News

A team of NASA scientists want to use Earth as a laboratory to understand how planets lose their atmospheres and has proposed a mission that the agency recently selected as one of five for further consideration as a possible NASA Explorer mission.

In the proposed mission that some believe is a potential keystone in the study of the Sun and its effects on planetary atmospheres, the team at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, is advancing a dual-satellite, polar-orbiting mission to study the universal processes that control atmospheric erosion and its interaction with stellar winds, the continuously flowing stream of charged particles released from the Sun’s corona.

Called Mechanisms of Energetic Mass Ejection-Explorer, or MEME-X, the mission was one of five proposals that received Phase-A funding under NASA’s Small Explorer Program. NASA also selected another Goddard mission, Focusing Optics X-ray Solar Imager [link to story]. Of the five, NASA is expected to select one or two for development and implementation.

Cross-disciplinary mission

MEME-X’s two spacecraft would fly in a polar orbit to find out how plasma escapes from Earth’s ionosphere.

“MEME-X has strong cross threads across NASA’s scientific disciplines – planetary, heliophysics, astrophysics, and Earth science,” said Thomas Moore, a Goddard scientist and the MEME-X principal investigator. In addition to providing details about the loss of mass in Earth’s upper atmospheric layers, the mission could enhance scientists’ understanding of the role that solar wind played in transforming Mars from a warm and wet environment that might have supported surface life on Mars to the cold, arid planet of today, he said.

To that end, MEME-X will focus on one principal question: How do particles escape from Earth’s upper atmosphere into the magnetosphere – the protective bubble that shields the planet from incoming radiation from the Sun – and then further, out into space.

“Atmospheric escape is a fundamental process with wide-reaching consequences across space and planetary sciences,” Moore said.

Plasma, the dominant material in space, consists of negatively charged electrons and positively charged ions; that is, atoms that have lost their electrons.

It is a fourth state of matter – not a gas, liquid, or solid – which conducts electricity and is affected by magnetic fields.

On an astronomical scale, plasma is common. It’s found in the Sun, in the constant stream of material that flows from the Sun – the solar wind – and throughout space. However, on Earth’s surface, it’s rare, found mostly in fires and in fluorescent and neon lights.

For heliophysics, understanding the outflow of plasma from near-Earth space is particularly crucial, Moore added.

The upflow of plasma from the high-latitude polar cap and auroral regions appears to affect the magnetosphere’s response to variations in the solar wind and in turn influences space weather, which adds to the challenge of predicting space weather.

“For 40 years, we’ve had a long-standing mystery about how a portion of the atmosphere is heated by a factor of a hundred or more and ejected into space, where it dramatically modifies the near-Earth environment,” said Doug Rowland, MEME-X deputy principal investigator and a heliophysicist at Goddard. “MEME-X, with its pair of miniaturized spacecraft and advanced instrumentation, will finally give us the tools we need to solve this problem.”

Equipped with plasma analyzers, which will be mounted on short booms extending along the spacecraft’s spin axes, and other instruments developed in part with research-and-development funding, MEME-X would provide the first multipoint measurements of plasma to determine if the matter is being ejected by pressure, as in a geyser, or vacuumed away from Earth, as in a waterspout.

Atmospheric evolution and habitability

In addition to revealing the plasma outflow’s effect on space weather, the mission could help answer important questions regarding the evolution of planetary atmospheres and planet habitability, Moore said.

A case in point is Mars. Once wetter and warmer, and possibly congenial for life, the planet now looks dead. It’s a desert world, with a sparse atmosphere and virtually no protective magnetic field.

NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution mission, recently discovered that most of the planet’s atmosphere has been lost to space, violently scraped from the planet by solar wind.

The question scientists want to answer is the role of the magnetosphere in atmospheric loss, particularly as it relates to solar wind.

“This is a quest to discover and characterize fundamental processes that occur within the heliosphere and throughout the universe,” Moore said. “We want to use the Earth’s atmosphere as a laboratory.”

