A REVIEW OF

GLOBAL LEARNING &

 OBSERVATIONS TO BENEFIT 

THE ENVIRONMENT 

(GLOBE)

A P R I L 2 0 1 0

Office of Science and Technology Policy

Ac h i e v i n g an d S ustai n i n g 

Eart h O bse rvat ions :

A Preliminary Plan Based on 

a Strategic Assessment by the 

U.S. Group on Earth Observations

S e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 0

“The Office of Science and Technology Policy, in collaboration 

with the relevant agencies, should develop and implement a 

plan for achieving and sustaining global Earth observations. 

This plan should recognize the complexity of differing agency 

roles, responsibilities, and capabilities....”1

National Research Council, 2007

Achieving and Sustaining Earth Observations 3

Introduction

We live in an era of unprecedented stress on our planet. The combination of 

population growth, climate change, resource demand, and the continuing development 

of coastal and built areas creates significant challenges for the Nation. To meet these 

challenges, there is a need for information about the Earth system and how it is changing 

over time. A robust infrastructure of Earth observations is necessary to support the 

Nation’s need to inform decisions and policy. Additionally, in this ever more global 

society, information and understanding derived from Earth observations are important 

in sustaining the U.S. role in global leadership.

The U.S. Government recognizes that a coordinated approach is needed to sustain 

and build on the current set of Earth observations. Beyond coordination, there is a 

need for a continued national commitment to ensure that Earth observations, like other 

critical infrastructure, are maintained and continued.

What’s at Stake

OUR WELFARE AND OUR PRODUCTIVITY:

CLIMATE AND ENERGY

Global climate change presents us with a complex and inextricably-linked mix of 

environmental, economic, security, and political issues for all nations on the planet. It 

is a long-term, century-to-millennial problem, the outcomes of which directly depend 

on the soundness of decisions being made today. Climate change is most clearly 

defined at the global scale. However, society faces greater challenges in characterizing, 

understanding, and predicting its impacts at the scale of local communities and 

individuals. Decisions being made over such an unprecedented range of temporal 

and geographic scales, and affecting all human activity, must rest on the bedrock of 

accurate scientific information. This information must be derived from comprehensive, 

coordinated, and sustained observations of the Earth system in order to characterize the 

impacts of climate change, and inform our plans for adaptation and mitigation.

We see extraordinary changes in Alaska, Greenland, the Arctic, and Antarctica, with 

loss of permafrost, glacial mass and sea ice, as well as rising sea levels and coastal erosion, 

all occurring faster than previously projected. The oceans are acidifying, likely due to rising 
Achieving and Sustaining Earth Observations 4

atmospheric CO2 levels, with potentially catastrophic consequences for fisheries and coral 

reefs. These changes have implications for a host of activities such as shipping, resource 

development, fishing, tourism, subsistence livelihoods, ecosystem health, and scientific 

exploration, as well as creating new national and economic security concerns. Gaps in our 

ability to observe and track these changes will lead to deficiencies in our ability to better 

understand and project future change and to better craft our near- and long-term response.

Energy is essential to increasing standards of living around the world and is the 

root of our climate change challenge. The widespread and large-scale use of fossil fuels 

such as coal, gas, and oil is the primary contributor to increases in greenhouse gas 

concentrations. Expected increases in world population, together with the desire for 

economic development, guarantee a growing demand for energy. The extent to which 

fossil fuels and other energy sources continue to be used will determine the future 

human influence on the global climate, and whether the rapid increase in greenhouse 

gas concentrations will continue during this century. Managing the risks of climate 

change will require a profound, systematic, and global transformation in the production 

and consumption of energy. Observations of natural resources such as wind, water, 

and sunlight are essential to manage current and future renewable energy technologies 

effectively and to deploy the “smart” electrical grid needed to improve the efficiency, 

reliability, and flexibility of electricity production and consumption.

If the nations of the world were to limit the use of fossil fuels, the right to emit 

carbon dioxide could become an increasingly valuable traded commodity. In such a 

world, observations of the location, amount, and rate of carbon dioxide emission into 

the air, as well as the stock and flow of all forms of carbon on land and in the oceans, 

will be needed to manage a global carbon market fairly and efficiently. Finally, we need 

observations to characterize the location, magnitude, and rate of climate change impacts 

to strike an ongoing balance between investments in adaptation, and building the new 

energy infrastructure and systems for a sustainable future.

LIFE ON EARTH:

NATURE, FOOD, WATER AND HEALTH

Human existence depends on the thin layer that is the biosphere—a system that is 

being increasingly stressed, modified, and simplified by human activities. These changes 

are increasing species extinctions and reducing the resiliency and long-term capacity of 
Achieving and Sustaining Earth Observations 5

biological systems to respond to change and produce the goods and services upon which 

we depend. The global population will likely reach 9 billion by 2050, and providing 

the food, goods, and services for such a population will necessitate changes in many 

areas. A rising standard of living in countries such as China, India, and Brazil, as well as 

the diversion of some food crops to ethanol production, have put increased pressure 

on current food production and distribution systems. Over-fishing and degradation 

of coastal and marine ecosystems are putting further pressure on providing nutrition 

to the people of the world. Food security is a major issue that can lead to the fall of 

governments, human suffering, political instability, and human migration.

The 2008 U.S. National Defense Strategy identified population growth and 

competition for scarce resources as key security challenges facing our Nation, and the 

2005 Millennium Ecosystem Assessment showed how many of the ecosystem services 

upon which we depend are being degraded globally and/or locally.3 Over 20 percent of 

the global population relies on ocean fisheries and aquaculture as their primary source 

of protein. However, overexploitation of many fish stocks and alteration of habitats due 

to human activities and/or natural influences such as climate change have already had 

profound consequences for many ecosystems and fishing communities.4 In addition to 

the security of our food, our welfare is also inextricably linked to air and water quality and 

increasing ocean acidification.

Air pollution in the lower troposphere is a major factor in cardiovascular and 

respiratory disease. By U.S. air quality standards, one-third of the U.S. population lives 

in counties or parishes that do not meet national air quality standards.5 Particulate 

pollution and tropospheric ozone, the principal components of photochemical smog, are 

also significant factors that influence climate. The National Research Council (NRC) has 

questioned whether current air quality monitoring infrastructure is adequate to meet the 

challenges of air quality management over the next several decades.6 While the integration 

of remote sensing observations with in situ data promises to deliver greater understanding of 

air pollution, ambient monitoring of air quality at the surface, where exposure to pollution 

occurs, will continue to be an essential component of the Nation’s Earth observation 

system. Air pollution quickly crosses political boundaries, so an effective monitoring 

network needs to be able to integrate observations collected by different agencies and 

governments at Federal, state, and local levels.
Achieving and Sustaining Earth Observations 6

The Nation’s water supply is also of paramount importance to economic development, 

food production, and recreation. Severe drought over the last few years has struck 

parts of the West and Southwest where population growth is among the Nation’s most 

rapid, and in many parts of the country aquifers are being drawn down at rates greater 

than the rate at which they are being replenished. High levels of suspended solids and 

sediments transport nutrients, other organic matter, and contaminants and can degrade 

the quality of receiving waters and damage the downstream ecosystems, as evidenced 

by the existence of hypoxia zones in areas of river discharge. Sediments also create 

infrastructure problems by filling in dams and creating conditions for seasonal flooding.

The U.S. has invested enormous resources in the development and maintenance of water 

infrastructure. Unfortunately, much of this infrastructure is aging and was constructed in a 

time that could not have predicted the current competition for water. Finally, due to political 

and bureaucratic boundaries, water monitoring is not organized on a regional or continental 

scale with any uniformity, adding to the challenge of providing a comprehensive solution.

It has been known for some years now that the oceans of the world are carbon sinks—

absorbing about 30 percent of the carbon dioxide released from the burning of fossil 

fuels, thus reducing the atmospheric carbon.7 While this is beneficial in terms of global 

warming concerns, research has shown that this is resulting in chemical processes which 

are making the oceans more acidic. Ocean acidification has enormous implications 

for biodiversity and ecosystems, resulting in the degradation of coral reefs, stresses 

to the metabolic rates of many species, and declining reproductive health of oceanic 

organisms. This phenomenon will have major impacts on human health and well-being 

as so much of the world is dependent on the resources of the reefs and ocean waters for 

food, recreation, tourism, and coastal protection. Additional research and monitoring 

is needed to expand our understanding of these issues and correctly build them into 

management and climate models. While the oceans provide resources critical to human 

survival and well-being, they also can pose risks, including exposure to aquatic toxins and 

pathogens. Observations are central to providing timely and accurate measurements of 

waterborne pathogens, toxic algae, and other toxins.

Infectious disease already contributes to over twenty five percent of global deaths. 

Climate change—such as warmer temperatures, changes in rainfall patterns, and reduced 
Achieving and Sustaining Earth Observations 7

freezes—means that disease vectors carrying diseases such as West Nile virus, Hanta 

viruses, malaria and dengue fever (i.e., mosquitoes, rodents and other mammals) will be 

able to exist in areas where they have not previously been or in higher numbers, causing 

more illness and challenges for our public health surveillance and response systems.

OUR LIVES AND PROPERTY:

DISASTERS AND EXTREME WEATHER

Each year in the U.S., natural hazards cause hundreds of deaths and cost billions of 

dollars in disaster response, disruption of commerce, and destruction of homes and 

critical infrastructure. Although the number of lives lost to natural hazards each year has 

generally declined, the economic cost of major disaster response and recovery continues 

to rise, in part because of growing populations and investments in coastal and other 

vulnerable areas. In each recent decade, property damage from natural hazard events 

has doubled or tripled. Today, the U.S. ranks second only to Japan in economic damages 

resulting from natural disasters. Improved Earth observations help reduce disaster 

losses by increasing the scientific understanding of why, where, how, and when natural 

disasters occur, characterizing natural hazards and their risks, using natural and human 

infrastructure to minimize impact, and detecting and tracking hazardous phenomena 

through monitoring networks, improved disaster response policies, and implementation.

Coastal storms alone cost the U.S. roughly $7 billion per year.8 Sustained Earth 

observations enable us to build complex models of hurricanes, providing better 

prediction, response, and planning for future development to minimize damage and 

loss of life and infrastructure. Continuity of meteorological data is essential to storm 

prediction; delays in planned meteorological satellites could have major impacts on our 

ability to predict and monitor the path and intensity of tropical storms.

At the same time, the Nation experiences thousands of earthquakes annually, with an 

average of seven large enough to cause serious damage.9 Seventy-five million Americans 

in 39 states face significant risk from earthquakes, which hold the potential to deliver 

devastating blows to urban areas across the country with projected losses up to a quartertrillion dollars from a single event.10 In addition to strong earth shaking from the main 

shock and aftershocks, earthquakes can produce devastating secondary effects such as 

fires, landslides, liquefaction, floods, and tsunamis.
Achieving and Sustaining Earth Observations 8

Before the introduction of controlled burning, decades of efforts directed at 

extinguishing every fire that burned on public lands seriously disrupted the natural role 

of fire in many of our Nation’s most vital ecosystems. In recent years, total lands burned 

have increased significantly, nearly doubling the area burned 20 years ago.11 Data from 

satellites, manned and unmanned aerial vehicles, and ground-based sensors that are 

critical for national and state fire management are not adequate to ensure preparedness 

for wildland fire management and ecosystem restoration.

In 2003 alone, wildfires in Southern California claimed 22 lives and destroyed 3,600 

homes.12 Generally these homes were located in areas “where structures and other 

human development meet or intermingle with undeveloped wildland or vegetative 

fuels.”13 Development in the wildland-urban interface continues to grow. In the Western 

U.S. alone, 38 percent of new home construction is adjacent to or intermixed with the 

wildland/urban interface.14 In the face of this growing challenge, an important tool for 

detecting and monitoring wildland fires could degrade in the near future with the likely 

loss of key satellite instruments.

Our ability to monitor the vitality of our planet and its productivity is critical to 

manage our environment, food, water and health, and to protect our lives and property. 

In each of these areas, Earth observations currently supply information for decision 

making, and today, some measurements are incomplete, either in coverage, periodicity, 

or length of time series. This limits our potential for understanding, modeling, and 

forecasting. Prioritizing measurements and improving the coordination of our Earth 

observing systems would help prepare the Nation to meet the challenges of the future.

What’s Needed

Physical, chemical, and biological information about our planet is vital to our ability 

to plan, predict, respond, and to protect our citizens and infrastructure. Today, millions 

of individual observations are collected every day, allowing us to examine, monitor, 

and try to model atmospheric composition, seismic activity, ecosystem health, weather 

patterns, and hundreds of other characteristics of our planet.

Observations are taken from space, and within the Earth system (in situ), from the air, 

in the water, and on and below the land and the oceans. They are measured by sensors 
Achieving and Sustaining Earth Observations 9

and by people. The data they provide are interpreted, interpolated, and integrated. The 

myriad of observations taken today vary widely in purpose and scope and are appropriately 

distributed among hundreds of programs under the purview of Federal agencies and other 

institutions and individuals. To a large degree, these observations have been only loosely 

coupled, coordinated, and integrated, although there are notable exceptions such as the 

Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment (GEWEX). GEWEX successfully integrates 

activities both nationally and internationally to better observe, understand, and model the 

hydrological cycle and energy fluxes in the Earth’s atmosphere and at the surface, providing 

a great example of what can be done. The leap forward can only be achieved with a synergy 

between remotely sensed and in situ observations supported by robust, interoperable data 

systems that allow for long-term access and archive as well as the opportunity for long 

term monitoring and assessment of status and trends.

Increasingly this promise is being realized, and seemingly disparate observations are 

combined in new ways to produce benefits across multiple societal areas. This recognition 

has led to the concept of an integrated Earth observing system as articulated by the U.S. 

Group on Earth Observations (USGEO).15 In order to achieve the synergies and benefits 

of an integrated system of observations, USGEO identified the following needed elements.

1) A sustainable observing system of systems that focuses on enabling useful products 

for decision-makers and is achieved through a flexible, yet disciplined approach in 

coordination with all partners;

2) Data systems that utilize common data formats and information protocols for easy, 

timely, information sharing and system interoperability; and

3) Quality-control systems that ensure accurate, long-term data records for important 

environmental and climate parameters.

These elements collectively form the basis of the Global Earth Observation System 

of Systems (GEOSS), a multinational effort working to realize a future wherein 

decisions and actions are informed by coordinated, comprehensive, and sustained Earth 

observations and information.

This assessment reaffirms the importance of these three overarching elements to the 

realization of maximum benefits from Earth observations. While there are issues and 
Achieving and Sustaining Earth Observations 10

concerns with all of the components, this assessment focuses on the first element, the 

resource-intensive observational component.

The identification of observations needed derives from a consideration of societal, 

economic, regulatory, and scientific imperatives. Table 1 shows a limited cross section of 

observational parameters and their scientific and operational contributions across the 

“What’s at Stake” themes. This Table is not comprehensive and is intended only to be 

illustrative of the variety of benefits gained from selected observations. Even a cursory 

analysis with respect to societal benefits reveals that synergies among the observable 

parameters argue strongly for a balanced approach to system configuration. In the 

balanced approach, emphasis is given to obtaining as many of the observable parameters 

as possible, rather than extensive measurement of only a few parameters.
Achieving and Sustaining Earth Observations 11

Table 1. Crosscutting Applications of Selected Earth Observations

Climate and 

Energy

Nature, Food, 

Water and Health

Disasters and 

Extreme Weather

Precipitation

Climate variability

Available water-cooling capacity 

for energy production

Agricultural productivity

Disease vector predictions

Flooding

Drinking water availability

Global water cycle

Sustainable development

Ecosystem health

Flooding

Coastal innundation

Landslides

Weather forecasting

Vegetation

Anthropogenic impacts to climate

Global carbon cycle

Sea ice, glaciation and 

snow pack assessment

Sunlight interaction with 

vegetated surfaces

Biofuel production, energy exploration

Energy resource assessment

Ecosystem characterization

Land use change, landscape ecology

Habitat and wetlands management 

and ecological forecasting

Monitoring crops, deforestation

Famine prediction

Foreign agricultural assessment

Global food security

Disease vector growth

Evaporation, Transpiration

Water drainage prediction

Snow accumulation and melt

Water resource assessment 

and management

Salinization

Water drainage predictions 

for flooding

Disaster mitigation and response

Coastal zone assessment 

and monitoring

Soil Moisture

Monitoring areas of desertification

Land use change and 

impact on climate

Crop yield predictions

Drought analysis

Irrigation management

Infectious disease vector growth

Food production

Plant and animal growth

Key element of water cycle

Freeze-thaw state

Flooding and wildfire potential

Improved model of surface 

and atmospheric interaction, 

evaporation rates

Initialization of weather models

Evaporation/transpiration rates

Ecosystems 

and

Biodiversity

Monitoring effects of climate change

Quantification and characterization 

of ecosystems

Ecosystem health

Carbon sequestration

Biofuels

Plant and animal important to food 

production and yield (honey bees, 

pests, invasive species, etc.)

Ecosystem role in replenishing 

clean water

Sustainment of fisheries

Pharmaceutical discoveries

Development and spread of 

new or re-emerging diseases

Land use/land change 

inputs to models

Surface/atmosphere interaction

Protection from coastal storms

Erosion, landslides, etc.

