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The FireSense Project
2 min read
The FireSense ProjectExpanded coverage of topics from “The Editor’s Corner” in The Earth Observer
Wind is a major factor in fire. It controls how fires evolve and pose threats to the safety of communities. Traditionally data from weather balloons have been used to produce vertical soundings to define changes in atmospheric dynamics. However, their use is restricted during aircraft operations to combat active wildfires. New technologies are therefore needed to fill this critical measurement gap. The Uninhabited Aerial System (UAS) fits the bill, providing data that enables localized forecasting to help predict fire behavior.
The NASA Earth Science Division FireSense project, together with agency, academic, and private partners, completed an airborne campaign in a wildfire smoke-impacted airshed in Missoula, MT on August 27–29, 2024. During the three-day campaign, a NASA UAS team conducted eight data-collection flights– see Figure. They partnered these launches with weather balloon launches.
Using this real-time data, MITRE Corporation tested high-resolution “Score-based Data Assimilation” meteorological models and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) High-Resolution Rapid Refresh (HRRR) operational atmospheric model against wind speed and temperature from local MesoNet weather stations. Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) created comprehensive visualizations of flight paths, temperature, and wind.
The data collected during the Montana campaign were used to evaluate the impact of real-time data on model fire weather forecasts commonly used for operational decision making. The UAS sounding data were validated against weather ballon data. In addition, the campaign evaluated data validity from in-situ UAS soundings in a smoke impacted environment as well as assessed payload portability and user experience with the systems. The campaign served as a trial for interagency coordination between NOAA incident meteorologists and U.S. Forest Service (USFS) trained UAS pilots conducting data collection flights.
Figure. A composite image showing the NASA Alta X quadcopter taking off during one of eight flights conducted during the 2024 FireSense Uninhabited Aerial System technology demonstration in Missoula, MT. Image Credit: Milan Loiacono/NASA
Steve Platnick
EOS Senior Project Scientist
Christine Mataya
FireSense Program Coordinator
Jacquelyn K. Shuman
FireSense Project Scientist
Michael Falkowski
FireSense Program Lead
Kaye Honored with Pecora Award
3 min read
Kaye Honored with Pecora AwardExpanded coverage of topics from “The Editor’s Corner” in The Earth Observer
Image. Recipient of the Pecora Individual Award: Jack A. Kaye, PhD. Image credit: Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
Jack Kaye, [NASA Headquarters—Associate Director for Research of the Earth Science Division], has received the 2024 William T. Pecora Award award for his vision and creative leadership in multidisciplinary Earth science research, as well as for spurring advancements in the investigator community, supporting development of sensors, and shaping NASA satellite and aircraft missions and research programs at the highest levels.
As Associate Director for Research since 1999, Kaye is responsible for the research and data analysis programs for Earth System Science. He has contributed to national and international groups for decades, by serving as the NASA principal on the Subcommittee on Global Change Research in the U.S. Global Change Research Program and chairing the World Meteorological Organization Expert Team on Satellite Systems. Kaye has also served as a member of the Steering Committee for the Global Climate Observing System and on the National Research Council’s Roundtable on Science and Technology for Sustainability and the Chemical Sciences Roundtable. He also serves as NASA’s representative to the Subcommittee on Ocean Science and Technology. Kaye has devoted considerable energy toward developing early career researchers, stimulating the inclusion of a more diverse student population in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
Kaye has received numerous NASA awards, including the Distinguished Service Medal in 2022 and the Meritorious Executive in the Senior Executive Service in 2004, 2010, and 2021. He was named a Fellow by the American Meteorological Society (AMS) in 2010 and by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in 2014. Kaye was also elected to serve as an office of the Atmospheric and Hydrospheric Science section of the AAAS (2015–2018).
Kaye received a Bachelor of Science degree from Adelphi University in 1976 and a Ph.D. from the California Institute of Technology in 1982. He held a post-doctoral research associateship at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory. Kaye has published more than 50 refereed papers and contributed to numerous reports, books, and encyclopedias.
Kaye is joined in this honor this year by Chuanmin Hu [University of South Florida—Professor, Leader of Optical Oceanography Lab]. Hu received the Pecora Group award for his lab’s groundbreaking advancements in remote sensing and real-world applications, including the Sargassum Watch System.
The Pecora award is presented annually by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and NASA, honors individuals and groups who have made outstanding contributions to the field of remote sensing – advancing Earth observation and benefiting society. The award is named after William T. Pecora, former Director of USGS and Under Secretary of the Interior. His early vision and support helped establish what we know today as the Landsat satellite program.
Steve Platnick
EOS Senior Project Scientist
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NASA Uses Advanced Radar to Track Groundwater in California
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Bureau of Reclamation
Where California’s towering Sierra Nevada surrender to the sprawling San Joaquin Valley, a high-stakes detective story is unfolding. The culprit isn’t a person but a process: the mysterious journey of snowmelt as it travels underground to replenish depleted groundwater reserves.
The investigator is a NASA jet equipped with radar technology so sensitive it can detect ground movements thinner than a nickel. The work could unlock solutions to one of the American West’s most pressing water challenges — preventing groundwater supplies from running dry.
“NASA’s technology has the potential to give us unprecedented precision in measuring where snowmelt is recharging groundwater,” said Erin Urquhart, program manager for NASA’s Earth Action Water Resources program at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “This information is vital for farmers, water managers, and policymakers trying to make the best possible decisions to protect water supplies for agriculture and communities.”
