Earth Science and Applications from Space National Imperatives for the Next Decade and Beyond (2007) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
Part II: Mission Summaries, 4 Summaries of Recommended Missions
Part II: Mission Summaries, 4 Summaries of Recommended Missions
Pages 79-140
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 79... ...
in which the missions are discussed, as well as index numbers that point to related responses to the committee's request for information.2 1Note that CLARREO is listed twice because its instruments are recommended for support by both NASA and NOAA. 2The request for information is reprinted in Appendix D
|
From page 80... ...
GPSRO High-accuracy, all-weather temperature, water LEO GPS receiver 150 vapor, and electron density profiles for weather, climate, and space weather 2013-2016 XOVWM Sea-surface wind vectors for weather and LEO, SSO Backscatter radar 350 ocean ecosystems NOTE: Missions are listed by cost. Colors denote mission cost categories as estimated by the committee.
|
From page 81... ...
SMAP Soil moisture and freeze-thaw for weather and LEO, SSO L-band radar 300 water cycle processes L-band radiometer ICESat-II Ice sheet height changes for climate change LEO, Laser altimeter 300 diagnosis Non-SSO DESDynI Surface and ice sheet deformation for LEO, SSO L-band InSAR 700 understanding natural hazards and climate; Laser altimeter vegetation structure for ecosystem health 2013-2016 HyspIRI Land surface composition for agriculture and LEO, SSO Hyperspectral spectrometer 300 mineral characterization; vegetation types for ecosystem health ASCENDS Day/night, all-latitude, all-season CO2 column LEO, SSO Multifrequency laser 400 integrals for climate emissions SWOT Ocean, lake, and river water levels for ocean LEO, SSO Ka- or Ku-band radar 450 and inland water dynamics Ku-band altimeter Microwave radiometer GEO-CAPE Atmospheric gas columns for air quality GEO High-spatial-resolution 550 forecasts; ocean color for coastal ecosystem hyperspectral spectrometer health and climate emissions Low-spatial-resolution imaging spectrometer IR correlation radiometer ACE Aerosol and cloud profiles for climate and LEO, SSO Backscatter lidar 800 water cycle; ocean color for open ocean Multiangle polarimeter biogeochemistry Doppler radar 2016-2020 LIST Land surface topography for landslide hazards LEO, SSO Laser altimeter 300 and water runoff PATH High-frequency, all-weather temperature and GEO Microwave array spectrometer 450 humidity soundings for weather forecasting and sea-surface temperatureb GRACE-II High-temporal-resolution gravity fields for LEO, SSO Microwave or laser ranging 450 tracking large-scale water movement system SCLP Snow accumulation for freshwater availability LEO, SSO Ku- and X-band radars 500 K- and Ka-band radiometers GACM Ozone and related gases for intercontinental LEO, SSO UV spectrometer 600 air quality and stratospheric ozone layer IR spectrometer prediction Microwave limb sounder 3D-Winds Tropospheric winds for weather forecasting LEO, SSO Doppler lidar 650 (Demo) and pollution transport NOTE: Missions are listed by cost.
|
From page 83... ...
4 Summaries of Recommended Missions 83
|
From page 85... ...
The geographic distribution of the land and ocean sources and sinks of CO2 has likewise remained elusive, an uncertainty that is also important. As nations seek to develop
|
From page 86... ...
Science Objectives: The goal of the ASCENDS mission is to enhance understanding of the role of CO2 in the global carbon cycle. The three science objectives are to (1)
|
From page 87... ...
Further Discussion: See in Chapter 7 the section "Carbon Budget Mission (CO2 and CO) ." Related Responses to Committee's RFI: 4 and 20.
|
From page 88... ...
2003. Integrated Global Carbon Observation Theme: A Strategy to Realize a Coordinated System of Integrated Global Carbon Cycle Observations.
|
From page 89... ...