For more Goddard technology news, go to: https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/fall_2017_final_lowrez.pdf.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The county of Lake has reported on an update to the deadline to remove Sulphur fire debris, which is required due to wet weather conditions.

The Lake County Board of Supervisors appreciates the many Sulphur Fire survivor-property owners who have acted quickly to ensure hazardous debris is removed from their properties in a timely manner.

Thanks to the vigilance of these survivors and effective outreach by the Health Services Department, Environmental Health Director Ray Ruminski and County staff, more than 120 properties were signed up for debris removal services by the State program’s Nov. 13 deadline.

Wildfire debris still poses significant risk to public health and must be removed as soon as possible.

The Board of Supervisors had previously set a deadline of Dec. 15 to declare intent to have debris removed by a private contractor, with abatements expected in January.

The California Office of Emergency Services, or CalOES, recently clarified that, due to expected winter rains, an earlier deadline is required.

With the state debris removal program’s deadline past, survivor-property owners in the unincorporated areas of Lake County have two options:

– Secure a private contractor to remove wildfire debris, and provide a written opt-out plan to Lake County Environmental Health no later than Friday, Dec. 1; or

– Wildfire debris will be abated as a Code Enforcement matter beginning in December.

Abatement is the most costly option, in most cases.

Property owners are strongly discouraged from cleaning up their own structural debris, out of concern for their health and the health of their neighbors.

Per the state deadline, all county properties with no opt-out plan on file by Dec. 1 will be subject to abatement orders.

Properties located within the city of Clearlake are subject to the Clearlake City Council’s deadline of Nov. 29.

“The best [privately contracted] jobs are when the contractor files the paperwork and submits their work plan,” said Ruminski.

“In the wake of wildfire, there are many priorities that require attention, and we are sorry for any inconvenience caused by the adjustment of these deadlines. Unfortunately, it is beyond our control,” said County Administrative Officer Carol Huchingson.

For more information, or to document your intent to use a private contractor and file your opt-out plan, please contact Lake County Environmental Health, at 707-263-1164.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – This week the Board of Supervisors reversed a decision it made at the end of October and now will allow debris from the Redwood fire to be taken to the Eastlake Landfill in Clearlake.

The board initially discussed the matter at a special Oct. 31 meeting in response to a request from ECC, the US Army Corps of Engineers’ debris removal contractor for Lake and Mendocino counties.

ECC had asked if the county would allow the debris to be taken to the Eastlake Landfill rather than having to truck it to the next closest available landfills, which are located in Vacaville and Suisun City, as Lake County News has reported.

The matter was brought back after board members last week asked for it to be discussed again.

Public Services Director Lars Ewing explained that the landfill is currently at 87-percent capacity, a number which covers the 2017 disposal projections, including the fire debris estimates for the Sulphur fire.

The remaining capacity is expected to last 13 years if there are no other disasters, Ewing said. However, adding in unanticipated debris takes that number down to nine and a half years.

He said Mendocino County has an estimated 400 properties to be cleaned of fire debris. Ewing’s calculations put the Redwood fire debris at a total of 10 months of landfill capacity. That brings the landfill’s life expectancy down to eight and a half years, which puts the facility’s life out to 2026. The expansion project is expected to be completed by 2024.

“We have about two years of wiggle room,” said Ewing, noting that his schedule doesn’t include assumptions of the county getting clearance from state agencies to accelerate the expansion project.

Ewing estimated that it will cost the county $67.62 a ton to handle the additional debris.

Board Chair Jeff Smith said the county needed to help collect a portion to benefit the city of Clearlake and road repairs necessary from the truck traffic to the landfill.

Ewing said that in talks with the city they have identified the impact of the landfill traffic on the city’s roads. Repairs will have to wait until the contract between the city and county to cover those repairs is rewritten, with the contract expected to expire in June.

In response to questions about the revenue potential, Ewing said that because the landfill isn’t a for-profit business it has to base its costs on estimates of how much it will take to manage the landfill.

“Lars is correct that it’s a revenue-neutral proposition,” said County Counsel Anita Grant.

Grant added that overhead expenses and other costs are things that the county can be reimbursed for in setting its tonnage charges.

