Michael H. Freilich

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NASA Earth Science OverviewUnderstanding
Climate Change,Advancing Earth System Science,
and Providing Societal Benefits

• Michael H. Freilich
• 28 April 2008

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OUTLINE

• Overarching principles and objectives
• The on-orbit constellation
• Missions in development
• Decadal Survey guidance and the budget
• Challenges
• Short-term budget pressures
• Long-term data acquisition

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OVERARCHING PRINCIPLES and OBJECTIVES

• What we do in Earth Science is now deemed by the
  public and national leaders as IMPORTANT, not
  simply interesting and challenging.  
• The nation and the public are looking to us to
  lead AND TO SUCCEED.  
• We must organize and work so that everything we
  do supports
• Clearly articulating what we do, why we are doing
  it, and what/when the outcome will be
• Achieving technical and substantive success in
  our specific scientific and applications
  activities and
• Clearly articulating what we have discovered or
  demonstrated, and the implications

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OVERARCHING PRINCIPLES and OBJECTIVES

• The Earth is an integral, complex system
• Many processes, with varying time and spatial
  scales
• Quantitatively describing the interactions
  between processes is key
• Measurements must span all important variables,
  and all important scales
• Research leads to greater understanding, which is
  codified in numerical models prediction
• Societal benefits result when understanding is
  combined with measurements to generate useful
  information products

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NASAs APPROACH

• Spaceborne measurements feature global coverage,
  high spatial resolution, and frequent revisit
• Indirect measurements must be validated
• Stability and accuracy are essential for trend
  detection
• Multiple missions needed for proper sampling
• A comprehensive suite of missions and instruments
  is required to measure all important quantities
• Inter- and cross-disciplinary research and
  applications programs are needed to
• Synthesize complementary measurements from
  multiple missions
• Advance the use of spaceborne measurements by
  non-mission scientists and other stakeholders

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NASA Operating Missions
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Missions in Formulation and Implementation
GLORY 6/2009
OCO 12/2008
AQUARIUS 5/2010
OSTM 6/2008
NPP 6/2010
LDCM 7/2011
ICESat-II 2015
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NASA Near-Term Missions (4/15 total)
Decadal Survey Mission Mission Description Orbit Instruments
CLARREO (NASA portion) Solar and Earth radiation spectrally resolved forcing and response of the climate system LEO, Precessing Absolute, spectrally-resolved interferometer
SMAP Soil moisture and freeze/thaw for weather and water cycle processes LEO, SSO L-band radar L-band radiometer
ICESat-II Ice sheet height changes for climate change diagnosis LEO, Non-SSO Laser altimeter
DESDynI Surface and ice sheet deformation for understanding natural hazards and climate vegetation structure for ecosystem health LEO, SSO L-band InSAR Laser altimeter
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NASA Mid-Term Missions (5/15 total)
Decadal Survey Mission Mission Description Orbit Instruments
HyspIRI Land surface composition for agriculture and mineral characterization vegetation types for ecosystem health LEO, SSO Hyperspectral spectrometer
ASCENDS Day/night, all-latitude, all-season CO2 column integrals for climate emissions LEO, SSO Multifrequency laser
SWOT Ocean, lake, and river water levels for ocean and inland water dynamics LEO, SSO Ka-band wide swath radar C-band radar
GEO-CAPE Atmospheric gas columns for air quality forecasts ocean color for coastal ecosystem health and climate emissions GEO High and low spatial resolution hyperspectral imagers
ACE Aerosol and cloud profiles for climate and water cycle ocean color for open ocean biogeochemistry LEO, SSO Backscatter lidar Multiangle polarimeter Doppler radar
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NASA Far-Term Missions (6/15 total)
Decadal Survey Mission Mission Description Orbit Instruments
LIST Land surface topography for landslide hazards and water runoff LEO, SSO Laser altimeter
PATH High frequency, all-weather temperature and humidity soundings for weather forecasting and SST GEO MW array spectrometer
GRACE-II High temporal resolution gravity fields for tracking large-scale water movement LEO, SSO Microwave or laser ranging system
SCLP Snow accumulation for fresh water availability LEO, SSO Ku and X-band radars K and Ka-band radiometers
GACM Ozone and related gases for intercontinental air quality and stratospheric ozone layer prediction LEO, SSO UV spectrometer IR spectrometer Microwave limb sounder
3D-Winds (Demo) Tropospheric winds for weather forecasting and pollution transport LEO, SSO Doppler lidar

Cloud-independent, high temporal resolution,
lower accuracy SST to complement, not replace,
global operational high-accuracy SST
measurement
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Earth Science New Initiative
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Transition and Long-term Data Acquisition System

• No credible plan for Earth System science and
  environmental monitoring and prediction will be
  possible without a believable commitment to an
  effective long-term data acquisition system
• Initiation of new measurement types will have no
  purpose
• NASAs Earth System science programs will have
  little planning capability
• Applications development will be stunted owing to
  uncertainties regarding data availability