Earth Science and Applications from Space Urgent Needs and Opportunities to Serve the Nation (2005) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
3 Critical Needs for Today
3 Critical Needs for Today
Pages 16-31
The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.
From page 16... ...
will be upgraded to improve weather forecasts, hazard monitoring, and atmospheric research. The decisions behind these transition plans, many of them made during the 1990s, both create and limit the opportunities that are available over the next decade and beyond.
|
From page 17... ...
floods and droughts; improved capability to manage water resources in arid regions; improved forecasts of hurricanes Atmospheric Soundings from Temperature and water vapor Protection of life and property Canceled Geostationary Orbit (GIFTS -- through improved weather forecasts Geostationary Imaging Fourier and severe storm warnings Transform Spectrometer) Ocean Vector Winds (active Wind speed and direction Improved severe weather warnings Canceled scatterometer follow-on to near the ocean surface to ships at sea; improved crop QuikSCAT)
|
From page 18... ...
The committee recommends that the Global Precipitation Measurement mission be launched without further delays. Atmospheric Soundings from Geostationary Orbit Atmospheric soundings of temperature and water vapor are routinely made from polar-orbiting satellites, and they contribute essential observations for weather forecasting.
|
From page 19... ...
Ocean Vector Winds Measurements of wind speed and direction near the ocean surface (ocean winds) by satellite observation systems are crucial for monitoring the motion of the atmosphere and oceans and their interaction.7 In particular, accurate knowledge of ocean winds is vital to studies of air-sea interactions,8 ocean circula 4See |
From page 20... ...
has been launched to test the technology for the Conical Scanning Microwave Imager/Sounder (CMIS) instrument, which will be launched on the first NPOESS.14 Preliminary analysis suggests that such passive systems will produce wind observations with less accuracy and with more contamination by rain and land than active scatterometers.15 As a result, the substitution of passive microwave sensor data for scatterometry data would worsen El Niño and hurricane forecasts and weather forecasts in coastal areas.16 9In an El Niño year, changes in wind and ocean circulation alter typical rainfall patterns and result in the release of large amounts of heat into the atmosphere.
|
From page 21... ...
to measure solar irradiance, is slated for cancellation. The Glory mission would provide data essential for climate research and prediction -- it would yield the first global aerosol measurements with composition specificity and precise microphysical data on both aerosols and cloud particles needed to infer direct and indirect aerosol climate forcings.
|
From page 22... ...
The committee recommends that NASA, NOAA, and the USGS commission three independent reviews, to be completed by October 2005, regarding the Ocean Vector Winds, Landsat Data Continuity, and Glory missions.22 The reviews should evaluate: · The suitability, capability, and timeliness of the OLI and CMIS instruments to meet the research and operational needs of users, particularly those that have relied on data from Landsat and QuikSCAT; · The suitability, capability, and timeliness of the APS and TIM instruments for meeting the needs of the scientific and operational communities; · The costs and benefits of launching the Landsat Data Continuity and Glory missions prior to and/ or independently of the launch of the first NPOESS platform; and · The costs and benefits of launching the Ocean Vector Winds mission prior to or independently of the launch of CMIS on NPOESS. 20 Six overlapping satellite experiments have monitored solar irradiance since late 1978: (1)
|
From page 23... ...
ESSP missions, the Ocean Surface Topography mission (Jason-2) , which no longer has the wide-swath altimeter option, and the Global Precipitation Measurement mission, the NASA program for the future has no explicit set of Earth observation mission plans.
|
From page 24... ...
This exciting capability enables measurement of small-scale but important phenomena, such as vortices inside ocean currents, which are needed to improve ocean circulation models and to support marine transportation and fisheries research and forecasts. Global observations of wind fields in the atmosphere are critical for improving weather forecasts, forecasting the trajectory of atmospheric pollutants and pathogens, and better understanding the dynamics of the atmosphere.28 Many instrument and mission designs have been proposed or developed to measure 25InSAR measurements of strain over wide geographic areas would also complement the continuous GPS point measurements being collected along the western edge of the United States, Mexico, and Canada through the Plate Boundary Observatory component of the NSF EarthScope initiative.
|
From page 25... ...
. In the United States, active remote sensing techniques for such measurements are not yet at a comparable level of technology readiness.30 The committee recommends that NASA significantly expand existing technology development programs to ensure that new enabling technologies for new observational capabilities, including interferometric synthetic aperture radar, wide-swath ocean altimetry, and wind lidar, are available to support potential mission starts over the coming decade.
|
From page 26... ...
Aquarius was proposed as part of ESSP-3 in 2001 and selected for mission formulation in July 2002. Mission confirmation review for Aquarius is scheduled for September 2005, and launch is now likely no sooner than March 2009.2 Aquarius will measure ocean surface salinity, a key variable that affects ocean circulation and from which patterns of freshwater influxes (via precipitation, river runoff, and melting of ice)
|
From page 27... ...
Climate Change Science Program for Fiscal Years 2004 and 2005, 2004, at |
From page 28... ...
For example, a doubling of CO2 is forecast to increase global average temperatures by 1.5 to 5°C, but to increase regional temperatures over 38 National Research Council, Improving the Effectiveness of U.S. Climate Modeling, National Academy Press, Washington, D.C., 2001; Climate Change Science Program and Subcommittee on Global Change Research, Strategic Plan for the U.S.
|
From page 29... ...
A full complement of baseline observations will be addressed by the committee in its final report; here the committee indicates some of the high-priority global climate benchmark observations from space: · Atmospheric water vapor and temperature measured globally from the surface to the mid stratosphere with high vertical resolution tied to absolute international standards constitute the foundation of climate records.41 High-vertical-resolution (200-meter) temperature to an accuracy of 0.1 K in the lower stratosphere and upper troposphere, and temperature and water vapor in the middle and lower troposphere with unbiased global coverage in all weather, can be obtained using the GPS radio occultation technique.42 · Absolute spectrally resolved infrared radiance emitted from Earth to space measured to high accuracy (0.1 K)
|
From page 30... ...
The incident component ties solar output to an absolute scale,44 and the reflected component defines the quantitative impact of spatially resolved changes in snow cover, sea ice, aerosol properties, and land use on the flux of energy returned to space.45 The committee recommends that NASA, NOAA, and other agencies as appropriate accelerate efforts to create a sustained, robust, integrated observing system that includes at a minimum an essential baseline of climate observations, including atmospheric temperature and water vapor, spectrally resolved Earth radiances, and incident and reflected solar irradiance. Climate Data Records and NPOESS The NRC and others have recommended that NOAA embrace its new mandate to understand climate variability and change by asserting national leadership in applying new approaches to generate and manage satellite climate data records (CDRs)
|
From page 31... ...
CRITICAL NEEDS FOR TODAY 31 ment structure through which NOAA could work to ensure that long-term climate records are created and maintained. The committee recommends that NOAA, working with the Climate Change Science Program and the international Group on Earth Observations, create a climate data and information system to meet the challenge of ensuring the production, distribution, and stewardship of high-accuracy climate records from NPOESS and other relevant observational platforms.
|
Key Terms
This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
More
information on Chapter Skim is available.