Page 129 - International Space Station Benefits for Humanity, 3rd edition.

Computing

Whether in space or on Earth, computers are essential in most everyday tasks. Being able to use this
technology in a more efficient way is beneficial to most parts of society. The investigations onboard
the International Space Station (ISS) produce many data sets that benefit from programs that provide
artificial intelligence to evaluate the data and faster processing to reach conclusions in a timely manner.
These advancements in computing are useful on Earth in police work, ship tracking, crisis training
simulators and scientific discoveries.

New Ways to Analyze and Use Images Typical analyses used for land-only and water-only
from Space images fell short in coastal zones; therefore, scientists
had to develop improved algorithms. An ever-
Many things become clearer when seen from above, expanding diversity and availability of remote
and Earth is no exception. Images of Earth from space sensing data—from the space station, small satellite
provide information that cannot be obtained any other constellations, and even drone technology—provide
way, and these images continue to make important vast, complex data sets, and also drive a need for
contributions to science and commerce.
data processing advances. Although previously, only
A completed investigation Hyperspectral Imager experts in the field performed capture and analysis of
for the Coastal Ocean (HICO) used a special light- Earth images from space, big data has made its way
separating camera aboard the International Space into the hands of the larger community. Making this
Station (ISS) to observe an area of particular interest: wealth of information useful requires rapid innovation
the world’s coasts. in computing technology. These challenges, however,
The space station’s unique orbit offers views that also represent a business opportunity.
differ from those of traditional Earth-viewing satellites. “Before, only those of us with the right computers
HICO in particular gave scientists exceptional views of and the right tools could process the data,” said
the coastal ocean and Great Lakes, thereby providing HICO Project Scientist Curtiss Davis, now retired from
a tool for managing these critical resources. They used Oregon State University. “We needed a way to readily
it to estimate chlorophyll-a concentrations (i.e., an provide the results—to make HICO data much more
indicator of both healthy and harmful phytoplankton), widely used and to keep up with the vast amount of
identify Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) in drinking water spectral info we can now collect.”
reservoirs, and assess water quality. These data also HySpeed Computing (http://www.hyspeed
contributed to planning and executing humanitarian computing.com/) responded to these challenges by
relief operations and military actions, and identifying launching an online web application, The Hyperspectral
oil spilled from ruptured pipelines. Imager for the Coastal Ocean Image Processing
HICO also created some unique challenges— System (HICO IPS) provides cloud-based remote
in particular, processing the sheer volume of data. sensing data analysis. Developed in part through
ISS National Lab funding and support, HICO IPS
efficiently delivers the power of image analysis to
a global user community.
Images of Earth from space HySpeed Computing President James Goodman
provide information that cannot called it “the democratization of low Earth orbit,”
providing wider access to a volume and variety of data.
be obtained any other way, A prototype commercial product, HICO IPS represents
and these images continue to a next-generation image processing application to
make important contributions tackle big data and provide accessibility to the global
community. Users can plug in individual algorithms
to science and commerce. in a modular fashion, based on their needs. Both the
algorithms and the derived products can be bought
and sold, thus generating results on demand.

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