Flooding
Achieving and Sustaining Earth Observations 12

What Can Be Achieved

The coupling of diverse observations has revolutionized such areas as weather 

forecasting, environmental monitoring, and the projection of stratospheric ozone 

depletion. Such coupling holds great promise for many other applications such as the 

monitoring of our Nation’s forests and predicting disease outbreaks around the world.

Dramatic improvements in our ability to forecast the weather began in the 1960s with 

the advent of the first geostationary and polar-orbiting satellites that could deliver weather 

information from space. Since that time, satellite observations have been complemented 

with surface-based Doppler weather radars, radiosondes that gather atmospheric profiles, 

and a network of human and automated surface in situ observations that continuously 

collect weather data. Additional systems are under development to further improve 

weather forecasting, such as the implementation of phased array radar technology, which 

has the potential to boost tornado warning lead times from 10-15 minutes to 45 minutes. 

Integration of data available from a wide variety of sources, governmental and nongovernmental, creating regional or local “mesonets” also have the potential to boost forecast 

accuracy on a finer scale than is currently possible.16 Over the same period, the world 

scientific community, through the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), established 

an unparalleled data collection and distribution framework that allows all users worldwide 

free access to weather data, greatly improving weather models and weather prediction.

Ozone depletion projections followed a similar path of progress. Originally developed 

for weather applications, satellite sensors of backscattered solar ultraviolet light 

were found to provide critical measures of total ozone column. When ground-based 

sensors revealed in 1986 that dramatic ozone depletion was occurring in the springtime 

Antarctic stratosphere, satellite sensors were able to verify the loss and measure its 

geographic extent. Observations of ozone-destroying chemicals by other satellite and 

aircraft instruments quickly led to a revolution in our understanding of ozone chemistry. 

The new ozone depletion picture provided a sound basis for eventual international 

agreements limiting the use of chlorofluorocarbons.

Scientists are beginning to use satellite imagery to identify the climatic conditions 

that drive the emergence of infectious diseases or their vectors. This is being done for 

diseases such as cholera, Chikungunya fever, Rift Valley fever, dengue fever, West Nile 
Achieving and Sustaining Earth Observations 13

virus, Hanta virus, and Ebola River hemoragghic fever.17 As more links between Earth 

observations and human health are confirmed, the opportunity to assess and manage 

those risks will increase. These links can only be proven and expanded by the long-term 

availability of ground-based and remote sensing data that reveal patterns or trends that 

allow more accurate forecasting.

Not all important phenomena can be observed from space or in the atmosphere. 

While primary carbon production of the world’s oceans and forests can be measured 

from satellites, many details below the surfaces require in situ measurements. In the 

ocean, observation of biodiversity requires sustained sampling and observing from 

ships with deployment of traditional and novel technologies such as acoustics, remote 

vehicles, and tracking networks. These observations are necessary to support ecosystembased management rather than single species or issue-by-issue approaches. Similarly, 

terrestrial systems need a range of instrumented and human-mediated sampling and 

observations to measure the key components of the environment.

We can expect future observations to yield a profusion of beneficial applications 

from confronting climate change, to improving human health, sustaining food and 

water supplies, and protecting against natural disasters. In all cases, the key to achieving 

benefits will be sustaining strategic investments in observational capabilities.

Where We Are Now

The state of U.S.-led Earth observations was documented in the 2005 Strategic Plan 

for the U.S. Integrated Earth Observation System (IEOS). The IEOS plan described 

an overall system with broad, but uneven effectiveness across nine identified societal 

benefits (Figure 1). This list is not in order of priority, nor is it meant to be exhaustive 

or static. On one end of the spectrum, weather observations, which are supported 

by roughly half of the Federal investment in Earth observations, were recognized to 

form the most mature system. At the other end of the spectrum, an integrated climate 

observing system was far from mature, with very few of its measurement components 

achieving a large temporal span or spatial distribution. Observational issues were 

identified for each of the benefit areas; chief among them were the continuity of key 

measurements and the development of new, transformational observations.
Achieving and Sustaining Earth Observations 14

The state of the U.S. space-based observational system in 2009 was largely unchanged 

from that of 2005, when an interim report of the National Research Council’s committee 

that produced the Earth Science and Applications from Space “Decadal Survey” Report 

described the national system of environmental satellites as “at risk of collapse.” Later, in 

2007, the Decadal Survey Report concluded the outlook had significantly worsened. The 

likelihood of a degradation in land imagery capability, affecting multiple societal needs 

(e.g., agriculture, biodiversity, climate, ecosystems, water, etc.), was almost a certainty. 

In addition, no plans had been developed to continue some of the valuable observations 

demonstrated by the NASA Earth Observing System (EOS) program that benefit the 

disaster preparedness, human health, climate, and water areas. Continuity of the weather 

observing system was also threatened by reductions and delays in the National PolarOrbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) program.

As of FY 2010, deployments of new and replacement satellites are still not keeping 

pace with the termination of older systems, even though many existing satellites are 

operating well past their nominal lifetimes. A number of satellites built as research 

missions were seen to have ongoing societal benefit, but there were no plans for 

continuity of many of these. Given the long development times associated with fielding 

new systems, particularly satellite systems, a sustained commitment to sensor system 

development is necessary to avoid a loss of observing capability in the next decade.

For example, the Landsat series of satellites has provided images of the Earth’s land 

surface for over 38 years, but the future availability of this imagery from the existing 

Landsat satellites remains uncertain. Although Landsats 5 and 7 are currently on-orbit, 

Landsat 5 was launched in 1984 and has far exceeded its expected life, while Landsat 7 

has developed a technical anomaly that limits the utility of its imagery. NASA and the 

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) are developing the Landsat Data Continuity Mission 

(LDCM) with a planned launch in late 2012. Planning for future Landsat missions is 

being undertaken by the USGS and NASA, in cooperation with other stakeholders.

For the ocean, ocean color data have proved to be a key climate variable in quantifying 

carbon uptake from the atmosphere by phytoplankton in addition to understanding the 

impacts of global warming on ocean ecological systems.18 The Sea-viewing Wide Fieldof-view Sensor (SeaWiFS) satellite has provided 13 years of near-continuous observation 
Achieving and Sustaining Earth Observations 15

of oceanic primary production since its 

launch on August 1, 1997. However, the 

satellite system is far past its operational 

life expectancy. The Moderate Resolution 

Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) 

instrument on NASA’s Aqua satellite, 

which also provides ocean color data, is 

also past its nominal lifetime. Significant 

delays in the NPOESS program, and 

continued uncertainty as to how well 

the ocean color sensor on the NPOESS 

Preparatory Project (NPP) will be able 

to provide continuity for the SeaWiFS 

data record, leave the U.S. without clear 

continuity of certain satellite-based 

oceanic primary productivity estimates. 

In the near term, NOAA and NASA 

are actively pursuing international 

partnerships with agencies such as the 

European Space Agency (ESA), the 

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency 

(JAXA), and the Indian Space Research 

Organization (ISRO), which have satellites (current and planned) that may help to 

mitigate this potential gap. On February 1, 2010, the Administration announced that the 

NPOESS program would be restructured. NOAA will be responsible for the afternoon 

orbit with the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) and the Department of Defense will be 

responsible for the early morning orbit with the Defense Weather Satellite System. The 

JPSS satellite is intended to provide continuity of measurements that had been planned 

for the afternoon orbit of the NPOESS program including ocean color measurements.

Development of an integrated climate observing system continues to stand as a large and 

urgent challenge.19 One part of the challenge is that the required observing system must 

deliver multi-decade data records with the accuracy and precision needed to distinguish 

long-term climate changes from natural variability and other environmental influences. 

• Improve Weather Forecasting

• Reduce Loss of Life and 

Property from Disasters

• Protect and Monitor our 

Ocean Resource

• Understand, Assess, Predict, 

Mitigate, and Adapt to Climate 

Variability and Change

• Support Sustainable Agriculture 

and Forestry, and Combat 

Land Degradation

• Understand the Effect of 

Environmental Factors on 

Human Health and Well-Being

• Develop the Capacity to 

make Ecological Forecasts

• Protect and Monitor 

Water Resources

• Monitor and Manage 

Energy Resources

Figure 1. USGEO Societal Benefits
Achieving and Sustaining Earth Observations 16

Two examples of high precision multi-decade data records are the Department of Energy’s 

Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Climate Research Facility and the NASA 

Earth Observing System (EOS). The three fixed ARM sites represent ground and aerial 

measurements and have been measuring clouds, aerosols, and radiation in different climatic 

regimes for over a decade. These data are available to the general science community in 

near real time. EOS demonstrated the ability to create long-term, high-precision satellite 

climate data records. Diagnosing systematic biases and bridging unintentional gaps in 

long-term records are ever-present challenges to successful implementation of a climate 

observing system for both space- or ground-based measurements.

The EOS accomplishments revealed many of the difficulties in “transitioning” 

long-term, research-type measurements to an operational system. Understanding 

and correcting for such measurement challenges requires researchers and specialists 

who are intimately familiar with the instrument technology, and are dedicated to data 

integrity and uncovering the workings of the Earth system. Owing to these challenges, 

the distinction between “research” and “operational” capabilities and assets must be 

considered in order to successfully deliver sustained climate-related measurements. 

Accordingly, overcoming the limitations of the current “research to operations” 

paradigm with respect to climate observations, which require a long-term research 

effort, requires more formal attention. The institutional structures and capacity, and 

agency roles and responsibilities must be developed to deliver an integrated climate 

observing system.

In a world of limited resources, sound stewardship and international collaboration 

are also of great importance in the realm of satellites. In the past, nations and 

agencies focused internally on needs to meet individual missions utilizing agencycentric requirements processes. However, the high cost of replacing and expanding 

observing infrastructure, coupled with difficulty in addressing key data gaps as well as 

data continuity has brought greater visibility to the fact that nations and agencies can 

no longer go it alone. There is a pressing need to leverage national and international 

contributions as well as those from industry and academia to share costs, eliminate 

duplication of effort, and increase our ability to cover gaps. This includes observing 

infrastructure as well as our ability to obtain access to and leverage data from relevant 

foreign sources. The intergovernmental Group on Earth Observations (GEO), the 
Achieving and Sustaining Earth Observations 17

international Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS), the U.S. Group on 

Earth Observations (USGEO), and many other important groups have been established 

to enhance this collaboration. These organizations can serve as a force multiplier, 

allowing partners to capitalize on each others’ strengths in fostering the common good.

The Assessment Process and Priorities

In June 2008 the USGEO Strategic Assessment Group (SAG) began to develop its 

first set of recommendations for national Earth observation priorities. The charge to 

the group was unique in that the focus was not only to be across all U.S. government 

agencies and the nine USEGO societal benefit areas, but also was to include 

measurements from all types of platforms: space-based, land and sea-based, airborne, 

subsurface, and observations collected by humans.

The initial step in this assessment was for the societal benefit area subgroups to 

comprehensively gather the key observations identified by national and international 

panels of experts. This resulted in a large number of measurements. The team then focused 

on measurements that had multiple benefits across the Societal Benefit Areas (SBAs) or 

measurements that were deemed critical to an individual SBA. This greatly narrowed the 

set of observations being assessed. In the next step the team evaluated each measurement 

in terms of whether it was particularly at risk, with a current or looming gap in a valuable 

data record, or was an observation that is not yet being made but held great promise 

for providing dramatic gains or a scientific breakthrough. This resulted in 17 specific 

observations. Finally, the team considered additional observing components that either 

serve as necessary enablers of the 17, or allowed greater opportunity for exploitation of 

a particular measurement. This step ensured that important calibration and reference 

measurements were included, as well as adding greater spatial resolution or providing 

the potential for greater understanding and interpretation of results. A schematic of this 

process is shown in Figure 2. The resulting priority observations are listed alphabetically 

in Table 2, and greater detail for each can be found in the supplement at the end of the 

document. Though not the focus of this assessment, the SAG also strongly noted the need 

for effective data management systems to provide access, quality control, and archiving to 

maximize usefulness of all observations.
Achieving and Sustaining Earth Observations 18

Figure 2. Assessment Methodology

In completing this assessment, the SAG assumed that some systems funded and 

currently under development, such as the NPOESS Preparatory Project (NPP), JPSS 

and the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite R-Series (GOES-R) will be 

successfully put into operation. Aside from observations to support weather forecasting, 

a few climate-related parameters, and the single Landsat data continuity mission 

scheduled for late 2012, there were few definite plans for sustained measurements of 

many other critical observable parameters until the fy2011 Budget. Some of the current 

measurement series that have been collected through successive research efforts are 

recognized to be under immediate threat of discontinuity. At the same time, some 

shorter-term measurement series are increasingly earning recognition as scientifically 

important and as being candidates for longer sustained collection.

Individual agencies are confronted with maintaining and improving existent systems 

and developing new systems within a difficult fiscal environment. In addition, there 

is increasing recognition for the need to define a new structure for sustained Earth 

observing systems, particularly for climate, in a way that addresses the need for highly 
Achieving and Sustaining Earth Observations 19

accurate and precise long-term data records. The need for a more comprehensive 

understanding of global carbon and its fluxes between the atmospheric, terrestrial, and 

oceanic reservoirs is paramount. While not called out as a single comprehensive priority 

in Table 2, the elements of a global carbon observing system are contained within the 

priorities for greenhouse gases, landscape characterization / vegetation, and ocean color.

Achieving benefits in the nine societal benefit areas defined by USGEO requires more 

than integrating observation and monitoring into a coordinated system. It requires a 

broader scheme that includes models to process data, to simulate phenomena, and to 

forecast conditions as well as the data centers, scientists, and systems of data curation 

to leverage past, present, and future expenditures most effectively, and tools to provide 

a useful interface for decision makers. To move forward, the SAG recommended 

establishing collective near-term priorities such as those documented in Table 2 of this 

document to help the U.S. Government sustain and improve key Earth observations.

Building on the recommendations presented by the SAG, OSTP articulates in this 

report a preliminary plan for achieving and sustaining U.S.-based Earth observations. 

Table 2 and the supplement highlight recent investments during the Obama 

Administration through 2009, including the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act 

of 2009 and 2010 appropriations to implement many of the priorities outlined in the 

strategic assessment. Table 2 and the supplement also highlight proposed investments in 

the President’s 2011 Budget to achieve and sustain Earth observations.

We are Making Progress

The Administration has taken decisive steps to begin reversing the trend of declining 

observational capabilities. The longer term need is the development of an overall 

national strategy for Earth observations.

The initial step was to put the Nation’s system of polar-orbiting operational 

environmental satellites on a path to success, as plans for continuity of a number of 

Earth observations from space had been tied to NPOESS at one point or another in the 

program’s history. There was first a need to “bound” the capabilities of the polar-orbiting 

operational environmental satellites in order to avoid the problem of having large, 

monolithic platforms responsible for obtaining an overly broad set of measurements, 
Achieving and Sustaining Earth Observations 20

which contributed to the fragility of the constellation of Earth observing satellites by 

having a “single string” failure mode. Once the “bounds” of the future platforms were 

determined, only then could the Administration focus on where the agencies needed “to 

fill in the gaps” in terms of continuity of key climate observations.

For the near-term, the Administration has recently taken a significant step in regards 

to continuity of key weather and climate data from space with the decision to restructure 

the NPOESS program with revised agency responsibilities for implementation of 

observational assets. NOAA was assigned responsibility for the afternoon orbit and 

for fielding of the shared ground system. The NOAA JPSS will support this effort by 

delivering observations in the afternoon orbit. The Department of Defense (DOD) was 

assigned responsibility for the early morning orbit. Responsibility for the mid-morning 

observations remains unchanged, and will be provided by the European Organisation 

for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) which operates the 

MetOp polar-orbiting satellites. NOAA is also responsible for cooperative activities with 

international partners who will assist with implementation of the NPOESS restructure. 

This coordination involves close contact with EUMETSAT, the Japan Aerospace 

Exploration Agency, the Centre National d’Études Spatiales, and the Department of 

National Defence-Canada. The Administration’s decision to restructure NPOESS 

reaffirmed the importance of meeting the Nation’s space-based environmental needs for 

sustained weather and climate observations from polar-orbiting satellites.

The Administration has also made substantial increases in funding as part of the 

FY2011 budget for NOAA’s Satellite and Information Services portfolio and NASA’s 

Earth Sciences program. NASA will be using this augmentation to address pressing 

scientific and national issues associated with climate change and the Nation’s climate 

research and monitoring capabilities. As recommended by the NRC’s Decadal Survey, 

this budget returns NASA Earth Science funding to the approximate level that it had 

in FY2000, an increase of more than 30% from recent levels. This funding allows for 

the acceleration and expansion of activities across the entire, coordinated Earth Science 

program—in the areas of flight missions, research, applications, and Earth Science 

mission technology development—thus advancing the balance and scope that have been 

hallmarks of NASA Earth System Science. In addition to building the Orbiting Carbon 

Observatory-2 mission for launch in 2013, NASA will: accelerate development of the four 
Achieving and Sustaining Earth Observations 21

NRC Decadal Survey Tier 1 missions so that they are all launched by 2017; accelerate 

and expand the Venture-class line of competed, innovative small missions; initiate new 

space missions to address continuity of high-priority climate observations; and bring two 

Decadal Survey Tier 2 missions forward to allow launch by 2020. Complementing the 

flight portfolio expansion, NASA will advance climate research, multiply applications 

using the full set of available (NASA and non-NASA) satellite measurements for direct 

societal benefit, and develop/mature technologies required for the next generation 

of Earth observing missions. The challenge that NOAA and NASA face is to develop 

the research to operations transition to ensure that the most promising NASA 

measurements are placed onto NOAA operational platforms.

