Management Office

Management Office

SNWG MO Overview

Welcome to the Satellite Needs Working Group Management Office

Who are we?

The Satellite Needs Working Group designs and administers the bi-annual survey. The SNWG Management Office facilitates, analyzes, presents, and develops the data and Solutions that result from that survey, focusing on three core areas: Stakeholder Engagement, Solution Assessment, and Solution Project Implementation.

Program Manager
Natasha Sadoff
Project Manager
Sean Gregory
Project Scientist
Pontus Olofsson
Deputy Project Manager
Eric Taylor
Deputy Project Scientist
Katrina Virts
Systems Engineer
Jenny Wood
Project Coordinator
Cherrelle Tucker
Assessment Lead
Katrina Virts
Assessment Deputy
BC Ray
DCD Support
Essence Raphael
DCD Support
Trang Vo
SEP Lead
Pontus Olofsson
CoDesign Lead
Anita LeRoy
SEP Strategist
Emily Adams
SEP Deputy
Katrina Virts
Project Coordinator
Cherrelle Tucker

The Satellite Needs Working Group (SNWG) conducts a survey of U.S. federal agencies every two years to identify what Earth observation data they need to fulfill their mission. The SNWG is part of the U.S. Group on Earth Observations (USGEO) and includes members from various federal agencies that use Earth observation data. Survey responses are assessed by NASA, NOAA, and USGS to identify agency needs, potential data gaps in the current NASA program of record, and relevant datasets. Solutions that meet these identified needs are formulated, and those that are estimated to significantly increase satisfaction of multiple U.S. agencies are selected by the Executive Branch for funding and implementation.


The SNWG Management Office facilitates the Assessment of SNWG Agency Needs


“NASA leads a tri-agency assessment (with USGS and NOAA) of federal agency needs submitted through the SNWG survey. The assessment is carried out by more than 100 scientists with expertise on the geophysical observables requested by the agencies. The SNWG Management Office coordinates the assessment process, develops tools used by the assessment participants, schedules and supports follow-up discussions with each participating agency, performs statistical analysis of the survey responses, coordinates the evaluation of solutions proposed to meet agency needs, and drafts NASA’s presentation of selected solutions to the Executive Branch. After each assessment cycle, the SNWG Management Office conducts an extensive lessons learned retrospective, collecting feedback from participants that is used to inform tool refinement and process updates that streamline and support the next assessment cycle.”


The SNWG Management Office oversees the Implementation and Operations of SNWG Solutions

At the heart of the SNWG process is the implementation and delivery of solutions that address the needs of federal agencies. The SNWG Management Office coordinates the status of all SNWG-funded projects at NASA, manages the implementation of solutions from each cycle, and oversees the lifecycle of each science project through operational product release.The SNWG Management office also engages end-users through the SNWG SEP. The ESDS open-source science policy is an important part of the development and implementation effort for all projects managed by the SNWG Management Office. This process will continue for all solutions arising from needs expressed in future SNWG cycles and will follow NASA’s open-source science policies permitting broad access to information on NASA-developed SNWG solutions”


The SNWG Management Office provides Training and Community Engagement Around SNWG Solutions

“The SNWG SEP is the key to providing training, outreach, and community engagement around NASA SNWG data products and systems through collaboration across NASA’s Earth Science Division. The program includes polling stakeholders about their training and data needs, connecting with capacity-building efforts within NASA, funding and organizing training activities such as workshops, and bringing together communities of federal and other users around funded solutions. Collaborations among federal users, the scientific community, academia, industry, and NASA’s Earth Science Division empowers these communities to integrate SNWG solutions into their research and decision-making processes.” - The SNWG MO on EarthData (ESDS-IMPACT)

What do we produce?

The SNWG MO helps various agencies produce EOSDIS Standard Products[^1]
"EOS Standard Products are internally consistent, well-calibrated records of observations of the Earth's geophysical properties. They are identified and defined by EOS investigators who have been selected through a competitive peer review process to develop algorithms and software for generating products from EOS observations.

  • Products contain geophysical parameters and can be used for science research and application.
  • Standard products are validated, QA and fully documented.
  • A standard product file may require companion/support files to make data usable or to satisfy policy requirements. Examples include geolocation data files, browse image data, calibration and validation, higher-resolution data undergoing validation, and data quality metrics."

What are our previous Solutions?

You may have heard of us!

