AIRBORNE PLATFORMS
TO ADVANCE NASA
EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE PRIORITIES
ASSESSING THE FUTURE NEED
FOR A LARGE AIRCRAFT
Committee on Future Use of NASA Airborne Platforms to Advance Earth Science Priorities
Board on Atmospheric Sciences and Climate
Division on Earth and Life Studies
Space Studies Board
Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences
A Consensus Study Report of
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS
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International Standard Book Number-13: 978-0-309-30603-4
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Digital Object Identifier: https://doi.org/10.17226/26079
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Suggested citation: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021. Airborne Platforms to Advance NASA Earth System Science Priorities: Assessing the Future Need for a Large Aircraft. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/26079.
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COMMITTEE ON FUTURE USE OF NASA AIRBORNE PLATFORMS TO ADVANCE EARTH SCIENCE PRIORITIES
WILLIAM H. BRUNE (Co-Chair), Pennsylvania State University
SHUYI S. CHEN (Co-Chair), University of Washington
KRISTIE A. BOERING (NAS), University of California, Berkeley
CATHERINE F. CAHILL, University of Alaska, Fairbanks
JAMES H. CRAWFORD, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Langley Research Center
DAVID FAHEY, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
SARAH T. GILLE, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego
VANDA GRUBIŠIĆ, National Center for Atmospheric Research
GEORGE J. KOMAR, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (ret.)
ERIC A. KORT, University of Michigan
ZHONG LU, Southern Methodist University
GREG McFARQUHAR, University of Oklahoma
WALTER N. MEIER, National Snow and Ice Data Center and Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado
CHARLES E. MILLER, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
ANNE NOLIN, University of Nevada, Reno
BEAT SCHMID, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
SUSAN L. USTIN, University of California, Davis
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Staff
APRIL MELVIN, Study Director
AMANDA PURCELL, Study Director
ART CHARO, Senior Program Officer
AMANDA STAUDT, Senior Board Director
RACHEL SILVERN, Associate Program Officer
ERIN MARKOVICH, Research Associate
ROB GREENWAY, Program Associate
BOARD ON ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCES AND CLIMATE
MARY GLACKIN (Chair), The Weather Company, an IBM Business (Ret.)
CYNTHIA S. ATHERTON, Heising-Simons Foundation
CECILIA BITZ, University of Washington
JOHN C. CHIANG, University of California, Berkeley
BRAD R. COLMAN, The Climate Corporation
BART CROES, California Air Resources Board (Ret.)
ROBERT B. DUNBAR, Stanford University
EFI FOUFOULA-GEORGIOU (NAE), University of California, Irvine
PETER C. FRUMHOFF, Union of Concerned Scientists
VANDA GRUBIŠIĆ, National Center for Atmospheric Research
ROBERT KOPP, Rutgers University
L. RUBY LEUNG (NAE), Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
ZHANQING LI, University of Maryland
JONATHAN MARTIN, University of Wisconsin–Madison
AMY McGOVERN, Oklahoma University
JONATHAN PATZ, University of Wisconsin–Madison
JAMES MARSHALL SHEPHERD (NAS/NAE), University of Georgia
ALLISON STEINER, University of Michigan
DAVID W. TITLEY, U.S. Navy (Ret.), Pennsylvania State University
ARADHNA TRIPATI, University of California, Los Angeles
DUANE E. WALISER, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
ELKE WEBER (NAS), Princeton University
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Staff
AMANDA STAUDT, Senior Board Director
LAUREN EVERETT, Senior Program Officer
LAURIE GELLER, Senior Program Officer
APRIL MELVIN, Senior Program Officer
AMANDA PURCELL, Senior Program Officer
ALEX REICH, Associate Program Officer
RACHEL SILVERN, Associate Program Officer
SHELLY FREELAND, Financial Assistant
RITA GASKINS, Administrative Coordinator
ROB GREENWAY, Program Associate
SPACE STUDIES BOARD
MARGARET G. KIVELSON (Chair) (NAS), University of California, Los Angeles
GREGORY P. ASNER (NAS), Arizona State University
ADAM S. BURROWS (NAS), Princeton University
JAMES H. CROCKER (NAE), Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company (Ret.)