MissiON The primary goal of the Aerosol-Cloud-Ecosystems (ACE) mission is to reduce uncertainty about climate forcing in aerosol-cloud interactions and ocean ecosystem carbon dioxide (CO2)
|
From page 90... ...
The second objective is to estimate carbon uptake by ocean ecosystems through global measurements of organic material in the surface ocean layers. The oceans are an important sink for atmospheric CO2 and are acidifying as a result of CO2 uptake.
|
From page 91... ...
The notional mission consists of four instruments: a multibeam cross-track dual-wavelength lidar for measurement of cloud and aerosol heights and layer thickness; a cross-track scanning cloud radar with channels at 94 GHz and possibly 34 GHz for measurement of cloud droplet size, glaciation height, and cloud height; a highly accurate multiangle, multiwavelength polarimeter that would measure cloud and aerosol properties, and that, unlike the aerosol polarimetry sensor on Glory, would have a cross-track and along-track swath with a pixel size of about 1 km; and a multiband cross-track visible-UV spectrometer with a pixel size of about 1 km, which would include Aqua MODIS, NPOESS Preparatory Project (NPP) VIIRS, and Aura OMI aerosol-retrieval bands and additional bands for ocean color and dissolved organic matter.
|
From page 92... ...
MissiON Decision support for vital choices regarding water resources, human health, natural resources, energy management, ozone depletion, civilian and military communication, insurance infrastructure, fisheries, and international negotiations is necessarily linked to an understanding of climate. Effectively addressing each of these societal concerns depends on accurate climate records and credible long-term climate forecasts.
|
From page 93... ...
Systematic, spatially resolved observations of the time series of the absolute spectrally resolved flux of near-ultraviolet, visible, and near-IR radiation returned to space by the Earth system tied to NIST standards in perpetuity underpin a credible climate record of the changing Earth system. In combination with establishment of the absolute spectrally resolved solar irradiance reflected from the Earth-atmosphere system to space, it is essential to continue the long-term, high-accuracy time series of incident solar irradiance.
|
From page 94... ...
CLARREO has two components. The first consists of three small satellitestwo to obtain absolute, spectrally resolved radiance in the thermal IR and a third to continue the IR absolute spectrally resolved radiance measurements, but with the addition of benchmark observations to obtain the reflected solar irradiance.
|
From page 95... ...
SUMMARIES OF RECOMMENDED MISSIONS 95 Further Discussion: See in Chapter 9 the sections "Current Status of Multi-Decadal Records" and "Radiance Calibration and Time Reference Observatory." Related Responses to Committee's RFI: 16 and 18.
|
From page 96... ...
Advances in earthquake science leading to improved time-dependent probabilities would be facilitated by global observations of surface deformation and could result in increases in the health and safety of the public because of decreased exposure to tectonic hazards. Monitoring surface deformation is also important for improving the safety and efficiency of extraction of hydrocarbons, for managing groundwater resources, and, in the future, for providing information for managing CO2 sequestration.
|
From page 97... ...
Changes in those land-cover inventories can be measured globally. Socioeconomic risks are related to the dynamics of the great polar ice sheets, which affect ocean circulation and the water cycle and drive sea-level rise and fall.
|
From page 98... ...
with about 25-m spatial resolution and canopy-height accuracy of 1 m. The mission using InSAR to meet the science measurement objectives for surface deformation, ice sheet dynamics, and ecosystem structure has been studied extensively.
|
From page 99... ...
Solid Earth Science Working Group Report. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
|
From page 100... ...
Ocean Prediction Center has added a higher level of warning for ships ("hurricane-force winds") for the mid-latitude ocean on the basis of improved wind measurements from QuikSCAT.
|
From page 101... ...
Coordination between the SWOT mission, which will provide high-resolution sea-level measurements from a wide-swath altimeter, and XOVWM will give the observations needed to improve understanding and modeling of air-sea interaction and ocean circulation, particularly in coastal regions. Higher-spatialresolution observations of winds and sea level are needed to understand and predict the effects of warm ocean regions on hurricane intensification.
|
From page 102... ...