Airborne Data Management Group (ADMG) ▼
Initial Request:

Archival and distribution of historical airborne data products.

Partner Organizations:

NASA MSFC IMPACT
DAAC

Solution Service:
  • Airborne Campaign Data Management: Stewardship and quicker access to NASA airborne and field campaign data, supporting faster archival and distribution.
Operational Product:

Catalog of Archived Suborbital Earth Science Investigations (CASEI)

Continuing Operation:

CASEI maintenance and administration​

Resources:
Data Curation for Discovery (DCD) ▼
Initial Request:

Provide support to other agencies in accessing the requested data

Partner Organizations:

NASA MSFC IMPACT
DAAC

Solution Service:
  • Assist other agencies in incorporating NASA Earth observation data into their workflows
  • Improve the discoverability of NASA Earth science data
  • Support accurate publication of NASA Earth observations
  • Create a profile of agency needs captured through the federal-civil satellite needs survey
Operational Product:

No operational product. This Solution's assets are the trained people within it.

Continuing Operation:

Absorbed by the SNWG Management Office as part of the Stakeholder Engagement Program.

Resources:
Harmonized Landsat-Sentinel-2 (HLS) ▼
Initial Request:

Provide harmonized and consistent land surface reflectance data from the Landsat and Sentinel-2 satellite missions.

Partner Organizations:

NASA MSFC IMPACT
DAAC

Solution Service:

A team that perfects the algorithm that ingests data from Landsat and Sentinel-2, verifies the output, and processes for further use.

Operational Product:

Unified surface reflectance data for vegetation and land-use analysis, with historical and ongoing updates.

Continuing Operation:

HLS portal/data(?) maintenance and administration

Resources:
Commercial Smallsat Data Acquisition (CSDA) ▼
Initial Request:

Identify, evaluate, and acquire data from commercial sources that advance Earth System Science and applications development for societal benefit.

Partner Organizations:

NASA MSFC IMPACT
DAAC

Solution Service:

A team that manages licensing and distributing commercial imagery/data from Planet, Maxar/DigitalGlobe and Spire along with a limited set of hyperspectral imagery from the DLR's DESIS instrument on the ISS.

Operational Product:

Purchased licenses

Continuing Operation:

License research and attainment

Resources:
Atmospheric Composition using Goddard Earth Observing System (AC-GEOS) ▼
Initial Request:

produce a re-analysis product (2008-2018) using measured wind/meteorological conditions and assimilated satellite observations of atmospheric composition to provide the Satellite Needs community with very high-quality model output of air quality. (2018-07)

Partner Organizations:

NASA MSFC IMPACT
DAAC

Solution Service:

none

Operational Product:

Gridded datasets of trace gases and aerosols, with improved transport and deposition algorithms incorporated into the GEOS-5 system.

Continuing Operation:

Routine model updates, assimilation of new satellite observations, and periodic recalibration of emission datasets​

Resources:
Low Latency Freeboard & Ice Thickness Products over the Great Lakes (ICESat-2 QuickLooks products) ▼
Initial Request:

3-day low latency product over the Great Lakes region, specifically: sea ice freeboard, sea/lake ice thickness, vegetation and canopy height, and inland water elevation.(2018-08)

Partner Organizations:

NASA MSFC IMPACT
DAAC

Solution Service:
  • Assist other agencies in incorporating NASA Earth observation data into their workflows
  • Improve the discoverability of NASA Earth science data
  • Support accurate publication of NASA Earth observations
  • Create a profile of agency needs captured through the survey
Operational Product:

an algorithm(?), data generating program(?) that gathers and processes data from ICESat-2 with a certain degree of validity within 3 days, instead of the previous 45.

Continuing Operation:

Unknown

Resources:
Internet of Animals (formerly ICARUS) (IoA) ▼
Initial Request:

(Exceptional to our standard solution) to advance the miniaturization of the physical ICARUS tag towards the 1-gram range, which will allow for a more than doubling of the number of species (2018-09)

Partner Organizations:

NASA MSFC IMPACT
DAAC

Solution Service:

A team who can apply and track the sensors(?)

Operational Product:

ICARUS-based animal tracking data and a physical tag around 1 gram in mass

Continuing Operation:

annual maintenance of NISAR SM data at the DAAC(?)

Resources:
NISAR Soil Moisture (NISAR SM) ▼
Initial Request:

???