The Administration also showed significant support for ocean observing by signing 

into law the Integrated Coastal and Ocean Observation System Act section of the 

Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-11). In accordance with 

this Act, NOAA and other federal agencies engaged in ocean observing are continuing to 

build and sustain a system to provide critical ocean and coastal observations to regional, 

national and global end users. As part of the U.S. Global Change Research Program’s 

(USGCRP) role in coordination of the federal climate change research portfolio across 

all the relevant agencies, the principal agency representatives to USGCRP reviewed 

NASA’s draft plan for the FY2011 augmentation, and these reviews will be taken into 

account as NASA moves forward in implementing the plan. The Administration intends 

to utilize USGCRP in a similar manner in the future as a mechanism for ensuring broad 

federal coordination on climate observations.

The Administration will be drawing on the preliminary plan presented in this report to 

assist in the development of a comprehensive strategy for Earth observations. This report 

represents a first but significant step in developing a larger strategy for Earth observations.

Conclusions

Our ability to understand and respond to our changing planet hinges on timely 

scientific information and situational awareness. Information and understanding 

will continue to be the foundations of decision support in the face of uncertainty. 

Investments in Earth observations over the last 40 years have brought remarkable 
Achieving and Sustaining Earth Observations 22

achievements in weather prediction, disaster prediction and response, land management, 

and our broad base of Earth science knowledge. Earth observation products provide, at a 

minimum, an additional $30 billion to the U.S. economy annually.20

The only way to know what is happening to our planet and to manage our resources 

wisely and proactively is to measure it. This means tracking changes decade after decade 

and reanalyzing the records in light of new insights, technologies, and methodologies. 

Our government has supported scientists in producing long-term Earth observation 

records, such as those for total column ozone and the amount of carbon dioxide in 

the atmosphere. Similarly, statistically-based surveys using oceanographic ships have 

documented some species, such as marine fish in the Northeast U.S., over time periods 

approaching five decades.21 These high-quality, long-term data records and others like 

them have inevitably yielded dividends to our Nation vastly exceeding expectations. 

By enhancing development and deployment of observations, we can continue essential 

measurements and launch new observations that have the potential to improve our 

scientific ability in ways that could revolutionize our understanding of the planet.

U.S Government agencies are successfully working together to provide these 

observations to the public through well-known systems such as those of the National 

Weather Service, and also innovative collaborations such as the AIRNow air quality 

portal, the National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS), and international 

partnerships such as the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). This 

infrastructure and support for data management, analysis, and use is frequently not 

costed out sufficiently when data collection systems are developed and built.

The crucial satellite and in situ observations currently made or outlined here will 

be of diminished utility unless we also sustain (1) effective data management of 

the observations collected; (2) large-scale numerical simulation capabilities in both 

government agencies and academia to explore scenarios using these observations; and 

(3) the scientists necessary to provide data stewardship expertise to ensure that the 

observations and products derived from them are made accessible to the various science 

and user communities that require them for both research and applications. These are all 

required to maintain and sustain U.S. leadership in Earth observations research; not least 

is the key need for leadership in basic science of adaptation to, and mitigation of, climate 
Achieving and Sustaining Earth Observations 23

change. The satellite and in situ observations described in this report are complementary; 

and as such it is essential to bear in mind that satellite observations universally rely 

upon ground observations for calibration and validation, and that many current uses 

of satellite observations employ objective analyses to blend the high accuracy of in situ

observation with the high spatial coverage provided from space-based platforms.

While this report highlights a number of areas for improving and integrating 

Earth observations, it does not consider the costs of implementing new Earth 

observation systems. Decisions to implement Earth observation systems should include 

consideration of costs, benefits, and availability of resources. This document provides 

a start; its principal offering is a set of priorities that is a pragmatic and incremental 

depiction of what is truly needed. Building on these priorities, the document also offers 

a preliminary plan, to be updated on an ongoing basis, for making progress toward these 

priorities. However, we see the emergence of a new paradigm that exploits the full value 

and possibilities of Earth observations in concert. So much can be achieved, but we must 

renew our national and international commitment to this life-sustaining infrastructure.
Achieving and Sustaining Earth Observations 24

Table 2. USGEO Alphabetical Summary of Recommended Observations – Near-Term Gaps and Opportunities

These recommended observations are not meant to replace existing capabilities, but 

to build upon them in each of these key areas. They will be most useful when built on 

interoperable standards, widely distributed for use, and supported over time.

Measurement Space-Based Recommendations and Status

In situ Recommendations 

and Status Rationale Linkages

Air Quality 

(gases and 

aerosols)

For space-based observations, the 

top operational and research need 

is more frequent and finer spatial 

resolution data. This could be done 

in coordination with any development 

and deployment of other geostationary or low-Earth orbit capabilities by 

international partners. NASA should 

proceed with the NRC Decadal 

Survey mission Geostationary Coastal 

and Air Pollution Events (GEOCAPE) 

after 2020.

NOAA should work towards 

implementing the recommendations 

of the 2004 NRC report, Air Quality 

Management in the United States. This 

report calls for enhancing the existent 

ground-based monitoring network 

by redistribution of current assets, 

prioritizing additional locations, deploying new technologies, and developing 

complementary capabilities to observe 

vertical profiles and utilize satellite 

observations. Have EPA sustain and 

advance current infrastructure such as 

the National Air Monitoring Stations/

State and Local Air Monitoring Stations 

(NAMS/SLAMS), the National Core 

Multipollutant Monitoring Network, 

and the Photochemical Assessment 

Monitoring Stations (PAMS) with funds 

proposed in the 2011 Budget. Work 

towards implementing the recommendation contained in the 2008 

NRC report, Observing Weather and 

Climate from the Ground Up: A Nationwide Network of Networks, to develop 

a surface-based mesoscale observing 

system to measure atmospheric 

pollutant composition. The recommendations include carbon monoxide, 

sulfur dioxide, ozone, and particulate 

matter less than 2.5 microns in size 

at approximately 200 urban and rural 

sites (~175 km spacing).

An improved ground-based 

monitoring network integrated with 

observations from geostationary Earth 

orbit, low Earth orbit, and suborbital 

platforms, as used by our national 

weather prediction system, is needed 

to derive a 4-dimensional view (3 

spatial plus temporal) of air quality 

and the processes that drive it.

Health, Air Pollution, Climate, Wildfire
Achieving and Sustaining Earth Observations 25

Measurement Space-Based Recommendations and Status

In situ Recommendations 

and Status Rationale Linkages

Biodiversity See Landscape Characterization/

Vegetation

Support the Smithsonian Institution 

Global Earth Observatories (SIGEO), 

the National Ecological Observatory 

Network (NEON), the Long Term 

Ecological Research (LTER), and 

Experimental Forests and Ranges 

(EFR). Ensure the continuity of trending data collection programs like the 

Forest Service’s Forest Inventory and 

Analysis (FIA) Program and the Natural Resources Conservation Service’s 

National Resources Inventory (NRI). 

Continue to support NOAA’s ocean 

and coasltal living marine resoure 

and ecological/ecosystem surveys. 

The 2011 Budget provides funding to 

sustain the above programs.

In situ data are critical to measure 

ecosystem processes and disturbances such as invasive species, 

wildland fires, and altered phenology 

patterns. Existing programs such as 

the Global Biodiversity Information 

Facility, the Forest Inventory and 

Analysis (FIA) Program, and the National Resources Inventory (NRI) are 

vital in monitoring such ecosystem 

processes and effects, and assess 

their natural range of variations in 

relation to ongoing climate change 

and land management activities. 

Developing a National Phenology 

Network would strongly complement 

these activities. These networks are 

effective for this purpose but are currently too limited in scope to provide 

maximum management effectiveness 

and decision support.

Marine ecosystems are managed 

under a number of Federal statutes 

including the Magnuson Stevens 

Fishery Conservation and management Act, the Marine Mammal 

Protection Act, the Endangered Species Act, the Coral Reef Conservation 

Act, the National Marine sanctuaries 

Act, and others. All of these statutes 

have observing requirements to 

assure adequate protections for the 

nation’s marine resources.

Ecosystems, Pharmaceuticals, 

Climate, Agriculture, Health 

Clouds/

Aerosols

NASA is scheduled to launch Glory 

in 2010, a mission to measure black 

carbon soot and other aerosols. 

NASA currently has the option of proceeding with the NRC Decadal Survey 

Aerosol-Cloud-Ecosystems mission, a 

dedicated aerosol and cloud mission 

in combination with an ocean color 

instrument, after 2020. The 2011 

Budget proposes an augmentation for 

development of an ocean color and 

clouds/aerosols polarimetry mission 

(launch in 2018) to bridge between 

existing on-orbit missions and the 

future, more capable ACE. NOAA and 

NASA should work toward producing 

a VIIRS JPSS imager capable of 

continuing MODIS’ cloud climate data 

records.

Expand the Department of Energy’s 

Atmospheric Radiation Measurement 

(ARM) Climate Research Facility 

(ACRF) ground networks and NASA’s 

AErosol RObotic NETwork (AERONET) 

and Micro-Pulse Lidar Network 

(MPLNET). The 2011 Budget supports 

these efforts. NOAA should continue 

its measurement programs to reduce 

uncertainty in radiative forcing owing 

to both direct and indirect aerosol 

effects. These currently constitute the 

largest uncertainty in overall radiative 

forcing by gases and particles. This 

includes monitoring aerosol properties, distributions, and optical depth 

globally from ground and air-based 

systems, as well as targeted field 

missions. It also requires coordination 

of measurements internationally 

through WMO Global Atmospheric 

Watch (WMO/GAW), the Network for 

Detection of Atmospheric composition 

Change (NDACC), and the Global 

Climate Observing System (GCOS).

There is a potential degradation in 

global aerosol satellite measurements 

due to the inferior performance of the 

VIIRS instrument’s aerosol channels 

and no near-term replacement for 

the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) instrument on 

NASA’s Terra satellite. In situ aerosol 

measurements from the AERONET 

autonomous network, and cloud, 

aerosol, precipitation, and radiation 

observations from the ACRF network 

are key in addressing high-priority 

climate change questions.

Weather Forecasting, Earth Radiation 

Budget, Climate, Water Availability, 

Solar Energy Resources
Achieving and Sustaining Earth Observations 26

Measurement Space-Based Recommendations and Status

In situ Recommendations 

and Status Rationale Linkages

Coastal Zone Continue to support existing systems. Support the Integrated Ocean 

Observing System (IOOS) to maintain 

observations and networks to support coastal climate mitigation and 

adaptation, human health threats, 

and ecosystem management. Key 

components include buoy and coastal 

station networks, high frequency 

coastal radars, the development of 

in situ sensors for rapid detection of 

pathogens, harmful algae, and toxins, 

and exploitation of new cost-effective 

technologies such as ocean gliders. 

Improve the capability for assessing 

hypoxia and its impacts by prioritizing 

the number of observation systems 

(platforms and gliders) measuring dissolved oxygen in coastal waters. The 

2011 budget supports these efforts.

With coastal development continuing 

at a rapid pace, society is becoming 

increasingly vulnerable to water quality issues, and sea level rise. While 

the oceans provide resources critical 

to human survival and well-being, 

they also pose dangers. At present 

there are major gaps in our capability to provide timely and accurate 

measurements of waterborne pathogens, toxic algae, and other toxins. 

Automated monitoring of coastal 

environments can provide real-time 

or near-real-time data at spatial and 

temporal scales not possible with 

current monitoring networks. There 

are also near-shore measurement 

gaps in winds, temperature, salinity, 

waves, and currents on time and 

space scales relevant to the dynamics of waterborne pathogens and 

harmful algae, as well as to navigation and safety of port operations. 

Finally, there are gaps in our ability to 

measure nutrient sources, combined 

sewer outfalls, and other point and 

non-point contamination sources 

along the coasts.

Coastal Ocean Health, Human Health, 

Climate, Disasters

Earth 

Radiation 

Budget/

Total Solar 

Irradiance

NASA should continue plans to 

launch Glory in 2010, a mission to 

observe aerosols and total solar irradiance, the latter with a continuation 

of the SORCE TIM instrument. NOAA 

and NASA should continue development and remanifestation of Clouds 

and the Earth’s Radiant Energy 

System (CERES) for Earth radiation 

budget data on NPP and JPSS, and 

launch the remanifested Total Solar 

Irradiance Sensor (TSIS) as soon as 

a launch vehicle has been identified 

by the JPSS program. CERES is now 

scheduled to fly on the first JPSS 

satellite; options for carrying TSIS on 

orbit are under review.

Maintain and expand the AErosol 

RObotic NETwork (AERONET) and the 

Department of Energy’s Atmospheric 

Radiation Measurement (ARM) Climate Research Facility (ACRF) ground 

networks. NOAA and DOE should 

continue their support of the Baseline 

Surface Radiation Network, the 

Surface Energy Budget Network, and 

other surface radiation measurements 

to provide independent information 

on trends, distributions, and fluxes of 

radiant energy, and to aid in validating 

satellite retrievals. International activities should be continued to ensure 

global coverage and consistency of 

measurements. The 2011 Budget 

supports these efforts.

Solar radiant energy is the major 

driver of the Earth’s climate. The 

input of energy from the sun is 

understood increasingly well since 

total solar irradiance measurements 

from space began in 1978. This 

measurement must be continued, as 

it is the main driver of climate and 

the only source of climate variability 

that we have been able to measure. 

The amount of radiation leaving the 

Earth through the complex system 

of clouds, aerosols, atmospheric 

constituents, oceans, ice, and land 

surfaces provides a quantitative, 

system level check of global climate 

model results. Accurate measurements of the Earth’s radiation budget 

have also been made since 1978 

from satellite instruments designed 

for this purpose. There are currently 

potential gaps in the continuity of 

these measurements.

Climate, Weather Forecasting, Solar 

Renewable Energy
Achieving and Sustaining Earth Observations 27

Measurement Space-Based Recommendations and Status

In situ Recommendations 

and Status Rationale Linkages

Fires Ensure the VIIRS instrument is sufficient for maintaining the fire climate 

data record. A spatial resolution to 

100 meters for visible/infrared bands, 

and 500 meters for the thermal 

bands, with coverage every 6 hours is 

highly desirable. Develop LDCM data 

at a 30 meter spatial resolution.

Support the continued development and deployment of in situ fire 

monitoring capabilities and sensors 

for manned and unmanned aerial 

platforms supporting tactical fire 

management and fire research at 

USDA, NIST, and NOAA.

There is a potential degradation 

in capability in satellite-based fire 

detection and monitoring. Manned 

aircraft are an important data source 

for tactical fire information such as 

active fire perimeters, hotspots, and 

fire spread; information that is critical 

for incident management. Unmanned 

aircraft are a useful capability.

Disasters, Wildfires, Public Safety, 

Forestry, Ecosystems

GeoHazard 

and 

Deformation 

Monitoring

NASA should launch the radar portion 

of the NRC Decadal Survey mission 

Deformation, Ecosystem Structure, 

and Dynamics of Ice (DESDynI) mission. If necessary, the lidar and radar 

instruments on DESDynI can be flown 

on different platforms. The L-Band 

Interferometric Synthetic Aperture 

Radar (InSAR) will provide surface deformation measurements. The 2011 

Budget provides an augmentation 

over previous budget plans for NASA 

to launch DESDynI mission in 2017.

For surface deformation, sustain the 

geodetic monitoring capabilities of 

Earthscope. For earthquakes and 

tsunami, implement the Advanced 

National Seismic System (ANSS), and 

sustain the capabilities of the Global 

Seismographic Network (GSN). Expand 

the number of offshore seismic nodes 

in the Ocean Observatories Initiative 

(OOI). For volcanic activity, USGS is 

implementing the National Volcano 

Early Warning System (NVEWS). For 

the geodetic reference frame, sustain 

the U.S. supported capabilities of the 

Global Navigation Satellite System 

(GNSS) network. The 2011 Budget 

provides funding to support these 

efforts. It also provides an increase 

to USGS to invest in the Advanced 

National Seismic System and National 

Volcano Early Warning System.

Represents a major gap. High-resolution digital topography is a key unmet 

need for many disasters, including 

earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and 

landslides. Currently there is no global 

capability to monitor changes to 

topography (deformation). The seismic 

and volcano monitoring networks 

suffer gaps and inadequate refresh 

of aging infrastructure. A program for 

improved monitoring of volcanoes, 

the National Volcano Early Warning 

System, has been developed.

Disasters, Earthquakes, Volcanoes, 

Landslides, Polar Ice Sheets

Gravity NASA should sustain observations 

of the time-varying gravity field from 

the Gravity Recovery and Climate 

Experiment (GRACE-1) and launch 

GRACE-FO in 2016 (“FO” for “Follow 

ON”), a gap-filler mission with the 

same capabilities and characteristics 

as GRACE-1. The 2011 Budget 

provides funding for GRACE FO to be 

launched in 2016. NASA should plan 

for a follow-on GRACE-2 mission in 

2020 to continue estimating changes 

in ocean mass, terrestrial water storage, and ice sheet mass.

