Danielle Wood
Thursday, November 3rd
2:00 – 3:00pm
Location: Lehman Auditorium
Abstract
For decades, vehicles in space, air, land and sea have served as useful platforms from which to measure natural and human environmental phenomena. These measurements provide valuable information that informs decision makers in areas such as weather forecasting, mapping, disaster response, water resource management and land use planning. Smaller, more affordable satellites and unmanned aerial vehicles are increasingly capable platforms for earth observation. Meanwhile, sensor technology for some measurements is available in more compact, manufacturable packages. Tools for data management, data analysis and information delivery are evolving rapidly. Meanwhile, on the policy and economic front, governments debate the most efficient funding approach to maintain both operational and scientific earth observation capabilities. Governments in many developing countries that previously depended on satellite data provided by other countries now seek to develop domestic capability to build and operate satellite earth observation systems. In the private sector both new and established companies are experimenting with new services based on satellite and aerial earth observation capability. It remains to be seen what will emerge as the dominant business model or government policy to foster satellite and aerial earth observation.
This presentation discusses a systems approach to earth observation that offers two areas of improvement over traditional approaches. First, the advent of smaller, more accessible platforms and sensors allows multidisciplinary teams to work closely together on design and operation of satellite or aerial based earth observation systems. These closely knit teams enable greater feedback between the needs of the end user and the design of the platform, sensors and operations. Second, this approach uses an original Systems Architecture Framework developed by the author that accounts for objectives, constraints, stakeholders, functions and forms of the earth observation system to elucidate decision making during the design process. Based on these approaches, this research explores two broad questions: 1) How will emerging technologies and architectural features improve the design and capability of aerospace systems for earth observation? and 2) What Systems Architecture modeling and data visualization techniques effectively inform decision making during design of environmental monitoring systems?
Biography
Dr. Danielle Wood is a researcher, teacher and practitioner in complex systems design and engineering. In her research, Dr. Wood applies these skills to develop innovative systems for earth observation that address environmental challenges in the US and developing nations. Dr. Wood’s research also develops systems analysis tools to improve decision making during the design of complex systems. Currently, Dr. Danielle Wood works at NASA Headquarters as the Special Assistant to the NASA Deputy Administrator, Dr. Dava Newman. In this role, Dr. Wood serves as the technical adviser to the Deputy Administrator on topics including space exploration, education and innovation. Prior to joining NASA in 2015, Dr. Wood worked as a satellite systems engineer within the Aerospace Corporation, a Federally Funded Research and Development Center that supports US government space activity. In this position, Dr. Wood led multi-disciplinary engineering teams to model satellite constellations; she also performed requirements management and risk analysis for operational satellite programs. In addition to her work at Aerospace, from 2013 to 2015 Dr. Wood held a research appointment within the Systems Institute of Johns Hopkins University. In this role, Dr. Wood led a research team funded by the National Science Foundation to analyze satellite earth observation programs in developing nations. Previously, Dr. Wood completed a research fellowship at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, where she worked as a systems engineer for satellite instruments and taught courses in systems engineering. During her career, Dr. Wood has worked as a guest researcher and intern with both NASA and the United Nations Office of Outer Space Affairs. In 2012, Dr. Wood completed a PhD in Systems Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dr. Wood also holds a Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering, a Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering, and a Master of Science in Technology Policy from MIT.
Contact
The George Washington University, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
800 22nd St NW, suite 3000
Washington, DC 20052
[email protected]