Earth Science and Applications from Space National Imperatives for the Next Decade and Beyond (2007) / Chapter Skim
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Part III: Reports from the Decadal Survey Panels, 5 Earth Science Applications and Societal Benefits
Part III: Reports from the Decadal Survey Panels, 5 Earth Science Applications and Societal Benefits
Pages 141-151
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part iii Reports from the Decadal Survey Panels 141
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From page 143... ...
In many cases these successes have evolved largely through serendipitous opportunities for research applications rather than through a systematic, coordinated process. As a response to this concern, the Panel on Earth Science Applications and Societal Benefits offers observations on how to move from discovery to design, balance mission portfolios to benefit both research and applications, and establish mechanisms for including the priorities of the applications community in space-based measurements.
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The challenge is to make the scientific information relevant, available, adaptable, and easy to use so that informed and knowledgeable choices can be made. If Earth scientists are to foster applications and extend the societal benefits of their work, they must understand the research-to-applications chain, which includes understanding societal information needs, conducting research on the uses of information, generating relevant scientific observations, transforming the results into useful information, and distributing that information in a form that is understandable and meets the needs of both public- and private-sector managers, decision makers, and policy makers (NRC, 2001, 2003)
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Such research will improve understanding of successful transitions from research data to societal applications, processes of information adoption and use outside the scientific community, and decision making under uncertainty. Success in applying the results of Earth science will also require sustained communications with potential users of scientific information.
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Elements of data access and management that need to be addressed include the following: • The management of Earth observations for operational applications and societal benefit begins with credible, professionally managed data records. The high rate of innovation in both informationmanagement technologies and observational technologies means that data management must be given high priority by scientists and funding agencies to avoid loss of the data in the future.
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Used as teaching tools, satellite information and visualization can help learners of all ages to develop more effective skills in critical thinking and problem solving and can contribute to a better-educated workforce. Fully realizing societal benefits of Earth observation data and information requires enhancing understanding among applications users and cultivating appropriate institutional and educational capabilities in organizations that are potential users of applications, and among the agencies that produce the underlying data and supporting science.
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The panel recommends that development of future Earth science mission strategy include social science research into the key drivers of measurement needs for societal decision making. Extracting societal benefit from space-based measurements requires, as an equally important second step, the development of a strong linkage between the measurements and the decision makers who will use them.
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From page 149... ...
However, new measurements for land cover, geological hazards, or water resources, to mention just a few applications areas, do not have the benefit of existing relationships between client agencies and the space agencies that would lead naturally to evaluation of their potential for applications. New measurements that would be relevant to such critical issues as deforestation and the loss of biological diversity or interruption of ecosystem services essentially have no client agency, and so individual university researchers or staff in nongovernmental organizations must be relied on to lobby the space agencies, without benefit of strong institutional ties to those agencies.
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Systems of program review and evaluation will also need to be revamped to realize the vision of concurrently delivering societal benefits and scientific discovery. Numbers of published papers, entries in scientific citation indexes, or even the professional acclamation of scientific peers will not suffice to evaluate the success of the missions proposed for the decade ahead.
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1933. Recent Social Trends in the United States.
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