The NRC report Satellite Observations of the Earth’s Environment: Accelerating the Transition from Research to Operations was discussed by Richard Anthes, chair of the NRC Committee on NASA-NOAA Transition from Research to Operations (CONNTRO) and president of the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR).

The committee held its second meeting on June 17-19, 2003, at the Pyle Center on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus. It heard from David Williams, head of Strategic Planning and International Relations, European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites; Hans-Peter Roesli, Swiss Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology (MeteoSvizzera); Tony Hollingsworth, head of Research, European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts. A presentation on “Future Computing Capabilities” was given by Gurindar Sohi, University of Wisconsin. The committee also heard from Paul Menzel, chief scientist, Center for Satellite Applications and Research, NESDIS/NOAA; Gregory W. Withee, associate administrator for Satellite and Information Services, NOAA; Michael Mussetto, NPOESS Shared System Performance Responsibilities project scientist; Jeffrey Tu, NPOESS system architecture lead; and Gary Route, NPOESS Interface Data Processing Segment chief engineer. “Private Sector Data Use” was presented by Robert “Buzz” Bernstein, chief technology officer, SeaSpace, Inc.

The committee held its third meeting on September 9-11, 2003, at the Keck Center of the National Academies, Washington, D.C. It heard from NOAA/NESDIS staff: on “NPOESS Data Exploitation” from James Silva, manager, NPOESS Data Exploitation Project and NPOESS implementation manager, Office of Systems Development; and from Mitch Goldberg, chief, Satellite Meteorology and Climatology Division, Office of Research and Applications; John J. Bates, chief, Remote Sensing Applications Division, National Climatic Data Center; and Richard G. Reynolds, chief, Ground Systems Division, Office of Systems Development, NOAA/NESDIS (also attending the session were Stephen Mango, Integrated Program Office (IPO); Stanley Schneider, IPO/NASA; Geoffrey Goodrum, NOAA/NESDIS; and Stanley Cutler, NOAA consultant/Mitretek); and on the “Comprehensive Large-Array Data Stewardship System” from Richard G. Reynolds, chief, Ground Systems Division, Office of Systems Development.

A presentation titled “Improved Utilization of Remotely Sensed Data” was given by John Townshend, chair, Geology Department, University of Maryland, College