NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.

The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations contained in this document are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the agency that provided support for the project. Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute their endorsement by the U.S. government. The study was supported by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration under Contract No. NNH05CC15C/TO106.

Cover: Designed by Michael Dudzik. The three images at the top depict three applications areas from the NASA Applied Sciences Program, agriculture, aviation, and water management (courtesy of the NASA Applied Science Program). The bottom Landsat 7 image shows the distribution of sediment washed into the ocean off the North Carolina coast as a result of Hurricane Floyd’s rains (courtesy of NASA’s Visible Earth Project, http://visibleearth.nasa.gov/).