David Toll Deputy Program Element Manager Water Resources Hydrological Sciences NASA/GSFC

1. NASA Earth Science Capabilities Supporting WestFAST David Toll Deputy Program Element Manager Water Resources Hydrological Sciences NASA/GSFC Brad Doorn Program Manager NASA Applied Sciences Program Washington D.C. Edwin Sheffner Deputy Chief Earth Science Division NASA/Ames 29 April 2010 David.L.Toll@nasa.gov

2. Earth Science Astro- physics Helio- physics PlanetaryScience Jnt. Ag. Sat. Div. NASA Earth Science Science Mission Directorate The purpose of NASA's Earth science program is to develop a scientific understanding of Earth's system and its response to natural and human-induced changes, and to improve prediction of climate, weather, and natural hazards.

3. NASA Earth Science Earth Science Division Research Applications Flight • Research focus areas: • Atmospheric composition • Weather • Climate Variability and Change • Water and Energy Cycles • Carbon Cycle and Ecosystems • Earth Surface and Interior • Applied Sciences Program elements: • Agriculture • Air Quality • Climate • Natural Disasters • Ecological Forecasting • Public Health • Water Resources • Weather Most Relevant to WestFAST

4. NASA Applied Science Goal:Facilitate the use of NASA Earth science - research results, observations from aircraft and spacecraft, advanced data products, predictive models, and systems engineering - in resource management and policy decision making. Application themes in the water resources program element: 1) Streamflow & Floods (Includes Snowpack) 2) Drought Monitoring & Prediction 3) Irrigation and Water Delivery 4) Water Quality 5) Climate Change and Water Resources Program approach: NASA Applied Sciences Program works primarily through US government agencies and others (NGOs, Academia, State agencies, private groups, etc.) to use NASA products for widest use, both domestically and internationally.

5. NASA Applied Sciences ProgramA Pathway Between Earth Science & Society Natural Disasters Water Resources Ecosystems Agriculture Air Quality Weather Public Health Climate Results of NASA Earth Science Research Uses by Partners and Stakeholder Communities GEOSS Societal Benefit Areas NASA Applied Sciences Program

6. Continuous Earth Observations Jason CALIPSO Quikscat Cloudsat Tropical Rainfall Measureing Mission (TRMM) Airborne Science Aura Aqua Terra Ice, Clouds,and Land Elevation Satellite (ICESat) Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment (GRACE) New Millennium Program Earth Observing-1 (NMP EO-1) Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment (SORCE) Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) GPM NOAA Polar Operational Environmental Satellite (POES), N and N’ Aquarius National Polar-Orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) Preparatory Project (NPP) Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) GOES O/P/R SMAP NASA develops and operates Earth-observing satellites that monitor changes to our planet’s oceans, ice caps, land masses and atmosphere from a unique global perspective. Promotes free and open access to high quality Earth science products. Missions in Development Missions in Operation ICESAT-2

7. TMPA-RT (mm/h) 18UTC 22 May 2002 Priority Observation - Rainfall Measurements NOAA GOES NOAA POES GMS/MTSAT (Japan) DMSP Aqua METEOSAT (Europe) TRMM Integrated with Operational Missions and International Missions From: Hong, Adler

8. Priority Observation – Soil Moisture Measurements Soil Moisture Active/Passive (SMAP) Mission • Soil Moisture Mapping • A dedicatedsoil moisture mission selected as a new Earth science mission • NASA fly an active / passive microwave soil moisture with mission in the 2012-2013 timeframe • Extends soil moisture to deeper depths with improved spatial resolution • Mission applications program developing tools and products prior to launch SMAP Applications web site http://smap.jpl.nasa.gov/science/applicWG/

9. Partners and Projects

10. U.S. Drought Monitor (NOAA-USDA-USGS) Soil Moisture and Vegetation Health • Prototype of Soil Moisture Change (SMC) with Drought D-Level Overlay: JPL automated system produces data; weekly automatic uploaded to NOAA PSD, who creates multiple SMC products and derivatives with D-level overlay. • Expedited MODIS Vegetation Drought Response Index (VegDRI) : USGS/EROS and NDMC have integrated MODIS NDVI 7-day composites into the national VegDRI model on a rapid, weekly schedule to meet requirements of US Drought Monitor authors. • Resolution Benchmark: NASA results have excellent resolutions to resolve the county-level goal of NIDIS. This is evident in the comparison of SMC and VegDRI products versus USDM drought maps at the lower resolution. • Improvements of USDM are important for users: NOAA NWS uses D2 to trigger drought information statements, IRS for tax deferrals, USDA programmatic usage, and Livestock Forage Disaster Program disbursement ($147,109,381 in 2008, and $77,608,125 in 2009). User community interactions: Drought Forum 2009 Nghiem/JPL & Verdin/USGS

