264
Chapter 26
opportunities presented by domestic/international cooperative efforts and/or
technical innovation. It complements the EOS by providing the ability to
investigate specific Earth processes that require special orbits or have unique
observation requirements. Currently approved Earth Probes include the
Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (planned for launch in January 2000)
which will provide the first global (within ~60 degrees N and S latitude)
moderate-resolution digital topographic characterization of the Earth land
surface. The Earth System Science Pathfinder missions including Vegetation
Canopy Lidar (VCL), to measure the height of global forests and their
contributions to global carbon cycle, the Gravity Recovery and Climate
Experiment (GRACE), to document long baseline Earth’s gravity field, and
PICASSO-CENA to measure the vertical structure of the clouds and aerosols
in the atmosphere and their contributions to the variability in Earth’s climate.
A combination of the EOS and Earth Probes satellites will provide some
unprecedented capabilities for Earth scientists to study and understand some
complex aspects of the Earth’s atmosphere and terrestrial ecosystems which
have not been possible before. For example, a combination of Terra and
VCL satellites will enable understanding the role of terrestrial ecosystems in
sequestering the atmospheric carbon dioxide a major greenhouse gas. We do
not have a reliable estimate of the capacity of these ecosystems for removing
carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The observations resulting from Terra
and VCL will help reducing the uncertainties associated with our current
knowledge at least by 30%. Similarly, observations resulting from a
combination of EOS PM and PICASSO-CENA will address the current
ambiguity surrounding the role of clouds and aerosols in absorbing the solar
radiation which contributes to the heating of atmosphere.
Embracing the NASA “faster, better, cheaper” philosophy and pursuing
advanced technological developments, ESE intends to drastically shrink the
size, cost and development time for missions in the next decade while
maintaining capabilities and performance of these systems. Such missions
will be more sharply focused on addressing a specific science or application
questions rather than conducting broad surveys. An integrated technology
program is paving the way for a “faster, better, cheaper” mission set. The
Instrument Incubator Program, for example, supports the development of
new instruments and measurement techniques from concept to laboratory
development and ground or air validation. The New Millennium Program
focuses on identifying and demonstrating advanced technologies or
engineering capabilities requiring space-based validations that reduce cost or
improve performance of spacecraft instruments for future. The first New
Millennium missions include the Earth Observing mission (EO-1), which
will carry an Advanced Land Imager which is one-half the size, one-tenth
the mass and requires one-seventh the power required by the current
Chapter 26
opportunities presented by domestic/international cooperative efforts and/or
technical innovation. It complements the EOS by providing the ability to
investigate specific Earth processes that require special orbits or have unique
observation requirements. Currently approved Earth Probes include the
Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (planned for launch in January 2000)
which will provide the first global (within ~60 degrees N and S latitude)
moderate-resolution digital topographic characterization of the Earth land
surface. The Earth System Science Pathfinder missions including Vegetation
Canopy Lidar (VCL), to measure the height of global forests and their
contributions to global carbon cycle, the Gravity Recovery and Climate
Experiment (GRACE), to document long baseline Earth’s gravity field, and
PICASSO-CENA to measure the vertical structure of the clouds and aerosols
in the atmosphere and their contributions to the variability in Earth’s climate.
A combination of the EOS and Earth Probes satellites will provide some
unprecedented capabilities for Earth scientists to study and understand some
complex aspects of the Earth’s atmosphere and terrestrial ecosystems which
have not been possible before. For example, a combination of Terra and
VCL satellites will enable understanding the role of terrestrial ecosystems in
sequestering the atmospheric carbon dioxide a major greenhouse gas. We do
not have a reliable estimate of the capacity of these ecosystems for removing
carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The observations resulting from Terra
and VCL will help reducing the uncertainties associated with our current
knowledge at least by 30%. Similarly, observations resulting from a
combination of EOS PM and PICASSO-CENA will address the current
ambiguity surrounding the role of clouds and aerosols in absorbing the solar
radiation which contributes to the heating of atmosphere.
Embracing the NASA “faster, better, cheaper” philosophy and pursuing
advanced technological developments, ESE intends to drastically shrink the
size, cost and development time for missions in the next decade while
maintaining capabilities and performance of these systems. Such missions
will be more sharply focused on addressing a specific science or application
questions rather than conducting broad surveys. An integrated technology
program is paving the way for a “faster, better, cheaper” mission set. The
Instrument Incubator Program, for example, supports the development of
new instruments and measurement techniques from concept to laboratory
development and ground or air validation. The New Millennium Program
focuses on identifying and demonstrating advanced technologies or
engineering capabilities requiring space-based validations that reduce cost or
improve performance of spacecraft instruments for future. The first New
Millennium missions include the Earth Observing mission (EO-1), which
will carry an Advanced Land Imager which is one-half the size, one-tenth
the mass and requires one-seventh the power required by the current