SOUTH DAKOTA SPACE GRANT CONSORTIUM

The South Dakota Space Grant Consortium (SDSGC) conducts programs in six main areas. The Consortium’s activities in these areas during the past year are summarized below.

1. Research Infrastructure

As a "capability enhancement" state in NASA’s Space Grant Program, development of research infrastructure within South Dakota continues to be a primary focus of SDSGC activities. Highlights in research areas over the past year include:

• Near-completion of South Dakota's NASA EPSCoR Preparation Grant <nasaepscor/>. Proposed research focuses on the use of remote sensing and GIS in coordination with surface and atmosphere-based observational techniques for long-term ecological and climate monitoring of select areas of Prairie Pothole wetland sites and of the Black Hills. The titles of the three proposed research projects (which are based on the NASA Research Compendium) are:

• Proposal 1 - "Improved Precipitation Estimation and Severe Storm Identification in the Northern High Plains by Remote Sensing Approaches". NASA Research Compendium: MSFC2.1 "Remote Sensing of Clouds, Precipitation, and Temperature"
• Proposal 2 - "Cross-Calibration of Landsat and IKONOS Sensors for Use in Precision Agriculture". NASA Research Compendium: ESE21 "Resource Management"
• Proposal 3 - "Leaf Area Index for Fire Chronosequences of the Black Hills and Southern Siberia: A Comparative Study". NASA Research Compendium: ESE 12 "Terrestrial Ecology"  (This paragraph updated 12/7/00)

Collaboration with relevant NASA scientists has occurred and will continue. Administrative support for several of the Theme Team members to travel to NASA Centers and NASA-related conferences and workshops has been provided through the SD Space Grant <nasaepscor/trips.htm>.

• SDSGC provided administrative assistance for three meetings of the Western Research Alliance <http://w-research-alliance.org/>. The objective of this broad based organization is to provide a regional forum for academic researchers, entrepreneurs, state and federal agencies, and local economic developers who are interested in the promotion of research, technology transfer, and business development. The three WRA meetings held during 2000 focused on Materials Science, Education Technology, and Geospatial Information Technology.

• SDSGC co-sponsored the Upper Great Plains "Smart Air Transport System" (SATS) Symposium held in Rapid City on May 11-13, 2000. About 80 people from across the Midwest attended <http://www.unomaha.edu/~unoai/sats/symposium2000.html>. The symposium consisted of sessions outlining SATS's long-term strategic undertaking to bring next-generation technologies and improve air access to small communities. The envisioned outcome is to improve travel between remote communities and transportation centers in urban areas by use of a new generation of single-pilot lightplanes for personal and business transportation between the nation's 5,400 public use general aviation airports. NASA’s General Aviation Program Office Manager, Dr. Bruce Holmes was the keynote speaker.

• Technical and financial support was provided for GIS-remote sensing and image processing laboratories at member universities and educational affiliates, including Native American Tribal Colleges. This support is for research and educational projects involving GIS and remote sensing curriculum development, precision agriculture, algorithm development for NDVI data, plant science, climate change, and land surface processes. These projects involve interaction with the USGS EROS Data Center (EDC) <http://edcwww.cr.usgs.gov/> located in South Dakota.

• SDSM&T received $250,000 from SD's Governor William J. Janklow for research into carbon sequestration, to include modeling the potential for carbon sequestration in South Dakota.

• SDSU and SDSM&T continued active participation in the Upper Midwest Aerospace Consortium (UMAC) Public Access Resource Center (PARC) project. Scientists from SDSGC were involved in the Precision Agriculture, Animal Health and Disease, and Educational PARC (EdPARC) components of this NASA-funded project by providing two teacher workshops in GIS technology during the summer of 2000.

