NASA Van Allen Probes observations helping to improve space weather models

NASA's Van Allen Probes orbit through two giant radiation belts that surround Earth. 

Their observations help improve computer simulations of events in the belts that can affect technology in space. 

Credit: John Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory /NASA

Using data from NASA's Van Allen Probes, researchers have tested and improved a model to help forecast what's happening in the radiation environment of near-Earth space, a place seething with fast-moving particles and a space weather system that varies in response to incoming energy and particles from the sun.

When events in the two giant doughnuts of radiation around Earth, called the Van Allen radiation belts, cause the belts to swell and electrons to accelerate to 99 percent the speed of light, nearby satellites can feel the effects.

Scientists ultimately want to be able to predict these changes, which requires understanding of what causes them.

Now, two sets of related research published in the Geophysical Research Letters improve on these goals.

By combining new data from the Van Allen Probes with a high-powered computer model, the new research provides a robust way to simulate events in the Van Allen radiation belts.

Geoff Reeves

"The Van Allen Probes are gathering great measurements, but they can't tell you what is happening everywhere at the same time," said Geoff Reeves, a space scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), in Los Alamos, N.M., a co-author on both of the recent papers.

"We need models to provide a context, to describe the whole system, based on the Van Allen Probe observations."

Prior to the launch of the Van Allen Probes in August 2012, there were no operating spacecraft designed to collect real-time information in the radiation belts.

Understanding of what might be happening in any locale was forced to rely mainly on interpreting historical data, particularly those from the early 1990s gathered by the Combined Release and Radiation Effects Satellite (CRRES).

Imagine if meteorologists wanted to predict the temperature on March 5, 2014, in Washington, D.C. but the only information available was from a handful of measurements made in March over the last seven years up and down the East Coast.

That's not exactly enough information to decide whether or not you need to wear your hat and gloves on any given day in the nation's capital.

Artist's rendition of the Van Allen Probes in orbit. Credit: NASA

Thankfully, we have much more historical information, models that help us predict the weather and, of course, innumerable thermometers in any given city to measure temperature in real time.

The Van Allen Probes are one step toward gathering more information about space weather in the radiation belts, but they do not have the ability to observe events everywhere at once.

So scientists use the data they now have available to build computer simulations that fill in the gaps.

The recent work centers around using Van Allen Probes data to improve a three-dimensional model created by scientists at LANL.

The project was called DREAM3D, the Dynamic Radiation Environment Assimilation Model in 3 Dimensions. Until now the model relied heavily on the averaged data from the CRRES mission.

The Dynamic Radiation Environment Assimilation Model (DREAM) was developed at LANL to understand and to predict hazards from the natural space environment and artificial radiation belts produced by high altitude nuclear explosions.

DREAM was initially developed as a basic research activity to understand and predict the dynamics of the Earth's radiation belts. 

It uses Kalman filter mathematical techniques to assimilate data from space environment instruments with a physics-based model of the radiation belts.

DREAM can assimilate data from a variety of types of instruments and data with various levels of resolution and fidelity by assigning appropriate uncertainties to the observations.

Data from any spacecraft orbit can be assimilated but DREAM was originally designed to work with input from the LANL space environment instruments on geosynchronous and GPS platforms.

With those inputs, DREAM can be used to specify the energetic electron environment at any satellite in the outer electron belt whether space environment data are available in those orbits or not.

Even with very limited data input and relatively simple physics models, DREAM specifies the space environment in the radiation belts to a high level of accuracy.

DREAM is currently being tested and evaluated as we transition from research to operations.

High-speed discovery helps measure greenhouse gases from space

Scientists have discovered how to measure greenhouse gases 200,000 times faster as the result of research by an award-winning PhD student from The University of Western Australia (UWA) and a US team.

The discovery - which is already being used by NASA scientists in Space - has major implications for global warming research, breath analysis (to detect illness), explosives detection, chemical process monitoring and a range of other applications, including fundamental quantum theory.

UWA physics graduate Gar-Wing Truong used highly-sensitive rapid laser scanning technology to help lead US scientists from National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Maryland to build new gas measurement equipment with unparalleled speed, accuracy, precision and spectral coverage.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California has begun using data from Mr Truong's research to calibrate carbon monitoring satellites in orbit around Earth and better understand carbon dioxide molecules.