High-resolution wind data provide a basis for stimulating and assessing improvements in boundary-layer parameterizations used in weather-prediction and climate models. High-resolution wind measurements also improve air-sea flux estimates even without improving resolution in other atmospheric variables.
|
From page 103... ...
Local overpass times should be coordinated with other proposed ocean-vector wind missions, such as ASCAT, to minimize revisit times. Further Discussion: See in Chapter 9 the section "Climate Mission 4: Measuring Ocean Circulation, Ocean Heat Storage, and Ocean Climate Forcing," and in Chapter 10 the section "Other Near-term Opportunities for Wind Measurement from Space." Related Responses to Committee's RFI: 56, 79, 91, 98, and 108.
|
From page 104... ...
The GEO-CAPE mission would provide observations of aerosols, organic matter, phytoplankton, and other constituents of the upper coastal ocean at multiple times in the day to develop capabilities for modeling ecological and biogeochemical processes in coastal ecosystems. The mission would be of considerable value in improving the ability to observe and understand air quality on continental scales and thus in guiding the design of air-quality policy.
|
From page 105... ...
Coastal ocean ecosystems are under enormous pressure from human activities, both from harvesting and from materials entering the coastal ocean from the land and the atmosphere. Compared with the open ocean, these regions contain greatly enhanced amounts of chlorophyll and dissolved organic matter, but the coastal ocean is not simply a region of enhanced primary productivity; it also plays an important role in mediating the land-ocean interface and global biogeochemistry.
|
From page 106... ...
Mission and Payload: GEO-CAPE consists of three instruments in geosynchronous Earth orbit near 80°W longitude: a UV-visible-near-IR wide-area imaging spectrometer (7-km nadir pixel) capable of mapping North and South America from 45°S to 50°N at about hourly intervals, a steerable high-spatial-resolution (250 m)
|
From page 107... ...
Potential benefits could include greater protection of public health, the development of better public policy to avoid or reverse adverse atmospheric changes, and the possibility of averting substantial ecological damage. background: Understanding and modeling the chemistry and dynamics of the lower atmosphere on regional to global scales requires a combination of measurements of O3, O3 precursors, and other pollutant gases and aerosols with sufficient vertical resolution to detect the presence, transport, and chemical transformation of atmospheric layers from the surface to the lower stratosphere.
|
From page 108... ...
. Limb-viewing measurements of O3, N2O, temperature, water vapor, CO, HNO3, ClO, and volcanic SO2 in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere need to be made with an advanced microwave spectrometer.
|
From page 109... ...
Further Discussion: See in Chapter 10 the section "Comprehensive Tropospheric Ozone Mission," and in Chapter 9 the sections "Trace Gases and Aerosols" and "Stratosphere-Troposphere Exchange." Related Responses to Committee's RFI: 3, 5, 9, and 61.
|
From page 110... ...
Yet global observations of this critical resource are highly variable in density; most in situ observations are made in heavily exploited groundwater basins in the developed world, and few are made elsewhere. GRACE-II would provide information about variations in groundwater storage at spatial resolutions sufficient to help to improve resource characterization and management in portions of the world (which include most underdeveloped countries)
|
From page 111... ...
At seasonal periods, the mass change has a strong component related to water movement. The GRACE mission, which was developed with an expected 5-year lifetime, is likely to end by 2013.4 GRACE has demonstrated the ability to monitor variations in water mass stored on the continents, variations in global ocean mass associated with eustatic sea-level change, and variations in the mass of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets, with a spatial resolution of 400-500 km.
|
From page 112... ...
Further Discussion: See in Chapter 8 the section "Mission to Monitor Temporal Variations in Earth's Gravity Field," in Chapter 9 the section "Ice Sheet and Sea Ice Volume," and in Chapter 11, the section "Groundwater Storage, Ice Sheet Mass Balance, and Ocean Mass." Related Responses to Committee's RFI: 42 and 96. Supporting Documents: NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration)
|
From page 113... ...