• A significant piece of research infrastructure was added to South Dakota when Badlands Observatory in Quinn, SD completed construction of its 26" f/4.8 Newtonian Telescope in 2000. Badlands Observatory is a privately owned facility dedicated to Astronomical Research & Education. It joined SDSGC this year as an educational affiliate. Observatory Director Ron Dyvig is actively involved with Near Earth Asteroid observations and identification. The Observatory has been assigned MPC Site Code 918 by the Minor Planet Center. Mr. Dyvig is also very open to educational outreach (see "K-12 Outreach"). SDSGC hosts a website for Badlands Observatory at <bo.htm>.

• SDSGC representatives at SDSM&T participated in three "Missouri River Summit" meetings supported by SD's Congressional Delegation. Summits focused on threats to the Missouri River by encroaching siltation and sedimentation that endanger recreation, economic development, wildlife habitat, ecosystems, and lush farmland. Scientists, educators, government agencies, politicians, sportsmen, and local citizens were brought together to seek solutions. SDSM&T presented a poster on research opportunities in the Missouri River Basin entitled "The 21st Century Missouri River Expedition: An Earth Science Approach". The poster focused on themes including storm prediction, flood forecasting, climate and water, range management, the carbon cycle, surface and ground water quality, and sediment transport.

• Activities on a multidisciplinary project at Augustana College that includes paleolimnology, image processing, and analysis of remote sensing images were continued. This project seeks to extend preliminary fieldwork to utilize remote sensing and land use analysis to determine the impact of human activities, such as timber harvest, on a watershed.

• Continuing support of the scientific cluster on Imaging and Modeling of Coupled Atmospheric-Surface-Subsurface Processes in South Dakota’s NSF EPSCoR program.

• Ongoing collaborative support of remote sensing and modeling work for the Upper Missouri River Basin (UMRB) Hydrology Pilot Project funded by NASA Earth Science. The goal of this interdisciplinary project is to study links among hydrology, weather and climate using the Black Hills as a laboratory to provide an understanding that can be applied across the central region of the North American continent <http://www.ias.sdsmt.edu/umrb/>.

• SDSGC provided limited funding to stimulate the publication of scientific papers and for presentations at research conferences.

• Image processing laboratory at Augustana College - Augustana College was able to leverage Space Grant funding to secure National Science Foundation funds to support a parallel- and image-processing laboratory. The image-processing laboratory at Augustana College provides support for many Space Grant projects, including a study to combine paleolimnology, remote sensing, and image processing; a seasonality smoothing and metrics algorithm development project to assist the USGS EROS Data Center personnel and colleagues with obtaining more useful data for their particular applications; a Beowulf cluster implementation of several image processing applications. Many of our needs for GIS, Remote Sensing, and Image Processing have been met through the use of facilities provided by the EROS Data Center, but this NASA/NSF image-processing laboratory provides a key service to scientists from around the region and local researchers.

• Augustana College made the following presentations for remote sensing:

• Catherine Van Note and Daniel L. Swets, Poster: "Seasonality Metrics," 2000 South Dakota State Legislature "Undergraduate Student Research Activities Poster Session," Pierre, SD, February 2000.
• Catherine Van Note and Daniel L. Swets, Poster: "Metrics and Applications of Smoothed NDVI," the Council of Undergraduate Research "Posters on the Hill" session, Washington, DC, April 2000.

2. Higher Education

• A nine-member undergraduate student team and supporting faculty/staff from SDSM&T participated in NASA's Reduced Gravity Student Flight Opportunity Program <KC-135ALinks.htm>. The team successfully conducted the experiment titled "Deployment of a Membrane Reflector in Zero-G" aboard the KC-135A aircraft in March 2000. Fifteen presentations were given to professional organizations, the campus community, K-12 schools, and the public. This was an extremely successful project that continues to gain mileage for SDSGC. SDSM&T recently submitted a proposal for the March 2001 KC-135A flight program. The experiment is entitled "Cement Hydration Assessment in Reduced Gravity Environments (CHARGE)".