NOAA’s Gravity for the Redefinition of 

the American Vertical Datum (GRAVD) program has the goal of collecting 

gravity data for a new national vertical 

datum by 2023 which will allow improvement in elevations through GPS 

technology to an accuracy of ~2cm 

compared to 2m today, with profound 

implications for all activities relying 

on accurate heights. Sustain NOAA’s 

Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunamis (DART) network of 

ocean bottom pressure recorders. 

These data are crucial for calibrating 

GRACE gravity field measurements. 

The 2011 Budget provides funding 

for NOAA to continue the GRAV-D 

FY10 initiative and to improve the 

DART network.

Gravity measurements provide 

breakthrough capability in estimating 

changes in ocean mass, terrestrial 

water storage, and ice sheet mass. 

Continuity of gravity observations is 

crucial for climate understanding.

Climate, Water Availability, Oceans, 

Polar Ice Sheets
Achieving and Sustaining Earth Observations 28

Measurement Space-Based Recommendations and Status

In situ Recommendations 

and Status Rationale Linkages

Greenhouse 

Gases

NASA should launch a replacement 

for the Orbiting Carbon Observatory 

(OCO), lost in February 2009, in 2013 

and build a spare OCO instrument for 

possible launch in 2015-2017. The 

outcome of the OCO mission should 

be used to evaluate the technical 

approach for the next generation 

greenhouse gas sensors. The 2011 

Budget proposes to launch the OCO2 in 2013 and proposes $171 million 

in FY 2011 for the mission. NASA 

should plan to evaluate different laser 

sounder instruments for measuring 

atmospheric CO2 as called for in the 

ASCENDS Decadal Survey mission. 

The laser CO2 sounder instruments 

could complement OCO and provide 

a great density of measurements 

through their day and night duty 

cycle. NASA may consider additional 

testing that could include aircraft or 

other platforms to mitigate risk. NASA 

should also undertake research to 

monitor CH4 from space.

Support NOAA’s ground and 

air-based measurements of greenhouse gases to provide accurate, 

independent measures of the trends, 

distributions and fluxes of CO2 and 

other greenhouse gases (e.g., N2O, 

CH4, halocarbons), to aid in verifying 

satellite retrievals, and to provide 

needed information on trace gases 

for refining transport models and 

emission sources. Support NOAA’s 

measurements of carbon and dissolved oxygen from ocean carbon 

survey vessels and on a subset 

of the Argo float array to further 

understand carbon sequestration 

and carbon cycle-climate feedbacks 

and ocean acidification. Support 

ship-based efforts to systematically collect full water column data 

on ocean carbon, such as the U.S. 

Global Ocean Carbon and Repeat 

Hydrography Program. Support the 

interagency AmeriFlux network that 

provides continuous observations of 

ecosystem level exchanges of CO2, 

water, energy and momentum spanning diurnal, synoptic, seasonal, and 

interannual time scales and is currently composed of sites from North 

America, Central America, and South 

America. NOAA and NASA should 

continue their support of international 

coordinating mechanisms through 

WMO (particularly Global Atmospheric 

Watch), Global Climate Observing 

System and its supporting panels, 

and the intergovernmental Group on 

Earth Observations (GEO) to ensure 

that global observing systems are 

coordinated and comparable and 

to maximize benefit of international 

observing systems.

Greenhouse gases are key elements 

of the global climate system. The 50-

year record of atmospheric carbon 

dioxide made by NOAA’s global cooperative air sampling network serves 

as the observational foundation of our 

understanding of how greenhouse 

gas concentrations are increasing. 

Atmospheric, terrestrial, and oceanic 

observations are essential for determining the functional relationships 

between carbon fluxes, disturbance, 

and environmental variables is 

essential to improving understanding 

of the carbon cycle. It is known that 

the ocean stores at least 50 times 

more carbon than the atmosphere. 

Understanding the global carbon 

cycle depends on monitoring carbon 

cycling within the ocean and the 

air-sea exchange of carbon dioxide. 

Carbon up-take by the ocean is 

altering the acidity of seawater, which 

is threatening marine animals. Terrestrial ecosystems contain 4 times 

the carbon residing in the global 

atmosphere. Terrestrial carbon stocks 

located on or near the earth’s surface 

are subject to rapidly changing global 

environmental conditions. A focus 

of terrestrial carbon cycle research 

remains the determination of the fate 

and rate of net carbon release from 

ecosystems under projected rapid 

rates of climate change.

Climate, Health, Ecosystems
Achieving and Sustaining Earth Observations 29

Measurement Space-Based Recommendations and Status

In situ Recommendations 

and Status Rationale Linkages

Landscape 

Characterization/

Vegetation

Continue improvements to the Visible/

Infrared Imagery Radiometer Suite 

(VIIRS) instrument scheduled to be 

deployed on NPP and JPSS.

Evaluate an operational moderateresolution satellite program that 

would meet the land imaging needs 

of U.S. civil agencies and society, in 

accordance with the OSTP-led Future 

of Land Imaging Interagency Working 

Group’s recommendations in the 2007 

document “A Plan for a U.S. National 

Land Imaging Program.” Planning for 

Landsat-9 is being undertaken by the 

USGS and NASA, in cooperation with 

other stake-holders. This planning, 

however, must look beyond Landsat 

9 and lay out requirements for an 

operational Landsat program. Recommendations for future Landsat-like 

instruments include a spatial resolution 

of at most 20 meters, at least a 5-day 

repeat cycle, increased daily acquisition 

rates, and possibly additional visual 

shortwave infrared and thermal infrared 

spectral bands. Additional higher 

spatial-resolution imagery will still be 

required to understand field-level conditions. These data could be acquired 

from commercial sources, or by the 

Federal government if the commercial 

sources do not meet requirements. 

NASA and USGS are moving forward 

toward an LDCM launch in 2012.

NASA plans to launch the Deformation, 

Ecosystem Structure, and Dynamics 

of Ice (DESDynI) mission in 2017 to 

provide canopy height and structure 

measurements. DESDynI is an important carbon cycle climate mission for 

providing forest biomass and carbon 

globally. As such, it will be key to 

identifying the forest carbon sink of 

~30% of current global CO2 emissions. 

In addition, it will provide laser altimetry 

and SAR data from ice sheets. If necessary, the DESDynI lidar and DESDynI 

radar could be separated and flown on 

different platforms.

The 2011 Budget requests a $679 

million increase for the JPSS program 

that includes continued development of 

VIIRS toward a target delivery date of FY 

2013. It also requests a $13.35 million 

increase to the USGS to accommodate 

ground system requirements changes 

for LDCM.

Sustain the National Agriculture 

Imagery Program (NAIP) and the 

follow-on program Imagery for the 

Nation (IFTN). The 2011 Budget 

continues NAIP.

There is an imminent gap in the 

Landsat series of satellites. Landsat 

has provided land images used 

for global land cover mapping, 

estimating agricultural production, 

and estimating forest diversity. The 

utility and importance of moderateresolution land imaging data have 

been well proven but the Nation has 

no permanent, operational Landsatlike land-imaging program. The 

current Landsat 5 and 7 missions are 

already past their nominal design life, 

and the next Landsat in the series, 

the Landsat Data Continuity Mission 

(LDCM), is not expected to launch 

until late 2012. The looming gap in 

this 38-year record will impact not 

only agriculture and forestry, but 

also our understanding of the carbon 

cycle, and ecosystem monitoring.

Science missions, which by their 

nature do not provide sustained data 

over time, are not a reliable source of 

the earth observations that are critical 

to land-use and change research. 

Operational limitations coupled with 

the near certainty of a Landsat data 

gap have forced key traditional Landsat users like USDA to go outside the 

US to attempt to satisfy moderateresolution requirements.

Increased spatial and temporal 

resolution are critical to support 

sustainable agriculture. Scientists 

have been able to exploit data from 

sensors that were not intended for 

observations of the landscape, such 

as the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) with its 

29-year record, and cross calibrate 

them with Landsat with its 38-year 

record and the Moderate Resolution 

Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) 

with its 10-year record. The AVHRRMODIS time series will be continued 

by the VIIRS instruments on the NPP 

and JPSS.

Ecosystems, Climate, Agriculture, 

Disaster Response, Wildfire 

Assessment
Achieving and Sustaining Earth Observations 30

Measurement Space-Based Recommendations and Status

In situ Recommendations 

and Status Rationale Linkages

Ocean Color NOAA and NASA continue to pursue 

international partnerships (e.g., the 

European Space Agency (ESA), the 

Japanese Space Agency (JAXA), 

and the Indian Space Research 

Organization (ISRO)) to provide risk 

mitigation strategies for ocean color 

measurements. Should VIIRS not 

meet ocean color requirements, 

investigate improvements to VIIRS 

to meet this requirement. The 2011 

Budget provides an augmentation 

over previous budget plans for 

NASA to begin development of the 

Pre-Aerosol, Clouds, and Ocean 

Ecosystem (PACE) mission for launch 

in 2018. For the long term, proceed 

with the ocean color component of 

NASA’s ACE Decadal Survey mission 

as a potential complement to VIIRS. 

The option of a stand-alone mission 

that is a copy of SeaWiFS, or an 

international exchange of instruments 

on a joint space mission should only 

be pursued if VIIRS will not meet 

the requirement. When released, 

the results of the National Research 

Council Committee on Assessing 

Requirements for Sustained Ocean 

Color Research and Operations study 

should be used to refine the satellite 

strategy. The FY 2011 Budget 

includes a $679 million increase for 

the JPSS program.

Sustain the NASA-NOAA Marine Optical Buoy (MOBY) program and the 

AERONET-Maritime Aerosol Network. 

Ocean color in situ validation efforts 

and the intercomparison of ocean 

color measurements among satellite 

ocean color instruments depend on 

these observations, and the FY 2011 

Budget supports these programs.

Today’s satellite ocean color 

radiometry data form the backbone 

of assessing primary productivity 

and carbon cycling in the ocean, 

supporting fisheries and integrated 

ecosystem assessments, and measuring and monitoring coastal and 

ocean habitat changes, and climate 

impacts. However, this continuous and consistent climate-quality 

record is presently at risk of being 

interrupted. The SeaWiFS mission 

launched in 1997 has experienced 

“outages” during which data are 

not available. Similarly, the MODIS 

instrument on Aqua was launched 

in 2002 and, though currently in 

good health, is also past its expected 

lifetime. The follow-on ocean color 

instruments are the VIIRS instruments 

on NPP and JPSS. It is presently 

unclear if the first VIIRS sensor will 

have the same capability as SeaWiFS, 

however, subsequent VIIRS units may 

reestablish the data record and this 

is the desired source of ocean color 

climate data records. 

Climate, Health, Oceans

Ocean 

Surface 

Vector Winds 

(OSVW)

NOAA and NASA should establish a 

sustained source for OSVW information to maintain and improve upon 

the significant gains in operational 

marine wind forecasting and warning 

capability realized from the QuikSCAT 

OSVW data. International partnerships may also provide cost-effective 

opportunities to sustain this capability.

Maintain the airborne Stepped 

Frequency Microwave Radiometer 

(SFMR) capability aboard the Hurricane Hunter WC-130J and NOAA’s 

P-3 aircraft, and support follow-on 

technologies such as the Hurricane 

Intensity Radiometer (HIRAD) which 

shows promise to provide improved 

prediction of hurricane intensity and 

will provide measurements through 

precipitation. Maintain the existing 

array of fixed and drifting surface 

data buoys.

The value and capability of satellitebased ocean surface vector winds 

(OSVW) measurements was clearly 

demonstrated with over nine years of 

nearly continuous OSVW data from 

the NASA’s polar orbiting QuikSCAT 

satellite. These measurements proved 

to be of important value for climate 

studies and revolutionized operational 

marine weather warnings, analyses, 

and forecasting within National 

Weather Service (NWS) offices. QuikSCAT provided critical wind data that 

enabled NWS to significantly improve 

the accuracy of hurricane force wind 

warnings in the offshore regions of 

the Atlantic and Pacific oceans for 

non-tropical ocean storms, and for 

tropical storms in the Pacific Ocean.

Climate, Weather Forecasting, 

Transportation, Ocean, Hurricanes
Achieving and Sustaining Earth Observations 31

Measurement Space-Based Recommendations and Status

In situ Recommendations 

and Status Rationale Linkages

Precipitation NASA should launch the joint U.S. 

and Japan Global Precipitation 

Measurement (GPM) mission to 

reduce the likely gap in the rainfall 

measurement record provided by 

the Tropical Rainfall Measurement 

Mission (TRMM). The 2011 Budget 

provides an augmentation over previous budget plans for NASA to launch 

the GPM mission in 2013.

Sustain NOAA’s U.S. Climate Reference Network (USCRN) and continue 

work on NOAA’s Surface Energy Budget Network (SEBN) and the Historical 

Climatology Network-Modernization 

(HCN-M) to provide ground-based precipitation measurements. Maintain the 

Nation’s NEXRAD network and move 

toward a dual polarization capability for 

NEXRAD. Dual polarization will provide 

the capability to discriminate between 

precipitation types and provide a 

significant improvement in estimating 

rainfall rates. Support the Department 

of Energy’s Atmospheric Radiation 

Measurement (ARM) Climate Research 

Facility (ACRF) ground networks. 

ACRF’s addition of new scanning precipitation radars as well as scanning 

dual frequency cloud radars provides 

a strong capability for characterizing 

cloud properties and linking with precipitation processes. The 2011 Budget 

supports the new DOE capabilities and 

proposes additional NEXRAD funding 

for acquisition and deployment of Dual 

polarization technology.

Precipitation is the centerpiece of 

our planet’s hydrological cycle, and 

understanding it is crucial to unraveling many of the uncertainties about 

climate change and its impacts. 

Precipitation measurements are also 

critical for flood and landslide prediction, agricultural productivity, spread 

of disease, ecosystem health, water 

availability, and energy production. 

There is currently a looming gap of 

satellite measurement beyond the 

Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission (TRMM).

Weather Forecasting, Flooding, 

Landslides, Climate, Agriculture, 

Disease Vectors, Water Availability, 

Ecosystem Health, Hydroelectric and 

Biomass Renewable Energy Production, Disasters
Achieving and Sustaining Earth Observations 32

Measurement Space-Based Recommendations and Status

In situ Recommendations 

and Status Rationale Linkages

Sea Level The sea level rise problem requires a 

comprehensive observing system approach, built around the measurement 

of sea level and the contributions to 

sea level change from both mass and 

density changes. NOAA and EUMETSAT 

should continue their Jason partnership 

by extending the current generation 

of altimeters with Jason-3, scheduled 

for launch in 2013, and Jason-CS, a 

series of advanced follow-on missions 

beginning in 2018. NOAA should also 

continue, working in collaboration with 

other space agencies through the 

CEOS Ocean Surface Topography Virtual Constellation to ensure maximum 

benefit from the set of international sea 

level altimeter missions.

To determine the mass contributions 

from the melting of grounded ice and 

other continental sources, NASA should 

continue the GRACE gravity measurements (see Gravity Section), launch Ice, 

Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite-2 

(ICESat-2) in 2015, proceed with 

the Landsat Data Continuity Mission 

(LDCM) and DESDynI radar mission to 

measure outlet glacier velocities, and 

proceed with the DESDynI lidar mission 

to continue beyond ICESat-2 crucial 

altimetry of ice sheets.

The FY 2011 Budget fully funds 

Jason-3.

In conjunction with the Jason 

program, it is important to maintain 

the 220+ sea-level tide gauges, the 

U.S. portion of the integrated Global 

Ocean Observing System (GOOS), 

and incorporate Global Positioning 

System (GPS) capability. Tide gauge 

observations are essential for calibrating altimeter observations and, 

in some cases, provide a long (100 

year) record useful for interpreting 

current trends. And, to monitor and 

understand the density contributions 

to sea level change, it is important 

that NOAA continue supporting the 

Argo float array to monitor heat in 

the upper ocean, add a capability to 

provide deep ocean (>2000 down to 

5000 m) profile measurements, and 

deploy real-time-reporting oceanbottom-mounted arrays to monitor 

changing ocean circulation and global 

heat transport. 

Rising sea level is critical to coastal 

population safety and welfare, to 

predicting storm surge and coastal 

inundation from tropical storms, and 

for maritime safety of navigation. 

In situ measurements are needed to 

understand the underlying cause and 

rate of sea level rise.

Climate Change, Coastal Development and Safety, Disasters, 

Commerce and Marine Transportation

Soil Moisture The European Space Agency has 

recently launched and is successfully operating the Soil Moisture 

and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission. 

Proceed with the NASA Soil Moisture 

Active-Passive (SMAP) mission to 

augment this urgently needed data 

record. The 2011 Budget provides an 

augmentation over previous budget 

plans for NASA to launch the SMAP 

mission in 2014. 

Sustain NOAA’s U.S. Climate Reference Network (USCRN) and USDA’s 

Soil Climate Analysis Network (SCAN) 

in situ soil moisture networks. Work 

to implement the 2008 National 

Research Council recommendation 

of a national, real-time network of 

soil moisture observations at approximately 3000 sites. 

There is a strong potential to significantly advance in long-range weather 

and seasonal forecasting. Global 

soil moisture measurements can 

provide improved early warning and 

decision support for droughts, better 

predictions of agricultural productivity, 

and improved flood forecasts. Key 

indicator for heat stress, waterborne 

infectious diseases, disease vectors, 

and zoonotic diseases.

