Potential NASA Support for Remote Sensing Studies Related to the
GLOBEC/CoOP/COP Northeast Pacific Study
NASA is planning to release a NASA Research Announcement (NRA) in
early 1997, soliciting proposals for remote sensing research
related to biological oceanography, including studies of biological
variability of major coastal and open ocean ecosystems. The focus of this
NRA is on research emphasizing satellite ocean color scanner imagery as the
principal data source, but NASA believes that timing is ideal to integrate
measurements from multiple ocean remote sensing instruments such as OCTS
(and SeaWiFS), AVHRR-SST, TOPEX and NSCAT to study coupling of biological
and physical processes. One of the important new data sources is Local
Area Coverage (LAC), full spatial resolution OCTS ocean color and
temperature imagery to be produced under a cooperative program ("Intensive
LAC" or "I-LAC") between NASA/NOAA, NASDA and ESA. Under the I-LAC
program, NASA and NOAA will generate a scientific-quality time series
(image collection began on 13 November, 1996) of OCTS LAC imagery covering
North American coastal waters extending out approximately 1000 km from the
coast. NASA/NOAA and NASDA will cooperate to produce a similar image time
series for the Eastern Tropical Pacific.
For more information on the upcoming NRA and possible NASA
involvement in the Northeast Pacific Study, contact Dr. James A. Yoder,
Mission to Planet Earth, Code YS, NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC 20546
(Phone: 202-358-0310 or Email: jyoder@hq.nasa.gov).