Smith did a quick calculation and estimated that the county could take in more than $3 million for the Redwood fire debris.

Ewing said the funds that the extra debris would bring in would be revenue neutral, and offset operating costs.

Smith said he wanted it emphasized that the debris not be trucked over Highway 20 – and through the Northshore communities and along the lakeshore – but that it be taken to the landfill on Highway 29.

Lake County Environmental Health Director Ray Ruminski supported accepting the debris.

“This decision is a chance to help someone else when so many others over the last two years gave so much help to us,” he said, adding that it’s important to never forget the human element. “If we can help someone else, it’s always a good thing.”

Supervisor Jim Steele moved to direct staff to develop an agreement with ECC, with the debris to be moved on an appropriate highway route and the agreement to cover the costs Ewing has forecast.

The board voted 4-1 – with Supervisor Tina Scott casting the lone no vote – to approve the motion.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The city of Lakeport is continuing the complex work of seeking federal assistance to repair city facilities damaged by the flooding earlier this year.

At the Lakeport City Council meeting last week, city staff updated the council on the efforts, which have been under way for much of this year.

Public Works Director Doug Grider explained the complexity of the lengthy process to apply to the Federal Emergency Management Agency for assistance, which requires in-depth applications and damage estimates, and the development of a detailed scope of work.

One of the main repair projects is Library Park’s 550-foot-long seawall. The damage to the seawall and its resulting failure have resulted in parts of the park being fenced off since February.

Grider said they don’t want to put a cinder block wall back in place, and instead are looking at a sheet pile wall, which will prevent wall failures in future flood events. He said they’ve sent in preliminary engineering designs for the new wall.

City Manager Margaret Silveira said the fence in the park will have to stay up until repairs can be completed, and those repairs will have to be done when the lake is low.

Mayor Stacey Mattina asked if they would have to look at the fence for another summer, and Grider said it is a possibility.

However, Grider said the city appears to be on track to receive funding from FEMA to replace the First Street boat ramp.

“Basically this is a ballet between FEMA and insurance,” he said.

Silveira said FEMA has been good in working with the city, noting the agency is working on big projects across the country. She added that Lakeport was the first entity to get all of its paperwork in after the floods.

She credited Grider’s work with the federal application process. “He's put a lot of time into this” and has worked a lot of late nights, she said.

Silveira added that the city is doing its best to get the process completed as quickly as possible; she said the city can’t afford to make the repairs on its own.

During the meeting, Silveira reported that the city has been working with the owner of Will-O-Point resort, which has been closed since evacuations were implemented in February.

Silveira said the California Department of Housing and Community Development is now allowing the resort to reopen on a limited basis.

Ten mobile homes are being moved back into the resort on the north side of the creek, with the owner planning to get the campground ready to reopen next summer and make improvements. Silveira said the part of the resort on the south side of the creek remains closed, with the sewer system capped off.

Last week’s meeting also included a public hearing to adopt a resolution approving the city’s 2017 Community Development Block Grant application. The council approved the application unanimously.

Community Development Director Kevin Ingram said the application includes $1.5 million for construction of offsite improvements – include sidewalk and sewer – for the Main Street apartments affordable housing project; $500,000 to continue the business assistance program; $100,000 for street, drainage and pedestrian improvements for the Forbes Creek neighborhood; and an unspecified amount for Americans with Disability Act-required improvements to the Carnegie Library and City Hall, including the council chambers.

In other business, the council approved an amendment to the city’s solid waste franchise agreement with Lakeport Disposal Inc. to allow the company to increase rates by 4.29 percent effective Jan 1, 2018, to replace the missed contractually available increase as of July 1, 2017.

Grider also presented the proposed resolution accepting the construction of the 20th Street Traffic Mitigation Striping Project by Striping Graphics Inc. The work was completed for $17,502.50.

Panette Talia of the Lakeport Main Street Association presented the Taste of Lake County’s People’s Choice Award for wineries to Cache Creek Winery and for best restaurant to the Boathouse Bar and Grill.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

110717 Lakeport City Council agenda packet by LakeCoNews on Scribd

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – On Friday, Gov. Jerry Brown announced that he had reappointed Kelseyville resident Greg Giusti to the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board.