Agriculture, Drought, Flooding, 

Weather and Climate Forecasting, 

Water Cycle Processes, Disease 

Vectors, Health, Biomass Renewable 

Energy

Solar 

Wind and 

Magnetic 

Storms

Refurbish the Deep Space Climate 

Observatory (DSCOVR) satellite and 

its solar wind sensors to replace 

the Advanced Composition Explorer 

(ACE) capability. The 2011 Budget 

provides NOAA $9.5 million for the 

DSCOVR mission.

USGS should modernize the groundbased geomagnetic observatories.It is important to maintain the 

continuity of advanced warning 

of geomagnetic storms impacting 

power grids, satellite operations and 

communications.

Energy, Disaster, Communications, 

Satellite Operations
Achieving and Sustaining Earth Observations 33

Measurement Space-Based Recommendations and Status

In situ Recommendations 

and Status Rationale Linkages

Water 

Quantity and 

Quality

NASA should continue its observations of gravity fields from GRACE-1 

and follow-on gravity missions 

for ground water storage and ice 

sheet mass variations. In addition, 

NOAA and NASA seek international 

partnerships to complement JPSS’s 

ability to understand ground water 

and snow water equivalent (e.g., the 

AMSR-2/3 instruments on JAXA’s 

GCOM mission).

Support the modernization of the 

Nation’s 7,000 stream gauges by 

replacing obsolete telemetry to ensure continued real-time operations 

and provide more timely information 

needed for better water management. Consider supplying more 

opportunities to study large river basins. Investigate and implement new 

technologies to measure sediment 

in rivers. Also support the Advisory 

Committee on Water Information, 

and the National Water Quality 

Monitoring Council plan for sustaining and enhancing the Nation’s 

capability to monitor water quality. 

Continue to improve snow moisture 

measurements such as SNOwpack 

TELemetry (SNOTEL) and the NOAA 

Operational Hydrology Program to 

increase understanding of source 

water from snow and runoff. The FY 

2011 Budget supports these efforts 

through the WaterSMART initiative, 

which invests an additional $9 million 

for a multi-year, nationwide study of 

water availability and use.

Full understanding of the quantity and 

quality of our waters, and particularly 

our ability to locate problems and 

provide timely and accurate warning 

to the public depends on a robust 

monitorning system.

Water Availability, Water Quality, 

Flood, Streamflow, Water Resources 

Forecasting, Health, Agriculture, 

Hydroelectric and Biomass Renewable Energy Production, Sustainable 

Growth
Achieving and Sustaining Earth Observations 34

S uppl e m e n t

This supplement provides more detailed information and selected references for the 

recommended priorities listed in Table 2. The supplement also provides a preliminary 

implementation plan for achieving these options, and recent Administration actions and 

the proposed 2011 Budget begin to address these priorities. These recommendations 

build on a methodology applied by USGEO that naturally arose from the structure of 

the Strategic Plan for the U.S. Integrated Earth Observation System (IEOS), which 

defines the concept of Societal Benefit Areas (SBAs). This assessment focused on 

measurements having multiple benefits across SBAs and measurements deemed critical 

to an individual SBA. Within that subset, measurements that were assessed as being 

particularly at risk or holding great promise for providing dramatic gains or a scientific 

breakthrough were identified. In completing this assessment, the SAG assumed 

that some systems funded and currently under development, such as the NPOESS 

Preparatory Project (NPP), JPSS and GOES-R, will be successfully put into operation.

Air Quality (Gases and Aerosols):

Air quality affects human health, other living organisms, and climate. While much 

has been done in the last forty years to improve air quality, it is still a cause of illness 

in many parts of the Nation, and cleaning up our air can provide an effective nearterm opportunity for climate change mitigation. Typically, air is monitored for several 

pollutants including particulate matter, nitrogen compounds, sulfur compounds, 

carbon monoxide, volatile organic hydrocarbons, and ozone. Over the next several 

decades, the existing ground-based monitoring system, which consists of about 6,000 

monitoring sites across the country, and operated at a cost of about $200M per year, 

will be inadequate to meet the challenges of air quality management and prediction. 

Furthermore, maintaining funding for this system is challenging, even though the 

current investment in air quality monitoring is a fraction of a percent of the annual costs 

of complying with the Clean Air Act or the economic benefits associated with clean air.

An improved ground-based monitoring network integrated with observations 

from geostationary Earth orbit, low Earth orbit, and suborbital platforms, as used by 

our national weather prediction system, would be needed to derive a 4-dimensional 
Achieving and Sustaining Earth Observations 35

view (3 spatial plus temporal) of air quality and the processes that drive it. The 2008 

National Research Council publication, Observing Weather and Climate from the Ground 

Up: A Nationwide Network of Networks, recommends the development of mesoscale 

observational capabilities to enable air quality prediction. Surface-based observations of 

carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, ozone, and particulate matter less than 2.5 microns in 

size are important because they may impact human health, they serve as precursors to 

additional hazardous compounds, and they can help to extend the utility of parameters 

observed from space.

Recommendations:

For space-based observations, the top operational and research need is more frequent 

and finer spatial resolution data. The NRC Decadal Survey mission Geostationary 

Coastal and Air Pollution Events (GEOCAPE) would provide this capability, and 

NASA should explore proceeding with GEOCAPE after 2020. This could be done in 

coordination with any development and deployment of other geostationary, low-Earth 

orbit, and ground-based capabilities by international partners. The implementation 

of the recommendations of the 2004 NRC report, Air Quality Management in the 

United States would provide complementary in situ observations. NASA should review 

the existent ground-based monitoring network with respect to the redistribution of 

current assets, addition of additional locations, deployment of new technologies, and 

development of complementary capabilities to observe vertical profiles and utilize 

satellite observations. EPA should sustain its National Air Monitoring Stations/State 

and Local Air Monitoring Stations (NAMS/SLAMS), the National Core Multi-pollutant 

Monitoring Network, and the Photochemical Assessment Monitoring Stations (PAMS). 

NOAA should work towards implementing the recommendation contained in the 

2008 NRC report, Observing Weather and Climate from the Ground Up: A Nationwide 

Network of Networks, to develop a surface-based mesoscale observing system to measure 

atmospheric pollutant composition. This should include carbon monoxide, sulfur 

dioxide, ozone, and particulate matter less than 2.5 microns in size at approximately 200 

urban and rural sites (~175 km spacing).

Status:

The 2011 Budget partially supports these efforts.
Achieving and Sustaining Earth Observations 36

Selected Reference(s):

National Research Council, Earth Science and Applications from Space: National Imperatives 

for the Next Decade and Beyond, National Academies Press, Washington DC, 2007

National Research Council, Air Quality Management in the United States, National 

Academies Press, Washington DC, 2004

National Research Council, Observing Weather and Climate from the Ground Up: 

A Nationwide Network of Networks, Committee on Developing Mesoscale 

Meteorological Observational Capabilities to Meet Multiple Needs, National 

Academies Press, Washington DC, 2008

http://aeronet.gsfc.nasa.gov/

http://www.epa.gov/cludygxb/programs/namslam.html

Biodiversity:

In general, ecology and biodiversity observation data use weather, climate, water, 

disaster, health, agriculture, and energy observation systems to effectively model the 

patterns and structures of ecosystems and their responses to changes in climate and 

human activities. Additional information on species occurrences, species interactions, 

life histories and ecological structure must be added to the geo-climatic models in order 

to understand the local patterns affecting organisms and communities. Ground-based 

networks, such as the Smithsonian Institution Global Earth Observatories (SIGEO), 

National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON), Long Term Ecological Research 

(LTER), Experimental Forests and Ranges (EFR), and the Census of Marine Life are 

critical to understanding and monitoring biodiversity and other ecosystem attributes 

in the needed spatial and temporal domains. In situ data are also necessary to measure 

ecosystem processes and disturbances such as invasive species, wildland fires, and altered 

phenology patterns. Existing programs such as the Global Biodiversity Information 

Facility (GBIF), the Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) Program, and the National 

Resources Inventory (NRI) are vital in monitoring such ecosystem processes and effects, 

and assess their natural range of variations in relation to ongoing climate change and 

land management activities. Developing a National Phenology Network would strongly 
Achieving and Sustaining Earth Observations 37

complement these activities. These networks are effective for this purpose but are 

currently too limited in scope to provide maximum management effectiveness and 

decision support. The time series of ocean ecological surveys conducted by NOAA in 

support of its statutory missions represents the most complete set of ocean and coastal 

biodiversity measurements supported by the Federal government.

Recommendations:

Support the Smithsonian Institution Global Earth Observatories (SIGEO), National 

Ecological Observatory Network (NEON), the Long Term Ecological Research (LTER), 

and Experimental Forests and Ranges (EFR) networks.

Ensure the continuity of trending data collection programs like the Forest Service’s 

Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) Program and the Natural Resources Conservation 

Service’s National Resources Inventory (NRI). Continue to support NOAA’s ocean and 

coastal living marine resource and ecological/ecosystem surveys.

Status:

The 2011 Budget continues to support and expand SIGEO and initiate construction 

of NEON. It also sustains funding for LTER, and EFR. The 2011 Budget provides 

funding to support FIA and NRI.

Selected Reference(s):

The H. John Heinz III Center for Science, Economics and the Environment, Filling 

the Gaps: Priority Data Needs and Key Management Challenges for National Reporting 

on Ecosystem Condition, May 2006, http://www.heinzctr.org/Programs/Reporting/

Working%20Groups/Data%20Gaps/Gaps_LongReport_LoRes.pdf

Environmental Information: Status of Federal Data Programs That Support Ecological Indicators, 

2005, GAO 05-376, http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d05376.pdf

United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service, FS-865, Forest Inventory and 

Analysis Strategic Plan, January 2007

NSTC Joint Subcommittee on Ocean Science and Technology, Charting the Course for 

Ocean Science in the Next Decade: An Ocean Research Priorities Plan and Implementation 

Strategy,” January 2007 http://ocean.ceq.gov/about/docs/orppfinal.pdf
Achieving and Sustaining Earth Observations 38

United States Department of Commerce, National Marine Fisheries Service 2001, Marine 

Fisheries Stock Assessment Improvement Plan, National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, October 2001. http://www.st.nmfs.

noaa.gov/StockAssessment/tm_spo56/saipafrontmatter.pdf

United States Department of Commerce, National Marine Fisheries Service, A 

Requirements Plan for Improving the Understanding Of the Status of U.S. Protected Marine 

Species. Report of the NOAA Fisheries National Task Force for Improving Marine Mammal 

and Turtle Stock Assessments. U.S. Department of Commerce, 2004, NOAA Tech. 

Memo. NMFS-F/SPO-63, 112 p

Clouds and Aerosols:

The climate science community is facing an interruption of key global aerosol satellite 

measurements due to the potential for inferior performance of the Visible/Infrared 

Imagery Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument’s aerosol channels and the fact that 

there is no near-term replacement for the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer 

(MISR) instrument on NASA’s Terra satellite. The combination of Moderate Resolution 

Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer 

(MISR) satellite data has proven to be extremely useful for producing global aerosol 

measurements. These data, coupled with data from NASA’s “A-Train” sensors, have 

advanced aerosol remote sensing and given aerosol studies a maturity heretofore absent. 

The contributions of in situ aerosol information from the AErosol RObotic NETwork 

(AERONET) autonomous network have greatly advanced our understanding of aerosol 

effects upon climate. The Department of Energy’s Atmospheric Radiation Measurement 

(ARM) Climate Research Facility (ACRF) observations provide the long-term record of 

clouds, aerosols, and radiation needed to address high priority climate change science 

questions. Recently added instrumentation at the ACRF sites will provide data to span 

the aerosol-cloud-precipitation spectrum.

Recommendations:

Work towards producing a JPSS VIIRS imager that is capable of continuing MODIS’ 

cloud climate data records. Expand the Department of Energy’s Atmospheric Radiation 

Measurement (ARM) Climate Research Facility (ACRF) ground networks and NASA’s 

AErosol RObotic NETwork (AERONET) and Micro-Pulse Lidar Network (MPLNET).
Achieving and Sustaining Earth Observations 39

NOAA should continue its measurement programs to reduce uncertainty in radiative 

forcing owing to both direct and indirect aerosol effects. These currently constitute 

the largest uncertainty in overall radiative forcing by gases and particles. This includes 

monitoring aerosol properties, distributions, and optical depth globally from ground 

and air-based systems, as well as targeted field missions. It also requires coordination 

of measurements internationally through WMO Global Atmospheric Watch (WMO/

GAW), the Network for Detection of Atmospheric composition Change (NDACC), and 

the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS).

Status:

NASA is scheduled to launch Glory in 2010, a mission to measure black carbon soot and 

other aerosols. The 2011 Budget proposes an augmentation for development of an ocean 

color and clouds/aerosols polarimetry mission (launch in 2018) to bridge between existing 

on-orbit missions and the future, more capable Aerosol-Cloud-Ecosystem (ACE) mission. 

The 2011 Budget sustains funding for the AERONET, MPLNET, and ACRF programs.

Selected Reference(s):

Yu, H., Y.J. Kaufman, M. Chin, G. Feingold, L.A. Remer, T.L. Anderson, Y. Balkanski, 

N. Bellouin, O. Boucher, S. Christopher, P. L. DeCola, R. Kahn, D. Koch, N. Loeb, 

M. S. Reddy, M. Schulz, T. Takemura, M. Zhou, “A review of measurement-based 

assessment of the aerosol direct radiative effect and forcing,” Atmos. Chem. Phys., 6, 

613–666, 2006, www.atmos-chem-phys.net/6/613/2006/

National Research Council, Earth Science and Applications from Space: National Imperatives 

for the Next Decade and Beyond, National Academies Press, Washington DC, 2007

DOE/SC-ARM-0803, Contributions of the Atmospheric Radiation measurement (ARM) 

Program and the ARM Climate Research Facility to the U.S. Climate Change Science Program, 

September 2008

DOE/SC-ARM-0804, ARM Climate Research Facility Workshop Report, November 

2008, http://www.arm.gov/publications/programdocs/doe-sc-arm-0804.pdf

CCSP, 2008, Synthesis and Assessment Product 5.1: Uses and Limitations of Observations, Data, Forecasts, and Other Projections in Decision Support for Selected Sectors and Regions, Washington DC

Information about AERONET at: http://aeronet.gsfc.nasa.gov/
Achieving and Sustaining Earth Observations 40

Coastal Zone:

The coastal zone changed profoundly during the 20th century, primarily due to growing 

populations and increasing urbanization. With coastal development continuing at a rapid 

pace, society is becoming increasingly vulnerable to water quality issues, and sea level rise. 

Rising sea levels will contribute to increased storm surges and flooding, even if hurricane 

intensities do not increase in response to the warming of the oceans. Climate change will 

impact coastal communities and living marine resources through factors including sea level 

rise, loss of Arctic sea ice, changes in fresh water regimes, ocean acidification, and patterns 

of resource abundance and phenology. U.S. Government plans for increasing observations 

of these phenomena are necessary to respond to these increasing threats.

While the oceans provide resources critical to human survival and well-being, aquatic 

toxins and pathogens can be damaging. Although probably significantly underestimated, 

the overall economic effects of harmful algal blooms alone in the U.S. (not including 

freshwater outbreaks) are at least $82 million per year, with public health costs of illness 

accounting for 45% of the total.

Automated monitoring of coastal environments can facilitate the examination of broadscale patterns of pathogenic organism distributions, and provide real-time or near-real-time 

data at spatial and temporal scales not possible with current monitoring networks. We 

recommend prioritizing the development of biological sensors to detect pathogens, harmful 

algae, toxins and other contaminants and water quality to provide essential data for public 

health. The Advisory Committee on Water Information and the National Water Quality 

Monitoring Council’s plan, the “National Water Quality Monitoring Network for U.S. 

Coastal Waters and Their Tributaries” was prepared at the behest of the National Science 

and Technology Council (NSTC) and the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ). This 

document relates stress in freshwater tributaries to these coastal waters and to the mission 

of the Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS) monitoring network.

Recommendations:

Sustain investment in the Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS) to maintain 

observations and networks to support coastal climate mitigation and adaptation, human 

health threats, and ecosystem management. Key components include buoy and coastal 

station networks, high frequency coastal radars, the development of in situ sensors for 
Achieving and Sustaining Earth Observations 41

rapid detection of pathogens, harmful algae, and toxins, and exploitation of new costeffective technologies such as ocean gliders. Improve the capability for assessing hypoxia 

and its impacts by prioritizing observation systems (platforms and gliders) measuring 

dissolved oxygen in coastal waters.

Status/Planned Action:

The 2011 Budget supports these efforts.

