21 research outputs found
GSFC Heliophysics Science Division 2008 Science Highlights
This report is intended to record and communicate to our colleagues, stakeholders, and the public at large about heliophysics scientific and flight program achievements and milestones for 2008, for which NASA Goddard Space Flight Center's Heliophysics Science Division (HSD) made important contributions. HSD comprises approximately 261 scientists, technologists, and administrative personnel dedicated to the goal of advancing our knowledge and understanding of the Sun and the wide variety of domains that its variability influences. Our activities include Lead science investigations involving flight hardware, theory, and data analysis and modeling that will answer the strategic questions posed in the Heliophysics Roadmap; Lead the development of new solar and space physics mission concepts and support their implementation as Project Scientists; Provide access to measurements from the Heliophysics Great Observatory through our Science Information Systems, and Communicate science results to the public and inspire the next generation of scientists and explorers
Complexity Heliophysics: A lived and living history of systems and complexity science in Heliophysics
In this piece we study complexity science in the context of Heliophysics,
describing it not as a discipline, but as a paradigm. In the context of
Heliophysics, complexity science is the study of a star, interplanetary
environment, magnetosphere, upper and terrestrial atmospheres, and planetary
surface as interacting subsystems. Complexity science studies entities in a
system (e.g., electrons in an atom, planets in a solar system, individuals in a
society) and their interactions, and is the nature of what emerges from these
interactions. It is a paradigm that employs systems approaches and is
inherently multi- and cross-scale. Heliophysics processes span at least 15
orders of magnitude in space and another 15 in time, and its reaches go well
beyond our own solar system and Earth's space environment to touch planetary,
exoplanetary, and astrophysical domains. It is an uncommon domain within which
to explore complexity science.
After first outlining the dimensions of complexity science, the review
proceeds in three epochal parts: 1) A pivotal year in the Complexity
Heliophysics paradigm: 1996; 2) The transitional years that established
foundations of the paradigm (1996-2010); and 3) The emergent literature largely
beyond 2010.
This review article excavates the lived and living history of complexity
science in Heliophysics. The intention is to provide inspiration, help
researchers think more coherently about ideas of complexity science in
Heliophysics, and guide future research. It will be instructive to Heliophysics
researchers, but also to any reader interested in or hoping to advance the
frontier of systems and complexity science
GSFC Heliophysics Science Division FY2010 Annual Report
This report is intended to record and communicate to our colleagues, stakeholders, and the public at large about heliophysics scientific and flight program achievements and milestones for 2010, for which NASA Goddard Space Flight Center's Heliophysics Science Division (HSD) made important contributions. HSD comprises approximately 323 scientists, technologists, and administrative personnel dedicated to the goal of advancing our knowledge and understanding of the Sun and the wide variety of domains that its variability influences. Our activities include: Leading science investigations involving flight hardware, theory, and data analysis and modeling that will answer the strategic questions posed in the Heliophysics Roadmap; Leading the development of new solar and space physics mission concepts and support their implementation as Project Scientists; Providing access to measurements from the Heliophysics Great Observatory through our Science Information Systems; and Communicating science results to the public and inspiring the next generation of scientists and explorers
Heliophysics: The New Science of the Sun-Solar System Connection. Recommended Roadmap for Science and Technology 2005-2035
This is a Roadmap to understanding the environment of our Earth, from its life-sustaining Sun out past the frontiers of the solar system. A collection of spacecraft now patrols this space, revealing not a placid star and isolated planets, but an immense, dynamic, interconnected system within which our home planet is embedded and through which space explorers must journey. These spacecraft already form a great observatory with which the Heliophysics program can study the Sun, the heliosphere, the Earth, and other planetary environments as elements of a system--one that contains dynamic space weather and evolves in response to solar, planetary, and interstellar variability. NASA continually evolves the Heliophysics Great Observatory by adding new missions and instruments in order to answer the challenging questions confronting us now and in the future as humans explore the solar system. The three heliophysics science objectives: opening the frontier to space environment prediction; understanding the nature of our home in space, and safeguarding the journey of exploration, require sustained research programs that depend on combining new data, theory, analysis, simulation, and modeling. Our program pursues a deeper understanding of the fundamental physical processes that underlie the exotic phenomena of space
Decades of Transformation: Evolution of the NASA Astrophysics Data System's Infrastructure
The NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS) is the primary Digital Library portal
for researchers in astronomy and astrophysics. Over the past 30 years, the ADS
has gone from being an astronomy-focused bibliographic database to an open
digital library system supporting research in space and (soon) earth sciences.