• SDSGC funded a Program Initiation Grant (PIG) for Oglala Lakota College (OLC) titled "Evaluation of Watershed and Water Quality Assessment Techniques for use on the Pine Ridge Reservation". SDSM&T is overseeing the project, which provides undergraduate research opportunities for several OLC students enrolled in the earth science or conservation biology track of the Environmental Science Degree program and/or students enrolled in the Models in Excellence (MIE) program at OLC. Research activities involve the evaluation of a watershed and water quality assessment technique for use on the Pine Ridge Reservation.

• SDSGC funded a Program Initiation Grant (PIG) for Sinte Gleska University, Sicangu Policy Institute titled "Ethno-Geographic Information System". SDSU is overseeing the project, which initiates ethno-geographic information studies (Native American cultural information) and integrates the results into an ArcView program.

• SDSGC supported and moderated SDSM&T's participation in the "Space Mission Design Seminar" internet course offered as a cooperative effort between SDSM&T and eight other universities that make up the Upper Midwest Aerospace Consortium (UMAC). The course was operated out of UND and focused on the concept, design, construction, and scientific applications of a satellite imaging system proposed to be built by UMAC.

• SDSGC supported Sinte Gleska University's "GIS Day" on the Rosebud Sioux Reservation.

• Augustana College conducted work on paleolimnology and the effects of land use on sedimentation and erosion rates. Activities included a pack trip into the Bob Marshall Wilderness to obtain lake sediment cores from an area devoid of human influence for use as a control in the current studies of surrounding drainages. The sediment cores are in the process of being dated using a radioisotope of Lead (Lead-210). Space Grant funds were leveraged with an NSF grant to purchase a new germanium low-level gamma-counter. Funds were further leveraged with a mini grant from the Bush Foundation to purchase a multimedia-editing suite. Research was recorded on digital video, and current efforts include the production of documentaries that showcase research for new students, colleagues, and the worldwide web.

• Either SDSGC's Director or Deputy Director attended all National Council of Space Grant Director's meetings during 2000.

• SDSGC developed and maintains its "Educational Opportunities (Higher Ed.)" website <EdOpp-HigherEd.htm>.

        FACULTY and STAFF TRAVEL SUPPORT

        SDSM&T

• Dr. Sherry Farwell, SDSGC Director
  National Council of Space Grant Directors Meeting, Wash. D.C.
• Tom Durkin, SDSGC Deputy Director & Outreach Coordinator
  Travel to GIS Day at Sinte Gleska Univ., Rosebud Reservation, SD (Nov. 15, 2000).
• Tom Durkin, National Space Grant Council Meeting, Salt Lake City, UT (October 15-17, 2000).
• Tom Durkin, Aerospace States Association Meeting, Wash., D.C. (June 27-28, 2000).
• Dr. Sherry Farwell, Meeting in Washington, D.C. of select members of the Council of Undergraduate Research (CUR) and Dan Golden, Julius Dasch, and other NASA HQ personnel regarding General Sam Armstrong charge to develop a new relationship between universities and NASA (April 18, 2000).
• Tom Durkin, National Space Grant Council Meeting, Denver, CO (Jan. 22-24, 2000).
• Several meetings and trips were supported by Space Grant to allow Sherry Farwell and Tom Durkin to travel to SDSGC meetings, Native American schools, Space Day activities, etc.

        SDSU Faculty Educational and Travel Enhancements

• Dr. Madeleine Andrawis: Partial Funding for the Bush Faculty Development Project
• Pravara Thanapura and Kevin Dalsted: Workshop Presentation for Precision Agriculture in Mission, South Dakota.
• Kevin Dalsted: Aerospace States Association meeting in Washington D.C.
• Alfred Andrawis: Paper presentation to ASEE annual conference in St. Louis, MO.
• Alfred Andrawis: Registration fee to attend the Fiber Optics Conference in Baltimore Maryland.
• Madeleine Andrawis: Travel to attend workshop in Programmable Logic Devices in San Jose, CA.
• Mary O'Neill: Travel to GIS Day at Sinte Gleska Univ., Rosebud Reservation, SD.
• MaryJo Lee: Registration fee to attend the National Indian Education Assoc. Convention in Sioux Falls, SD.
• Suzette Burckhard: Meeting in Billings Montana with personnel involved in continuing South Dakota Space Grant Consortium EROS fellowship research.