Partner Organizations:

NASA MSFC IMPACT
DAAC

Solution Service:
    ?
Operational Product:

200-meter resolution soil moisture data

Continuing Operation:

Algorithm evaluation and product updates with new data; annual maintenance of NISAR SM data at the DAAC(?)

Resources:
Global Surface Water Extent (OPERA-DSWx) ▼
Initial Request:

cloud-free imagery measuring surface water extent beneath vegetation utilizing Landsat, Sentinel-2, NISAR, Sentinel-1, and SWOT

Partner Organizations:

JPL
DAAC

Solution Service:
  • expands the DSWE product line to include global coverage with Landsat data in partnership with the USGS
  • develops a global SWE product with Sentinel-2 optical imagery using the DSWE algorithms that are optimized for Sentinel-2 imagery,
  • develops a global radar/SAR SWE product from Sentinel-1 imagery,
  • develops a global SWE product from NISAR
  • develops a harmonized product that combines these products with SWOT surface water extent products.
Operational Products:
  • (DSWx-HLS) Optical Dynamic Surface Water Extent
  • (DSWx-S1) Surface Water Extent data product for ESA Sentinel-1 A/B
    - (RTC-S1) Radiometric Terrain Corrected data product for ESA Sentinel-1 A/B - Intermediate data product used as input for the DSWx-S1 product
  • (DSWx-NI) Dynamic Surface Water Extent product from NISAR L-band (Near Global)
Continuing Operation:

Algorithm evaluation and product updates with new data; annual maintenance of data at the DAAC(?)

Resources:
Global Land Surface Disturbance and Change Detection (OPERA-DIST) ▼
Initial Request:

identify land surface change on a sub-weekly scale with a spatial resolution of 10m to 30m.

Partner Organizations:

NASA JPL
DAAC

Solution Service:

A team that accomplishes the following:

  • produce an optical (Landsat and Sentinel-2) product
  • Produce a radar (Sentinel-1 and NISAR) product
  • Produce a combined optical and radar change detection product.
Operational Product:
  • (DIST-ALERT-HLS) Optical Land Surface Disturbance data products for Harmonized Landsat and Sentinel-2 (HLS): Alert product
  • (DIST-ANN-HLS) Optical Land Surface Disturbance data products for Harmonized Landsat and Sentinel-2 (HLS): Annual Summary product
Continuing Operation:

Algorithm evaluation and product updates with new data; annual maintenance of data at the DAAC(?)

Resources:
Land Surface Deformation for North America and U.S. Territories (OPERA-DISP) ▼
Initial Request:

SNWG-2018 activities that utilize common satellite data (Landsat, Sentinel-2, NISAR, Sentinel-1, and SWOT).

Partner Organizations:

NASA MSFC IMPACT
DAAC

Solution Service:
  • making those products
Operational Product:
  • (DISP-S1)Geocoded Line-of-Sight Displacement data product for ESA Sentinel-1 A/B C-band SAR
    - (CSLC-S1) Co-Registered Single Look Complex data product for ESA Sentinel-1 A/B C-band SAR
  • (DISP-NI) Geocoded Line-of-Sight Displacement data product for NISAR L-band SAR - (CSLC-NI) Co-Registered Single Look Complex data product for NISAR L-band SAR
Continuing Operation:

Algorithm evaluation and product updates with new data; annual maintenance of data at the DAAC(?)

Resources:
Radiation & Clouds (SatCorps) ▼
Initial Request:

Improve the representation of cloud processes in high resolution regional and global models to narrow the range of model climate sensitivities to radiative forcing, (2018-06)

Partner Organizations:

NASA MSFC IMPACT
DAAC

Solution Service:
  • enhancing processing and storage capabilities at Satellite Cloud and Radiation Property retrieval System (SatCORPS)
  • developing algorithms capable of ingesting observations from Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS), calculating ice & liquid water path & droplet number concentration in liquid clouds.
  • Producing data over the globe at 3 km spatial and hourly temporal resolution.
Operational Product:
  • 3-km hourly cloud and radiation data
  • Enhanced version of a pre-existing processing and storage algorithm.
  • A VIIRS-observation based ingestion and ice/liquid concentration calculation algorithm.
Continuing Operation:

Data processing updates and periodic reanalysis; annual maintenance of data at the DAAC(?)