Eric May

The research is an extension of Mr Truong's PhD project on precision spectroscopy for gas metrology, which he has conducted at the University since 2009 under the supervision of UWA Winthrop Professor Eric May and former Winthrop Professor Andre Luiten (now at University of Adelaide) , with funding from the Australian Research Council's Discovery program.

Mr Truong said better, more reliable data on global warming held significant benefit to society, helping researchers better understand its causes and accurately evaluate the impact of policy decisions.

"This research is of particular significance to Australia if it is to take the lead in global warming policy and research," Mr Truong said. "It is also highly relevant to WA, where the economy is strongly driven by oil, gas and mineral industries."

Mr Truong, who worked on the new spectroscopy technique while on a year-long Australian Fulbright Fellowship at NIST, said the breakthrough combined ideas already being developed at UWA with apparatus and methods used at NIST.

The resulting novel approach - dubbed Frequency-Agile, Rapid Scanning spectroscopy (FARS) - had greatly improved the speed at which gases could be traced without compromising on precision.

"Usually in science or engineering if you want to make measurements go faster, you have to sacrifice sensitivity," Mr Truong said.

"What we have demonstrated here is a 200,000-fold increase in speed to enable high-precision spectroscopy without degrading sensitivity - we've built a new apparatus with unparalleled speed, accuracy, precision and spectral coverage."

"The unique properties of FARS make it well suited for many existing challenges in trace gas sensing," Mr Truong wrote in a paper published online today in the journal, Nature Photonics.

"We see clear applications in the real-time measurements of greenhouse gas fluxes, as well as in the monitoring of dynamic processes such as combustion."

More information: dx.doi.org/10.1038/NPHOTON.2013.98

China helps Ecuador launch its first satellite into space

Ecuador launched its first satellite into space from China Friday morning, in a moment broadcast live on radio and television back home in Ecuador.

The "Pegaso" (Pegasus) nano-satellite, designed and built in Ecuador, set off aboard an unmanned rocket at 0413 GMT from the Jiuquan station in northern China.

Measuring just 10 by 10 by 75 centimeters (four by four by 30 inches), and weighing 1.2 kilograms (2.6 pounds), Pegaso will beam live video images back to Earth from an onboard camera.

"Welcome to the heavens, Pegaso. Welcome to space Ecuador. The mission is a success," said Ronnie Nader, Ecuador's first and only astronaut, who runs Ecuador's civilian space agency.

The Ecuadoran Space Agency plans a second satellite launch in July.

UK DMC-02 Satellite imagery Helps fight Locust Pagues in North Africa

DMC images enable regular monitoring of very large areas at high resolution, allowing detection of small areas of new vegetation after any rainfall. 

These show up as false colour red patches in the desert. 

The circular areas are irrigated crops which, as often the main source of vegetation in some areas, are put at special risk from locust swarms. 

Images which show sudden increases in vegetation can help identify potential hatching and swarm areas for locusts, enabling preventative action to be taken. 

Image credit: Image of Algeria acquired by UK-DMC2 satellite DMCii, 2013.

DMC International Imaging (DMCii) is helping the Algerian Space Agency (ASAL) to predict the spread of locust plagues across North Africa as part of a pro-active approach to tackle the destructive phenomenon using satellite imagery.

Every year, North Africa is subjected to locust plagues that threaten to decimate crops and endanger countries' food security.

The satellite imagery is used to assess vegetation conditions, which helps to predict the locations of locust breeding grounds.

UK-DMC2 satellite

The imagery, from the UK-DMC2 satellite, is used in conjunction with weather data to help create locust forecasts and focus the application of pesticides to prevent the spread of swarms.

Last year, in a six-month summer campaign to fight the spread of locusts, DMCii acquired monthly images of regions in Southern Algeria, Northern Mali and Northern Niger for ASAL.

Now, imagery is being acquired before the summer season starts, to predict as well as monitor the threat of locusts.

Mr Karim Houari, International Cooperation Director of ASAL commented: "The use of satellite imagery has helped us in the past, during the invasion period, to identify and control areas at risk of locust swarms.