Augustana College

• Dr. Daniel Swets, SDSGC Associate Director at Augustana College
  2000 Western Region Space Grant Conference, San Diego, CA (Sept. 7-9, 2000)

3. K-12 Outreach

The Consortium's full-time Deputy Director/Outreach Coordinator at our lead institution (SDSM&T) and part time Outreach Coordinators at SDSU, Augustana, and EROS Data Center develop and coordinate the Consortium's K-12 programs. Highlights from the past year include:

• SDSGC developed and maintained "Educational Opportunities (K-12)" website <EdOpp-K-12.htm> for SD teachers, students, and parents.

• SDSGC funded Enemy Swim Day School Program Initiation Grant (PIG) "Toka Nuwan Space Camp". Augustana College oversaw the project, which provided educational opportunities to explore aeronautics, space, and careers for the children and families of the Toka Nuwan Native American community near Waubay, SD.

• SDSGC sponsored "SD Space Day 2000" at Augustana College in Sioux Falls. This successful event was attended by thousands of students, teachers and parents. Astronaut Story Musgrave was the keynote speaker and gave several presentations to adult and student audiences. Details are at <http://www.augie.edu/related/nasasg/spaceday/>.

• A collaborative elementary curriculum project titled "Earth Systems Connections" <http://www.tandl.vt.edu/esc/> and funded by NASA was developed at Virginia Tech, University of Colorado, and SDSM&T. Daily discoveries are made by researchers showing that the Earth's physical, chemical, biological, geological, economic and cultural systems are intimately intertwined. Earth Systems Connections is a hands on, multifaceted, interactive mathematics, science, and technology curriculum where elementary students are challenged to explore how many of the Earth's systems operate and connect with one another. Dr. Larry Hines of BHSU established project relations with Little Wound School in Kyle, SD. SDSM&T's Dr. Lee Vierling has incorporated Little Wound School and Woodrow Wilson Elementary School (Rapid City, SD) into the project as pilot schools.

• Ron Dyvig of SDSGC's new educational affiliate "Badlands Observatory" in Quinn, SD began mentoring a senior high school student from Rapid City who is engaged in conducting asteroid observations at Badlands Observatory. The student project is proceeding very well and may result in a publication with a well-known astronomer in the Czech Republic. This project is an excellent example of how the educational outreach efforts of SDSGC affiliates provide solid learning experiences for local students.

• SDSGC supported several presentations on KC-135 zero-gravity project to students at Children's Sci. Center, Sulfur Creek School (a "one-room schoolhouse" in rural Meade Co.), Rapid City Public Library, and several elementary and middle schools in Rapid City.

• Hill City Middle School in Hill City, SD placed 1^st in two categories of 2000 NSIP competition <NSIP1999-2000WinnersSD.htm>. SDSGC Deputy Director presented awards at school's annual awards ceremony.

• Augustana College Science Day provided high school juniors and seniors a day filled with hands-on science opportunities/experiences. The day is designed to encourage students to study and understand the sciences and to eliminate the fear that the word science portrays. This year, 411 students were hosted. A special invitation went to Native American and female students in order to break down the stereotypes that science has produced. To entice these targeted groups to attend, Augustana College waived the tuition normally associated with student attendance. As a result of this event, two students receive $8,000 scholarships to attend Augustana College and to major in the sciences.

• Dr. Val Olness, Biology Department, Augustana College, has an on-going outreach program for elementary and middle school teachers. Teacher-training workshops include continuing education for earth science, space science, and using technology in the classroom.

• As evidenced by extensive participation in the "Student Signatures in Space" Program, enthusiasm for the space program is very high among SD's K-12 school students. This year's participation was historic. The signatures were flown aboard STS-92, the Space Shuttle's 100^th mission, which also played a significant role in the sequence of the International Space Station construction <NASANEWSUpdate9-29-2000.htm>. Schools and Science Centers in Corsica, Rapid City, Pierre, and Sioux Falls, SD took part in the program.

