26. THE NASA EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE PROGRAM IN 21ST
CENTURY
259
Science Enterprise (ESE) endeavors to understand such complex phenomena
related to the total Earth system and the effects that natural and humaninduced changes have on the global environment. From the unique vantage
point of space, ESE and its domestic and international partners are beginning
to understand these dynamic and interacting processes. The fundamental
knowledge gained from these efforts is also being used for practical societal
needs—such as more accurate weather and climate forecasting, in precision
farming and forestry, in natural resource management, in urban and regional
planning, in disaster management, in human health and safety planning, and
more.
NASA has implemented a complex program including science and
applications research, observational systems and technology development,
and information system management, in cooperation with domestic and
international partners. This article provides a brief overview of the NASA
Earth Science program and its implementation strategy. In short, NASA is
poised to bring together the powerful combination of science, space-based
remote sensing and information system technologies to enable policy and
decision makers at all levels of the government, public and private sector
practitioners, to establish sound, knowledge-based environmental decisions
in the 21st Century.
2.
SCIENCE OF THE EARTH SYSTEM
To study the Earth, NASA is taking full advantage of a strong and
complex program of fundamental research in Earth system science. Satellite
and airborne remote sensing observations, coupled with ground-based
measurements, coordinated and multidisciplinary field experiments and
powerful computers are used to achieve a basic understanding of the Earth’s
large-scale processes such as changes in the atmosphere, oceans and
continents. The knowledge gained from these efforts allows us to mimic, or
model, the behavior of the Earth system at the regional-to-global scale.
These large-scale investigations continue as a critical part of the ESE
scientific endeavor because they form the context within which to gain
understanding of regional-to-local scale concerns. As the behavior of the
Earth’s past climate is successfully modeled, confidence is gained that future
long- and short-term trends can someday be predicted. The information
resulting from these efforts is necessary to address local-scale concerns such
as suburban land use planning, natural resource management, or disaster
mitigation. Both the growth in scientific understanding and the needs of
CENTURY
259
Science Enterprise (ESE) endeavors to understand such complex phenomena
related to the total Earth system and the effects that natural and humaninduced changes have on the global environment. From the unique vantage
point of space, ESE and its domestic and international partners are beginning
to understand these dynamic and interacting processes. The fundamental
knowledge gained from these efforts is also being used for practical societal
needs—such as more accurate weather and climate forecasting, in precision
farming and forestry, in natural resource management, in urban and regional
planning, in disaster management, in human health and safety planning, and
more.
NASA has implemented a complex program including science and
applications research, observational systems and technology development,
and information system management, in cooperation with domestic and
international partners. This article provides a brief overview of the NASA
Earth Science program and its implementation strategy. In short, NASA is
poised to bring together the powerful combination of science, space-based
remote sensing and information system technologies to enable policy and
decision makers at all levels of the government, public and private sector
practitioners, to establish sound, knowledge-based environmental decisions
in the 21st Century.
2.
SCIENCE OF THE EARTH SYSTEM
To study the Earth, NASA is taking full advantage of a strong and
complex program of fundamental research in Earth system science. Satellite
and airborne remote sensing observations, coupled with ground-based
measurements, coordinated and multidisciplinary field experiments and
powerful computers are used to achieve a basic understanding of the Earth’s
large-scale processes such as changes in the atmosphere, oceans and
continents. The knowledge gained from these efforts allows us to mimic, or
model, the behavior of the Earth system at the regional-to-global scale.
These large-scale investigations continue as a critical part of the ESE
scientific endeavor because they form the context within which to gain
understanding of regional-to-local scale concerns. As the behavior of the
Earth’s past climate is successfully modeled, confidence is gained that future
long- and short-term trends can someday be predicted. The information
resulting from these efforts is necessary to address local-scale concerns such
as suburban land use planning, natural resource management, or disaster
mitigation. Both the growth in scientific understanding and the needs of