MARY LYNNE DITTMAR, Dittmar Associates, Inc.
JEFF DOZIER, University of California, Santa Barbara
MELINDA DARBY DYAR, Mount Holyoke College
ANTONIO L ELIAS (NAE), Orbital ATK, Inc. (Ret.)
VICTORIA E. HAMILTON, Southwest Research Institute
CHRYSSA KOUVELIOTOU (NAS), George Washington University
DENNIS P. LETTENMAIER (NAE), University of California, Los Angeles
ROSALY M. LOPES, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
STEPHEN J. MACKWELL, American Institute of Physics
DAVID J. McCOMAS, Princeton University
LARRY PAXTON, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
ELIOT QUATAERT (NAS), Princeton University
MARK P. SAUNDERS, Independent Consultant
BARBARA SHERWOOD LOLLAR (NAE), University of Toronto
HOWARD J. SINGER, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
HARLAN E. SPENCE, University of New Hampshire
ERIKA WAGNER, Blue Origin
PAUL D. WOOSTER, Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX)
EDWARD L. WRIGHT (NAS), University of California, Los Angeles
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Staff
COLLEEN HARTMAN, Director for Space and Aeronautics
ARTHUR CHARO, Senior Program Officer
SANDRA GRAHAM, Senior Program Officer
ABIGAIL SHEFFER, Senior Program Officer
DAVID SMITH, Senior Program Officer
DANIEL NAGASAWA, Program Officer
MEG KNEMEYER, Financial Officer
TANJA PILZAK, Manager, Program Operations
ANDREA REBHOLZ, Program Coordinator
DIONNA WISE, Program Coordinator
CELESTE A. NAYLOR, Information Management Associate
MIA BROWN, Research Associate
MEGAN CHAMBERLAIN, Senior Program Assistant
GAYBRIELLE HOLBERT, Senior Program Assistant
RADAKA LIGHTFOOT, Senior Financial Assistant
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Preface
On its first science mission in 1987, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) DC-8 aircraft flew over Antarctica to examine the ozone hole, initiating its long important role in NASA airborne Earth system science research. For the past 34 years, it has since flown missions all around the world studying phenomena in our changing world, such as tropical cyclones, wildland fires, melting polar ice caps, deforestation, and geological hazards. A strength of the DC-8 is its unique combination of endurance, range, payload weight and power capacity, flexibility in payload composition, altitude range and ceiling, and space to accommodate many investigators. These characteristics have made it well suited for carrying a wide array of instrument payloads to do a wide array of Earth system science research while also providing a testbed for satellite instrument prototypes and helping develop two generations of Earth system scientists. However, it is nearing the end of its useful life.
At the behest of NASA, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (the National Academies) assembled a committee of accomplished scientists in diverse Earth system science fields to assess the future need for a large aircraft to serve NASA Earth system science priorities.
About the time that the committee was being assembled, gatherings were shut down to reduce the spread of COVID-19. As a result, the committee never met in person. What would have been a series of 2-day meetings became a scattering of 2- to 3-hour Zoom calls fit into the committee members’ schedules. Although the difficulties that COVID-19 presented to the committee are insignificant compared to its other consequences, the lack of in-person meetings forced us to rethink our approach to developing this consensus report. Only extra effort by the National Academies' staff and the committee made delivering the report possible.
The committee gathered information early in the study process at a 2-day virtual workshop, when experts gave presentations on the research questions confronting their Earth system science disciplines and the roles aircraft have in answering those questions. We are grateful to the speakers: Greg Asner, Mary Barth, William Dietrich, Ralph Dubayah, Emily Fischer, Scott Hensley, Michelle Hofton, Simon Hook, Robert Houze, Daniel Jacob, Raphael Kudela, Mark Merrifield, Mahta Moghaddam, Amin Nehrir, Tamay Özgökmen, Laura Pan, Tamlin Pavelsky, Simone Tanelli, Kirsty Tinto, Carrie Vuyovich, Josh Willis, Steve Wofsy, Robert Wood, and Robert Wright. We also appreciate all the comments received from members of the Earth system science research community and the extensive information collected and provided to the committee by NASA.
