GTE: PEM-Tropics B Logistics

(Updated 1/5/98)

• GENERAL INFORMATION ON GTE AND PEM-TROPICS B
  

  1. Program Management
     

     The PEM-Tropics B will be a research project within the NASA Global Tropospheric Experiment, managed and funded through the Tropospheric Chemistry Program in the Office for Mission to Planet Earth (OMTPE). The Program Manager for the Tropospheric Chemistry Program will serve as the PEM-Tropics B Program Manager providing oversight to ensure that the research activities of PEM-Tropics B are in concert with the objectives of the OMTPE. The Program Manager will be the point of contact for coordinating the research activities of PEM-Tropics B with other collaborating U.S. and foreign agencies. The Program Manager will be an ex officio member of the PEM-Tropics B Science Team.

  2. Project Management
     

     The PEM-Tropics B project activities will be managed by the GTE Project Office at NASA's Langley Research Center (LARC). The GTE Project manager will be responsible for the overall management and coordination of resources provided to meet the scientific objectives of the PEM-Tropics B mission. These responsibilities will include (a) interaction with the Tropospheric Chemistry Program management and the management of other collaborating agencies and science teams; (b) overall direction of project planning, schedules, and field operations; (c) providing for the timely transmittal of all data collected by the project into a public archive at LARC; and (d) acquisition and reporting of base measurements in support of the mission goals. The Project Manager will be assisted by the Mission Scientist(s) and Mission Meteorologist(s) and by a project staff. The Project manager will be an ex officio member of the PEM-Tropics B Science Team.

  3. PEM-Tropics B Science Team
     

     The PEM-Tropics B Science Team will be composed of (1) the Principal Investigators for experimental proposals approved for the DC-8 and/or of the P-3B components of the mission, (2) any ground-based or ship-based principal investigators that may be selected, and (3) the selected theoretical investigators. The term of participation on the Science Team will continue as long as the approved research continues.

     The Science Team will be co-chaired by the mission scientist(s) for the DC-8 and the P-3B components. Individuals proposing an experimental or theoretical investigation may also propose to serve as Mission Scientist for either or both aircraft teams.

     The Science Team will determine its own structure and method for interactions among team members and the DC-8 and P-3B aircraft operators to achieve overall the mission objectives and the goals of the GTE PEM-Tropics B mission. The Science Team and the Project Manager will develop detailed plans to conduct the PEM-Tropics B mission to meet the objectives given in this NRA. The Science Team will also be responsible for establishing a data management and data protocol plan that will promote the timely publication and dissemination of scientific results in accordance with data handling policies of the OMTPE, which generally require that data from OMTPE projects be made available to the public after a brief period of exclusive use by science teams for validation of the data. A period of approximately six months for this purpose is envisioned for the PEM-Tropics B mission.

  4. National and International Cooperation
     

     The PEM-Tropics B project will welcome international participation in all of its field studies, coordinated through the International Global Atmospheric Chemistry (IGAC) project, a core project of the International Geosphere Biosphere Program (IGBP). Foreign participation or collaboration will be on a cooperative (no exchange of funds) basis only.

  5. Logistical Support Provided by NASA
     

     During the field deployment of PEM-Tropics B the GTE Project Office will provide the logistical arrangements and the cost for shipping investigator equipment to and from the investigator's laboratory and the aircraft integration site, and to and from the investigator's laboratory and the intensive field deployment sites. For the P-3B aircraft the intensive sites include Christmas Island and Tahiti. For the DC-8 the intensive sites include Hawaii, Tahiti, and Fiji. Advanced shipments, of items such as compressed gases to each of the intensive sites will be via surface transportation. Because of the limited weight and space capacity of the P-3B, air shipments of the P-3B supporting equipment to Christmas and Tahiti will be provided by the GTE Project Office. No air shipments are planned as support for the DC-8 operations.

     The Project Office will also obtain hotel accommodations at each deployment site, and meeting rooms and field laboratory facilities as required at each intensive deployment site. The Project Office will also make arrangements for such general items as liquid nitrogen and dry ice.

     Travel costs associated with participation of the non-NASA U.S. Principal Investigators in planning meetings will be provided through the GTE Project Office. Travel costs directly attributed to the field deployment of PEM-Tropics B will also be provided through the GTE Project Office for non-NASA U.S. participants. Travel costs for NASA employees are covered separately. Shipping costs for all investigations will be covered through the GTE Project Office.

     Foreign investigators must bear their own costs for all travel and shipping.
     

  6. Data Products/Archive
     

     The Project Office will serve as a central repository and distribution center for all data products obtained in the PEM-Tropics B mission. Aboard each aircraft the Project Office, in conjunction with the respective aircraft facility coordinators, will provide a set of standard parameters including ambient temperature, dew point temperature, winds, and aircraft position (see Table 1, Scientific Objectives). The Project Office will provide a data system aboard each aircraft, which will facilitate distribution of these data aboard the aircraft in real time and post fight. The project data system will also offer the capability of recording and displaying selected information from investigators aboard the respective aircraft.

     The Project Office will also maintain a mission data archive for distribution among the science team. The mission archive will consist of all data acquired apart of the PEM-Tropics B mission. Each investigator will be responsible for submitting preliminary field results to the Project Office for distribution to the Science Team during the mission. Final validated results from the mission must be submitted to the Project Office approximately 6 months after completion of the field deployment phase. The project office will be responsible for submitting the PEM-Tropics B data archive to the Langley Distributed Active Archive Center, which will be the repository for all of the mission data.

     The Project Office, with the Mission Meteorologist, will provide for the acquisition and distribution to the science team meteorological data supporting the mission objectives. These data will include meteorological products for flight planning and post mission products to support analysis and publication of results.