MissiON Ecosystems respond to changes in land management and climate through altered nutrient and water status in vegetation and changes in species composition. A capability to detect such changes provides possibilities for early warning of detrimental ecosystem changes, such as drought, reduced agricultural yields, invasive species, reduced biodiversity, fire susceptibility, altered habitats of disease vectors, and changes in the health and extent of coral reefs.
|
From page 114... ...
Science Objectives: The HyspIRI mission aims to detect responses of ecosystems to human land management and climate change and variability. For example, drought initially affects the magnitude and timing of water and carbon fluxes, causing plant water stress and death and possibly wildfires and changes in species composition.
|
From page 115... ...
Further Discussion: See in Chapter 7 the section "Ecosystem Function," and in Chapter 8 the section "Mission to Observe Surface Composition and Thermal Properties." Related Responses to Committee's RFI: 6, 81, 89, and 97. Supporting Documents: NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration)
|
From page 116... ...
background: Space-borne lidar is a demonstrated technology for obtaining highly accurate topographic measurements of glaciers, ice sheets, and sea ice. Repeated observations of the polar ice caps by NASA's
|
From page 117... ...
Science Objectives: The mass balance of Earth's great ice sheets and their contributions to sea level are key issues in climate variability and change. The relationships between sea level and climate have been identified as critical subjects of study in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change assessments, the Climate Change Science Program strategy, and the U.S.
|
From page 118... ...
Time series of high-precision topographic data would aid in mapping the loss of topsoil worldwide; in detecting incipient hazards from volcanic eruptions, pyroclastic flows, and mudflows; and in determining the slip distribution in large earthquakes. The proposed lidar mapping mission would also yield global data on forest-stand structure and thus allow quantitative assessment of wildfire risk to an unprecedented level.
|
From page 119... ...
Science Objectives: High-resolution topographic data and high-precision measurements of topographic change are needed to understand the coupling between climate, tectonics, erosion, and topography; to estimate the geomorphic transport laws that shape Earth's surface; to calibrate and test models of landform evolution; to predict and detect erosional response to climate change; to quantify global shifts in vegetation patterns and forest-stand structure in response to climate shifts and human land-use; to infer changes in groundwater aquifers; to measure changes in volumes of glaciers and ice sheets; to quantitatively map topsoil losses; and to assess the risk of landslides, floods, tsunami runup, volcanic eruptions, and earthquakes. At present, global coverage is at a horizontal resolution of, at best, 30 m and a vertical precision of 10 m.
|
From page 120... ...
Further Discussion: See in Chapter 8 the section "Mission to Measure High-Resolution (5-m) Topography of the Land Surface," in Chapter 9 the section "Ice Sheet and Sea Ice Volume," and in Chapter 11 the section "Sea Ice Thickness, Glacier Surface Elevation, and Glacier Velocity." Related Responses to Committee's RFI: 57 and 111.
|
From page 121... ...
MissiON The radio-occultation (RO) sounding technique produces independent information on the vertical structure of electron density in the ionosphere, temperature in the stratosphere, and temperature and water vapor in the troposphere.
|
From page 122... ...
With the reduction in the once-planned capabilities of NPOESS to produce vertical profiles of electron density and stratospheric and tropospheric temperatures and water vapor and recent threats to the GOES-R hyperspectral sounder, the GPSRO mission is even more important to meeting the scientific and operational objectives of an Earth-observing system. Mission and Payload: The proposed GPSRO mission would maintain a constellation of about six small satellites in low Earth orbit indefinitely to support operational weather and space-weather prediction as well as research in weather, climate, and ionospheric processes.
|
From page 123... ...
2003. The Second Report on the Adequacy of the Global Observing Systems for Climate in Support of the UNFCCC.
|
From page 124... ...
The PATH mission would provide these measurements. background: Operational NOAA and DOD LEO satellites have for many years carried microwave spectrometers for atmospheric sounding of temperature, water vapor, and cloud liquid water.
|
From page 125... ...
