutorials and Quickstart guides

Create your

ACE User

Account

Create your own unique workspace

Users select from data catalog, which includes KML/KMZ, WMS, webpages and images. Users can collapse and reopen

the data catalog to better view data sets and layer new data sets.

Naval/National Ice Center Marginal Ice Zone

[MIZ] product layered with real-time METAR surface temperature (degrees Fahrenheit) [left] and University

of Cologne North Pole surface chart [right]

NOAA superstructure icing forecast for northern Atlantic [upper left] next to Arctic Cap Nowcast/Forecast System (ACNFS) ice concentration [bottom left] next to National/Naval Ice Center

(NIC) and the National Snow and Ice Data Center’s (NSIDC) daily Multisensor Analyzed Sea Ice Extent (MASIE) product layered with near real-time ship and buoy information from National Data Buoy

Center [right]

Sea Ice Thickness Comparison

Arctic Cap Nowcast/Forecast System (ACNFS) ice thickness [left] next to National Weather Service Anchorage, Alaska Sea Ice Desk daily sea ice thickness product layered with PolarView’s sea ice extent

(as defined by 15% concentration) [right]

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•Obtained and currently processing Russian AARI sea ice concentration maps from 1933 – 2006 for display on ACE. Maps will be used in analysis of sea ice predictability over different climatic regimes and seasons of ice forecast

•Created and uploaded database of Arctic surface air temps with the inclusion of Russian stations not previously available. Some stations date back to late 1800s. Currently working on KMZ file to be able to display station information on a map.

•Team working on new improved statistical seasonal forecast tool for ice cover and create new predictor for successful forecast in Canada, Russia and US.

•UAF team is working with University of Illinois’ Cryosphere Today to prepare data sets in validation of sea ice products, in particular sea ice coverage and departure from normal.

University of Alaska Fairbanks

•Students currently working with Naval/National Ice Center to provide a system for sea ice motion tracking and discontinuity estimation from active and passive satellite images. The motion estimation is performed using a cascaded, multi-scale algorithm and methods developed in earlier work

•This project has linkage with NASA GSFC project at University of Alabama Huntsville.

University of Delaware

•Students organizing and geo-referencing past and present research licensing [currently over 1200] information in Northwest Territories for display in the ACE tool.•This project will included nested categories and links to online ARI database of Northwest Territories license applications and was facilitated by the Inuit Circumpolar Council.

Aurora Research Institute [Northwest Territories, Canada]

•Current work includes working with NASA GSFC to compile meteorological data sets of the Arctic, which includes air and surface temperatures, sea surface temperatures and sea ice concentration measurements from passive microwave instruments.

•Student is working on creation of an ice accretion model and forecast for ships in the Arctic and calculating the moisture flux over the entire Arctic sea ice pack in order to study if changes relate to changes in the ice pack itself.

University of Maryland – College Park

Improving Predictive Capabilities for Arctic

Sea IceWilliam ChapmanUniversity of Illinois

Vasily SmolyanitskyVladimir IvanovSergey KlyachkinArctic and Antarctic Research Inst.

Igor PolyakovAndrey PnyushkovInternational Arctic Research Center

John WalshInternational Arctic Research CenterUniversity of Illinois

Adrienne TivyNational Research CouncilCanadian Ice Service

As part of the NASA-ACE project:

1) empirical modeling techniques used at NAIS will be implemented and tested at AARI

2) data exchange between international partners and input of unique datasets to NASA-ACE tool

Barnett, T.P. and R. Priesendorfer (1987). Origins and levels of monthly and seasonal forecast skill for United States surface air temperatures determined by Canonical Correlation Analysis. Mon. Wea. Rev., 115, 1825-1849.

Tivy, A., S.E.L. Howell, B. Alt, J. J. Yackel and T. Carrieres, 2011. Origins and levels of seasonal forecast skill for sea ice in Hudson Bay using Canonical Correlation Analysis. Journal of Climate

Russian Ice Chart Archive: 1933-present Canadian Ice Chart Archive: ~1960-present

Domain of Russian Ice

Data

Barents Sea

ChukchiSea

• longer Russian record may yield insight into the

potential predictability of sea ice during different climate regimes

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ACE JCTD: Way-Ahead• On-going:

– Working a Transition Plan with Navy, NOAA, NIC, EUCOM, NASA MSFC, and UAHuntsville to clarify out year support responsibilities

– Building the Developmental Server at UAHuntsville– Working to expand international participation and support – on the working groups, with data and model

sharing, SAON support, etc. – key targets – Russia and Canada– Working to develop new products – focus on buoy data and active-passive integration – integrate research

efforts into baseline – ACE will host new Navy Sea Ice Model– Collaborating with other key activities to avoid duplication and provide key capabilities – Arctic ERMA, AON,

etc. – Scheduled to brief IARPC on November 5 – Focus on ACE and ARC-Sat– Scheduling joint review with Canadian and US Coast Guard at Canadian Embassy in DC