Tracking Water Beneath the SurfaceIn late February, a NASA aircraft equipped with Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle Synthetic Aperture Radar (UAVSAR) conducted the first of six flights planned for this year, passing over a roughly 25-mile stretch of the Tulare Basin in the San Joaquin Valley, where foothills meet farmland. It’s a zone experts think holds a key to maintaining water supplies for one of America’s most productive agricultural regions.
Much of the San Joaquin Valley’s groundwater comes from the melting of Sierra Nevada snow. “For generations, we’ve been managing water in California without truly knowing where that meltwater seeps underground and replenishes groundwater,” said Stanford University geophysicist and professor Rosemary Knight, who is leading the research.
This image from the MODIS instrument on NASA’s Terra satellite, captured on March 8, 2025, shows the Tulare Basin area in Southern California, where foothills meet farmlands. The region is a crucial area for groundwater recharge efforts aimed at making the most of the state’s water resources. Credits: NASA Earth Observatory image by Michala Garrison, using MODIS data from NASA EOSDIS LANCE and GIBS/Worldview.
The process is largely invisible — moisture filtering through rock and sediment, and vanishing beneath orchards and fields. But as the liquid moves downhill, it follows a pattern. Water flows into rivers and streams, some of it eventually seeping underground at the valley’s edge or as the waterways spread into the valley. As the water moves through the ground, it can create slight pressure that in turn pushes the surface upward. The movement is imperceptible to the human eye, but NASA’s advanced radar technology can detect it.
“Synthetic aperture radar doesn’t directly see water,” explained Yunling Lou, who leads the UAVSAR program at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. “We’re measuring changes in surface elevation — smaller than a centimeter — that tell us where the water is.”
These surface bulges create what Knight calls an “InSAR recharge signature.” By tracking how these surface bulges migrate from the mountains into the valley, the team hopes to pinpoint where groundwater replenishment occurs and, ultimately, quantify the amount of water naturally recharging the system.
Previous research using satellite-based InSAR (Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar) has shown that land in the San Joaquin Valley uplifts and subsides with the seasons, as the groundwater is replenished by Sierra snowmelt. But the satellite radar couldn’t uniquely identify the recharge paths. Knight’s team combined the satellite data with images of underground sediments, acquired using an airborne electromagnetic system, and was able to map the major hidden subsurface water pathways responsible for aquifer recharge.
NASA’s airborne UAVSAR system will provide even more detailed data, potentially allowing researchers to have a clearer view of where and how fast water is soaking back into the ground and recharging the depleted aquifers.
In 2025, NASA’s UAVSAR system on a Gulfstream-III jet (shown over a desert landscape) is conducting six planned advanced radar surveys to map how and where groundwater is recharging parts of California’s southern San Joaquin Valley. Credits: NASA Supporting Farmers and Communities
California’s Central Valley produces over a third of America’s vegetables and two-thirds of its fruits and nuts. The southern portion of this agricultural powerhouse is the San Joaquin Valley, where most farming operations rely heavily on groundwater, especially during drought years.
Water managers have occasionally been forced to impose restrictions on groundwater pumping as aquifer levels drop. Some farmers now drill increasingly deeper wells, driving up costs and depleting reserves.
“Knowing where recharge is happening is vital for smart water management,” said Aaron Fukuda, general manager of the Tulare Irrigation District, a water management agency in Tulare County that oversees irrigation and groundwater recharge projects.
“In dry years, when we get limited opportunities, we can direct flood releases to areas that recharge efficiently, avoiding places where water would just evaporate or take too long to soak in,” Fukuda said. “In wetter years, like 2023, it’s even more crucial — we need to move water into the ground as quickly as possible to prevent flooding and maximize the amount absorbed.”
NASA’s Expanding Role in Water MonitoringNASA’s ongoing work to monitor and manage Earth’s water combines a range of cutting-edge technologies that complement one another, each contributing unique insights into the challenges of groundwater management.
The upcoming NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar) mission, a joint project between NASA and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) set to launch in coming months, will provide global-scale radar data to track land and ice surface changes — including signatures of groundwater movement — every 12 days.
The NISAR satellite (shown in this artist’s concept) has a large radar antenna designed to monitor Earth’s land and ice changes with unprecedented detail. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech
In parallel, the GRACE satellites — operated by the German Aerospace Center, German Research Centre for Geosciences, and NASA — have transformed global groundwater monitoring by detecting tiny variations in Earth’s gravity, offering a broad view of monthly water storage changes across large regions.
The Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment and Follow-On (GRACE and GRACE-FO) missions have helped expose major declines in aquifers, including in California’s Central Valley. But their coarser resolution calls for complementary tools that can, for example, pinpoint recharge hotspots with greater precision.
Together, these technologies form a powerful suite of tools that bridge the gap between regional-scale monitoring and localized water management. NASA’s Western Water Applications Office (WWAO) also plays a key role in ensuring that this wealth of data is accessible to water managers and others, offering platforms like the Visualization of In-situ and Remotely-Sensed Groundwater Observation (VIRGO) dashboard to facilitate informed decision-making.
“Airborne campaigns like this one in the San Joaquin test how our technology can deliver tangible benefits to American communities,” said Stephanie Granger, WWAO’s director at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. “We partner with local water managers to evaluate tools that have the potential to strengthen water supplies across the Western United States.”
By Emily DeMarco
NASA Headquarters
About the Author Emily DeMarcoShare
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