Science Objectives: It is widely recognized that current numerical weather prediction models inadequately represent the processes of cloud formation, evolution, and precipitation. The models rely on simplistic parameterization schemes and an incomplete understanding of the underlying cloud microphysics to represent the most rapidly changing weather features.
|
From page 126... ...
126 EARTH SCIENCE AND APPLICATIONS FROM SPACE Further Discussion: See in Chapter 10 the section "All-Weather Temperature and Humidity Profiles." Related Response to Committee's RFI: 48.
|
From page 127... ...
Furthermore, properties of snow influence surface water and energy fluxes and other processes important to weather and climate over much of the globe, in addition to biogeochemical fluxes, ecosystem dynamics, and even some solid-Earth hazards and dynamics. Better understanding of those interactions in snow-dominated regions is important for a number of scientific and practical reasons, including prediction of the effects of high-latitude lakes and wetlands on the global carbon cycle and the management of freshwater resources.
|
From page 128... ...
, snow depth, and snow wetness over land and ice sheets. Science Objectives: Scientists and managers need to know the spatial extent of snow cover and, perhaps more important, how much water is in the snowpack and how fast it is melting.
|
From page 129... ...
2001. Global snow cover monitoring with spaceborne Ku-band scatterometer.
|
From page 130... ...
could be greatly enhanced through assimilation of soil-moisture observations. Soil moisture and its freeze-thaw state are also key determinants of the global carbon cycle.
|
From page 131... ...
background: Global mapping of soil moisture and its freeze-thaw state at high resolution has long been of interest because these variables link the terrestrial water, energy, and carbon cycle. Such measurements also have important applications in predicting natural hazards, such as severe rainfall, floods, and droughts.
|
From page 132... ...
Further Discussion: See in Chapter 11 the section "Soil Moisture and Freeze-Thaw State." Related Responses to Committee's RFI: Similar to those of the Hydros mission proposed for ESSP. References: Entekhabi, D., G.R.
|
From page 133... ...
MissiON More than 75 percent of the world's population depends on surface water as its primary source of drinking water, but there is no coordinated global observing system for surface water. Furthermore, in the case of transboundary rivers, information is often not freely available about water storage, discharge, and diversions in one country that affect the availability of water in its downstream neighbors.
|
From page 134... ...
In addition to providing information about the distribution of surface water and its movement over land, the SWOT swath altimeter would also provide precision measurements to continue a climate record of sea level and to extend the record to coastal regions (including estuaries) , where continued population growth and development pressures threaten marine resources.
|
From page 135... ...
For the ocean, the mission will map sea level with a precision of a few centimeters and a spatial resolution of less than 1 km2, extending the sea-level measurements to the ocean-eddy field and into the coastal zones. With a nadir-looking altimeter, a non-Sun-synchronous orbit, and precise tracking, the mission can extend the climate record of sea level beyond the current Jason series of altimeters.
|
From page 136... ...
2003. The need for global, satellite-based observations of terrestrial surface waters.
|
From page 137... ...
MissiON More accurate, more reliable, and longer-term weather forecasts, driven by fundamentally improved tropospheric wind observations from space, would have direct and measurable societal and economic effects. Tropospheric winds are the number-one unmet measurement objective for improving weather forecasts.
|
From page 138... ...
The transport of water vapor is essential to closing regional hydrologic cycles, and its measurement should enable scientific advances in understanding El Niño, monsoons, and the flow of tropical moisture to the United States. Reliable global analyses of three-dimensional tropospheric winds are needed to improve the depiction of atmospheric dynamics, the transport of air pollution, and climate processes.
|
From page 139... ...
Stage II, launch of a fully operational HDWL system, could take place as early as 2022. Further Discussion: See in Chapter 10 the section "Space-based Measurements of Tropospheric Winds." Related Responses to Committee's RFI: 28, 29, and 78.
|
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.