• Milestones:– Feb 2012: Conducted alpha testing with various priority users – USCG, NWS, NIC, etc.– Mar–Apr 2012: Conducted beta testing – Key Meetings/Reviews Being Planned – April 2012 – Presented Tool to International Community – IPY Conference – Nov 2012: Conduct Technical Demonstration– Dec 2012: Conduct Operational Demonstration– Mar 2013: Transition operational system to NOAA – National Ice Center– Out Years: NOAA hosts ACE at the NIC through Google Cloud – developmental server acts as operational back up – and

UAHuntsville & NASA MSFC provide support to maintain, update, and extend linkages to open source data and use developmental server to support Arctic research

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Opportunities for Engagement

• Team has several pathways for interested organizations or individuals– Participation on ACE Working Groups – Science Working Group,

Academic Support Group and User Requirements Working Group – Participation in Beta Testing at Your Organization or Integration of

Tool in an Exercise– Sharing of Data and Models for Integration– Engagement in Planned Technical and Operational

Demonstrations– Teaming on Proposals that capitalize on tool and Team’s expertise– Use of tool for other applications – Other Arctic Collaborative Initiatives – from Instruments, to

Platforms, to Systems, to…

UAS Activities

UAS Menu of Activities

• HIRAD – Global Hawk Flight Project – NASA/NOAA Collaboration – Evolved to NASA GRIP Program

• HIRAD + Hyperspectral Imager Global Hawk Mission Concept for Arctic – Being Framed with NIC

• DSIT – Technology Demos – Unmanned Systems/Robots• SPAWAR Autonomous Unmanned Systems Consortia – VCSI is

one of the three finalist – interoperability/instruments for multiple platforms/

• Optimization Tool -- NOAA/Tri-Vector – requirements • Alaska Aerospace Corporation-State of Alaska-NOAA-NASA

Meeting• Theme – capitalize on DOD assets and capabilities

HIRAD Integration to Global Hawk (at Dryden)

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NOAA Analysis of Alternatives Capability

• Supports the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to:– Evaluate the feasibility of UAS platforms to meet NOAA mission needs

using a requirements-driven systems approach to assess technology readiness, cost effectiveness and operational feasibility.

– Analyze mission requirements for• Forecasting & Warning of high impact coastal weather• Oil Spill Surveys• Arctic Sea Ice Monitoring• Marine Sanctuary Monitoring• Fire Weather• Inland Flooding

– Current NOAA tool analyzes 394 unique mission requirements against 100+ UAS platforms and 80+sensor complements/packages (and growing)

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NOAA Missions• Oil Spill Survey Missions

– Real-time monitoring video, as well as EO and IR still images

– Potential Sensors: Radar, Hyperspectral Imaging, Laser Flourosensor

– Surveillance location depending upon the spill site– Minimum coverage area of 65 km2 (25 nm2)

• Artic Sea Ice Monitoring– Altitude of 0 – 15,250 m (0 – 50,000 ft)– 100 to 1000 km (55 to 550 nm) tracks– 10 to 20 leads of 100 km (55 nm) along

the tracks– Continuous surface imaging for EO / IR – Atmospheric Monitoring using Dropsondes

(Temp, Press, %H, Wind Velocity)

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NOAA Missions• Marine Sanctuary Monitoring

– Real-time monitoring video, and/or still images – Image quality required for prosecutions– Surveillance locations defined by the National

Marine Sanctuaries– Stealth imaging required

• Fire Weather– Meteorological measurements at 300 m

(1000 ft)– Hourly surveys throughout the life of the fire– Onsite operations within 24 hours of call-up– Infrared images for fire monitoring– Data available within 10 minutes of

images/measurements

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NOAA UAS AoA Data Book…• Analyzes Mission Requirements against

potential platforms and sensors…

…OR

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NOAA UAS AoA Data Book…• …analyzes

Platforms against potentialsensors andmissionrequirements…

…OR…

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NOAA UAS AoA Data Book…• …analyzes

Sensors againstpotential missionrequirementsand platforms.

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Overview of ARC-Sat – Status Report – Steve Spehn, EUCOM

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ARC-Sat Operational ViewAn innovative, multi-agency collaboration that provides MDA, communications relay, and data-extraction

Payloads• Mothership launches CubeSats and

has extensive computational, control, and data store-and-forward capacity

• Mothership and 4 CubeSats with software-defined radios enable over the horizon communications

• AIS provides global Maritime Domain Awareness

• Data-X provides data collection from unattended sensors

Mission Concept• 1 MiniSatellite Mothership (NASA)

• CubeSat Launcher (NASA)• AIS/Data-X (DoD)• Communications package (NASA & DoD)

• 4 Communications CubeSats (DoD)• 650 km low-earth-orbit• 90-98° Inclination• Mission management & operations (NASA, DoD,

& Others)• > 20Mbps total data throughput• UHF SatCom

Ships

SensorBuoys

GroundStations

A/C One-day of coverage

NASA Near-Earth Network and DoD GIG

A/C

UAS

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ARC-Sat Provides Mission-Tailored CommunicationsPowerful• 5 Software-Defined Radios (SDRs) total

