Thriving on Our Changing Planet: A Decadal Strategy for Earth Observation from Space An Overview for Decision Makers and the Public (2019) / Chapter Skim
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Earth Science and Applications Research
Earth Science and Applications Research
Pages 3-15
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premature deaths from air pollution around the world every year Satellite observations of temperature, vegetation, and rainfall help predict MITIGATING NATURAL DISASTERS the spread of mosquito-borne Earth-observing satellites illnesses like malaria, Zika, track the concentration of and West Nile Virus. Extreme weather and fires have cost the federal government harmful pollutants across the country, providing air quality data for rural areas without ground-based more than $350 billion over the past decade.
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• Accurate measurements of rising sea level, documenting regional sea-level changes, which can differ substantially from the global mean. • Quantifying yearly variations in rates of ocean warming, and confirming the consistency of decadal ocean heating and sea-level rise.
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Waters that are warm enough to promote hurricane formation appear in shades of yellow to orange-red. Waters too cool to foster hurricane formation appear in shades of blue.
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Oil from the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico created a silvery sheen on the water southeast of the Mississippi Delta. Image from NASA Terra satellite instrument Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS)
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Before and after Hurricane Florence swept through the Carolinas, the Landsat 8 satellite observed several residential areas and major rivers. Natural color images can reveal how soils, sediments, decaying leaves, pollution, and other debris discolor the water in the swollen rivers, bays, estuaries, and the nearshore ocean.
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and a thick band of clouds bringing snow and gusty winds from the Mid-Atlantic states to New England. These types of storms can cause blizzard conditions, power outages, flooding, and bitter wind chill across the entire east coast.
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Satellite data is used to track wildfire spread, plan fire suppression logistics and tactics, determine evacuation needs, project air quality issues, and aid other decision-making.
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carriers. In addition, had the NASA observations been used by the London Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre, an estimated additional $132 million, for a total of $204 million, in revenue losses and costs might have been avoided during the incident.
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November 10, 2016 Suomi NPP VIIRS True Color Image November 10, 2016 Terra MODIS Aerosol Optical Depth (unitless) August 22, 2015 Terra MODIS True Color Image August 22, 2015 Left: True color images of widespread wildfire smoke over the southeastern United States (top)
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In the winters of 2012 to 2016, a stationary atmospheric ridge formed over the North Pacific, preventing these storms from reaching the West Coast and partially causing a severe drought. The drought was compounded by warmer than normal ocean temperatures.
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The estimated 146 million people worldwide living along the coast within 1 m or less above mean high tide -- about 2 percent of the global population -- are at direct risk this century. The largest impacts will be associated with storm surge and intense rainfall, which are exacerbated by changes in local relative sea level, tidal amplitudes, local subsidence, and the nature of extreme meteorological forces.
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By measuring gravity changes over the entire Earth, the GRACE mission produces monthly maps of how liquid water, ice, and solid Earth components are being redistributed within and between the ocean and the continents. This information has helped to explain and to quantify mass changes of ice sheets and mountain glaciers, water losses from lakes and underground aquifers, and their overall contribution to sea-level rise.
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In recent years, forest clearing has released about 10 percent as much carbon dioxide as fossil energy and industrial activity, and fires associated with climate change are increasing. Forest managers in many parts of the world have active discussions or operational programs that allow countries and individuals to make forests key mechanisms in the portfolio of strategies they use to manage their carbon emissions.
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