Archives

Below is a list of articles published in The Earth Observer that have a significant focus on history.  A few of these were written to mark a milestone anniversary for the newsletter itself and reflect on its history—which parallels that of NASA’s Earth Observing System (EOS) program.  Most others were written to mark milestone anniversaries for a particular Earth-observing satellite missions, field campaign, ground-based network, science team, or other program or activity.  Several others are more generic summaries of one or more aspects of NASA Earth Science history covered in the context of a symposium or meeting. While not intended to be an exhaustive list, a review of these would give the reader a good overview of the history that’s been chronicled and preserved in The Earth Observer during the publication’s more than 35 years of reporting on NASA Earth Science. 

Newsletter Milestones

Ward, Alan: The Earth Observer: 20 Years Chronicling the History of the EOS Program. The Earth Observer, Mar–Apr 2008, 20:2, 4–8.  This original piece was done for Volume 20—the start of year 20; this article also ended up launching the “Perspectives on EOS” series¸—see below. 

Ward, Alan: The Earth Observer: Twenty-Five Years Telling NASA’s Earth Science Story. The Earth Observer, Mar–Apr 2014, 26:2, 4–13. This was a classic done for the 25^th anniversary of the newsletter. 

Ward, Alan: A Trip Through Time via the Archives of The Earth Observer. The Earth Observer, Mar–Apr 2018 25:2, 5–11. This was a neat article that jumped to various timestamps and gave a snapshot of what was going on in Earth Science at the time via what was recorded in “The Editor’s Corner.” 

Ward, Alan: A Thirtieth Anniversary Reflection from the Executive Editor.  The Earth Observer, Mar–Apr 2019, 31:2, 4–6. This is the printed version of the 30^th anniversary article; the next entry is the version of the same article we published online.

Ward, Alan: A Thirtieth Anniversary Reflection from the Executive Editor, online version.  The Earth Observer, Mar–Apr 2019, 31:2 – online version, 1–4.  Modified version of the article we printed in the newsletter.  

Earth Observing System (EOS) Investigators Working Group (IWG) Meetings

These meetings were periodic gatherings of EOS investigators that took place as the Earth Observing System was ramping up during the late 1980s and 1990s. Reading the minutes, one can get a sense for the development of the various components of EOS, and track the progress of the EOS Flagships (now known as Terra, Aqua, and Aura) and other EOS missions toward launch. The last EOS IWG meeting took place in  2003—as the planned EOS “first series” launches were coming to an end. (NOTE: IWG Meetings (and other EOS IWG-related activities. e.g., Functional, Interdisciplinary, and Disciplinary Panels, and the Science Executive Committee, or SEC) can also be found in “The Editor’s Corner” columns published during this time.) 

“Perspectives on EOS” Series

Assorted authors.  Perspectives on EOS. The Earth Observer, Special Edition, 73 pp.  Compilations of articles published in this series that ran in the newsletter from 2008–2011. Each article covers a particular aspect (or aspects) of the early history of EOS from the perspective of someone who lived it.  See Table of Contents in article for list of specific articles included.

Symposia/Other Meetings

Ward, Alan, Nicole Miklus, and Paula Bontempi: NASA Earth System Science at 20: A Symposium to Explore Accomplishments, Plans, and Challenges. The Earth Observer, Sep–Oct 2009, 21:5, 18–30, 39. This was a Symposium I wrote about years ago.  Note how we did a special “Banner” for this article.

Ward, Alan, Forrest Hall, Robert Murphy, and Piers Sellers: Recollections of FIFE and BOREAS: Historical Perspective and Meeting Summary. The Earth Observer, Jan–Feb 2017, 29:1, 6–23. Starts with history, then summarizes two-day meeting; also a tribute to the legacy of Piers Sellers, who passed away just a short time thereafter.  His In Memoriam appears in the same issue of The Earth Observer.

