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Advanced Environmental Applications (AEA) Group is in the Meteorological Satellite Systems Directorate at The Aerospace Corporation. Located in El Segundo, CA with a satellite office at the Air Force Weather Agency in Omaha, NE, AEA provides a wide range of meteorological capabilities. One of our main focuses is improving Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) satellite data accessibility and utility for the end user. We accomplish this through numerical weather modeling and forecast systems, simulations, technology development, prototyping and insertion.

Our primary customer is the Defense Meteorological Systems Group at the Space and Missile Systems Center. However, we provide cross program support including non-DoD customers, such as NASA, NOAA, NPOESS and NCAR.
  • About Weather Forecasts    
       We provide a daily 36-hour high resolution (5 kilometer) forecast, for demonstration purposes, over the Los Angeles basin and Vandenburg Air Force Base for use in air quality predictions and emergency response. Our weather modeling research includes improving the high-resolution capability of WRF numerical weather prediction model through optimal assimilation of satellite data combined with local ground-based observation, providing the modeling infrastructure to assess impacts of new data types and/or model enhancements and assessing the accuracy of model forecasts through quantitative and qualitative verification. These forecasts are funded through internal research and development.

    Find out Today's Forecast!
  • About DMSP and the Image Database         
       The Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) is a Department of Defense (DoD) program run by the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC). The DMSP program designs, builds, launches, and maintains several near polar orbiting, sun synchronous satellites monitoring the meteorological, oceanographic, and solar-terrestrial physics environments.

       The primary purpose of the DMSP Image Database is to be a training tool for personnel in the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program Systems Group (DMSG). Training developed using this database will provide Program Office Engineers and Acquisition Staff a clearer understanding of the user community.

    Additional uses of the Image Database include:

    • An Image repository and archive for DMSP imagery of interest.
    • A tool for providing demonstrations of program capabilities.
    • A tool that makes DMSP imagery easy to access for those outside the program office.
    • A training tool for Air Force Weather Personnel supporting functions at Air Force Weather Agency (AFWA) and in the field.

    Learn More about DMSP | View the DMSP Image Database
  • About Plume Dispersion        
       We developed a prototype “quick look” tool for emergency response to visualize the area likely to be impacted by a toxic plume. The web-based tool uses high resolution wind forecasts over the LA Basin from the Aerospace daily runs of the Weather Research Forecast (WRF) model to drive an the Multi-particle Dispersion Model (MPDM) that was developed at Aerospace. The tool prompts the user to locate the plume. Default particulate loading is assumed and plume dispersion results are displayed.

       One of the advantages of MPDM is that it can produce estimates of the instantaneous concentrations. The model is based on sampling a random velocity field that is generated using what is sometimes referred to as ‘kinematic simulation’. Using this technique, a velocity field with the desired turbulence properties can be produced as a sum of a finite number of Fourier modes. The transport process is modeled by driving a large number of particles representing a plume or cloud of pollutants, say, with this velocity field. Usually, Lagrangian dispersion models that use particles to simulate the spread of material are random walk simulations in which each particle is not correlated with the movement of any other particle. The result of such a simulation produces concentration values that are ensemble averages of several possible realizations. While this is good for estimates of mean values, any estimates of higher order statistics or instantaneous values must be made using some approximation technique. For accurate chemical reaction calculations these instantaneous values or co-variances are needed. The Multi-particle Dispersion Model is able to compute instantaneous concentrations (and higher order statistics) because of the more realistic modeling of the spatial and temporal correlation between particle trajectories.

    View the Demonstration Plume Dispersion Quick Look Tool
  • About Aerosol Monitoring        
       Advanced Environmental Applications Group in cooperation with Photonics Technology Department is conducting routine Lidar measurements of atmospheric aerosols at our Aerospace Corporation location in El Segundo, California. Atmospheric aerosols are small particulates (dust, smoke, water droplets, etc.) suspended in the lower atmosphere. Aerosols play an important role for solar energy balance, visibility and many more aspects of climatology and weather. We operate a Lidar system for monitoring atmospheric aerosols / particulates. The system has a 355 nm laser transmitter and receiving channels to detect elastic backscattering from the atmosphere (Rayleigh plus particles) and inelastic scattering (rotational Raman scattering from N2 and O2).

       We are planning to expand this page in the near future to make more of our Lidar data available to the atmospheric research community.

    View the Aerosol Monitoring Site





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