• SDSGC supported "Scientific Knowledge for Indian Learning and Leadership" (SKILL) Program on SDSM&T's campus. SDSM&T also supported student participation in the American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES).

• SDSGC developed and maintained working relationships with the two NASA Educator Resource Centers (ERC's) in South Dakota to help assure their use by teachers and students. One ERC is located at BHSU's Center for the Advancement of Math and Science in Spearfish and the other at the Kirby Science Center in Sioux Falls. Both ERC's accepted SDSGC's invitation to join the Consortium in 2000 as educational affiliates.

• SDSU supported Aerospace Career and Education (ACE) Camp 2000. Funding was provided for ACE Camp 2000 in order to encourage high school students to consider a career in fields related to aerospace science.

4. Other Public Service

• SDSGC organized 15 presentations of SDSM&T's KC-135A Project <kc135Presentations.htm>.

• Support was provided to the Black Hills Astronomical Society (BHAS) and related Star Parties open to the public at Hidden Valley Observatory during the summer. SDSGC created and maintains public service websites for BHAS <BHAS.htm> and for Hidden Valley Observatory <BHASHiddenValleyObservatory.htm>.

• SDSGC continued its support of StarDate's PBS radio broadcast in South Dakota as part of the McDonald Observatory astronomy program.

• With the assistance of South Dakota's Representative John Thune, SDSGC co-sponsored NASA's Mobile Aeronautical Education Laboratory (MAEL) at SDSM&T's Children's Science Center in Rapid City on June 19-23, 2000. The MAEL exposed hundreds of students, teachers, and members of the general public to a virtual reality flight simulator, amateur radio station, Internet access, aeronautics workstation, wind tunnel, remote sensing activities, 14 computer work stations, and teacher resource center.

• SDSGC sponsored two International Space Station (ISS) teleconferences, broadcast live on interactive TV via satellite, on SDSM&T's campus. The first teleconference, "ISS Expedition 2000", was geared toward a student audience and presented students with real-world examples of math and science that support national Standards of Learning for middle through high school students. The second, "ISS Ventures in Space", was designed for an adult audience and explored strategies planned for the economic development of space.

• Numerous press releases and various informational presentations about Consortium activities, noteworthy celestial events, aerospace programs, etc. were published and presented to the general public.

5. Fellowships and Scholarships

SDSGC supported a number of graduate and undergraduate students through fellowships, scholarships, and assistantships. We have established a Diversity Enhancement Fellowship program to provide research and educational opportunities for faculty and students at Tribal Colleges and other Native American institutions in South Dakota. The total amount of Consortium support for faculty and students through these avenues exceeded $50,000 over the project year.

SDSM&T Graduate and Undergraduate Student Fellowships:

• Angela Monheim - SDSM&T Electrical Engineering graduate student supported by Space Grant. Completed 2 summer internships at Goddard Space Flight Center. Interested in pursuing career as Navy aviator and moving into astronaut program.
• Patrick Kozak - SDSM&T Geological Engineering graduate student sponsored by Space Grant. Specialty: remote sensing using Landsat and AVIRIS, field spectroscopy. Presented several papers at professional conferences throughout the year.
• Chad Griswold - SDSM&T MET undergraduate student sponsored by Space Grant

SDSM&T Faculty Fellowships at EROS Data Center (Summer 2000):

• Dr. Maribeth Price - "Investigation of Carbon Sequestration Potential in SD Soils"
• Dr. Lee Vierling - "Monitoring Weekly Crop Growth and Photosynthetic Capacity Using Flux Tower and Spectroradiometric Measurements"

Over the past few months, the South Dakota Space Grant Consortium at South Dakota State University (SDSU) has been active in several different areas of funding and educational outreach initiatives. These areas include the endowment of several undergraduate and graduate research awards and assistantships, faculty educational enhancements and Aerospace Career and Education (ACE) Camp 2000. The details of these awards are listed below.

