Research and technology

Activities of the Goddard Space Flight Center are described in the areas of planets and interplanetary media, comets, astronomy and high-energy physics, solar physics, atmospheres, terrestrial physics, ocean science, sensors and space technology, techniques, user space data systems, space communications and navigation, and system and software engineering. Flight projects and mission definition studies are presented, and institutional technology is described

Coastal management and adaptation: an integrated data-driven approach

Coastal regions are some of the most exposed to environmental hazards, yet the coast is the preferred settlement site for a high percentage of the global population, and most major global cities are located on or near the coast. This research adopts a predominantly anthropocentric approach to the analysis of coastal risk and resilience. This centres on the pervasive hazards of coastal flooding and erosion. Coastal management decision-making practices are shown to be reliant on access to current and accurate information. However, constraints have been imposed on information flows between scientists, policy makers and practitioners, due to a lack of awareness and utilisation of available data sources. This research seeks to tackle this issue in evaluating how innovations in the use of data and analytics can be applied to further the application of science within decision-making processes related to coastal risk adaptation. In achieving this aim a range of research methodologies have been employed and the progression of topics covered mark a shift from themes of risk to resilience. The work focuses on a case study region of East Anglia, UK, benefiting from the input of a partner organisation, responsible for the region’s coasts: Coastal Partnership East. An initial review revealed how data can be utilised effectively within coastal decision-making practices, highlighting scope for application of advanced Big Data techniques to the analysis of coastal datasets. The process of risk evaluation has been examined in detail, and the range of possibilities afforded by open source coastal datasets were revealed. Subsequently, open source coastal terrain and bathymetric, point cloud datasets were identified for 14 sites within the case study area. These were then utilised within a practical application of a geomorphological change detection (GCD) method. This revealed how analysis of high spatial and temporal resolution point cloud data can accurately reveal and quantify physical coastal impacts. Additionally, the research reveals how data innovations can facilitate adaptation through insurance; more specifically how the use of empirical evidence in pricing of coastal flood insurance can result in both communication and distribution of risk. The various strands of knowledge generated throughout this study reveal how an extensive range of data types, sources, and advanced forms of analysis, can together allow coastal resilience assessments to be founded on empirical evidence. This research serves to demonstrate how the application of advanced data-driven analytical processes can reduce levels of uncertainty and subjectivity inherent within current coastal environmental management practices. Adoption of methods presented within this research could further the possibilities for sustainable and resilient management of the incredibly valuable environmental resource which is the coast

Accelerating POCS interpolation of 3D irregular seismic data with Graphics Processing Units

Seismic trace interpolation is necessary for high-resolution imaging when the acquired data are not adequate or when some traces are missing. Projection-onto-convex-sets (POCS) interpolation can gradually recover missing traces with an iterative algorithm, but its computational cost in a 3D CPU-based implementation is too high for practical applications. We present a computing scheme to speedup 3D POCS interpolation with graphics processing units (GPUs). We accelerate the most time-consuming part of the 3D POCS algorithm (i.e. Fourier transforms) by taking advantage of a CPU-based Fourier transform library. Other parts are fine-tuned to maximize the utilization of CPU computing resources. We upload the whole input data set to the global memory of the GPUs and reuse it until the final result is obtained. This can avoid low-bandwidth data transfer between CPU and GPUs. We minimize the number of intermediate 3D arrays to save GPU global memory by optimizing the algorithm implementation. This allows us to handle a much larger input data set. When reducing the runtime of our GPU implementation, the coalescing of global memory access and the 3D CUFFT library provides us with the greatest performance improvements. Numerical results show that our scheme is 3-29 x times faster than the optimized CPU-based implementation, depending on the size of 3D data set. Our CPU computing scheme allows a significant reduction of computational cost and would facilitate 3D POCS interpolation for practical applications. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Desarrollo de una herramienta integrada de gestión costera para las costas rocosas en el sitio de estudio del Algarve.

Coastal erosion has contributed throughout geological time to shape world coastal landscapes leading to the coastline that we know today. This natural phenomenon, allied with soil erosion in water catchments, is the source of sediment for costal systems such as beaches and marshes. These systems have several purposes and functions serving as wave energy absorbents, habitats and nesting grounds for fauna and flora, maintaining also a barrier and protection between the fresh and saltwater. Coastal systems have been proven to be very desirable places for humans that led to increasing migration of the human population towards them due to the resources that could be obtained from these areas, from fishing to industry. In Europe, the settlement of a large population on these areas, heavy exploration and the touristic high demand for coastal areas increased interference and turned erosion into a serious problem, with ever growing negative consequences, especially along the French, Spanish, Portuguese coasts and the southern coast of the United Kingdom. Although most of the population realizes that the coastal erosion is a problem that needs to be addressed, their focus is mainly on short-term based observations of a rapid erosion. Therefore, other options must be considered and made known to the public, governmental and scientific communities. In order to study and create solutions for the coastal erosion and management plans adjusted to the processes of the rocky coastlines, the case study site was the southernmost rocky coast of the Algarve region. The Algarve rocky coast displays a very crenulated physiography mainly where the intensively karstified Lagos-Portimão Formation is exposed (between Porto de Mós and Olhos de Água). Beaches occur at the cliffs’ foot separated by headlands often connected to shore platforms forming littoral cells. Currently, the survival of these beaches depends almost exclusively on the longshore drift due to the lack of sediment sources from inland transported by rivers. The erosion of cliffs has minimal contribution in this area because rocks are mainly carbonates therefore the artificial nourishing of beaches has been an increasingly frequent practice. This thesis intends to contribute to the knowledge and identification of the main factors which are most relevant to the sustainable management of the coast, with emphasis on rocky coasts. It is structured in eight chapters. Chapter 1 encompasses an introduction to the general concepts and terminology needed to understand the several chapters from geomorphology terminology to mathematical equations. Chapter 2 a general overview of the characteristics of the study area and in chapter 3, a background analysis on coastal planning, legislation and legal instruments is carried out to assess how Portugal is dealing with EU demands. In chapter 4 the conditioning factors of geomorphological record are analysed and in chapter 5 management tools applicable to the rocky shores worldwide are proposed. The latter two chapters give insights of parameters that should be considered in coastal management and tools to achieve it. In chapter 6 socio-economic interactions with coastal areas are analysed in order to relate the state of tourism with the issues that need to be overcame in coastal areas. In chapter 7 the findings of this study are discussed, and the scientific progress and management recommendations are presented. In chapter 8 the overall conclusions are presented and the scientific outputs of this study. In short, this thesis provides a review of the state of EU coastal policies and shows good examples of the benefits of using new technologies and methodologies in coastal regions, creating new cartography and indexes to identify important parameters for the rocky coast of the Algarve. It contributes to the understanding of the diverse morphological coast of Algarve and the several issues that may be found when trying to achieve an integrated coastal management approach. The main objectives were achieved. This study establishes a scientific knowledge basis for an integrated management of rocky shores by highlighting the most important factors that influence erosion, creating models and frameworks adapted to their specific features and to the fast-increasing human pressures. The acquired data and scientific outcomes contribute to a diverse range of topics providing guidelines and tools for future researchers and coastal managers to achieve a more sustainable coastal management plan