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Ensuring the Climate Record
from the NPP and NPOESS
Meteorological Satellites
Committee on Earth Studies
Space Studies Board
Division on Engineering
and Physical Sciences
National Research Council
NOTICE
MEMBERSHIP and ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF REVIEWERS
FOREWORD
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1. INTRODUCTION
2. DATA SYSTEMS PLANS
Introduction
NPOESS and NPP Plans
NESDIS Data Processing Plans for NPOESS
NASA Data Plans
Summary
Reference
3. ESSENTIAL SERVICES FOR CLIMATE DATA
Guiding Principles
Components of a Climate Data System
Concluding Observation
4. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Conclusions
Recommendations
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APPENDIXES
A. Statement of Task
B. Workshop Agenda and Participants
C. Acronyms and Abbreviations
D. The Role of Science Teams
E. The Basis for a National Climate Data Archive
National Academy Press, 2000
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Ensuring the Climate Record from
the NPP and NPOESS Meteorological Satellites
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.
Support for this project was provided by National Aeronautics and Space Administration contract NASW-
96013, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration contracts 50-DGNE-5-00210 and 50
DKNA-6-90040. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this material are
those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the sponsor.
International Standard Book Number 0-309-06994-7
Copies of this report are available free of charge from:
Space Studies Board
National Research Council
2101 Constitution Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20418
Copyright 2000 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America
The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished
scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and
technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the
Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on
scientific and technical matters. Dr. Bruce M. Alberts is president of the National Academy of Sciences.
The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National
Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its
administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the
responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors
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engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and
recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. William A. Wulf is president of the National
Academy of Engineering.
The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the
services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to
the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of
Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, upon its own
initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Kenneth I. Shine is president of
the Institute of Medicine.
The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to
associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy's purposes of furthering
knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies
determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National
Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government,
the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both
Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Bruce M. Alberts and Dr. William A. Wulf are chairman and
vice chairman, respectively, of the National Research Council.
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Ensuring the Climate Record from
the NPP and NPOESS Meteorological Satellites
Membership and Acknowledgment of Reviewers
COMMITTEE ON EARTH STUDIES
MARK R. ABBOTT, Oregon State University, Chair
JOHN R. CHRISTY, University of Alabama, Huntsville
CATHERINE GAUTIER, University of California, Santa Barbara
CHRISTOPHER O. JUSTICE, University of Virginia
RALPH F. MILLIFF, National Center for Atmospheric Research
SCOTT PACE, RAND
DALLAS L. PECK, U.S. Geological Survey (retired)
MICHAEL J. PRATHER, University of California, Irvine
R. KEITH RANEY, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
DAVID T. SANDWELL, Scripps Institution of Oceanography
LAWRENCE C. SCHOLZ, West Orange, New Jersey
CARL F. SCHUELER, Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing
GRAEME L. STEPHENS, Colorado State University
FAWWAZ T. ULABY, University of Michigan
SUSAN L. USTIN, University of California, Davis
FRANK J. WENTZ, Remote Sensing Systems
EDWARD F. ZALEWSKI, University of Arizona
ARTHUR A. CHARO, Senior Program Officer
THERESA M. FISHER, Senior Project Assistant
SPACE STUDIES BOARD
JOHN H. McELROY, University of Texas at Arlington (retired), Chair
MARK R. ABBOTT, Oregon State University
FRAN BAGENAL, University of Colorado
JAMES P. BAGIAN, Veterans Health Administration's National Center for Patient Safety
JAMES L. BURCH, Southwest Research Institute
ROBERT E. CLELAND, University of Washington
STEVEN H. FLAJSER, Loral Space and Communications Ltd.