Selected Reference(s):

UNESCO 2005, An Implementation Strategy for the Coastal Module of the Global Ocean 

Observing System, GOOS Report No. 148; IOC Information Documents Series 

N°1217. The document is also available at http://ioc.unesco.org/goos/docs/doclist.htm

IGOS, A Coastal Theme for the IGOS Partnership-For the Monitoring of our Environment from 

Space and from Earth, Paris, UNESCO 2006, 60p

Sandifer, P., C. Sotka, D. Garrison, and V. Fay, Interagency Oceans and Human Health 

Research Implementation Plan: A Prescription for the Future, Interagency Working Group 

on Harmful Algal Blooms, Hypoxia, and Human Health of the Joint Subcommittee 

on Ocean Science and Technology, Washington DC, 2007

Griffis, R.B., R. L. Feldman, N. K. Beller-Simms, K. E. Osgood, and N. Cyr (editors): 

Incorporating Climate Change into NOAA’s Stewardship Responsibilities for Living 

Marine Resources and Coastal Ecosystems: A Strategy for Progress, U.S. Department 

of Commerce National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Marine 

Fisheries Service NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-F/SPO-95 December 2008

Earth Radiation Budget/Total Solar Irradiance:

The Earth’s radiation budget is in balance between absorbed incoming energy from the 

sun and outgoing thermal energy from the Earth. Solar radiant energy is the major driver of 

the Earth’s climate. The input of energy from the sun is understood increasingly well since 

we began measuring total solar irradiance from space in 1978. This measurement is the 

main driver of climate and the only source of climate variability that we have been able to 

measure. The amount of radiation leaving the Earth through the complex system of clouds, 
Achieving and Sustaining Earth Observations 42

aerosols, atmospheric constituents, oceans, ice, and land surfaces provides a quantitative, 

system level check of global climate model results. Accurate measurements of the Earth’s 

radiation budget have also been made since 1978 from satellite instruments designed for 

this purpose. In addition, surface measurement networks are essential to improving our 

understanding of both radiative and non-radiative forcing of climate.

Recommendations:

NASA should continue plans to launch Glory in 2010, a mission to observe aerosols 

and total solar irradiance, the latter with a continuation of the SOlar Radiation and 

Climate Experiment (SORCE) Total Irradiance Monitor (TIM) instrument. NOAA and 

NASA should continue development and remanifestation of Clouds and the Earth’s 

Radiant Energy System (CERES) for Earth radiation budget data on NPP and JPSS, and 

launch the remanifested Total Solar Irradiance Sensor (TSIS) as soon as a launch vehicle 

has been identified by the JPSS program. Maintain and expand the AErosol RObotic 

NETwork (AERONET) and the Department of Energy’s Atmospheric Radiation 

Measurement (ARM) Climate Research Facility (ACRF) ground networks.

NOAA and DOE should continue their support of the Baseline Surface Radiation 

Network, the Surface Energy Budget Network, and other surface radiation 

measurements to provide independent information on trends, distributions, and fluxes 

of radiant energy, and to aid in validating satellite retrievals. International activities 

should be continued to ensure global coverage and consistency of measurements.

Status:

CERES is now scheduled to fly on the first JPSS satellite; options for carrying TSIS 

on orbit are under review. The 2011 Budget supports these NASA and NOAA efforts.

Selected Reference(s):

National Research Council, Ensuring the Climate Record from the NPOESS and GOES-R 

Spacecraft: Elements of a Strategy to Recover Measurement Capabilities Lost in Program 

Restructuring, National Academies Press, Washington DC, 2008

National Research Council, Radiative Forcing of Climate Change; Expanding the Concept and 

Addressing Uncertainties, Report by the Board on Atmospheric Sciences and Climate 

(BASC), to the National Academy of Sciences, The National Academies Press, 

Washington DC, 2005
Achieving and Sustaining Earth Observations 43

DOE/SC-ARM-0803, Contributions of the Atmospheric Radiation measurement (ARM) 

Program and the ARM Climate Research Facility to the U.S. Climate Change Science Program, 

September 2008

Augustine J., E.G. Dutton, T. Meyers, J. Michalsky, Scientific Rationale for the Placement 

of Sites to Monitor the Surface Energy Budget for Climate Applications, NOAA Technical 

Memorandum OAR GMD-17, October 2006

Fires:

To support wildland fire management and protect lives and property, there is a need 

for frequent satellite surveillance coupled with tactical thermal remote sensing to support 

real-time fire incident management. National assets including in situ programs, satellite 

sensors, aerial vehicles (manned and unmanned) are required. Ongoing programs such as 

the in situ Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program and Landscape Fire and Resource 

Management Planning Tools Project (LANDFIRE) to measure and estimate surface and 

canopy fuel parameters, and other interagency programs designed to measure specific fire 

effects need to be continued and follow-on efforts need to be planned and developed. For 

communities at risk from wildfire the use of airborne Light Detecting and Ranging (LiDAR) 

to map fuels (vegetation and structures) can provide fine resolution data for risk assessment 

and fire behavior model inputs. Coarse-resolution satellite sensors such as the Moderate 

Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) have been providing forecasting functions 

for fire dangers as well as real-time fire occurrence reports and information to aid in the 

deployment of aerial assets. In fact, for Alaska and many other remote areas of the world, 

MODIS-derived fire boundaries are the only source of tactical information for the wildland 

fire community. In more heavily populated regions, and for large wildfire incidents, manned 

aircraft and field teams on the ground are the primary data sources used to manage active 

fire perimeters, hotspots, and fire spread. Processes are underway to add real-time fire 

product delivery and unmanned aircraft to the fire manager’s toolbox.

Recommendations:

Ensure the VIIRS instrument is sufficient for maintaining the fire climate data 

record. A spatial resolution of 100 meters for visible/infrared bands and 500 meters 

for the thermal bands, with coverage every 6 hours is highly desirable. Develop 
Achieving and Sustaining Earth Observations 44

LDCM data at a 30 m spatial resolution. Through the U.S. Department of Agriculture 

(USDA), support the continued development and deployment of in situ fire monitoring 

capabilities and sensors for manned and unmanned aerial platforms supporting tactical 

fire management and fire research.

Status:

The FY11 Budget proposes a $679 million increase for the JPSS program (including 

VIIRS development).

Selected Reference(s):

Office of the Federal Coordinator for Meteorological Services and Supporting Research, 

National Wildland Fire Weather: A Summary of User Needs and Issues, Joint Action Group 

(JAG) for the National Wildland Fire Weather Needs Assessment (NWFWNA), 

3 July 2007

United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service, FS-865, Forest Inventory and 

Analysis Strategic Plan, January 2007

GeoHazard and Deformation Monitoring:

High-resolution digital topography is a key unmet need for many of the disasters 

addressed by the CENR Subcommittee for Disaster Reduction (SDR). Changes in 

the Earth’s surface, or deformation, serve as important indicators of earthquakes, 

volcanic eruptions and landslides. Currently there is no domestic capability to monitor 

deformation. Our aging and sparsely distributed seismic network infrastructure should 

be refreshed and expanded if we are to provide adequate warning of earthquakes and 

volcanic eruptions in the United States. Currently only 5 of 26 major metropolitan 

regions that are at-risk for major damage in an earthquake have seismic networks that 

can adequately support earthquake emergency response. Engineers do not have the data 

needed to refine earthquake resistant building designs. Most lifelines (e.g., electrical 

power, communications, transportation, etc.) are not adequately monitored for potential 

earthquake damage. The National Research Council estimated that the benefit/cost ratio 

for improved seismic monitoring is approximately 10:1; many national organizations 

have called for full implementation of an Advanced National Seismic System (ANSS) to 

address this significant monitoring gap.
Achieving and Sustaining Earth Observations 45

Recommendations:

Surface Deformation: If necessary, the lidar and radar instruments on DESDynI

can be flown on different platforms. The L-Band Interferometric Synthetic Aperture 

Radar (InSAR) will provide surface deformation measurements. Sustain the geodetic 

monitoring capabilities of the National Science Foundation’s Earthscope program.

Earthquakes and Tsunami: Implement the Advanced National Seismic System 

(ANSS), and sustain the capabilities of the Global Seismographic Network (GSN). Expand 

the number of offshore seismic nodes in the Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI).

Volcanic Activity: The U.S. Geological Survey is implementing the National Volcano 

Early Warning System (NVEWS); NVEWS activities continue in the 2011 Budget after 

formulation of an implementation plan in 2010.

Geodetic Reference Frame: Sustain the U.S. supported capabilities of the Global 

Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) network.

Status:

The 2011 Budget provides an augmentation over previous budget plans for NASA to 

launch the Deformation, Ecosystem Structure, and Dynamics of Ice (DESDynI) mission 

in 2017. It also provides an increase to USGS to invest in the Advanced National Seismic 

System and National Volcano Early Warning System.

Selected Reference(s):

Subcommittee for Disaster Reduction, 2005, Grand Challenges in Disaster Reduction, 

Committee on Environment and Natural Resources, 21p

National Research Council, Earth Science and Applications from Space: National Imperatives 

for the Next Decade and Beyond, National Academies Press, Washington DC, 2007

European Space Agency (ESA), 2004, IGOS Geohazards Theme Report. http://www.

igosgeohazards.org

Helz, R., and J. Gaynor, 2007, Reducing Loss of Life and Property from Disasters: A Societal 

Benefit Area of the Strategic Plan for U.S. Integrated Earth Observation System (IEOS), 

Open-File Report 2007-1147
Achieving and Sustaining Earth Observations 46

National Research Council (NRC), Committee on the Economic Benefits of Improved 

Seismic Monitoring, 2005, Improved Seismic Monitoring-Improved Decision Making: 

Assessing the Value of Reduced Uncertainty, http://www.nap.edu/-catalog/11327.html

Gravity:

Gravity measurement and monitoring is of significant importance for a variety of 

applications, including monitoring ice sheet mass and accurate vertical positioning. 

Direct measurement of ice mass is now possible from the joint German AerospaceNASA gravity measuring mission called the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment 

(GRACE). Time-varying gravity measurements from GRACE provide the best means 

for determining the partitioning of water stored among the oceans, continents, and 

ice sheets and glaciers. In particular, direct measurements of changes in ice sheet mass 

every 10 days with a high degree of accuracy (±5%) provide diagnostic data on ice sheet 

dynamics that are linked directly to understanding sea level rise.

Gravity measurements also provide the only means of mapping the ocean floor bathymetry 

on a large scale, and determining the partitioning of water storage among continents, oceans, 

and ice sheets and glaciers. Gravity methods are also needed to measure and monitor groundwater storage. The current Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellites 

were launched in 2002 and are already past the end of their planned life. In addition, aerial 

and ground based gravity measurements provide the high resolution detail necessary for 

accurate geoid modeling, which is critical to vertical positioning. NOAA’s Gravity for 

the Redefinition of the American Vertical Datum (GRAV-D) project will connect these 

measurements to satellite observations to provide highly accurate heights critical for 

monitoring coastal land change in relation to the water. Knowledge of the land movement 

is absolutely necessary for determining local sea level change and the impact to coastal 

communities. Furthermore, accurate monitoring of elevations is necessary to properly keep 

floodplains up to date for the mitigation of flood hazards from extreme weather events.

Recommendations:

Sustain observations of the time-varying gravity field from the Gravity Recovery and 

Climate Experiment (GRACE-1) and launch GRACE-FO in 2016 (“FO” for “Follow 

On”), a gap-filler mission with the same capabilities and characteristics as GRACE-1. 

NASA should plan for a follow-on GRACE-2 mission in 2020 to continue estimating 
Achieving and Sustaining Earth Observations 47

changes in ocean mass, terrestrial water storage, and ice sheet mass. Support NOAA’s 

Gravity for the Redefinition of the American Vertical Datum (GRAV-D) project. The 

goal is to collect gravity data for a new national vertical datum by 2023 which will allow 

improvement in elevations through Global Positioning System (GPS) technology to an 

accuracy of ~2 centimeters compared to 2 meters today, with profound implications for 

all activities relying on accurate heights. Sustain NOAA’s Deep-ocean Assessment and 

Reporting of Tsunamis (DART) network of ocean bottom pressure recorders. These data 

are crucial for calibrating GRACE gravity field measurements.

Status/Planned Actions:

The 2011 Budget provides funding for GRACE FO to be launched in 2016. NOAA 

proposes to improve the DART network in the 2011 Budget, and continue the GRAV-D

FY10 initiative.

Selected Reference(s):

National Research Council, Earth Science and Applications from Space: National Imperatives 

for the Next Decade and Beyond, National Academies Press, Washington DC, 2007

Luthcke, S.B., D.D. Rowlands, J.J. McCarthy, H.J. Zwally, A Arendt, D Hall, J.P. Boy, and 

F.G Lemoine, Recent Land Ice Mass Changes Determined From GRACE Mascon 

Solution, Geophysical Research Abstracts, Vol. 10, EGU2008-A-04338, EGU General 

Assembly, 2008

http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/GRAV-D/GRAV-D_v2007_12_19.pdf

http://nctr.pmel.noaa.gov/Dart/

Greenhouse Gases:

Greenhouse gases are trace constituents of our atmosphere, but have a major impact 

upon Earth’s climate through their absorption of outgoing longwave radiation. The 

principal greenhouse gases are water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, 

ozone, and the chlorofluorocarbons. This past year marked the 50th anniversary of 

Charles David Keeling’s Mauna Loa carbon dioxide record, the longest continuous 

record of atmospheric carbon dioxide measurements, and which continues as part 
Achieving and Sustaining Earth Observations 48

of the NOAA’s global cooperative air sampling network. NOAA’s data collection 

effort has broadened to include other greenhouse gases and serves as the foundation 

of our understanding of greenhouse gas concentrations and the global carbon cycle. 

The AmeriFlux network, established in 1996, provides continuous observations of 

ecosystem level exchanges of CO2, water, energy and momentum spanning diurnal, 

synoptic, seasonal, and interannual time scales and is currently composed of sites from 

North America, Central America, and South America. Today, precise ground-based 

and air-based measurements such as these are the main tool for scientists monitoring 

the rise of atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations. Comparisons of these data 

with carbon dioxide emission rates from fossil fuel combustion, biomass burning and 

other human activities tell us that only about half of the carbon dioxide released into 

the atmosphere during this period has remained there. The rest has apparently been 

absorbed by surface “sinks” in the land biosphere or oceans. These measurements also 

show that, despite the steady long-term growth of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, 

the buildup varies dramatically from year to year, even though emissions have increased 

smoothly. However, the ground-based carbon dioxide monitoring network is currently 

too sparse to identify the locations of these sinks or tell us what controls changes in 

their efficiency from year to year. For the past two decades, NOAA has been making 

efforts to develop a more dense and comprehensive greenhouse gas monitoring network 

across North America, as part of the USGCRP North American Carbon Program, and 

has developed an analysis tool for integrating these measurements and translating them 

into fluxes. Space-based remote sensing of atmospheric carbon dioxide has the potential 

to deliver additional data needed to resolve many of the uncertainties in the spatial 

and temporal variability of carbon sources and sinks. Many studies have shown that 

space-based measurements with the needed precision, temporal and spatial resolution, 

together with the highly accurate and appropriately distributed surface measurements, 

will reduce uncertainties in CO2 sources and sinks due to uniform and global sampling. 

However, satellite measurements of CO2 and other greenhouse gases, though hopeful, 

are in their infancy and will require on-going validation and comparison with ground and 

air-based networks (e.g., NOAA’s global and North American networks and TCCCON) 

to ensure that biases are not being introduced. Consistency among ground, air, and 

satellite measurements is paramount and must be tied to World Calibration Scales and 

be comparable across the globe.
Achieving and Sustaining Earth Observations 49

Better carbon cycle monitoring capabilities and insight on the underlying dynamics 

controlling atmosphere exchange with the land and ocean reservoirs are needed as 

society begins to discuss active management of the global carbon system. Understanding 

the global carbon cycle depends on monitoring the stock and flow of carbon in the 

oceans, on land, and in the atmosphere, as well as the air-sea CO2 exchange.

Recommendations:

NASA should launch a replacement for the Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO, 

lost in February 2009) in 2013 and build a spare OCO instrument for possible launch 

in 2015-2017. The outcome of NASA’s OCO mission should be used to evaluate the 

technical approach for the next generation greenhouse gas sensors. The OCO mission can 

provide data products with the precision, temporal and spatial resolution, and coverage 

needed to characterize the variability of CO2 sources and sinks on regional spatial scales 

and seasonal to inter-annual timescales. These should be tied to accurate in situ surface 

sensor measurements (e.g., the global cooperative air sampling network, the Total Column 

Carbon Network (TCCN) of ground-based high-resolution spectrometers, and the 

Ameriflux Network). These surface sensor networks should be continued and improved.

NASA should plan to evaluate different laser sounder instruments for measuring 

atmospheric CO2, as called for in the Active Sensing of CO2 Emission over Nights, Days, 

and Seasons (ASCENDS) Decadal Survey mission. The laser CO2 sounder instruments 

could complement OCO and provide a great density of measurements through their day 

and night duty cycle. NASA may consider additional testing that could include aircraft 

or other platforms to mitigate risk. NASA should also undertake research to monitor 

CH4 from space.

Support NOAA’s ground and air-based measurements of greenhouse gases to provide 

accurate, independent measures of the trends, distributions and fluxes of CO2 and other 

greenhouse gases (e.g., N2O, CH4, halocarbons), to aid in verifying satellite retrievals, 

and to provide needed information on trace gases for refining transport models and 

emission sources. Support NOAA’s measurements of carbon and dissolved oxygen from 

ocean carbon survey vessels and on a subset of the Argo float array to further understand 

carbon sequestration and carbon cycle-climate feedbacks and ocean acidification. 

Support ship-based efforts to systematically collect full water column data on ocean 

carbon, such as the U.S. Global Ocean Carbon and Repeat Hydrography Program.
Achieving and Sustaining Earth Observations 50

Support the interagency AmeriFlux network that provides continuous observations 

of ecosystem level exchanges of CO2, water, energy and momentum spanning diurnal, 

synoptic, seasonal, and interannual time scales and is currently composed of sites from 

North America, Central America, and South America.