         SDSU Undergraduate and Graduate Research Awards and Assistantship Recipients

• Ruth Anne Hanson: Undergraduate Research Award
• Jessica Mendelsohn: Undergraduate Research Award
• Beth Rybak: Undergraduate Research Award
• Crystal Gustafson: Graduate Assistantship
• Anna Netterville: Graduate Assistantship

SDSU Faculty Educational and Travel Enhancements

• Dr. Madeleine Andrawis: Partial Funding for the Bush Faculty Development Project
• Pravara Thanapura and Kevin Dalsted: Workshop Presentation for Precision Agriculture in Mission, South Dakota.
• Kevin Dalsted: Aerospace States Association meeting in Washington D.C.
• Alfred Andrawis: Paper presentation to ASEE annual conference in St. Louis, Missouri.
• Alfred Andrawis: Registration fee to attend the Fiber Optics Conference in Baltimore Maryland.
• Suzette Burckhard: Meeting in Billings Montana with personnel involved in continuing South Dakota Space Grant Consortium EROS fellowship research.

SDSGC awarded a full-tuition scholarship for Tanna Maupin (a Native American student from Eagle Butte, SD in 11^th grade at Tiospaye Topa School) to attend Aerospace Career and Education (ACE) Camp 2000.

Augustana College Student Fellowships

• Katie Hoffman, undergraduate scholarship. One of our Augustana College Science Day freshman scholarship award winners, working on computer-based experiments in chemistry.
• Ellen Holste, undergraduate scholarship. One of our Augustana College Science Day freshman scholarship award winners, working on environmental studies.
• David Bergen, undergraduate research award. Design and maintain a new web site for Space Day 2000.
• Seth Norris, undergraduate research award, "Recycled Computers," with Dr. Daniel L. Swets, Augustana College.
• Cullen Robbins, undergraduate research award, "Land cover analysis," with Dr. Dave Meyer, USGS EROS Data Center.

Augustana College Faculty Development

• Craig Spencer, paleolimnology

6. Administration

SDSGC held quarterly meetings of institutional members, often attended by several affiliate members. To facilitate participation, three of those meeting were held over South Dakota's Rural Development and Telecommunications Network System (i.e., interactive TV) with nodes located throughout much of the state. We continued to focus on competitive allotment of SDSGC funds and the goal of nurturing projects that can attract external support.

At the request of NASA's Julius Dasch, SDSGC took the lead on the development of the National Council of Space Grant Directors "State Involvement Committee" (SIC) draft white paper <SGCStateInvolveComm.htm> and associated canvassing of all 52 Space Grant Consortia. SIC efforts focus on ways to involve more state government in Space Grant Consortia activities and to improve the effectiveness of such partnerships. SDSGC Deputy Director Tom Durkin presented the draft white paper at the October 15-17, 2000 Space Grant Council meeting in Salt Lake City. Mr. Durkin also presented the SIC efforts at the June 27-28, 2000 Aerospace States Association (ASA) meeting in Washington, D.C., also attended by SDSGC's Associate Director Kevin Dalsted of SDSU.

The Consortium collaborated with the SD Department of Transportation's Office of Aeronautics <http://www.state.sd.us/dot/Aeronautics/index.htm> on several aerospace-related meetings within the state.

Tom Durkin gave formal slide presentations on SDSGC to: 1) 12^th Annual Ground-Water Quality Conference sponsored by the SD Department of Environment & Natural Resources (DENR) in Pierre, SD, 2) South Dakota Airports Conference sponsored by the SD DOT's Office of Aeronautics in Mitchell, SD, and 3) Leadership Rapid City.

SDSGC Director and Deputy Director were successful in bringing in the following seven new educational affiliates to the Consortium in 2000:

• University of South Dakota
• Dakota State University
• Badlands Observatory in Quinn, SD
• Black Hills Astronomical Society
• NASA Educator Resource Center (ERC) at Black Hills State University
• NASA ERC at Kirby Science Center in Sioux Falls, SD
• Children's Science Center in Rapid City, SD

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