Software tools were constructed to address issues the NASA Fortran development community faces, and they were tested on real models currently in use at NASA. These proof-of-concept tools address the High-End Computing Program and the Modeling, Analysis, and Prediction Program. Two examples are the NASA Goddard Earth Observing System Model, Version 5 (GEOS-5) atmospheric model in Cell Fortran on the Cell Broadband Engine, and the Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) coupled atmosphere- ocean model called ModelE, written in fixed format Fortran

Abrams, Marc

Saboo, Pallabi

Sonsini, Mike

NASA Technical Reports Server

32 NASA Tech Briefs, April 2013
This software is available for commercial li-
censing. Please contact Dan Broderick at
Daniel.F.Broderick@jpl.nasa.gov. Refer to
NPO-47781.
ISTP CDF Skeleton Editor 
Basic Common Data Format (CDF)
tools (e.g., cdfedit) provide no specific
support for creating International
Solar-Terrestrial Physics/Space Physics
Data Facility (ISTP/SPDF) standard
files. While it is possible for someone
who is familiar with the ISTP/SPDF
metadata guidelines to create compli-
ant files using just the basic tools, the
process is error-prone and unreason-
able for someone without ISTP/SPDF
expertise. The key problem is the lack
of a tool with specific support for creat-
ing files that comply with the
ISTP/SPDF guidelines. There are basic
CDF tools such as cdfedit and skeleton-
cdf for creating CDF files, but these
have no specific support for creating
ISTP/ SPDF compliant files. 
The SPDF ISTP CDF skeleton editor is
a cross-platform, Java-based GUI editor
program that allows someone with only a
basic understanding of the ISTP/SPDF
guidelines to easily create compliant files.
The editor is a simple graphical user in-
terface (GUI) application for creating
and editing ISTP/SPDF guideline-com-
pliant skeleton CDF files. The SPDF ISTP
CDF skeleton editor consists of the fol-
lowing components: A swing-based Java
GUI program, JavaHelp-based manual/
tutorial, Image/Icon files, and HTML
Web page for distribution. The editor is
available as a traditional Java desktop ap-
plication as well as a Java Network
Launching Protocol (JNLP) application.
Once started, it functions like a typical
Java GUI file editor application for creat-
ing/editing application-unique files. 
The editor provides ease of use and
support for ISTP/SPDF and project-spe-
cific standards. The editor provides sup-
port for creating/editing CDF files that
comply with the ISTP/SPDF guidelines. 
This work was done by Reine Chimiak and
Bernard Harris of Goddard Space Flight Cen-
ter, and Phillip Williams of QSS Group. Fur-
ther information is contained in a TSP (see
page 1). GSC-16256-1
Uplink Summary Generator
(ULSGEN) Version 1.0 
The Uplink Summary Generator
(ULSGEN) provides a convenient means
of gathering together a set of uplink re-
lated files, parsing and analyzing these
files, and producing a summary of their
contents, which may then be electroni-
cally signed by one or more reviewers to
verify the commands. Spacecraft opera-
tions personnel view this summary as a
final sanity check before actual radiation
of the uplink data. 
Unique features of the software are a
browser-based application that can be
used both inside and outside the flight
operations firewall, file retrieval from
the project file server or from the proj-
ect DOM (Distributed Object Man-
ager), and the ability to parse and ana-
lyze spacecraft command files (SCMF).
The software also features DSN key-
word file (DKF) parsing for uplink win-
dows, and enables hosting of one or
more projects in a single server. Each
project can define its own uplink sum-
mary template. 
Each uplink summary is generated
based on the analysis results from the
parsers and the selected project tem-
plate. The uplink summary review and
signature collection cycle supports both
parallel and sequential workflows.
RadList file generation enables linkage
to the command system. 
This work was done by Yeou-Fang Wang,
Mitchell Schrock, Timothy J. Reeve, Kris-
tine T. Fong, and Benjamin D. Smith of
Caltech for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Labora-
tory. Further information is contained in a
TSP (see page 1).
This software is available for commercial li-
censing. Please contact Dan Broderick at
Daniel.F.Broderick@jpl.nasa.gov. Refer to
NPO-48423.
Robotics On-Board Trainer
(ROBoT) 
ROBoT is an on-orbit version of the
ground-based Dynamics Skills Trainer
(DST) that astronauts use for training on
a frequent basis. This software consists of
two primary software groups. The first se-