Resources:
Water Quality Product (Water Quality) ▼
Initial Request:

develop Application Ready Data Level 2 and 3 products from OLCI data. (L1 data already exists) (2018-03)

Partner Organizations:

NASA MSFC IMPACT
OB.DAAC

Solution Service:

A team who accomplishes the following:

  • performs higher-level data processing
  • archivals and distributed the new products at the Ocean Biology Distributed Active Archive Center (OB.DAAC).
  • further development of ocean color data processing software
  • Calibration performance necessary to minimize bias across harmonized ocean color data products
  • integration support for display and processing of OLCI data into the SeaDAS software package.
Operational Product:

Sentinel-3 OLCI Level-2 and Level-3 water quality products housed at OB.DAAC.

Continuing Operation:

Algorithm improvements and updates for continuous processing; annual maintenance of data at the DAAC(?)

Resources:
Air Quality Products (AQ) ▼
Initial Request:

Expand the Pandora air quality sensors network to improve the U.S. Government's ability to detect and forecast crucial air quality parameters in poorly sampled locations both domestic and international.
(Assessment Needs: 2020-160, -176, -194, -209, -235, -268, -278; Proposed Activity 2020-7)

Partner Organizations:

NASA MSFC IMPACT
SAO?

Solution Service:

A team that accomplishes the following:

  • These things
  • Install sensors
  • Train scientists in sensor use
Operational Product:
  • (#) Physical sensors installed
  • Integrated air quality datasets from Pandora sensors and GEOS-CF modeling available online through the existing visualization platform(s). Continuing Operation:

    Sensor maintenance, data assimilation, and system enhancements.; annual maintenance of data at the DAAC(?)

    • Resources:
    EarthDEM 2.0 Elevation Mosaic & Strip Products (EarthDEM 2.0) ▼
    Initial Request:

    Produce and distribute two 2.0 m DEM products: a near-Global Mosaic EarthDEM and DEM strips where new data was acquired for detailed change detection. (Assessment Needs: 2020-142, -145, -146, -151, -153, -157, -171, -184, -196, -203, -212, -215, -234, -241, -247, -253, -258, -261, -265, -266, -276; Proposed Activity 2020-9)

    Partner Organizations:

    NASA MSFC IMPACT
    DAAC

    Solution Service:

    none

    Operational Product:

    A new solution will not be implemented as relevant DEMs are being produced by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency(NGA).
    The NGA NextView License allows NASA to distribute the Polar Geospatial Center 2-m EarthDEM products to US Government-funded researchers.
    EarthDEM products are availabe through NASA's CSDA program to U.S. Federal employees, U.S. Federal contractors, and U.S. Government-funded researchers. This includes the NSF-funded scientists.

    Continuing Operation:

    None

    Resources:
    Merged GNSS-RO/Atmospheric Sounder Measurements for Planetary Boundary Layer Products (PBL) ▼
    Initial Request:

    Provide support to other agencies in accessing the requested data

    Partner Organizations:

    NASA MSFC IMPACT
    DAAC

    Solution Service:
    • This is a Product-based Solution, not a Service-based Solution
    Operational Product:

    Combined GNSS and hyperspectral sounder atmospheric datasets.

    Continuing Operation:

    Ongoing data collection and refinement of merged retrievals; annual maintenance of data at the DAAC(?)

    Resources:
    Sea Ice from Sea Surface Salinity (Sea Ice) ▼
    Initial Request:

    Provide support to other agencies in accessing the requested data

    Partner Organizations:

    NASA MSFC IMPACT
    DAAC

    Solution Service:
    • Assist other agencies in incorporating NASA Earth observation data into their workflows
    • Improve the discoverability of NASA Earth science data
    • Support accurate publication of NASA Earth observations
    • Create a profile of agency needs captured through the survey
    Operational Product:

    Enhanced sea surface salinity data with additional ice edge flags.

    Continuing Operation:

    None

    Resources:
    TEMPO/GOES NRT and Enhanced Products (TEMPO NRT) ▼
    Initial Request:

    Provide support to other agencies in accessing the requested data

    Partner Organizations:

    NASA MSFC IMPACT
    DAAC

    Solution Service:
    • Assist other agencies in incorporating NASA Earth observation data into their workflows
    • Improve the discoverability of NASA Earth science data
    • Support accurate publication of NASA Earth observations
    • Create a profile of agency needs captured through the survey
    Operational Product:

    Hourly air quality data (e.g., NO₂, SO₂, HCHO) and additional trace gas measurements.

