University of Alaska Fairbanks site gets renewed contract to manage NASA satellite data

The University of Alaska Fairbanks’ Geophysical Institute has received a $70 million contract to continue serving as a satellite data hub for NASA. University officials announced the five-year contract extension this week.

The Geophysical Institute’s Alaska Satellite Facility is one of 12 sites around the nation used in NASA’s Earth Observing System Data and Information System.

Each of the 12 sites has its own function. The Alaska Satellite Facility’s specialty is the management of data derived through what’s known as synthetic aperture radar. That technology uses sensors on satellites that produce energy and then record how much energy is reflected back after interacting with Earth. The resulting images are used to better understand Earth’s systems and can help guide disaster response.

The Alaska Satellite Facility employs nearly 100 people, according to the university, and that number is expected to grow when NASA launches a new satellite next year in partnership with the Indian Space Research Organisation, that nation’s space agency. The project, called NISAR, will observe Earth’s land- and ice-covered surfaces over three years, according to NASA. It is intended to gather information on natural hazards, sea ice, groundwater supplies, carbon exchanges between plants and the atmosphere and other subjects, according to NASA.

The Alaska Satellite Facility is the designated data hub for the NISAR project, and that will mean a big increase in the amount of data the facility archives and distributes, the university said.

In a statement, the facility’s director said the relationship with NASA has provided numerous benefits and will continue to do so in the future.

“The collaboration between the Alaska Satellite Facility and NASA provides an uninterrupted opportunity to revolutionize NASA’s Earth observation capabilities with synthetic aperture radar data,” Alaska Satellite Facility Director Wade Albright said. “The contract represents a significant and ongoing step toward technology application and data management strategies, empowering scientists worldwide with comprehensive and accurate data.”

The Alaska Satellite Facility has been supporting NASA since the 1990s, said Rod Boyce, a UAF spokesperson. Its first data downlink was in 1991 from a European Space Agency satellite; at the time, the facility was serving as a ground station for NASA, he said. The Alaska Satellite Facility officially became one of NASA’s Distributed Active Archive Centers in 1994, he said.

The new contract goes into effect on Saturday, UAF said.