ries of components is responsible for dis-
playing the graphical scenes. The re-
maining components are responsible for
simulating the Mobile Servicing System
(MSS), the Japanese Experiment Mod-
ule Remote Manipulator System (JEM-
RMS), and the H-II Transfer Vehicle
(HTV) Free Flyer Robotics Operations.
The MSS simulation software includes:
Robotic Workstation (RWS) simulation,
a simulation of the Space Station Remote
Manipulator System (SSRMS), a simula-
tion of the ISS Command and Control
System (CCS), and a portion of the
Portable Computer System (PCS) soft-
ware necessary for MSS operations.
These components all run under the
CentOS4.5 Linux operating system.
The JEMRMS simulation software in-
cludes real-time, HIL, dynamics, manip-
ulator multi-body dynamics, and a mov-
ing object contact model with Tricks
discrete time scheduling. The JEMRMS
DST will be used as a functional profi-
ciency and skills trainer for flight crews.
The HTV Free Flyer Robotics Opera-
tions simulation software adds a func-
tional simulation of HTV vehicle con-
trollers, sensors, and data to the MSS
simulation software. These components
are intended to support HTV ISS visit-
ing vehicle analysis and training. The
scene generation software will use
DOUG (Dynamic On-orbit Ubiquitous
Graphics) to render the graphical
scenes. DOUG runs on a laptop run-
ning the CentOS4.5 Linux operating
system. DOUG is an Open GL-based 3D
computer graphics rendering package.
It uses pre-built three-dimensional
models of on-orbit ISS and space shut-
tle systems elements, and provides real-
time views of various station and shuttle
configurations. 
This work was done by Genevieve Johnson
of Johnson Space Center and Greg Alexander
of Harmony Lane Studios, Inc. Further infor-
mation is contained in a TSP (see page 1).
MSC-25005-1
Software Engineering Tools 
for Scientific Models
Software tools were constructed to ad-
dress issues the NASA Fortran develop-
ment community faces, and they were
tested on real models currently in use at
NASA. These proof-of-concept tools ad-
dress the High-End Computing Program
and the Modeling, Analysis, and Predic-
tion Program. Two examples are the
NASA Goddard Earth Observing System
Model, Version 5 (GEOS-5) atmospheric
model in Cell Fortran on the Cell Broad-
band Engine, and the Goddard Institute
for Space Studies (GISS) coupled atmos-
phere-ocean model called ModelE, writ-
ten in fixed format Fortran. 
To test the tool set, the innovators
first extended an annotation and con-
versation mechanism, known as Activi-
ties, allowing developers to provide in-
sights into code without modifying it to
include the qualification of Activities
with metadata for filtering. Next, the
designers created a visualization to
present the relationships, or connectiv-
ity, between model variables by tracing
various constructs through different
components and levels of a model.
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=20130012658 2019-08-31T00:44:10+00:00Z
NASA Tech Briefs, April 2013 33
Also, a type replacement facility was
tested for updating primitive types such
as such as integers that were not quali-
fied with a size, and thus may change as
the underlying architecture is up-
graded. Finally, the designers leveraged
a tool, called eclim, to bridge the gap
between text editors and Integrated De-
velopment Environments (IDE), by
running both of them simultaneously,
and set up to communicate with each
other. Through this mechanism, mod-
ern IDE features were made available
through text editors, minimizing the
learning curve for scientists already ex-
perienced with their conventions. 
This work was done by Marc Abrams, Pal-
labi Saboo, and Mike Sonsini of Harmonia
Holdings Group, LLC for Goddard Space
Flight Center. Further information is con-
tained in a TSP (see page 1). GSC-16475-1
Automatic Data Filter 
Customization Using a 
Genetic Algorithm
This work predicts whether a retrieval
algorithm will usefully determine CO2
concentration from an input spectrum
of GOSAT (Greenhouse Gases Observ-
ing Satellite). This was done to eliminate
needless runtime on atmospheric
soundings that would never yield useful
results. A space of 50 dimensions was ex-
amined for predictive power on the final
CO2 results.
Retrieval algorithms are frequently ex-
pensive to run, and wasted effort defeats
requirements and expends needless re-
sources. This algorithm could be used to
help predict and filter unneeded runs in
any computationally expensive regime.
Traditional methods such as the Fis-
cher discriminant analysis and decision
