2015 Technical Development Progress Update
Program:
Photo-Spec: Comprehensive Ground-Based Studies of SolarInduced Chlorophyll Fluorescence - tracking seasonal, diurnal and fine spatial variability
Campus PI:
JPL PI:
Paul Wennberg
Christian Frankenberg
Co-Investigators:
Jochen Stutz, Ulli Seibt (UCLA)
Debra Wunch (Caltech)
Stanley Sander, Darren Drewry, Josh Fisher (JPL)
Joe Berry (Carnegie)
Gretchen Keppel Aleks (U. of Michigan)
Brief summary of progress to date
The project is only in the first half of the first year, so most progress is still in its infancy.
However, we have been able to leverage ongoing efforts at UCLA and JPL to advance
the spectrometer prototype design considerably. We adapted a measurement system at
UCLA that is typically used for Max-DOAS observations to record high resolution and
signal-to-noise ratio spectra within the spectra range where chlorophyll fluorescence
takes place. For this purpose, we used an existing Ocean Optics QE Pro spectrometer
contributed by JPL to advance the prototype design without early procurements. We
found that the prototype system provided the require stability, spectral resolution as well
as signal-to-noise ratio and will now design a fully functional prototype, led by UCLA co-I
Jochen Stutz.
The tentative prototype also allowed us to test the UCLA software with the latest version
of the OO spectrometer systems, which can control stepper motors, spectrometer
exposures and temperature control.
At JPL, we developed software to convert the proprietary data format into standard
HDF5 files that can be easily shared. The implementation of the SCOPE fluorescence
model into the ML-Can vegetation model also started, led by co-I Darren Drewry.
Spectrometer prototype testing at UCLA.
Status of Collaborations (Campus/JPL/External)
The first year of this project mainly consists of the design of the spectrometer system,
hence mainly involving UCLA, JPL and Caltech. Two visits to UCLA (Paul Wennberg,
Christian Frankenberg and Darren Drewry) kick-started the early prototype design by
providing a JPL-owned OO QE Pro spectrometer to Jochen Stutz to test the most
important aspects of the envisioned final design. In the current phase of the project, we
have not been burdening co-Is not involved in the hardware development with regular
team meetings, but rather rely on direct one-on-one conversations with the development
team on specific aspects of the design as it is maturing. We have communicated with the
partners on the system requirements to make sure that the design will meet their needs.
More general communications between all team members will start once the
spectrometer systems are assembled and ready for use by all co-Is.