This paper describes the evolution of the ADS system, its capabilities, and the
technological infrastructure underpinning it.
We give an overview of the ADS's original architecture, constructed primarily
around simple database models. This bespoke system allowed for the efficient
indexing of metadata and citations, the digitization and archival of full-text
articles, and the rapid development of discipline-specific capabilities running
on commodity hardware. The move towards a cloud-based microservices
architecture and an open-source search engine in the late 2010s marked a
significant shift, bringing full-text search capabilities, a modern API, higher
uptime, more reliable data retrieval, and integration of advanced
visualizations and analytics.
Another crucial evolution came with the gradual and ongoing incorporation of
Machine Learning and Natural Language Processing algorithms in our data
pipelines. Originally used for information extraction and classification tasks,
NLP and ML techniques are now being developed to improve metadata enrichment,
search, notifications, and recommendations. we describe how these computational
techniques are being embedded into our software infrastructure, the challenges
faced, and the benefits reaped.
Finally, we conclude by describing the future prospects of ADS and its
ongoing expansion, discussing the challenges of managing an interdisciplinary
information system in the era of AI and Open Science, where information is
abundant, technology is transformative, but their trustworthiness can be
elusive.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures, submitted to the ADASS 2023 proceeding
GSFC Heliophysics Science Division 2009 Science Highlights
This report is intended to record and communicate to our colleagues, stakeholders, and the public at large about heliophysics scientific and flight program achievements and milestones for 2009, for which NASA Goddard Space Flight Center's Heliophysics Science Division (HSD) made important contributions. HSD comprises approximately 299 scientists, technologists, and administrative personnel dedicated to the goal of advancing our knowledge and understanding of the Sun and the wide variety of domains that its variability influences. Our activities include: Leading science investigations involving flight hardware, theory, and data analysis and modeling that will answer the strategic questions posed in the Heliophysics Roadmap; Leading the development of new solar and space physics mission concepts and support their implementation as Project Scientists; Providing access to measurements from the Heliophysics Great Observatory through our Science Information Systems; and Communicating science results to the public and inspiring the next generation of scientists and explorers
Model-Based Systems Engineering in Concurrent Engineering Centers
Concurrent Engineering Centers (CECs) are specialized facilities with a goal of generating and maturing engineering designs by enabling rapid design iterations. This is accomplished by co-locating a team of experts (either physically or virtually) in a room with a narrow design goal and a limited timeline of a week or less. The systems engineer uses a model of the system to capture the relevant interfaces and manage the overall architecture. A single model that integrates other design information and modeling allows the entire team to visualize the concurrent activity and identify conflicts more efficiently, potentially resulting in a systems model that will continue to be used throughout the project lifecycle. Performing systems engineering using such a system model is the definition of model-based systems engineering (MBSE); therefore, CECs evolving their approach to incorporate advances in MBSE are more successful in reducing time and cost needed to meet study goals. This paper surveys space mission CECs that are in the middle of this evolution, and the authors share their experiences in order to promote discussion within the community
Model-Based Systems Engineering in Concurrent Engineering Centers
Concurrent Engineering Centers (CECs) are specialized facilities with a goal of generating and maturing engineering designs by enabling rapid design iterations. This is accomplished by co-locating a team of experts (either physically or virtually) in a room with a focused design goal and a limited timeline of a week or less. The systems engineer uses a model of the system to capture the relevant interfaces and manage the overall architecture. A single model that integrates other design information and modeling allows the entire team to visualize the concurrent activity and identify conflicts more efficiently, potentially resulting in a systems model that will continue to be used throughout the project lifecycle. Performing systems engineering using such a system model is the definition of model-based systems engineering (MBSE); therefore, CECs evolving their approach to incorporate advances in MBSE are more successful in reducing time and cost needed to meet study goals. This paper surveys space mission CECs that are in the middle of this evolution, and the authors share their experiences in order to promote discussion within the community