trees can attempt to predict whether a
sounding will be properly processed.
However, this work sought to detect a
subsection of the dimensional space that
can be simply filtered out to eliminate
unwanted runs. LDAs (linear discrimi-
nant analyses) and other systems exam-
ine the entire data and judge a “best fit,”
giving equal weight to complex and
problematic regions as well as simple,
clear-cut regions. In this implementa-
tion, a genetic space of “left” and “right”
thresholds outside of which all data are
rejected was defined. These left/right
pairs are created for each of the 50 input
dimensions. A genetic algorithm then
runs through countless potential filter
settings using a JPL computer cluster,
optimizing the tossed-out data’s yield
(proper vs. improper run removal) and
number of points tossed.
This solution is robust to an arbitrary
decision boundary within the data and
avoids the global optimization problem
of whole-dataset fitting using LDA or de-
cision trees. It filters out runs that would
not have produced useful CO2 values to
save needless computation. This would
be an algorithmic preprocessing im-
provement to any computationally ex-
pensive system.
This work was done by Lukas Mandrake
of Caltech for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Labora-
tory. For more information, contact
iaoffice@jpl.nasa.gov.
This software is available for commercial
licensing. Please contact Dan Broderick at
Daniel.F.Broderick@jpl.nasa.gov. Refer to
NPO-47788.
Tracker Toolkit
This software can track multiple
moving objects within a video stream si-
multaneously, use visual features to aid
in the tracking, and initiate tracks
based on object detection in a subre-
gion. A simple programmatic interface
allows plugging into larger image chain
modeling suites. It extracts unique vi-
sual features for aid in tracking and
later analysis, and includes sub-func-
tionality for extracting visual features
about an object identified within an
image frame.
Tracker Toolkit utilizes a feature ex-
traction algorithm to tag each object
with metadata features about its size,
shape, color, and movement. Its func-
tionality is independent of the scale of
objects within a scene. The only assump-
tion made on the tracked objects is that
they move. There are no constraints on
size within the scene, shape, or type of
movement. The Tracker Toolkit is also
capable of following an arbitrary number
of objects in the same scene, identifying
and propagating the track of each object
from frame to frame. Target objects may
be specified for tracking beforehand, or
may be dynamically discovered within a
tripwire region. Initialization of the
Tracker Toolkit algorithm includes two
steps: Initializing the data structures for
tracked target objects, including targets
preselected for tracking; and initializing
the tripwire region. If no tripwire region
is desired, this step is skipped. The trip-
wire region is an area within the frames
that is always checked for new objects,
and all new objects discovered within the
region will be tracked until lost (by leav-
ing the frame, stopping, or blending in
to the background).
This work was done by Steven J. Lewis and
David M. Palacios of Caltech for NASA’s Jet
Propulsion Laboratory. Further information
is contained in a TSP (see page 1).
This software is available for commercial
licensing. Please contact Dan Broderick at
Daniel.F.Broderick@jpl.nasa.gov. Refer to
NPO-48253.
Towards Efficient Scientific
Data Management 
Using Cloud Storage
A software prototype allows users to
backup and restore data to/from both
public and private cloud storage such as
Amazon’s S3 and NASA’s Nebula. Un-
like other off-the-shelf tools, this soft-
ware ensures user data security in the
cloud (through encryption), and mini-
mizes users’ operating costs by using
space- and bandwidth-efficient compres-
sion and incremental backup. Parallel
data processing utilities have also been
developed by using massively scalable
cloud computing in conjunction with
cloud storage.
One of the innovations in this soft-
ware is using modified open source
components to work with a private
cloud like NASA Nebula. Another inno-
vation is porting the complex backup-
to-cloud software to embedded Linux,
running on the home networking de-
vices, in order to benefit more users. 
This work was done by Qiming He of Open
Research for Goddard Space Flight Center. For
further information, contact the Goddard In-
novative Partnerships Office at (301) 286-
5810. GSC-16415-1


Software Engineering Tools for Scientific Models

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