chemical composition, habitat viability, and so on, will become more visible in science and policy initiatives as information on variations in such parameters is developed.

Economic growth and, in particular, sustainable development are themes likely to become a greater part of the environmental landscape in the next decade. To support the many civilian applications of the Global Positioning System (GPS), numerous companies have emerged with GPS-related technologies or services. For example, several companies now produce receivers, others focus on surveying and mapping, still others support navigation and guidance applications, and some are involved in tracking services and wireless technologies (see the GPS case study in Appendix D). Today the competition for economic opportunities is global and will likely only increase over the next decade. Environmental information is a necessary component in business decisions of this type. Because satellites in general are the only means of obtaining systematic measurements of the entire globe, it is possible that downstream products based on operational satellite data will be used extensively and with greater frequency in the coming decade to enhance a company’s prospects for business recruitment and success.

Over longer time periods, environmental data will be valuable in efforts to assess changes in ecosystems that may result in certain regulatory measures which in turn have economic consequences. In large part, citizens, who are increasingly being effectively represented through advocacy groups, desire clean, robust, and natural environmental surroundings. Assessments of the state of a particular ecosystem and determining what to do about current conditions may hinge on the products created from space-based data.

An emerging aspect of environmental data use relates to legal issues for which certified and accurate information is now required. For example, to set premiums the energy-use insurance industry must factor in estimates of upcoming weather conditions, and NOAA GOES-R can improve the accuracy of energy load forecasting.³ NOAA may find itself in the high-profile role of having to address these coming