Winker, David and Jennifer Collins. [Summary of the] 2007 Lille A-Train Symposium. The Earth Observer, Mar–Apr 2008, 20:2, 58–59. From the early days of the A-Train, this brief article about the first A-Train symposium held in Lille, France. reads like an odd hybrid between a news story and a meeting summary.

Hobish, Mitch, Lin Chambers, Steve Platnick, Hal Maring, and Chip Trepte. Taking the A-Train… to New Orleans. The Earth Observer, Jan–Feb 2011, 23:1, 12–23. This article gives background on status of the A-Train constellation (as of 2011) and summarizes the highlights from the second A-Train Symposium held in New Orleans, LA.

Hilsenrath, Ernest and Alan Ward.  The Third A-Train Symposium: Summary and Perspectives on a Decade of Constellation-Based Observations. The Earth Observer, Jul–Aug 2017, 29:4, 4–18. After reviewing development of constellation flying concepts and the status of the satellites that made up the formation, (up to 2017) the article gives a detailed summary of the scientific topics covered at the Third A-Train Symposium.

Ward, Alan: Symposium on Earth Science and Applications from Space with Special Guest Michael Freilich. The Earth Observer, Mar–Apr 2020, 32:2, 4–18. Summarizes meeting, which served as a tribute to Michael Freilich’s contributions to Earth Science.  Mike passed away in August 2020, and was eulogized in “The Editor’s Corner” of the Jul–Aug 2020 issue, p. 1.

Ward, Alan: Earth Science Highlights from the History of NASA and the Environment Symposium. The Earth Observer, Sep–Oct 2023, 35:5, 3–27.  The Unabridged Notes are also available from this meeting, providing details on sections not included in the published summary.

Satellite Missions

Historic

Ward, Alan: The Earth Observing Legacy of NASA’s Space Shuttle Program.  The Earth Observer, Sep–Oct 2011, 23:5, 4–17.  Nice chart of ES instruments flown on Shuttle flight; included quote from Jack Kaye.

Ward, Alan: Nimbus Celebrates 50 Years. The Earth Observer, Mar–Apr 2015, 27:2, 18–31.  Starts with history, then summarizes event held at GSFC for 50^th anniversary of Nimbus–1 launch.

Hilsenrath, Ernest: The Vanguard of Earth-Observing Satellites. The Earth Observer, Mar–Apr 2019, 31:2, 7–18. Written to mark 60^th anniversary of Vanguard.

Ward, Alan and Doug Bennett: Remembering Apollo from an Earthly Point of View: NASA Celebrates Fiftieth Anniversary of Apollo 11 Moon Landing. The Earth Observer, Sep–Oct 2019, 31:5, 16–20.  More of an outreach event photo essay—but the event was related to a historic mission milestone, so I put it here.

Bennett, Doug, Ginger Butcher, Steve Graham, Jim Irons, and Laura Rocchio: NASA Participates in Pecora 22 Symposium and Celebrates Landsat 50^th Anniversary. The Earth Observer, Nov–Dec 2022, 34:6, 4–9.

Current/Recent

Hobish, Mitch and Alan Ward: Assessing the State of GRACE@10.  The Earth Observer, Mar–Apr 2012, 24:2, 4-13.

Keck, Aries, Laura Betz, Christina Coleman, and Ellen Gray: Suomi NPP: Approaching the One-Year Anniversary of its Launch.  The Earth Observer, Sep–Oct 2012, 24:5, 16–23.

Parkinson, Claire: Aqua 10 Years After Launch.  The Earth Observer, Nov–Dec 2012, 24:6, 4-17.

Woods, Tom, Gary Rottman, Vanessa George, et al.: The SORCE Mission Celebrates 10 Years.  The Earth Observer, Jan–Feb 2013, 25:1, 3-13.

De Charon, Annette and David LeVine: An Update on the Aquarius Mission: Two-and-a-Half Years and Going Strong. The Earth Observer, Jan–Feb 2014, 26:1, 5–11.

Hilsenrath, Ernest: Aura Celebrates Ten Years in Orbit. The Earth Observer, Nov–Dec 2014, 26:6, 4-16.