11. U.S. Drought Monitor (NOAA-USDA-USGS) Water Storage Change Model assimilated water storage, mm January – December 2005 Loop GRACE water storage, mm January – December 2005 Loop Rodell/NASA-GSFC

12. U.S. Drought Monitor (NOAA-USDA-USGS) Soil Moisture Forecasts Initial conditions (March 1, 2010) 1-month lead (April 1, 2010) Root zone soil moisture anomaly (expressed as percentile) Known drought conditions are predicted by GMAO seasonal prediction system to persist into April but be gone by May. 3-month lead (June 1, 2010) 2-month lead (May1, 2010) Project: Development of a Robust Drought Index for Agricultural Applications. PI: R. Koster, NASA/GSFC http://gmao.gsfc.nasa.gov/forecasts/# http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/fews/

13. Hydrologic Forecasting(USDA-DOI-CA DWR) Snow Pack Aqua Terra (NASA) Snow Data Reservoir Regulation Snowpack Initial Condition D. Lettenmaier/U. Wash.

14. NASA Snow Monitoring MODIS Snow Cover (%) Observed SWE (mm) 17 January 2003 GLDAS Modeled SWE (mm) Model-assimilated SWE (mm) NOAA SNODAS SWE Central Great Rockies MODIS cloud-gap-filled snow map NASA-NOAA NOHRSC Project to Evaluate Use of NASA Products for Snow Water Equivalent & US Water Availability ‘GLDAS’ Assimilated Snow Water Equivalent NASA-AFWA Blended AMSR-E & MODIS SWE AFWA SNODEP model 20071212 12Z

15. NASA Project, Agriculture Forecasting(USDA) & Soil Moisture Modeling P.I. – Wade Crow USDA-ARS-HRSL Co. I. – John D. Bolten NASA GSFC A) USDA-FAS Soil Moisture C) Root-Zone Anomaly Product B) Improved Soil Moisture Product • Contribution: provide global soil moisture observations at higher accuracy, finer spatial resolution, and over broader geographic domains than existing USDA-FAS product, improved ROOT ZONE ANOMALY observations • Benefits: more accurate crop monitoring and drought prediction, greater agricultural economic security, improved food shortage warnings, increased agricultural efficiency, policy and resource management decision support • Status: Operationally delivered to the USDA -FAS in near real-time

16. Western Water Management(CA DWR, DOI, USDA) Evapotranspiration (ET) Estimation & Modeling MODIS GOES Aqua Terra (Lettenmaier, U. Wash.) Water management model Albedo Emissivity Temperature Surface reflectance Vegetation indices Land cover … Hourly surface radiation budget (SRB) data Irrigation withdrawal Drought Monitoring Endangered Species

17. California recently experienced three years of drought, with reported cumulative and projected agricultural losses approaching $900m (DWR CA Drought Report, Dec 2009 Update). Residential, industrial, agricultural, and environmental demands increasingly compete for limited water supplies . Continued environmental/regulatory constraints on water supplies likely to be typical of future as population growth and climate change begin to impact state water supply. CA Water Management(CA DWR) Systems, Modeling, ET Estimation Ag Water Demand: ARC Water Supply: JPL • Goals: • Enhance snow pack and precipitation monitoring and snow water equivalent (SWE) forecasting to improve the ability of state and local agencies to estimate water availability and annual water budgets, and forecast flood risk. • Create a cyber-infrastructure for use of NASA data and models to support irrigation monitoring / optimization; and, • Add value to current investments in ground-based monitoring networks such as the California Irrigation Management and Information System (CIMIS)

18. Irrigation Optimization(DWR, USDA, Ag Industry) Modeling, ET • Application of the NASA Terrestrial Observation and Prediction System (TOPS) to integrate satellite and weather data to estimate ET, water balance, and irrigation demand • Builds on CIMIS, as well as previous success in vineyards • Data exchange with users via applications for web and mobile devices • Use of wireless soil moisture sensor networks for calibration • Partnerships with CA Dept. Water Resources, USDA-ARS, Agricultural producers, Universities, and Irrigation consultants

19. Summary & Future Directions • NASA wants to utilize and leverage its large Earth science investment ($1.5B) to maximize societal benefits. • NASA Applied Sciences Program has a history of working effectively with other federal agencies and is increasingly interested in making its capabilities available at the regional level. • NASA may have capabilities that will assist the WSWC, through WestFAST, in its decision making processes. - NASA strongly supports NIDIS, US Drought Monitor and Outlook - NASA has several western US projects addressing snowpack, water loss (evapotranspiration), irrigated agriculture, groundwater monitoring, etc. • NASA seeks to work with WestFAST and other groups to plan and coordinate future solicitations for coordinated activities. • Support of possible US agency led programs affecting western water including Water Smart, NIDIS, Land Conservation Corps, RISAs, Climate Centers (USGS and NOAA), USGS Water Census, etc.