This year, in terms of locust risk prediction in remission period, we used DMCii data for the ecological assessment of locust breeding areas (biotopes). It is an important contribution for the rationalisation of local response and to reduce damage of this destructive phenomenon."

Paul Stephens

Paul Stephens, Director of Sales and Marketing at DMCii, said: "The ability to get timely imagery of large areas is vital because locust swarms can develop quickly and travel about 100km a day.

"Our 650km wide images allow large areas of land, spanning multiple countries, to be rapidly monitored, helping the local authorities combat locust swarms before they can migrate across the continent."

Experimental drug helps kids with neuroblastoma

Two new studies offer hope for babies and toddlers suffering from neuroblastoma, a rare but often deadly cancer of the nervous system that strikes about 750 children a year.

Both therapies offer better, safer treatments for the disease, and belong to the emerging field of "personalized" cancer therapy, with medications tailored to the specific genetic profiles of a patient's tumor, says co-author John Maris of the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

Children diagnosed with neuroblastoma, which grows in nerve cells in the neck, chest and abdomen, are typically only about 17 months old, Maris says. About have an aggressive form of disease that relapses despite the best therapy.

A study of 226 children focused on an experimental, man-made antibody, called ch14.18, given as a cocktail with other immune stimulants. Doctors randomly assigned half of children to get standard care and half to receive the new antibody, according to the study in today's New England Journal of Medicine.

This type of antibody is the "holy grail" of cancer therapy, Maris says, because it targets a protein found only on cancer cells, but rarely on healthy ones. Scientists first identified this protein in the 1980s, he says.

The new therapy cut the risk of relapse from 66% to 46% after two years Because most relapses occur in the first two to three years, these children have likely been cured, Maris says. About 86% of those given the new therapy were alive after two years, compared to 75% of those given standard care.

"This is the biggest improvement we've ever seen in neuroblastoma," Maris says. "It's not a magic bullet, but it's the biggest result we've seen in a long time.. .. This is the culmination of 20 years of work."

Consuming Tequila (plants) helps Build Stronger Bones

The plant that gave the world tequila contains a substance that seems ideal for use in a new genre of processed foods -- so-called "functional foods" -- with health benefits over and above serving as a source of nutrients, scientists reported at the 239th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS) in San Francisco on March 23. Foods spiked with "fructans" from the agave plant may help protect against osteoporosis by boosting the body's absorption of calcium and could have other health benefits, they said.

"Fructans are considered functional food ingredients because they affect body processes in ways that result in better health and reduction in the risk of many diseases," said Mercedes López, Ph.D., who delivered the report. She is with the National Polytechnic Institute, Guanajuato, Mexico. "Experimental studies suggest that fructans may be beneficial in diabetes, obesity, stimulating the immune system of the body, decreasing levels of disease-causing bacteria in the intestine, relieving constipation, and reducing the risk of colon cancer."

Fructans are non-digestible carbohydrates. They consist of molecules of fructose -- the sugar found in honey, grapes, and ripe fruits -- linked together into chains. Rich natural sources include artichokes, Jerusalem artichokes, garlic and onions, and chicory. Fructans do not occur in tequila, however, because they change into alcohol when agave is used to make tequila, López said.

So-called "inulin-type" fructans from chicory find wide use in the United States and other countries in ice cream, breakfast cereals, baked goods, sauces, beverages, and other foods. Small fructans have a sweet taste, while those formed from longer chains of fructose have a neutral taste and give foods a smooth, pleasant texture. Scientific studies have suggested that fructans stimulate the growth of healthful bacteria in the large intestine in a way that increases the body's absorption of minerals, including the calcium and magnesium important for bone growth.

In the new study, López and colleagues set out to determine what effects agave fructans actually have on bone growth. They tested the effects of agave fructans on laboratory mice, used as stand-ins for humans in such research. Mice fed agave fructans absorbed more calcium from food, excreted less calcium in their feces, and showed a 50 percent increase in levels of a protein associated with the build-up of new bone tissue.

"These results suggest that the supplementation of the standard diet with agave fructans prevented bone loss and improved bone formation, indicating the important role of agave fructans on the maintenance of healthy bone," López said. "They can be used in many products for children and infants to help prevent various diseases, and can even be used in ice cream as a sugar substitute."