NOAA and NASA should continue their support of international coordinating 

mechanisms through WMO (particularly Global Atmospheric Watch), Global Climate 

Observing System and its supporting panels, and the intergovernmental Group on 

Earth Observations (GEO) to ensure that global observing systems are coordinated and 

comparable and to maximize benefit of international observing systems.

Status:

The 2011 Budget proposes to launch the OCO-2 in 2013 and proposes $171 million in 

FY 2011 for the mission.

Selected Reference(s):

Miller, C., D. Crisp, P.L. DeCola, S.C. Olsen, J.T. Randerson, A.M. Michalak, A. 

Alkhaled, P. Rayner, D. J. Jacob, et al. Precision requirements for space-based XCO2

data, J. Geophys. Res., 112, D10314, 2007

Orbiting Carbon Observatory information at: http://oco.jpl.nasa.gov/

Washenfelder, R.A., G.C. Toon, J.-F. Blavier, Z. Yang, N. T. Allen, P. O. Wennberg, S. A. 

Vay, D. M. Matross, and B. C. Daube , Carbon dioxide column abundances at the Wisconsin 

Tall Tower site, J. Geophys. Res., 111, D22305, 2006, doi:10.1029/2006JD007154

IPCC AR4 WGI Chapter 7

http://public.ornl.gov/ameriflux/

Landscape Characterization/Vegetation:

The continued and consistent monitoring of vegetation photosynthetic capacity, land 

cover, the impacts of droughts and floods, and understanding phenology are critical to 

understanding earth’s biosphere. Vegetation structure characterizations, such as canopy 

height, stand diameter, and canopy bulk density, have many applications including: 1/ 

calculating biomass and hence carbon sequestration; 2/ estimating fuel loads for fire 
Achieving and Sustaining Earth Observations 51

prevention, planning, and modeling; 3/ understanding succession stages of vegetation 

communities and impacts of climate change; and 4/ informing land management 

decisions. Presently, some vegetation applications of space-borne remote sensing remain 

in the research domain although operational spaceborne data are clearly needed to 

support policy, environmental, and land management decision-making.

Scientists have been able to exploit data from sensors that were not intended for 

observations of the landscape, such as the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer 

(AVHRR) with its 28-year record, and cross calibrate them with Landsat with its 38-

year record and the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) with 

its 9-year record. The AVHRR-MODIS time series will be continued by the Visible/

Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instruments on the Joint Polar Satellite 

System (JPSS) while the Landsat record will be continued by the NASA-USGS Landsat 

Data Continuity Mission (LDCM).

Supporting sustainable agricultural practices and long-term ecosystem management 

requires a high degree of understanding of constantly changing complex conditions on 

the ground and as the result of ever-increasing socio-economic demands, pressures, and 

interactions. Understanding localized cycles of causes and effects, as well as mitigation 

strategies that optimize agricultural and forest production, and continued provision of 

ecosystem services, requires long-term, in situ, and remote sensing observations. For food 

security, producers require continual feedback on within-season production progress 

for remedial actions when factors such as pests, water, nutrient deficiency, or drought 

intervene to limit production.

Recommendations:

Continue improvements to the Visible/Infrared Imagery Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) 

instrument scheduled to be deployed on NPP and JPSS. Evaluate an operational moderateresolution satellite program that would meet the land imaging needs of U.S. civil agencies 

and society, in accordance with the OSTP-led Future of Land Imaging Interagency 

Working Group’s recommendations in the 2007 document “A Plan for a U.S. National Land 

Imaging Program.” Planning for Landsat-9 is being undertaken by the USGS and NASA, in 

cooperation with other stake-holders. This planning, however, must look beyond Landsat 

9 and lay out requirements for an operational Landsat program. Recommendations for 
Achieving and Sustaining Earth Observations 52

future Landsat-like instruments include a spatial resolution of at most 20 meters, at least a 

5-day repeat cycle, increased daily acquisition rates, and possibly additional visual shortwave 

infrared and thermal infrared spectral bands. Additional higher spatial-resolution imagery 

will still be required to understand field-level conditions. These data could be acquired 

from commercial sources, or by the Federal government if the commercial sources do not 

meet requirements. NASA and USGS are moving forward toward an LDCM launch in 

2012. NASA plans to launch the Deformation, Ecosystem Structure, and Dynamics of 

Ice (DESDynI) mission in 2017 to provide canopy height and structure measurements. 

DESDynI is an important carbon cycle climate mission for providing forest biomass and 

carbon globally. As such, it will be key to identifying the forest carbon sink of ~30% of 

current global CO2 emissions. In addition, it will provide laser altimetry and SAR data from 

ice sheets. If necessary, the DESDynI lidar and DESDynI radar could be separated and 

flown on different platforms. Sustain the National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP) and 

the follow-on program Imagery for the Nation (IFTN). The 2011 Budget continues NAIP.

Status/Planned Actions:

The 2011 Budget requests a $679 million increase for the JPSS program that 

includes continued development of VIIRS toward a target delivery date of FY 2013. 

It also requests a $13.35 million increase to the USGS to accommodate ground system 

requirements changes for LDCM.

Selected Reference(s):

Future of Land Imaging Interagency Working Group, A Plan for a U.S. National Land 

Imaging Program, August 2007

Geographical Sciences Committee, National Research Council, Contributions of Land 

Remote Sensing for Decisions about Food Security and Human Health: Workshop Report, 

National Academies Press, Washington DC, 2007

National Research Council, Earth Science and Applications from Space: National Imperatives 

for the Next Decade and Beyond, National Academies Press, Washington DC, 2007

National Agriculture Imaging Program (NAIP) and the Imagery for the Nation

http://www.nsgic.org/hottopics/naip_briefing_0308.pdf

http://www.nsgic.org/hottopics/imageryforthenation.cfm
Achieving and Sustaining Earth Observations 53

Anderson M., and W. Kustas, Thermal Remote Sensing of Drought and 

Evapotranspiration, EOS, Transactions, American Geophysical Union, EOS Vol. 89, 

No. 26, 24 June 2008, p 233-240

Ocean Color:

Today’s satellite ocean color radiometry data form the backbone of assessing primary 

productivity and carbon cycling in the ocean, providing fisheries and integrated 

ecosystem assessments, and measuring and monitoring coastal and ocean habitat changes, 

and climate impacts. With the current record of more than 12 years of climate-research 

quality ocean color observations, it is now possible to identify interannual variability in 

marine ecosystems and to start discerning long-term trends. These measurements are 

collected by the Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS) mission, which was 

launched on August 1, 1997 and, being beyond its expected lifetime, has experienced 

“outages” during which data are not available. Similarly, the Moderate Resolution Imaging 

Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument on Aqua was launched in 2002 and, though 

currently in good health, is also past its expected lifetime. The follow-on ocean color 

instruments are the VIIRS instruments on NPP and JPSS. It is presently unclear if the 

first VIIRS sensor to be deployed will have the full capability of SeaWiFS, however, 

subsequent VIIRS units are expected to meet, if not exceed, SeaWiFS’s capability.

The National Academy of Sciences, National Research Council Committee on 

Assessing Requirements for Sustained Ocean Color Research and Operations has 

begun a study on the Nation’s economic and societal need and associated observational 

requirements for continuing a U.S. ocean color capability in space after the SeaWiFS and 

MODIS capabilities are no longer available. The pre-publication version of the report 

from this study is anticipated to be available in February 2011, with the final report 

published the following June.

Recommendations:

NOAA and NASA continue to pursue international partnerships (e.g., ESA, JAXA, 

ISRO) to provide risk mitigation strategies for ocean color measurements. Should VIIRS 

not meet ocean color requirements, investigate improvements to VIIRS to meet this 

requirement. Explore whether the ocean color component of NASA’s Aerosol-Cloud-
Achieving and Sustaining Earth Observations 54

Ecosystems (ACE) Decadal Survey mission could function as a potential complement 

to VIIRS. When released, the results of the National Research Council Committee 

on Assessing Requirements for Sustained Ocean Color Research and Operations study 

should be used to refine the satellite strategy. Sustain the NASA-NOAA’s Marine Optical 

Buoy (MOBY) program and the AERONET-Maritime Aerosol Network.

Status/Planned Actions:

The 2011 Budget provides an augmentation over previous budget plans for NASA to 

begin development of the Pre-Aerosol, Clouds, and Ocean Ecosystem (PACE) mission for 

launch in 2018. It also includes a $679 million increase in NOAA for the JPSS program 

(including VIIRS development), and sustains the MOBY and AERONET programs.

Selected Reference(s):

National Research Council, Earth Science and Applications from Space: National Imperatives 

for the Next Decade and Beyond, National Academies Press, Washington DC, 2007

http://www.star.nesdis.noaa.gov/sod/orad/mot/moce/overview.html

Information about the AERONET Maritime Aerosol Network can be found at: 

http://aeronet.gsfc.nasa.gov/new_web/maritime_aerosol_network.html

Ocean Surface Vector Winds:

Winds over the ocean are the largest source of momentum for the ocean surface, and 

as such they affect the full range of ocean movement—from individual surface waves to 

complete current systems. Ocean surface vector winds (OSVW) also play a key role in 

regulating the earth’s water and energy cycles by modulating air-sea exchanges of heat, 

moisture, gases (such as carbon dioxide), and particulates. This modulation regulates 

the interaction between the atmosphere and the ocean, which establishes and maintains 

both global and regional climates. Furthermore, OSVW are required to compute air-sea 

fluxes and are used in numerical modeling of the ocean and atmosphere for weather and 

wave forecasts, biophysical interactions and climate studies. As such, characterization 

and quantification of the role of the global ocean as a planetary heat and carbon sink 

depends on the accurate representation of the global OSVW.
Achieving and Sustaining Earth Observations 55

NASA’s polar orbiting Quick Scatterometer (QuikSCAT) satellite had provided over 

ten years of nearly continuous ocean surface vector winds (OSVW) data before its 

failure in November 2009. These measurements proved to be of important value for 

climate studies and revolutionized operational marine weather warnings, analyses, and 

forecasting within National Weather Service (NWS) offices. QuikSCAT provided critical 

wind data that enabled NWS to significantly improve the accuracy of hurricane force 

wind warnings in offshore regions in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans for non-tropical 

ocean storms, and for tropical storms in the Pacific Ocean. Warnings over offshore 

regions of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans are often determined solely by QuikSCAT

data. These winds were also used in combination with boundary layer models to 

determine a sea level pressure field and estimate the central pressure of cyclones and 

as a diagnostic to determine the accuracy of numerical model analyses and short term 

forecasts for ocean cyclones, including those potentially threatening to land.

In June 2006, NOAA conducted an OSVW operational requirements workshop, 

which documented the impact that OSVW data from QuikSCAT has on NWS 

operations and need for a more advanced satellite OSVW capability. The NRC Decadal 

Survey recommended that NOAA, the operational satellite data provider, establish a 

sustained satellite OSVW capability. NOAA has also been actively studying QuikSCAT

follow-on mission options.

Recommendations:

NOAA and NASA should establish a sustained source for OSVW information. 

Explore international partnerships as cost-effective opportunities to sustain this 

capability. Maintain the airborne Stepped Frequency Microwave Radiometer (SFMR) 

capability aboard the Hurricane Hunter WC-130J and NOAA’s P-3 aircraft, and support 

follow-on technologies such as the Hurricane Intensity Radiometer (HIRAD) which 

shows promise to provide improved prediction of hurricane intensity and will provide 

measurements through precipitation. Maintain the existing array of fixed and drifting 

surface data buoys.

Status/Planned Actions:

The FY11 Budget partially supports these efforts.
Achieving and Sustaining Earth Observations 56

Selected Reference(s):

National Research Council, Earth Science and Applications from Space: National Imperatives 

for the Next Decade and Beyond, National Academies Press, Washington DC, 2007

Chang, P. S. and Z. Jelenek, 2006, NOAA Operational Ocean Surface Vector Winds 

Requirements Workshop Report, 52 pp. Available online at: http://manati.star.nesdis.

noaa.gov/SVW_nextgen/SVW_workshop_report_final.pdf

Jelenak, Z. and P. S. Chang, 2008, NOAA Operational Satellite Ocean Surface Vector 

Winds -QuikSCAT Follow-On Mission: User Impact Study Report, 90 pp. Available 

online at: http://manati.star.nesdis.noaa.gov/SVW_nextgen/QFO_user_impact_

study_final.pdf

Gaston, R. and E. Rodriguez, 2008, QuikSCAT Follow-On Concept Study, 

60pp. Available online at: http://winds.jpl.nasa.gov/publications/QFO_

MissionConceptReport_JPL_08-18_2.pdf

Precipitation:

One of the critical components of the Earth’s hydrological cycle is precipitation, 

affecting virtually every environmental issue. In many respects, precipitation is truly 

the centerpiece of our planet’s hydrological cycle, and understanding it is crucial to 

unraveling many of the uncertainties about the water cycle, climate change and its 

impacts. Careful analysis of rainfall trends in amount and regional patterns are likely to 

produce important scientific breakthroughs in understanding climate change impacts 

on rainfall patterns. Over the ocean, which covers roughly 70% of the Earth’s surface, 

space-based measurements are critical as the sole data source, whereas over land, the 

coupling of satellite data with ground-based observations provides the most useful data.

Recommendations:

NASA should launch the joint U.S. and Japan Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) 

mission to minimize the likelihood of a gap in the rainfall measurement record provided 

by the Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission (TRMM). Sustain support for NOAA’s 

U.S. Climate Reference Network (USCRN) and continue work on NOAA’s Surface 

Energy Budget Network (SEBN) and the Historical Climatology Network-Modernization 
Achieving and Sustaining Earth Observations 57

(HCN-M) to provide ground-based precipitation measurements. Maintain the Nation’s 

NEXRAD network and move toward a dual polarization capability for NEXRAD. Dual 

polarization will provide the capability to discriminate between precipitation types and 

provide a significant improvement in estimating rainfall rates. Ensure continued support 

of the Department of Energy’s Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Climate 

Research Facility (ACRF) ground networks. ACRF’s addition of new scanning precipitation 

radars as well as scanning dual frequency cloud radars provides a strong capability for 

characterizing cloud properties and linking with precipitation processes.

Status/Planned Actions:

The 2011 Budget provides an augmentation over previous budget plans for NASA 

to launch the GPM mission in 2013. The 2011 Budget proposes additional NEXRAD

funding for acquisition and deployment of dual polarization technology.

Selected Reference(s):

National Research Council, Earth Science and Applications from Space: Urgent Needs and 

Opportunities to Serve the Nation, National Academies Press, Washington DC, 2005

Information about the U.S. Historical Climate Network can be found at: 

http://cdiac.ornl.gov/epubs/ndp/ushcn/background.html

Information about the U.S. Climate Reference Network can be found at: 

http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/uscrn/

Sea Level:

Since the beginning of high-accuracy satellite altimetry in the early 1990s, global 

mean sea-level has been observed by altimeters to be rising at a rate of 3.1 millimeters 

per year from 1993 to 2008, roughly 50% faster than the tide-gauge-measured rate 

over the past century. About 60% of the sea-level rise is due to thermal expansion of 

the oceans; the other 40% contribution is from melting glaciers and ice sheets. Sea 

level measurements play an important role in monitoring global climate change and 

understanding and responding to threats to our coastal regions. Space-based altimetry 

can also be used to assess the strength of hurricanes. The Ocean Surface Topography 

Mission (also known as Jason-2) was launched in June 2008, replacing the original 
Achieving and Sustaining Earth Observations 58

Jason-1 satellite which collected sea level data since December 2001. Jason-2 will 

reach the end of its nominal life in 2013. The Jason missions are a partnership between 

NOAA, NASA and the French space agency, Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales 

(CNES), and the European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological 

Satellites. Complementary in situ temperature measurements from ocean profilers, 

such as the current Argo float array are needed to understand the underlying density 

contributions to sea level rise, and continental ice measurements from satellites, such 

GRACE and CryoSat, are needed to understand the mass contributions.

Recommendations:

The sea level rise problem requires a comprehensive observing system approach, built 

around the measurement of sea level and the contributions to sea level change from 

both mass and density changes. NOAA and EUMETSAT should continue their Jason 

partnership by extending the current generation of altimeters with Jason-3, scheduled for 

launch in 2013, and Jason-CS, a series of advanced follow-on missions beginning in 2018. 

NOAA should also continue, working in collaboration with other space agencies through 

the CEOS Ocean Surface Topography Virtual Constellation to ensure maximum benefit 

from the set of international sea level altimeter missions. In conjunction with the Jason 

program, it is important to maintain the 220+ sea-level tide gauges, the U.S. portion 

of the integrated Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS), and incorporate Global 

Positioning System (GPS) capability. Tide gauge observations are essential for calibrating 

altimeter observations and, in some cases, provide a long (100 year) record useful for 

interpreting current trends. To determine the mass contributions from the melting of 

grounded ice and other continental sources, NASA should continue the GRACE gravity 

measurements (see Gravity Section), launch Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite-2 

(ICESat-2) in 2015, proceed with the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) and 

DESDynI radar mission to measure outlet glacier velocities, and proceed with the 

DESDynI lidar mission to continue beyond ICESat-2 crucial altimetry of ice sheets. 

