NASA contributions in Earth science
research, applications, and capacity building for water cycle science andresource management in Asia and Africa

Christine M. LeeNASA Earth Science Division
Applied Sciences Program

GEOSS Joint Asia – Africa WaterCycle Symposium
November 25-27, 2013

NASA Earth Science Division (ESD) leads aprogram of breakthrough research that advances
knowledge on the most important scientificquestions about Earth as a system.

NASA Earth Science Division (ESD) leads aprogram of breakthrough research that advances
knowledge on the most important scientificquestions about Earth as a system.

Applied Sciences Program (within ESD) works to maximize thebenefit of these breakthroughs, by developing decision support
tools and information products for end users (resourcemanagers) and strengthening capacity to use them.

Mission Concept,Planning,Investment

Design (sensors,capability,engineering)

Maintenance(Hardware, Data
processing, cal/val,other)

Advanceunderstanding of Earth
as a System

Mission Concept,Planning,Investment

Design (sensors,capability,engineering)

Maintenance(Hardware, Data
processing, cal/val,other)

Advanceunderstanding of Earth
as a System
Transition products tooperations through partner
engagement and/or capacity
strengthening

Develop tools (maps,data products, services,decision support) andapplications for resource
mgmt and decisions

From Research to Operations and Capacity
Water cycle science, applications in NASA Earth science
Drought Monitoring

Agriculture: Water
Delivery and Irrigation

Coastal Applications

SERVIR

Flood Monitoring,Forecasting &Assessment

Water-Energy-FoodEcology Nexus

DEVELOP Program

Applied Remote
SEnsing Training

Tools and Applications for Water
Resources and Disaster
Assessment
Developing tools to fully utilize advances inWEC science that can transition to operations

Capacity Building Program
Partnering with end users to strengthen
capacity to utilize tools and Earth observations

Water and Energy Cycle Science
What processes drive the cycle of water and energy
on Earth?
Precipitation (TRMM/GPM)

Groundwater Variability (GRACE)

Soil Moisture Assessment(SMOS/AMSR-E/SMAP)

Water Quality / Freshwater
Availability (Landsat/SWOT)From Research to Operations and Capacity
Water cycle science, applications in NASA Earth science
Drought Monitoring

Agriculture: Water
Delivery and Irrigation

Coastal Applications

SERVIR

Flood Monitoring,
Forecasting &Assessment

Water-Energy-FoodEcology Nexus

DEVELOP Program

Applied RemoteSEnsing TrainingTools and Applications for Water
Resources and DisasterAssessment
Developing tools to fully utilize advances in
WEC science that can transition to operations

Capacity Building Program
Partnering with end users to strengthen
capacity to utilize tools and Earth observations

Water and Energy Cycle Science

Research and Analysis(R&A)
What processes drive the cycle of water and energy
on Earth?

Precipitation (TRMM/GPM)

Groundwater Variability (GRACE)

Soil Moisture Assessment(SMOS/AMSR-E/SMAP)

Water Quality / Freshwater
Availability (Landsat/SWOT)From Research to Operations and Capacity
Water cycle science, applications in NASA Earth science
Drought Monitoring

Agriculture: Water
Delivery and Irrigation

Coastal Applications

SERVIR

Flood Monitoring,
Forecasting &Assessment

Water-Energy-FoodEcology Nexus

DEVELOP Program

Applied Remote
SEnsing Training

Tools and Applications for Water
Resources and DisasterAssessment

Applied Sciences Program

Developing tools to fully utilize advances in
WEC science that can transition to operations

Capacity Building Program
Partnering with end users to strengthen
capacity to utilize tools and Earth observations

Water and Energy Cycle Science

Research and Analysis(R&A)
What processes drive the cycle of water and energy
on Earth?

Precipitation (TRMM/GPM)

Groundwater Variability (GRACE)

Soil Moisture Assessment(SMOS/AMSR-E/SMAP)

Water Quality / Freshwater
Availability (Landsat/SWOT)From Research to Operations and Capacity
Water cycle science, applications in NASA Earth science
Drought Monitoring

Agriculture: Water
Delivery and Irrigation

Coastal Applications

SERVIR

Flood Monitoring,
Forecasting &Assessment

Water-Energy-FoodEcology Nexus

DEVELOP Program

Applied Remote
SEnsing Training

Tools and Applications for Water
Resources and Disaster
Assessment

Applied Sciences Program

Capacity Building Program
Partnering with end users to strengthen
capacity to utilize tools and Earth observations

Developing tools to fully utilize advances in
WEC science that can transition to operations

Water and Energy Cycle Science

Research and Analysis(R&A)
What processes drive the cycle of water and energy
on Earth?