    Continuing Operation:

    Ongoing data processing, integration with NOAA operations, and maintenance of algorithms.; annual maintenance of data at the DAAC(?)

    Resources:
    Global HLS-Derived Vegetation Indices Suite (HLS-VI) ▼
    Initial Request:

    Provide support to other agencies in accessing the requested data

    Partner Organizations:

    NASA MSFC IMPACT
    DAAC

    Solution Service:
    • Assist other agencies in incorporating NASA Earth observation data into their workflows
    • Improve the discoverability of NASA Earth science data
    • Support accurate publication of NASA Earth observations
    • Create a profile of agency needs captured through the survey
    Operational Product:

    Global indices (e.g., NDVI, EVI, SAVI) from HLS data archive and future acquisitions.

    Continuing Operation:

    Regular updates to datasets and maintenance of the HLS production system.

    Resources:
    Vertical Land Motion (VLM) ▼
    Initial Request:

    integrate results from prior deformation studies with geodetic data to create products tracking vertical and horizontal land surface motions, including temporal variability maps and updates tied to Sentinel-1 and NISAR missions. These efforts align with the Administration's Climate and Infrastructure initiatives.

    Partner Organizations:

    NASA MSFC IMPACT
    DAAC

    Solution Service:
    • ?: Long-term monitoring data for infrastructure and climate studies.
    Operational Product:

    ?: Annual and monthly maps of land surface elevation changes and horizontal motions.

    Continuing Operation:

    Regular updates to datasets and maintenance of the HLS production system.

    Resources:
    HLS-Low Latency (HLS-LL) ▼
    Initial Request:

    4-6 hour latency of the HLS data for applications that need data quickly (e.g., disaster response, environmental monitoring)

    Partner Organizations:

    NASA MSFC IMPACT
    DAAC

    Solution Service:
    • This is a Product-based Solution, not a Service-based Solution
    • Enhanced operational data streams for near real-time disaster response and environmental assessments.
    Operational Product:

    HLS Latency reduced to 4-6 hours.

    Continuing Operation:

    Regular integration of Landsat-9 data, maintenance of archival processing, and improvements to data latency and accessibility​.

    Resources:
    TEMPO/GOES NRT and Enhanced Products (TEMPO Enhanced) ▼
    Initial Request:

    An hourly SO2 concentration product from TEMPO and adapt existing algorithms to generate additional trace gas measurements, including SO2, UVAOD, aerosol height, H2O, UVB, CHOCHO, and BrO.

    Partner Organizations:

    Smithsonian Astrophysics Observatory (SAO)
    DAAC

    Solution Service:
    • None; this is a Product-based Solution, not a Service-based Solution
    Operational Product:

    hourly SO2 concentration product from TEMPO

    Continuing Operation:

    Regular updates to datasets and maintenance of the HLS production system.

    Ocean Surface Winds Official Name (Ocean Winds) ▼
    Initial Request:

    High-resolution wind data for improving oceanographic and meteorological modeling.

    Partner Organizations:

    NASA/JPL
    DAAC

    Solution Service:
    • None; this is a Product-based Solution, not a Service-based Solution
    Operational Product:

    Gridded datasets of ocean surface wind speed and direction.

    Continuing Operation:

    Regular updates to datasets and algorithm refinements.

    Resources:
    Global Algal Blooms Assessment Network (GABAN) ▼
    Initial Request:

    Accurate monitoring of algal blooms to mitigate their impact on ecosystems and human health.

    Partner Organizations:

    Smithsonian Astrophysics Observatory (SAO)
    DAAC

    Solution Service:
    • None; this is a Product-based Solution, not a Service-based Solution
    Operational Product:

    Analysis-ready water quality data and algal bloom indices from Sentinel-3.

    Continuing Operation:

    Maintenance of data processing pipelines and updates to predictive algorithms​

    Resources:
    Targeted Remote Sensing Training (ARSET) ▼
    Initial Request:

    Training programs to build capacity in the use of satellite data for environmental monitoring.

    Partner Organizations:

    NASA/JPL
    DAAC

    Solution Service:
    • Comprehensive training sessions on remote sensing applications for global stakeholders.
    Operational Product:

    Online and in-person training modules focused on practical uses of satellite-derived data.

    Continuing Operation:

    Continuous development of new training materials and regular program updates​

    Resources:

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