• 1 SDR on each of 4 cube-sats• 1 SDR on the mothership

• UHF (0.3–3.0 GHz)• 24 Channels per CubeSat• 2 Mbps per SDR• Mothership has S-Band and X-Band downlinks for

combined 11 Mbs• 13.48 minutes in satellite foot-print for overhead pass

Compatible• Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS)

• Airborne & Maritime/Fixed Station (AMF)• UHF Satellite Communications• Wideband Network Waveform• Soldier Radio Waveform (SRW)

• Mobile User Objective System (MUOS)

Flexible• Controllable Virtual Beam

• Each SDR has wide-Beam for total-area coverage• Steerable Beams for greater link margin and higher

throughput (NASA uses 3db reserve)• Reprogrammable in-flight from the ground

Ships

SensorBuoys

GroundStations

A/C

NASA Near-Earth Network and DoD GIG

A/C

UAS

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Use Scenario: Arctic Search & RescueSequence of Events1. Ship suffers an engineering casualty and is dead in

the water (DIW)2. Ship activates 406 MHz digital Emergency Position

Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB)3. Ship begins sending Automatic Identification

System (AIS) distress message4. ARC-Sat detects EPIRB beacon and forwards ship’s

location and information to USCG District 175. ARC-Sat feeds the AIS distress message into the

Volpe Center’s global AIS system6. ARC-Sat provides communications relay support

1. One CubeSat re-orients to provide priority support to distress vessel

2. One CubeSat re-orients to provide priority support to response force

3. Mothership provides general support7. ARC-Sat provides data link between response force

and the National Ice Center (NIC) for updates on sea-ice, sea surface conditions, and surface weather via the ACE system

Ships

SensorBuoys

GroundStations

A/C

NASA Near-Earth Network and DoD GIG

A/C

UAS

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ARC-Sat Provides Year-Round Global Capability, with an Arctic Focus

Typical ground coverage and track

Orbit• Altitude: 650 km• Eccentricity: 0 (Circular)• Inclination: 98°• Period: 97.7 minutes

Ground Track• Diameter: 5,529 km• Area: 24 million km2

• Speed Over Ground: 6.836 km/s• Time in view for overhead pass: 13.48 min

• With a track overlap of 50.8% at the Equator, ARC-Sat will cover the Earth twice per day

• ARC-Sat will provide service to each point on the Earth• Minimum of 4 times per day at the Equator• Up to 14 times per day at the Poles

Wrap Up – Way Ahead – Discussion About What Other Participants Organizations Are Doing – Where We Might Be Able to Collaborate

Company: VCSI Contact: Marty Kress Email: mkress@vcsi.org Phone: (256) 961-7001USEUCOM Steve Spehn stephen.l.spehn.ngo@mail.mil (256) 961-7095

RSSC: Integration of the incredible suite of technical assets, facilities, personnel, and systems engineering capabilities across the national R&D base to rapidly prototype cross-domain responsive systems solutions for A2/AD. RSSC would focus on integrating low cost, emerging systems such as UASs, airships, microsats & cubesats to provide ISR/PED, Comms, GPS, Internet, and C2 capabilities.

Problem: According to Defense Science Board, OSD is not prepared to address urgent & emerging needs in a rapidly shifting threat environment. OSD needs new paradigm for rapid prototyping and development – an agile, adaptive, flexible & innovative rapid acquisition process (QDR Report)

Solution: A2/AD & OSD establish RSSC -- an outside the gate construct, with national reach back, that accelerates all phases of rapid prototyping for emerging low cost systems solutions:– Flexible and adaptive staffing to accelerate concept integration;– Innovation Networks , Business Clusters, and RFIs to accelerate

identification of the right technology solutions;– Cooperative Agreement or CRADA to accelerate prototyping and

interaction; – Freedom from FAR to accelerate development and transition of

proven prototype systems to DOD acquisition; – Preferred customer status to capitalize on national assets; and – Initially reported to ATL/R&D – until creation of AS/AD Office

Capabilities: The proposed RSSC would– Focus on responsive systems solutions for A2/AD– Blend technology & business innovation;– Create a matrix organization that can integrate government, research,

industry personnel and assets including large & small business;– Have procurement authority; and– Align requirements, resources, and the acquisition process.

Discriminators: RSSC is new way to accelerate rapid systems solutions:– Accelerates the front & back end of the rapid deployment process by

creating a dedicated Core Team, resourced with national assets, able to address all aspects of project assessment & execution;

– Focuses on ACAT III type/class/cost projects;– Provides tactical, operational, and theater solutions;– Provides capability for dealing with emerging threats;– Capitalizes on National R&D base; and – Executed via a Cooperative Agreement / CRADA – fully complaint with

FAR – operates under OMB Circular A-122 .

* Budget includes funding for all staffing costs, proof of concepts and reference mission activities as well as year one deliverable – assuming responsive systems solutions projects funded by other DoD Organizations.

Attachment C -- Responsive Systems Solution Center (RSSC) For A2/AD Initiative

Figure 1 – Example of a Responsive Systems Solution

Figure 2 – The RSSC Acceleration of the “Front- & Back-End” Rapid Prototyping Process

Proposed Budget

FY 2013 FY 2014

10.5m* 11.5m*