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BILL GREEN, Former Member, U.S. House of Representatives
JOHN H. HOPPS, JR., Rozewell, Georgia
CHRIS J. JOHANNSEN, Purdue University
RICHARD G. KRON, University of Chicago
CONWAY LEOVY, University of Washington
JONATHAN I. LUNINE, University of Arizona
BRUCE D. MARCUS, TRW (retired)
RICHARD A. McCRAY, University of Colorado
GARY J. OLSEN, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
GEORGE A. PAULIKAS, The Aerospace Corporation
JOYCE E. PENNER, University of Michigan
EUGENE B. SKOLNIKOFF, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
MITCHELL SOGIN, Marine Biological Laboratory
NORMAN E. THAGARD, Florida State University
ALAN M. TITLE, Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Center
MEGAN C. URRY, Space Telescope Science Institute
PETER W. VOORHEES, Northwestern University
JOHN A. WOOD, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
JOSEPH K. ALEXANDER, Director
COMMISSION ON PHYSICAL SCIENCES,
MATHEMATICS, AND APPLICATIONS
PETER M. BANKS, ERIM International, Inc. (retired), Co-chair
WILLIAM H. PRESS, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Co-chair
WILLIAM F. BALLHAUS, JR., Lockheed Martin Corporation
SHIRLEY CHIANG, University of California at Davis
MARSHALL H. COHEN, California Institute of Technology
RONALD G. DOUGLAS, Texas A&M University
SAMUEL H. FULLER, Analog Devices, Inc.
MICHAEL F. GOODCHILD, University of California at Santa Barbara
MARTHA P. HAYNES, Cornell University
WESLEY T. HUNTRESS, JR., Carnegie Institution
CAROL M. JANTZEN, Westinghouse Savannah River Company
PAUL G. KAMINSKI, Technovation, Inc.
KENNETH H. KELLER, University of Minnesota
JOHN R. KREICK, Sanders, a Lockheed Martin Company (retired)
MARSHA I. LESTER, University of Pennsylvania
W. CARL LINEBERGER, University of Colorado
DUSA M. McDUFF, State University of New York at Stony Brook
JANET L. NORWOOD, Former Commissioner, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
M. ELISABETH PATÉ-CORNELL, Stanford University
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NICHOLAS P. SAMIOS, Brookhaven National Laboratory
ROBERT J. SPINRAD, Xerox PARC (retired)
JAMES F. HINCHMAN, Acting Executive Director
ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF REVIEWERS
This report has been reviewed by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical
expertise, in accordance with procedures approved by the National Research Council's (NRC's)
Report Review Committee. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and
critical comments that will assist authors and the NRC in making the published report as sound as
possible and to ensure that the report meets institutional standards for objectivity, evidence, and
responsiveness to the study charge. The contents of the review comments and draft manuscript
remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process. The committee wishes to
thank the following individuals for their participation in the review of this report:
Jeff Dozier, University of California at Santa Barbara,
David M. Glover, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution,
Moshe Pniel, Jet Propulsion Laboratory,
Eugene M. Rasmusson, University of Maryland, and
John Townshend, University of Maryland.
Although the individuals listed above have provided many constructive comments and
suggestions, responsibility for the final content of this report rests solely with the authoring
committee and the NRC.
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Ensuring the Climate Record from
the NPP and NPOESS Meteorological Satellites
Foreword
Satellites planned for the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System
(NPOESS) will serve civilian and defense needs for timely environmental data. These data
notably support weather forecasting and "nowcasting," but, if appropriately calibrated and
archived, they could support the examination of global change as well. The Department of
Defense and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are the principal agencies
responsible for NPOESS, but the National Aeronautics and Space Administration provides the
technology for new generations of sensors and is the developer and operator of research
satellites addressing global environmental change. The processing and archiving of data from
NPOESS and its precursor mission, the NPOESS Preparatory Project (NPP), and the merger of
these data with research satellite data for long-term preservation and access are the focus of this
report.
Assessing and—ultimately—forecasting global environmental change is a difficult scientific
problem with important consequences for public policy. The resolution of both the scientific and
public policy questions requires long-term data sets that are carefully defined and well calibrated.
The only efficient and cost-effective means to obtain a major part of the satellite data segment of
the long-term record will be to employ the data available from NPP and NPOESS. Ensuring the
suitability of these data for analyses of global change will, however, require early consideration by
both instrument developers and data archivists.
The key recommendations of this brief study concern the creation of a long-term archive that will
enable preservation of the climate record from NPP and NPOESS. Long-term archives must not,
however, be dusty repositories of data; they should instead be active centers for data study and
utilization, with intensive involvement by the research community. The stored data need to be
robust and capable of improvement as scientific understanding progresses and computer
technology evolves. The data must also be readily accessible to the research community and
affordable for them. The challenges associated with the creation of such an active data archive
can be met only through collaboration between the operational and research communities. The
nature of the required collaboration is discussed in the report that follows.
John H. McElroy, Chair
Space Studies Board