Owen, Tassia and Mitch Hobish: 15@15: 15 Things Terra has Taught Us in its 15 Years.  The Earth Observer, Jan–Feb 2015, 27:1, 4-13.

Landis, David, Betsy Middleton, Stephen Ungar, Mitch Hobish, et al.: EO-1 15 Years After the Start of Its “One-Year Mission”.  The Earth Observer, Jan–Feb 2016, 28:1, 4-14.

Ellis, Todd and Alan Ward: A Meaningful Pursuit of Shadows: Science Highlights from Ten Years of CloudSat and CALIPSO Observations.  The Earth Observer, Jul–Aug 2016, 28:4, 4-12.

Hobish, Mitch, Laura Rocchio, Darrel Williams, and Samuel Goward: The Living Legacy of Landsat 7: Still Going Strong after 20 Years in Orbit. The Earth Observer, Jul–Aug 2019, 31:4, 4-14.

Ruf, Christopher et al: Eight Microsatellites, One Mission: CYGNSS–Five Years and Counting.  The Earth Observer, Jan–Feb 2022, 33:1, 5–15.

Graham, Steve and Alan Ward: Aqua’s 20 Years Honored with Celebration at Goddard’s Visitor Center. The Earth Observer, May–Jun 2022, 34:3, p. 4.

Smith, Joseph: Aqua Turns 20. The Earth Observer, May–Jun 2022, 34:3, 5–12.  Modified EarthData News feature article.

Airborne Science

Hilsenrath, Ernest: Flying in the Gap Between Earth and Space: NASA’s Airborne Science Program.  The Earth Observer, Sep–Oct 2020, 32:5, 4–14.  Starts with history of the program and then gives current program overview.

Field Campaigns

History

Ward, Alan, Forrest Hall, Robert Murphy, and Piers Sellers: Recollections of FIFE and BOREAS: Historical Perspective and Meeting Summary. The Earth Observer, Jan–Feb 2017, 29:1, 6–23. Starts with history, then summarizes two-day meeting; also, a tribute to the legacy of Piers Sellers, who passed away just a short time thereafter.  His In Memoriam appears in the same issue of The Earth Observer.

GPM Ground Validation Campaign Overviews

The Earth Observer published articles on the first five major ground validation campaigns for GPM.  For completeness there is a link to a summary of the 2016 PMM Science Team Meeting summary, where the sixth campaign – Olympex -- is discussed. 

Petersen, Walter, Tristan L’Ecuyer and Dmitri Moissev: The NASA CloudSat/GPM Light Precipitation Validation Experiment (LPVEx). The Earth Observer, Jul–Aug 2011, 23:4, 4–8, 21.  This pre-launch field campaign took place in September and October 2010 over the Gulf of Finland.

Petersen, Walter, Gail Skofronick–Jackson and David Hudak: The NASA-GPM  Cold Season Precipitation Experiment (GCPEx).  The Earth Observer, Jul–Aug 2011, 24:6, 26–33,.This campaign took place over and near the Ontario, Canada/Great Lakes Environment Canada Centre for Atmospheric Research Experiments (CARE) site from January 17–February 29, 2012.

Petersen, Walter and Michael Jenson. The NASA-GPM and DOE-ARM Midlatitude Continental Convective Clouds Experiment (MC3E). The Earth Observer, Jan–Feb 2012, 24:1, 12–18. Campaign took place in north-central Oklahoma, United States, April 22–June 6, 2012.

Hobish, Mitch, Ellen Gray, and Walter Petersen. A Flood—of Information—Is Needed. The Earth Observer, Jan–Feb 2014, 26:1, 12–18. This campaign took place in eastern Iowa, May 1–June 15, 2013.

Hobish, Mitch, Ana Baros, Walter Petersen, and Ellen Gray. How’s the Weather Up There? The IPHEx GPM Ground Validation Campaign. The Earth Observer, Mar–Apr 2015, 27:2, 4–13. This campaign took place May 1–June 15, 2014, in the mountains of central North Carolina.

