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2 Assessing Progress Toward the Decadal Vision
Pages 22-42

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From page 22...
... in 2011. This chapter summarizes progress toward the 2007 decadal survey's vision through NASA's extended missions, pre-decadal survey missions, implementation of the recommended decadal survey missions, and other key program elements including Climate Continuity missions, Earth Venture missions, the Applied Sciences Program, the suborbital program, technology development, and the research and analysis program.
From page 23...
... MISSIONS IN THE PRE-DECADAL SURVEY QUEUE The 2007 decadal survey made its recommendations for new measurements and missions based on the assumed success of NOAA and NASA missions -- sometimes referred to as "foundational" missions -- that were already in development with launches expected in the early part of the decade following the survey release. These included the Ocean Surface Topography Mission (OSTM)
From page 24...
... LDCM is intended to replace the aging Landsat 7 mission to provide continuity of land cover measurement. Although the 2007 decadal survey recommended securing such a replacement before 2012,7 LDCM is currently slated for launch no earlier than December 2012.
From page 25...
... Although slightly different results have been derived by other investigators using data products based on different processing methods, they generally fall within the quoted uncertainty of the estimate. Top right: Change in annually averaged sea level at 23 geologically entire tide gauge sites with long-term recordssea level is also affected by uplift tens of kilometers or as large as an stable Local sea level changes may also be relative as selected by B.C.
From page 26...
... NASA's primary programmatic emphasis remains on flying out its pre-decadal survey mission queue. DECADAL SURVEY MISSIONS The 2007 decadal survey was well received by NASA8 and Congress, and NASA initiated plans to implement the mission recommendations by beginning formulation studies for the first phase of survey For example, in testimony on March 7, 2007, before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation Subcom 8 mittee on Space, Aeronautics and Related Sciences, NASA's director for the Earth Science Division, Michael Freilich, stated, "We welcome the Decadal Survey -- indeed, we asked for it….
From page 27...
... Glory March 2011 Launch failure Aquarius June 2011 Operating NPP October 2011 Operating (NPOESS Preparatory Project) LDCM Targeting December 2012 Implementation (Landsat Data Continuity Mission)
From page 28...
... Given the objective of advancing Earth system science -- an objective embraced by NASA's Earth Science Division -- there is a particular need to make decisions regarding the scope, cost, and schedule of an individual mission in the context of the larger decadal survey-recommended portfolio.11 Further, absent a countervailing mechanism, there is a natural tendency for individual missions to become more responsive to single communities or disciplines rather than to the overall Earth system science community.12 For example, changes to the survey-recommended ICESat-2 mission were, in part, the result of pressures from a disciplinary community whose desires for a more advanced and capable mission than envisioned by the survey were not restrained by consideration of the budgetary impact on development of future missions for us by the NRC." Dr. Freilich's full statement is available at http://www.hq.nasa.gov/legislative/hearings/.
From page 29...
... (See discussion and committee recommendations in Chapter 4.) Earth Venture Missions The 2007 decadal survey recommended establishment of a new Earth Venture class of relatively lowcost research and applications missions to restore more frequent launch opportunities and facilitate demonstration of innovative ideas and higher-risk technologies.
From page 30...
... for open ocean biogeochemistry LIST Land surface topography for 2016-2020 None Formulation (Lidar Surface Topography) landslide hazards and water runoff (Pre-Phase A)
From page 31...
... The GRACE Follow-on Mission, a climate continuity mission called for in NASA's June 2010 climate-centric architecture report, will f provide many of the observations envisioned by the 2007 decadal survey for GRACE-II. NASA has since implemented the Earth Venture mission line in keeping with the survey recommendation.
From page 32...
... and NOAA NESDIS to support national needs … climate and global change, … weather forecasting, seasonal climate prediction, aviation safety, natural resources management, agricultural assessment, homeland security, and infrastructure planning."19 The survey envisioned that benefits from future missions would "range from information for short-term needs, such as weather forecasts and warnings for protection of life and property, to the longer-term scientific understanding necessary for future applications that will benefit society in ways still to be realized."20 ESD has mounted an evolving effort to enable ongoing involvement of applications perspectives and engagement of applications-oriented communities in decadal survey mission planning.21 Although these activities started as ad hoc efforts, more formal arrangements are unfolding as ESD builds capability in this direction.22 For example, some Earth observations are time critical -- deferring or stopping observations may carry societal and/or economic 18 costs. Communities of users and agencies across the government from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to the Department of Agriculture to NOAA rely on the availability of Earth data products.
From page 33...
