Jonathan Malay

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Climate Change Data Calibration Finding Order Out
of Chaos Panel I - Private Sector Issues
Jonathan Malay Director, Civil Space
Environment Programs Lockheed Martin Corp.,
Washington Operations Director, AIAA Region I
(Northeast U.S.) September 21, 2009
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The Greener Side of Lockheed Martin
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Chaos? THIS Is Not Chaos!
Nature Is An Ordered Process... But With Many,
Many Variables
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But THIS Might Look Like Chaos!
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC) U.S. Global Change Research Program
(USGCRP) U.S. Climate Change Science Program
(USCCSP) Group on Earth Observations (GEO) Global
Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) U.S.
Group on Earth Observations (USGEO) Integrated
Earth Observing System (IEOS) Committee on Earth
Observing Satellites (CEOS) Earth Observing
System Data Information System (EOSDIS) Integrated
Ocean Observing System (IOOS) National
Integrated Drought Information System
(NIDIS) United Nations Framework Convention on
Climate Change (UNFCCC) World Meteorological
Organization (WMO) International Oceanographic
Commission (IOC) Global Change Observing System
(GCOS) Global Ocean Observing System
(GOOS) Global Terrestrial Observing System
(GTOS) Et Cetera (ETC)
Man-Made (And Well-Meaning) Efforts In Many
Languages, Scientific and Technical Disciplines,
and Acronyms!
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We Have a U.S. Blueprint For Earth Observations
(2007)

• Panel on Earth Science Applications and Societal
  Benefits
• Panel on Land-Use Change, Ecosystem Dynamics, and
  Biodiversity
• Panel on Weather Science and Applications
• Panel on Climate Variability and Change
• Panel on Water Resources and the Global
  Hydrological Cycle
• Panel on Human Health and Security
• Panel on Solid Earth, Natural Resources, and
  Dynamics

The First National Academy Decadal Survey for
Earth Observations
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And We Have a Multi-National Effort to Provide
Order

• Membership now includes 77 Nations and the EU
• Secretariat Headquarters in Geneva
• International coordination of the Global Earth
  Observation System of Systems (GEOSS)
• Next plenary - Nov 09 in U.S.

www.earthobservations.org
Here Is Cooperation With a Common Language
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With More Help On the Way

• Americas Climate Choices
• National Academies of Science Engineering
  (Joint Study)
• http//americasclimatechoices.org/
• Committee on Methods for Estimating Greenhouse
  Gas Emissions National Research Council
• NRC Board on Atmospheric Science and Climate
  (BASC)
• http//www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id12723
• (Recent Letter to NASA Administrator / Full
  report in December)

We Need To Listen To The Experts and Act
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Enabling National Weather and Climate
Priorities A Policy Statement of the American
Meteorological Society Adopted by AMS Council
on 17 September 2008
Recommended Actions 1. Develop Leadership and
Coordination.  2. Build Partnerships to Harness
Scientific Advance for Societal Benefit. 3.
Improve Infrastructure and the Utility of
Environmental Products and Services,
Especially Forecasts.  4. Ensure That New
Understanding and Knowledge Will Be There When
Needed. 5. Evaluate Progress and Make Needed
Mid-Course Changes. To accomplish these actions
will require increased levels of federal
investment, sustained over decades. However, the
return on such investments will far exceed the
costs. By taking these actions, and by working
together, Congress, the executive branch, and the
AMS community can position the United States, and
indeed other world nations, to cope effectively
with weather and climate challenges well into the
21st century. By the same token, failure to take
these actions will subject the United States to
unnecessary and unacceptable risk in the face of
hazards, business loss in weather-sensitive
sectors of the economy, continuing deterioration
of the environment and ecosystems, and increased
political instability, both at home and
abroad. www.ametsoc.org/ams
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In Summary

• Climate Change is a critically important
  challenge
• U.S. and international cooperation frameworks now
  exist
• Experts are giving us wise advice on how to
  proceed
• Tough choices and sound investments need to be
  made
• Public policy must be informed by good science,
  enabled by high quality data
• Earth observations must be targeted, continuous,
  and calibrated
• We CAN achieve our lofty goals of societal
  benefits by making wise investments and
  cooperation

Lets Work Together And Reach For the Sky