Kirschbaum, Dalia, Gail Skofronick–Jackson, George Huffman, Walt Petersen, Erich Stocher, and Ramesh Kakar. [Summary of the] 2016 Precipitation Measurement Missions Science Team Meeting. The Earth Observer, Jan–Feb 2017, 29:1, 28–32.  This was the last full-scale, postlaunch and GPM-sponsored field campaign – and one of the most logistically challenging  -- conducted over the Olympic Peninsula and adjacent waters from November 1, 2015–January 31, 2016. Walt Petersen discussed Olympex in his presentation during this meeting, which is summarized on page 30; during his talk Walt also talked about the other GPM ground validation campaigns.

Ground-Based Networks

Jessica Stoller–Conrad: Integrating Carbon from the Ground Up: TCCON Turns 10. The Earth Observer, Jul–Aug 2014, 26:4, 13–17.  NOTE: TCCON stands for Total Carbon Column Observing Network. 

Kurylo, Michael, Anne Thompson, and Martin De Mazière: The Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Composition Change: 25 Years Old and Going Strong. The Earth Observer, Sep–Oct 2016, 28:5, 4–15. 

Thompson, Anne, Ryan Stauffer, and Debra Kollonige: SHADOZ at 20 Years: Achievements of a Strategic Ozonesonde Network. The Earth Observer, Sep–Oct 2019, 31:5, 4–15.  Gave history of SHADOZ and summary of accomplishments.

Stauffer, Ryan, Anne Thompson, and Debra Kollonige: SHADOZ Ozonesonde Network Celebrates 25 Years and 10,000 Profiles.  The Earth Observer, Nov–Dec 2023, 35:6, 13–20.  Follow-on to the 20^th anniversary SHADOZ article cited above with updates on the past five years.

Science Teams

Fetzer, Eric: A Celebration of 20 Years of AIRS History and Observations. The Earth Observer, Sep–Oct 2022, 34:5, pp. 4–11.  Gives history and summarizes 2022 AIRS STM, which focused on the achievements of the AIRS suite on Aqua over 20 years in orbit.

Gutman, Garik, Krishna Vadevru, Meghavi Prashnani, and Chris Justice: NASA’s Land-Cover and Land-Use Change Science Team Celebrates 25 Years.  The Earth Observer, Mar–Apr 2023, 35:2, pp. 12–24.  Gives history and summarizes 25^th LCLUC STM. 

Other Program/Activities

Earth Science Data Operations (EDOS).  Hilsenrath, Ernest: Earth Science Data Operations: Acquiring, Distributing, and Delivering NASA Data for the Benefit of Society. The Earth Observer, 29:2, 4–18.  Note: Table listing all 12 NASA DAACs on pp. 7–8.

Earth Science Mission Operation (ESMO). Hilsenrath, Ernest: Earth Science Mission Operations: Flight Operations—Orchestrating NASA’s Fleet of Earth Observing Satellites. The Earth Observer, 28:2, 4–13. 

Earth Science Information Partners (ESIP). Mills, Allison and Susan Shingledecker:  Earth Science Information Partners Celebrate 25 Years of Collaboration.  The Earth Observer, Published online: May 28, 2024.

Earth Science Technology Office (ESTO). Larkin, Philip: NASA’s Earth Science Technology Office Celebrates 25 Years. The Earth Observer, Final PDF, 35:7, 7–11.   Also cross-posted on The Earth Observer’s new website. 

Summer 2024

Welcome to a new era for The Earth Observer newsletter! Our 35^th anniversary also marks the official public release of our new website. Over the past year and a half, The Earth Observer has migrated from a print publication (the last printed issue was November–December 2022) to publishing PDFs online only (final PDF issue published in May 2024) to publishing individual articles on our new site. While this move shifts The Earth Observer’s format to be more in line with that of other online publications, our intent is for the content to remain distinctive. Readers can expect to continue receiving the same quality reporting on NASA Earth Science activities that they have come to depend on from The Earth Observer for over 35 years.

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