Science Research & Development

Summary

For over 40 years, SSAI has invested in exploring the science behind Earth’s complex systems, as well as in understanding our place in the universe. Whether designing, building, maintaining, or upgrading ground-based and space-based instruments; or managing, analyzing, and distributing the obtained data; SSAI is constantly contributing to advancements in oceanic, terrestrial, atmospheric, biological, and astronomical sciences, in hopes of expanding our knowledge and improving our quality of life.

Major Accomplishments

SSAI Provided Critical Data Processing and Analysis Support to NASA HQ During COVID-19, Enabling Remarkable Changes in NO2 Levels to be Featured Online

The restrictions on human production and activity that were enacted in countries around the world early in the COVID-19 pandemic had a measurable effect in reducing the levels of harmful air pollution in populated areas. As such, the American, European, and Japanese space agencies (NASA, ESA, and JAXA, respectively) partnered to develop the tri-agency EO Dashboard to provide visualizations of changes in human-induced environmental effects observed from satellites during COVID-19.  

The Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) team at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) is a major contributor to this effort. Many of the team’s critical members are seasoned SSAI personnel that played an essential role in developing the OMI NO2 data product, one of the primary datasets featured in this scientific and educational resource.

SSAI team members provided critical, time-sensitive support to NASA HQ with NO2 data processing and analysis during COVID-19 and enabled the OMI data that highlighted the remarkable changes in NO2 levels featured on the main NASA webpage. To date, the OMI core team is actively working with the EO Dashboard developers and their sponsors to supply OMI NO2 data in cloud-optimized and analysis-ready formats, so they can be loaded into the EO Dashboard immediately after the OMI data is acquired and processed at GSFC. In recognition of their significant efforts, the OMI COVID-19 response team, including its SSAI experts, was awarded the 2020 Robert H. Goddard Award in the Science Teams category.