Giusti, 62, has served on the water board since 2013.

He has been an advisor and director emeritus of forest and wildlands ecology at the University of California Cooperative Extension since 2017, where he was an advisor and director of forest and wildlands ecology from 1985 to 2017.

Giusti was an agricultural biologist at the San Mateo County Department of Agriculture from 1981 to 1985 and chief biologist at the Marine Ecological Institute from 1979 to 1981.

He earned a Master of Arts degree in ecology and population biology from San Francisco State University.

This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $250 per diem.

Giusti is registered without party preference.

A NASA team is advancing a mission to reveal unprecedented details about solar flares, powerful eruptions that explode with enough energy that each one could power all of Earth for 16,000 years, and which – when extreme – can interfere with radio communications and satellites near Earth.

The proposed mission, Focusing Optics X-ray Solar Imager, or FOXSI, was one of five proposals that received Phase-A funding under NASA’s Small Explorer Program.

NASA also selected another Goddard mission, Mechanisms of Energetic Mass Ejection-Explorer (MEME-X). Of the five, NASA is expected to select one or two for development and implementation.

Although scientists are familiar with the effects of solar flares, they don’t completely understand the physical mechanisms that unleash these bursts of energy and light, or that which powers associated clouds of electrons and ions that can be accelerated up to near the speed of light.

Once unleashed, the particles affect all the Sun’s atmospheric layers. They pass through the Sun’s outermost layer – the corona where they also are known to originate – and race across the solar system.

When they travel toward Earth, the particles and energy can interfere with space-based communications systems or even trip onboard electronics. The more scientists understand this process, the more situational awareness they have to protect assets in space.

“FOXSI is very new and very different,” said Principal Investigator Steven Christe, a scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, who leads the multinational FOXSI team developing the satellite mission. “We’ve not done a mission like this before. For the first time, we’re going to actually peer into the region where electrons are accelerated by applying technology that was developed to study the faintest sources in the galaxy but now pointed at the Sun.”

Technique validated in sounding-rocket missions

Validated in multiple sounding-rocket and scientific balloon missions, FOXSI will make use of a new observing technique for a solar-dedicated satellite mission. It will employ high-angular-resolution grazing-incidence optics traditionally used to study powerful, very distant objects in the universe.

With this technique, X-ray radiation literally grazes off a set of curved mirrors nested inside an optical assembly – much like how a stone skims the surface of a pond when thrown. The radiation then is focused onto very fast, solid-state pixelated detectors that measure each individual photon, including its arrival, energy, and position on the sky.

The combination of technologies is expected to result in a mission that is 20 times more sensitive, 10 times faster at imaging solar-flare events, and 10 to 100 times better at imaging the relatively faint regions within flares. Current state-of-the-art technology cannot directly sense the particle-acceleration region because it is too faint, Christe added.

“For the first time, we’ll have high-quality observations of the largest flares, that have the most significant effect on Earth, to the smallest flares,” said Deputy Principal Investigator Albert Shih, referring to the two advanced instruments that would rely on the grazing-incidence optics to gather X-ray radiation. “We’re trying to find out how this energy releases at different scales. Do the same mechanisms drive the full range of flares.”

Another scientific goal, Christe added, is to determine the role that small flares, also known as nanoflares, play in heating the million-degree corona. According to him, they are an obvious candidate for supplying the needed energy to heat the Sun’s outermost layer.

FOXSI would complement NASA’s Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager, or RHESSI, left off. Since its launch in 2002, RHESSI has observed thousands of X-ray flares over a broad field of view, from soft X-rays to higher-energy gamma rays.

“RHESSI gave us glimpses into the physics that leads to violent energy release on the Sun,” Christe said. “With FOXSI we should have a clear view into the fundamental science going on in the acceleration sites where all the action takes place, where space weather begins.”

For more Goddard technology news, go to https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/fall_2017_final_lowrez.pdf.