And, to monitor and understand the density contributions to sea level change, it is 

important that NOAA continue supporting the Argo float array to monitor heat in the 

upper ocean, add a capability to provide deep ocean (>2000 down to 5000 m) profile 

measurements, and deploy real-time-reporting ocean-bottom-mounted arrays to monitor 

changing ocean circulation and global heat transport.
Achieving and Sustaining Earth Observations 59

Status/Planned Actions:

The FY11 Budget fully funds Jason-3 and requests an increase of $4 million for the 

GOOS program.

Selected Reference(s):

Wilson, W.S. et al. 2010. Observing Systems Needed to Address Sea-Level Rise and 

Variability, pp 376-401 in Understanding Sea-level Rise and Variability, J. Church, P.L. 

Woodworth, T. Aarup and W.S. Wilson (eds), John Wiley

Soil moisture:

Soil moisture data can greatly improve how the understanding and representation of 

the water, energy and carbon cycles in global models of weather and climate, resulting 

in significant advances in long-range weather and seasonal forecasts. Global soil 

moisture measurements can provide improved early warning and decision support for 

droughts, better predictions of agricultural productivity, and improved flood forecasts, 

especially in the developing world. It is also a key indicator for heat stress, waterborne 

infectious disease, disease vectors, zoonotic diseases, permafrost, and freeze/thaw for 

water cycle processes. Despite this significant promise there is currently no integrated 

national or global network of sufficient density to measure it. Existing surface 

networks such as the U.S. Climate Reference Network (USCRN) and the USDA’s Soil 

Climate Analysis Network (SCAN) should be continued to ensure a continuous and 

homogeneous data record.

Recommendations:

The European Space Agency has recently launched and is successfully operating 

the Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission. Proceed with the NASA Soil 

Moisture Active-Passive (SMAP) mission to augment this data record. Sustain NOAA’s 

U.S. Climate Reference Network (USCRN) and USDA’s Soil Climate Analysis Network 

(SCAN) in situ soil moisture networks. Work towards implementing the 2008 National 

Research Council recommendation of a national, real-time network of soil moisture 

observations at approximately 3000 sites.
Achieving and Sustaining Earth Observations 60

Status/Planned Actions:

The 2011 Budget provides an augmentation over previous budget plans for NASA to 

launch the SMAP mission in 2014.

The FY11 Budget sustains the USCRN and SCAN programs.

Selected Reference(s):

National Research Council, Earth Science and Applications from Space: National Imperatives 

for the Next Decade and Beyond, National Academies Press, Washington DC, 2007

National Research Council, Observing Weather and Climate From the Ground Up: A Nationwide 

Network of Networks, The National Academies Press, Washington, DC, 2008

Soil Climate Analysis Network (SCAN): http://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/wsf/wsf.html

Solar Wind and Magnetic Storms:

The sun’s activities, such as solar flares and coronal mass ejections, affect the Earth’s 

geomagnetic field. The resulting geomagnetic storms have the capability to disable 

satellites, disrupt Global Positioning System (GPS), induce large currents in the Nation’s 

power grids, and disrupt oil and gas pipeline control. NOAA and the U.S. Air Force 

provide space weather forecasts based on ground-based and satellite observing systems 

operated by NOAA, DOD, NASA, USGS, and numerous international partners. Our 

ability to provide advanced warning of these storms to satellite operators and power 

grid and pipeline managers is currently threatened due to the age of a research satellite 

stationed in the solar wind that is being relied on for operational alerts and warnings. 

NASA’s Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) satellite, which maintains a continuous 

position between the Earth and the sun, was launched in 1997 and is currently 

eight years past its design life. This satellite provides the Nation’s only real-time 

measurements of the energetic particles coming from the sun (the “solar wind”).

Important, long-term observations of magnetic activity at the Earth’s surface provide 

baseline calibration and tracking on magnetic storms, with applications in power grid 

management, precision drilling and elsewhere. While the ACE satellite is important 

for early detection of solar winds in time to provide alerts of magnetic storms; in 
Achieving and Sustaining Earth Observations 61

a complementary role, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) network of 14 groundbased geomagnetic observatories are essential for monitoring the effects of magnetic 

disturbances at the Earth’s surface, where they impact our human activities. These 

observatories are currently in need of modernization to meet the needs of data users 

such as the U.S. Air Force, NOAA and others. The government should continue to 

explore commercial alternatives to government missions to satisfy national requirements 

to observe coronal mass ejections, solar winds, and geomagnetic storms.

Recommendations:

Refurbish the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) satellite and its solar 

wind sensors to replace the Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) capability. USGS 

should modernize the network of ground-based geomagnetic observatories.

Status/Planned Action:

The 2011 Budget provides $9.5 million for the DSCOVR mission, and $3.7 million to 

Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere, and Climate (COSMIC-2) 

Mission, a joint US-Taiwan mission to continue access to GPS radio occultation 

measurements which has proven extremely useful for space weather and meteorological 

weather improvements.

Selected Reference(s):

National Research Council, Severe Space Weather Events – Understanding Societal and 

Economic Impacts, National Academies Press, Washington DC, 2008

Helz, R., and J. Gaynor, 2007, Reducing Loss of Life and Property from Disasters: A Societal 

Benefit Area of the Strategic Plan for U.S. Integrated Earth Observation System (IEOS), 

Open-File Report 2007-1147

National Space Weather Program, Report of the Assessment Committee for the National Space 

Weather Program, FCM-R24-2006, OFCM, Silver Spring, MD, 2006
Achieving and Sustaining Earth Observations 62

Water Quality and Quantity:

Management of water resources is challenging because much authority and measurement 

are delegated to the state, tribal and local levels. The CENR Subcommittee for Water 

Availability and Quality (SWAQ) recommends a national approach to provide a 

comprehensive assessment.22 The WaterSMART plan beginning in FY11 is a great start, as 

it provides a framework for assessing water availability and use across the Nation. The coarse 

nature of current sampling is such that important phenomena are missed and/or “averaged 

out.” Additionally, the frequency of sampling needs to be increased. Many locations have 

only monthly sampling for certain measurements, but really need hourly in some cases. The 

capability to rapidly detect chemical contaminants and pathogens is also needed.

Recommendations:

Support the modernization of the Nation’s 7,000 stream gauges by replacing obsolete 

telemetry to ensure continued real-time operations and provide more timely information 

needed for better water management. Consider supplying more opportunities to study 

large river basins. Investigate and implement new technologies to measure sediment in 

rivers. Also support the Advisory Committee on Water Information, and the National 

Water Quality Monitoring Council plan for sustaining and enhancing the Nation’s 

capability to monitor water quality.23 NASA should continue its observations of gravity 

fields from GRACE-1 and follow-on gravity missions for ground water storage and ice 

sheet mass variations. In addition, NOAA and NASA should explore international 

partnerships to complement JPSS’s ability to understand ground water and snow water 

equivalent (e.g., the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer (AMSR)-2/3 instruments 

on JAXA’s Global Change Observation Mission (GCOM) mission). Continue to 

improve snow moisture measurements such as SNOwpack TELemetry (SNOTEL) and 

the NOAA Operational Hydrology Program to increase our understanding of source 

water from snow and runoff. Support the 2011 WaterSMART water availability and use 

assessment, which will provide the national framework for assessing water availability.

Status/Planned Actions:

Through ARRA funding, USGS will meet the 2013 deadline of the requirement to 

upgrade radio transmission on stream gauges. The FY11 Budget supports these efforts 

through the WaterSMART initiative, which invests an additional $9 million for a multiyear, nationwide study of water availability and use.
Achieving and Sustaining Earth Observations 63

Selected Reference(s):

National Science and Technology Council, Committee on Environment and Natural 

Resources, Subcommittee on Water Availability and Quality, A Strategy for Federal Science 

and Technology to Support Water Availability and Quality in the United States, Sept 2007

U.S. Geological Survey Report to Congress, Concepts for National Assessment of Water 

Availability and Use, Circular 1223, Reston VA, 2002

Advisory Committee on Water Information and the National Water Quality Monitoring 

Council, A National Water Quality Monitoring Network for U.S. Coastal Waters and Their 

Tributaries, April 2006, http://acwi.gov/monitoring/network/design/

WaterSMART Initiative, http://www.doi.gov/budget/2011/11Hilites/DH019.pdf

SNOTEL: http://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/snotel/
Achieving and Sustaining Earth Observations 64

Li s t of Ac ro n y ms

ACE Advanced Composition Explorer

ACE Aerosol-Cloud-Ecosystems

ACRF Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Climate Research Facility (ACRF)

AERONET AErosol RObotic NETwork

ANSS Advanced National Seismic System

ARM Atmospheric Radiation Measurement

AVHRR Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer

BSRN Baseline Surface Radiation Network

CENR Committee on Environment and Natural Resources

CEOS Committee on Earth Observation Satellites

CEQ Council on Environmental Quality

CERES Clouds and the Earth’s Radiant Energy System

DART Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunamis

DESDynI Deformation, Ecosystem Structure, and Dynamics of Ice

DOE Department of Energy

EFR Experimental Forests and Ranges

EOS Earth Observing System

EPA Environmental Protection Agency

EUMETSAT European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites

FIA Forest Inventory and Analysis, National Program

GBIF Global Biodiversity Information Facility

GCOS Global Climate Observing System

GCOM Global Change Observation Mission

GEO Group on Earth Observations

GEOCAPE Geostationary Coastal and Air Pollution Events

GEOSS Global Earth Observation System of Systems

GNSS Global Navigation Satellite System

GSN Global Seismographic Network

GOES-R Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite R-Series
Achieving and Sustaining Earth Observations 65

GPM Global Precipitation Measurement

GPS Global Positioning System

GRACE Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment

GRAV-D Gravity for the Redefinition of the American Vertical Datum

HCN Historical Climatology Network

IEOS Integrated Earth Observation System

IFTN Imagery for the Nation

InSAR Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar

IOOS Integrated Ocean Observing System

JAXA Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency

LANDFIRE Landscape Fire and Resource Management Planning Tools Project

LDCM Landsat Data Continuity Mission

Lidar Light Detection and Ranging

LTER Long Term Ecological Research

MISR Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer

MOBY Marine Optical Buoy

MODIS Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer

NAIP National Agriculture Imagery Program

NAMS National Air Monitoring Stations

NASA National Aeronautics and Space Agency

NEON National Ecological Observatory Network

NEPTUNE North East Pacific Time-integrated Undersea Networked Experiments

NIDIS National Integrated Drought Information System

NOAA National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

NPOESS National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System

NPP NPOESS Preparatory Project

NRC National Research Council

NRI National Resources Inventory

NSTC National Science and Technology Council

NVEWS National Volcano Early Warning System
Achieving and Sustaining Earth Observations 66

NWS National Weather Service

OCO Orbiting Carbon Observatory

OMB Office of Management and Budget

OOI Ocean Observatories Initiative

OSTM Ocean Surface Topography Mission (also known as Jason-2)

OSTP Office of Science and Technology Policy

OSVW Ocean Surface Vector Winds

PAMS Photochemical Assessment Monitoring Stations

QuikSCAT Quick Scatterometer

SAG Strategic Assessment Group

SBA Societal Benefit Area

SCAN Soil Climate Analysis Network

SDR Subcommittee for Disaster Reduction

SeaWiFS Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor

SEBN Surface Energy Budget Network

SFMR Stepped Frequency Microwave Radiometer

SIGEO Smithsonian Institution Global Earth Observatories

SLAMS State and Local Air Monitoring Stations

SMAP Soil Moisture Active-Passive

SNOTEL SNOwpack TELemetry

SWAQ Subcommittee on Water Availability and Quality

TCCN Total Column Carbon Network

TRMM Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission

TSIS Total Solar Irradiance Sensor

USCRN U.S. Climate Reference Network

USDA United States Department of Agriculture

USGEO United States Group on Earth Observations

USGS Unites States Geological Survey

VIIRS Visible/Infrared Imagery Radiometer Suite

WMO World Meteorological Organization
Achieving and Sustaining Earth Observations 67

USGEO Strategic Assessment Group (SAG) Writing Team

Co-Chairs:

Philip DeCola – OSTP

Compton J. Tucker – CCSP

Peter A. Wilczynski – NOAA

Co-Authors and Contributors:

 Michael R. Babcock – NOAA (OFCM)

Glenn R. Bethel – USDA

E. Ann Davis – NIH

Wanda R. Ferrell – DOE

Jessica Geubtner – NOAA (IOOS)

Randall R. Friedl – NASA

Everett A. Hinkley – USDA Forest Service

Leonard P. Hirsch – Smithsonian Institution

William S. Leith – USGS

John G. Lyon – EPA

Timothy R. Newman – USGS

Graham M. Pugh – DOE

Carolyn M. Vadnais – NOAA

Edward P. Washburn, EPA

Zdenka S. Willis – NOAA (IOOS)

Gregory Withee – NOAA/USGS
Achieving and Sustaining Earth Observations 68

E n d n o t es

1 The National Research Council, Earth Science and Applications from Space: National Imperatives for the Next Decade and 

Beyond, The National Academies Press, Washington DC, 2007, p.14

2 Interagency Working Group on Earth Observations, Strategic Plan for the U.S. Integrated Earth Observation System, 

Committee on Environment and Natural Resources, National Science and Technology Council, April 2005

3 United States Department of Defense, National Defense Strategy, June 2008; Millennium Ecosystem Assessment: 

Ecosystems and Human Well Being, Island Press, 2005

4 CENR Joint Subcommittee on Ocean Science and Technology, Charting the Course for Ocean Science in the Next 

Decade, An Ocean Research Priorities Plan and Implementation Strategy, National Science and Technology Council, 

January 2007. http://ocean.ceq.gov/about/docs/orppfinal.pdf

5 EPA Publication (EPA-454/R-09-002, Feb 2010): Our Nation’s Air - Status and Trends through 2008, page 3.

6 The National Research Council, Air Quality Management in the United States, The National Academies Press, 

Washington DC, 2004

7 LeQuere C., M.R. Raupach, J.G. Canadell, et al., Trends in the Sources and Sinks of Carbon Dioxide, Nature 

Geoscience, Vol 2, Issue 12, pp. 831-836

8 H. John Heinz III Center for Science Economics and the Environment, The Hidden Costs of Coastal Hazards: 

Implications for Risk Assessment and Mitigation, Island Press, 2000, Washington, D.C.

9 U.S. Geological Survey, Earthquake Facts and Statistics, http://neic.usgs.gov/neis/eqlists/eqstats.html

10 U.S. Geological Survey, Requirements for an Advanced National Seismic System, U.S. Geological Survey circular 

1188, 1999, p.5; Field et al., Loss estimates for a Puente Hill blind-thrust earthquake in Los Angeles, California, 2005, 

Earthquake Spectra, vol. 21, n.5, pp. 329-338

11 National Interagency Fire Center, http://www.nifc.gov/

12 Office of the Federal Coordinator for Meteorological Services and Supporting Research, National Wildland Fire 

Weather: A Summary of User Needs and Issues, Joint Action Group (JAG) for the National Wildland Fire Weather 

Needs Assessment (NWFWNA), 3 July 2007, p.2

13 U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, Federal Wildland Fire Policy, Chartered 1994, Revised 2001. 

http://www.fs.fed.us/land/wdfire7c.htm, January 4, 2002

14 U.S. Fire Administration, TOPICAL FIRE RESEARCH SERIES, Fires in the Wildland/Urban Interface, Volume 2, 

Issue 16 March 2002

15 Interagency Working Group on Earth Observations, Strategic Plan for the U.S. Integrated Earth Observation System, 

Committee on Environment and Natural Resources, National Science and Technology Council, April 2005

16 The National Research Council, Observing Weather and Climate From the Ground Up: A Nationwide Network of Networks, 

The National Academies Press, Washington, DC, 2008 http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=12540

17 National Institute of Medicine, Forum on Microbial Threats, Global Climate Change and Extreme Weather Events: 

Understanding the Contributions to Infectious Disease Emergence 2008, The National Academies Press, Washington, 

D.C., 2008; and National Institute of Medicine, Forum on Microbial Threats, Vector-Borne Diseases: Understanding 

the Environmental, Human Health, and Ecological Connections. The National Academies Press, Washington, D.C., 2008

18 Ocean’s least productive waters are expanding, Polovina, J.J, E.A. Howell,and M. Abecassis, Geophysical Research 

Letters, vol. 35, L03618, doi:10.1029/2007GL031745, 2008
Achieving and Sustaining Earth Observations 69

19 The United States National Report on Systematic Observations for Climate for 2008: National Activities with 

Respect to the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) Implementation Plan, Prepared For Submission to the 

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Compiled by the Observations Working 

Group of the U.S. Climate Change Science Program (CCSP), September 2008

20 L. Wigbels, G.R. Faith, and V. Sabathier, Earth Observations and Global Change: Why? Where Are We? What’s Next?, 

Center for Strategic and International Studies, Washington DC, July 2008, pVII

21 Polovina, J.J., E.A. Howell, and M. Abecassis, Ocean’s least productive waters are expanding, Geophysical Research 

Letters, Vol. 35, L03618, DOI:10.1029/2007GL031745, 2008

22 NSTC Subcommittee on Water Availability and Quality, A Strategy for Federal Science and Technology to Support Water 

Availability and Quality in the United States, National Science and Technology Council, Committee on Environment 

and Natural Resources, , Sept 2007, p.8

23 http://acwi.gov/monitoring/network/design/