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Field notes
Guides to the public mapCNEOS fireball vectors: a complete-data filter removes 40% of the sample
A 405-record CNEOS audit shows how requiring entry-velocity data changes annual counts and energy mix, with original charts and downloadable calculations.
Read articleEPIC’s April 2024 archive: 418 records across 412 times
A month of NASA EPIC metadata reveals paired version records, changing image intervals and a 25-hour gap. Reproduce the audit with all 30 daily queries.
Read articleIXPE’s Cas A calibration: 2021 in the catalog, 2026 in the files
Cas A’s three IXPE files list a 2026 calibration where the catalog lists 2021. Our 181-observation audit checks the archive’s processing-version mix.
Read articleAircraft and vessel layers keep their own clock during thermal replay
A Transporter 18 dashboard test compares an October 1 thermal replay with October 6 aircraft and vessel snapshots across three inspected frame selections.
Read articleArtemis I’s 148 launch dates were not 148 launch attempts
NASA’s historical Artemis I calendar contains 148 eligible dates. A 365-day audit shows why those dates cannot be counted as launch attempts.
Read article28 backward steps in Shuttle mission numbers: sort by launch date
A NASA flight-history audit finds 28 mission-number reversals in 110 Shuttle flights. Preserve the mission label, then sort by the dated launch record.
Read articleA satellite catalog grew by 14,102 objects, but the categories tell different stories
Four NASA box scores show catalog growth from 19,952 to 34,054 objects. Separating spacecraft from the rocket-body and debris category changes the interpretation.
Read articleISS northbound equator crossings: 93 minutes apart, 24 degrees west
Historical SSCWeb positions put ISS northbound equator crossings about 92.84 minutes apart on 1 January 2024, with each crossing about 23.59° farther west.
Read articleTESS Sector 8: a downlink schedule overstates published data spans by 79 hours
For TESS Sector 8, contact-derived windows total 563.25 hours while published FFI spans total about 484.00. A first-year audit shows why the lists differ.
Read articleFor 33 of 53 Swift bursts, the measured T90 interval began before the trigger
In 53 cataloged 2024 Swift BAT bursts, 33 T90 intervals begin before the trigger. A trigger timestamp and a retrospectively measured event interval serve different roles.
Read articleCrew Dragon’s first five operational flights took 16 to 29 hours to dock
NASA reports put Crew-1 through Crew-5 launch-to-docking intervals between about 15 hours 45 minutes and 29 hours 1 minute, a 13-hour-16-minute spread.
Read articleApollo 13 and 16 entered at almost the same speed, with different peak g
NASA’s Apollo statistics put Apollo 13 and 16 entry speeds only 0.040% apart, while maximum acceleration differs from 5.56 g to 7.19 g.
Read articleFive Shuttle pad aborts show why ignition and liftoff are separate events
NASA records five Shuttle pad aborts after main-engine ignition. Their eventual launches came 17–65 calendar days later, showing why engine-on and liftoff need separate records.
Read articleWhy a 2020 MODIS phenology file contains 2019 and 2021 dates
A 2020 MCD12Q2 sample near Sorriso has 55 vegetation cycles: all peak in 2020, while 42 greenups fall in 2019 and 13 dormancy dates in 2021.
Read articleGross carbon uptake is not net storage: a MODIS GPP–NPP comparison
Two 2023 MODIS windows show NPP at about 54–56% of GPP. The difference is plant-respiration accounting, and neither product alone measures ecosystem carbon storage.
Read articleLess June snow, more October snow: why the month changes the answer
NOAA snow-extent data show a 31.78% smaller June mean but a 15.97% larger October mean when 2015–2024 is compared with 1981–2010.
Read articleMumbai’s 2024 sunlight: a larger diffuse share can mean less diffuse energy
At NASA POWER’s Mumbai grid location, diffuse sunlight’s share rises from 39.78% in May to 68.83% in July 2024, even as diffuse energy falls.
Read articleOne-kilometre GEDI cells can hide sixfold differences in laser sampling
A GEDI Central Redwoods window has 49–299 valid laser footprints per 1 km cell. Equal grid size hides unequal sampling and changes how means should be read.
Read articleAntarctic sea-ice extent grew by nearly the same amount in 2023 and 2024
Sea Ice Index Version 4 daily data show Antarctic minimum-to-maximum gains of 15.261 and 15.263 million km² in 2023 and 2024, despite different starting minima.
Read articleBefore calling a MODIS tree-cover drop deforestation, check the 2024 processing break
A Rondônia MOD44B window drops 8.13 tree-cover percentage points in 2024, alongside input-quality and documented runtime changes. Attribution needs more evidence.
Read articleA dark forest can be brighter than desert in near infrared
MODIS surface reflectance reverses the forest–desert ordering between red and near infrared in two screened July 2023 windows. The observation dates also differ.
Read articleMore leaves, nearly the same absorbed-light fraction: MODIS at Harvard Forest
At Harvard Forest, 182 screened MODIS saturation-class observations span LAI 4.2–6.8 but FPAR 0.83–0.95. The quality flag matters to interpretation.
Read articleWebb’s NGC 7129: compare the filters before the colors
The Webb and Spitzer views of NGC 7129 use different color maps. Our filter comparison shows why a red pixel does not identify one infrared measurement.
Read articleRupert Bay’s Landsat water index: the offset does not cancel
In a September 27 Landsat 9 scene, the median green–NIR index changes from 0.052 to 0.346 after scaling. Here is the pixel-level test and its quality limits.
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