We have had the pleasure of working with some talented people at the National Academies. April Melvin and Amanda Purcell, Senior Program Officers, provided
guidance, cohesion, flexibility, and stability as we navigated through this new all-virtual process. Art Charo and Amanda Staudt provided timely insights based on their vast experience. We thank them.
Finally, we thank every member of the committee. Each one made substantial contributions. We appreciate everyone’s time and effort, insights, and commitment to creating the best possible report. An additional benefit of working with this outstanding committee has been learning about the breadth of Earth system science research. We are confident that this committee’s recommendations provide an excellent guide for NASA’s decisions regarding airborne platforms for advancing its Earth system science priorities.
Shuyi Chen, Committee Co-Chair
William Brune, Committee Co-Chair
Acknowledgments
This Consensus Study Report was reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in making each published report as sound as possible and to ensure that it meets the institutional standards for quality, objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process.
We thank the following individuals for their review of this report:
ANA P. BARROS (NAE), Duke University
DAVID DeROSIER (NAS), Brandeis University
CRAIG GLENNIE, University of Houston
ERIN HESTIR, University of California, Merced
TRISTAN L'ECUYER, University of Wisconsin–Madison
LUC LENAIN, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego
ROBYN MILLAN, Dartmouth College
R. STEVEN NEREM, Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences
CAROLINE NOWLAN, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
DAVID PETERSON, Naval Research Laboratory
DAR ROBERTS, University of California, Santa Barbara
ARMIN SOROOSHIAN, University of Arizona
LEIGH STEARNS, University of Kansas
DARIN TOOHEY, University of Colorado
Although the reviewers listed above provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the conclusions or recommendations of this report nor did they see the final draft before its release. The review of this report was overseen by Thomas H. Vonder Haar (NAE), Colorado State University, and Nancy Baker, Naval Research Laboratory. They were responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this report was carried out in accordance with the standards of the National Academies and that all review comments were carefully
considered. Responsibility for the final content rests entirely with the authoring committee and the National Academies.
Contents
2 Setting the Stage: The Role of Airborne Platforms in Earth System Science
2.1 Future of Earth System Science
2.2 Integrated Earth System Science Research
2.3 Role of Airborne Observation Component
2.4 A Synopsis of the Current Airborne Fleet
2.4d Aircraft from Other Countries
2.4e Airborne Research Using Many Platforms
2.5 Evolution of Instrumentation for Airborne Science
2.5a NASA Facility Instruments
2.5b Other Instrumentation and Some Common Applications
3 The DC-8 Airborne Research Platform
3.1 Historic Role of Long-Range, Heavy-Lift Aircraft
3.3 Comparisons of the NASA DC-8 with Other Research Aircraft
3.4a Characteristic Statistics
3.5 Characteristics of a Future Large Aircraft
3.6 Candidates for a Future Large Aircraft
4 The Role of Airborne Platforms in Addressing Emerging Science
4.1 Priority Science and Applications Areas in ESAS
4.1a Coupling of the Water and Energy Cycles
4.1b Physics and Dynamics for Improving Weather Forecasts
4.1c Air Quality and Atmospheric Chemistry—Chemistry Coupled to Dynamics
4.1e Sea Level Rise in a Changing Climate and Coastal Impacts
4.1f Surface Dynamics, Geological Hazards, and Disasters
4.2 Providing Capacity for Expanding Future Earth System Research Needs
4.2a Integrating Themes in Earth System Science
4.2b Large Aircraft in Interdisciplinary Earth System Science
4.2c Providing Capacity for the Unexpected
5 Workforce Training and Development
5.2 Training Graduate Students and Postdocs
5.3 Mentoring Early Career Scientists
5.3a Outreach to K‐12 Students and the Public
5.4 Developing a Culture of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
5.5 Fostering International Research Capacity
6 Recommendations for the Future Need of a Large Aircraft
Appendix A: Committee Member Biographies
Appendix D: 2017 Earth Science and Applications from Space Decadal Survey