... Additionally, in July 2010, ESD held special applications-oriented sessions at the IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium, with workshops titled "Applications Bridging the Period between EOS and the Decadal Survey Eras" and "Realizing the Applications Benefits from NASA's Pathfinding EOS Missions -- The 1st Generation." Strategic Goal 3 in NASA, NASA Earth Science Division Applied Sciences Program. Program Strategy: 2010-2015, NASA, Wash 23 ington, D.C., available at http://cce.nasa.gov/pdfs/ASPProgramStrategy.pdf, p.
From page 34...
... . These examples suggest how governmental operational use of decadal survey mission data will grow as utilization extends from early adopters to the broader community.
From page 35...
... are available in the program's annual reports. Among additional activities in 2010, the Applied Sciences Program initiated new external research to improve measurement of the societal benefits associated with Earth science information, for example, the economic value of Earth science data products in drought monitoring for index insurance and the cost-savings enabled by observations that facilitate more efficient monitoring of air and water pollution.29 Looking ahead, the Applied Sciences Program description that accompanied the NASA FY2012 budget featured joint "solicitations with research and end-user organizations, contributions to mission science teams to ensure consideration and incorporation of applications requirements throughout the mission design process, and continuation of efforts to build skills and capabilities for A report on a 2010 workshop funded by the NASA Applied Sciences Program on benefit estimation methodology is M.K.
From page 36...
... operational users on some survey mission science definition and applications teams and to conduct research to better understand the value of these applications. SUBORBITAL PROGRAM NASA's suborbital program supports Earth science orbital missions (EOS, A-Train, and decadal survey missions)
From page 37...
... See http://smap.jpl.nasa.gov/files/smap2/2011%20SMAP%20Early%20Adopters%20List1.pdf. 3 INTEX-B 2006 CC-VEX 2006 Arctic Sea Ice 2006 INTEX-B 2006 2000 MILAGRO 2006 WRAP 2006-2009 1800 Arctic Ice 2007 2007 CLASIC 2007 TC-4 2007 1600 ARCTAS 2008 Calipso Caribean 2008 1400 CASIE 2009 ASCENDS test flights 2009 Racoro 2009 1200 GloPac 2010 ABACATE 2010 1000 GLEAM 2010 Flight Hours ASCENDS test flights 2010 AID for ASCENDS 2010 800 SIMPL 2010 MACPEX 2011 600 CAR 2011 4Star 2012 400 DC-3 2012 HEX 2012 SEAC4RS 2012 200 AVIRIS CONUS 2006-2012 UAVSAR 2006-2012 0 CLPX II 2007-2008 SMAPVEX 2008, 2010-11 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 OIB 2009-2015 Earth Venture 1 2011-2014 FIGURE 2.2 Airborne Science Program flight hours in support of decadal survey missions, 2006-2011.
From page 38...
... Four phases are planned in different polluted regions. The profile data from DISCOVER-AQ are also important for the development of instruments on the GEO-CAPE decadal survey mission, and they provide complementary data not available from space for process studies of air pollution.
From page 39...
... partners with ESD's Applied Sciences Program and makes direct mention of the 2007 survey as a primary document that identifies "the relevant missions and programs and supporting technologies for this solicitation…." It also notes that "the Tier 3 decadal survey missions not yet in study phase are also relevant to AIST."42 Finding: ESTO has organized its proposal solicitations around the 2007 decadal survey and is investing to advance technological readiness across the survey mission queue. RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS The 2007 decadal survey made specific recommendations with respect to mission-enabling research activities that aim to create new knowledge and develop a technically and scientifically capable workforce.
From page 40...
... IceBridge serves as an example of successful collaborations FIGURE 2.4.1 IceBridge provides spatially extensive key measurements in the Arctic and Antarctic in support of Earth science and instrument calibration. Top left: surface altimetry of Crane Glacier, Antarctica; bottom left: Arctic sea ice ellipsoid elevation from the Airborne Topographic Mapper in support of CryoSat-2 calibration; center: IceBridge flight lines over Antarctica; top right: IceBridge flight lines over Greenland; bottom right: snow radar showing internal layers of Pine Island Glacier, Antarctica.
From page 41...
... As stated by the decadal survey's Panel on Climate Variability and Change: "Reprocessing of data allows the incorporation of gains in knowledge, the correction of errors in preflight and in-flight calibrations, inclusion of changes in instrument function, and the correction of errors in earlier processing algorithms" (National Research Council, Earth Science and Applications from Space: National Imperatives for the Next Decade and Beyond, 2007, p.
From page 42...
... Each box represents a single investment or test. SOURCE: NASA Earth Science Technology Office.


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