Precipitation (TRMM/GPM)

Groundwater Variability (GRACE)

Soil Moisture Assessment(SMOS/AMSR-E/SMAP)

Water Quality / Freshwater
Availability (Landsat/SWOT)

Carbon Cycle and Ecosystems

Land Cover Land Use Change

CryosphereWATER SATELLITE MISSIONS(Launching in 2014)
The Global Precipitation Measurement(GPM) Mission (en route to Japan)– International network of satellites thatprovide the next-generation global
observations of rain and snow
– Planned Launch of Core Observatoryfor 2014

The Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP)
Mission– Global observations of mapped soil
moisture and freeze/thaw data with
unprecedented accuracy, resolution,and coverage– Planned Launch for 2014

GRACE Derived Terrestrial Water Storage
Variations
GRACE measures changes in total terrestrial
water storage, including groundwater, soil
moisture, snow, and surface water.

Animation of monthly GRACE terrestrial water storage anomaly
fields. A water storage anomaly is defined here as a deviation fromthe long-term mean total terrestrial water storage at each location.

• Used for monitoring critical ground water depletion in India (irrigation) and theMiddle East (irrigation and drought)• Downscaled GRACE using land surface modeling for soil moisture and ground water
loss (to 25 km grid)Applications and Research: Asia
Central Asia Regional
Information Network (O.
Krankina/NASA LCLUC)
Snow Water
Equivalent(J.Dozier/UCSB)HIMALA Snow
Melt/Glacier Melt
Hydrologic Modeling(M.Brown/GSFC)
Mekong River Basin
Flood Forecasting (J.
Bolten/GSFC)
Northern India
Groundwater (M.
Rodell/GSFC)

Coastal Wetland
Mapping (C. Duane
Armstrong/SSC)

Applications and Research: Africa
Nile Basin with land cover
mapping, ET, hydrology (B.
Zaitchik/JHU)

MENA WISP (w/ WorldBank and USAID, S.
Habib/GSFC)

Famine Early Warning
System Network (USAID, J.
Verdin/USGS)Capacity Building and Applications:
SERVIRA NASA-USAID partnership to improve environmental management andresilience to climate change by strengthening the capacity of governments
and other key stakeholders to integrate Earth observation information andgeospatial technologies into development decision-making

Administrator Rajiv Shah of USAID and Administrator
Charlie Bolden come together to sign an MOU for thepartnership.

Regional Hubs

Potential Future Hubs

SERVIR-Hindu Kush Himalaya
SERVIR hub hosted at regional
institution

Glacier/Alpine Hazards(J. Kargel/Univ. Arizona)• Long term partnerships w/ hubs
• End user needs• Mapping Demand with Supply
Flood Warning
Forecast (F.
Hossain/Tenn.Tech)SERVIR-East Africa
Int. Flood Risk, Climate,
Human Health Tool (P.
Ceccato/Columbia-IRI)
Drought/Horn of Africa(J. Verdin/USGS)
Ag/Drought
Prediction(S. Granger/JPL)
Frost Mapping Tool
(C. Albers/MSFC)

Hydrologic Model (J.
Valdes, U. AZ)

CREST HydrologicModel (A.
Limaye/MSFC)

Water oriented future missions and considerations
Specific needs/activities that can benefit
from GEO coordination
Surface Water and Ocean Topography(SWOT) Mission – 2020, improving
freshwater availability component ofGlobal Water Budget

CoreH2O concept for ESA not selected,
but there is an important need toresolve remote sensing
measurements/estimates of snow
falling and fallen snow (ground).
Multi-sensor, A-train science.
Synchronizing missions to overlay
various types of data/variables (e.g.
GPM + SMAP,) and coordinating thisacross other space agencies.
Important of in situ networks anddatasets. Continuing to work within
the GEO community to improve accessto these networks.

Recent partnership activity
Workshops, joint funding forprojects, collaboration on use ofremote sensing in data-scarceregions.
Members of IWWG having monthly
meetings, discussing and coordinating
USG strategy regarding global waterIssues.

SERVIR, FEWSNET, andother.

U.S. Water Partnership helps US expertise across USG, private sector coordinate.
Through USWP, we are working towards partnerships with World Resources
Institute and Skoll Global Threats.

Upcoming opportunities/events
PEER Water – Funding Opportunity for non-U.S. based
researchers to partner with NASA Applied Sciences PIs on
water challenges using Earth observations
Securing Water for Food - Grand Challenge forDevelopment (open RFA right now)
NASA Applied Sciences
Water Resources Applications Area
Solicitation to be released in 2013
USG Capacity Building Workshop
NASA Headquarters, December 4, 2013
Water Resources Management and Remote Sensing
Town Halls (US GEO Water strategy/contributions to GEO)

Thank you for Earth
yourScienceattention.
Missionsin Operation

christine.m.lee@nasa.gov(Now Landsat 8)