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OCR for page 1
Assessment of Satellite Earth Observation Programs 1991 (Chapter 1)
Assessment of Satellite Earth Observation Programs
1991
1
Introduction
The Committee on Earth Studies (CES—called the Committee on Earth
Sciences prior to 1989) provides continuing guidance to the Space Studies Board
(SSB) in the areas of earth sciences and related remote sensing applications.
The scope of its scientific advice incorporates all earth science disciplines that
can be addressed from space, including studies of the atmosphere, ocean,
geology and geophysics, global biology and ecology, and their interactions. The
committee also identifies policy issues and provides advice concerning priorities
in civil and unclassified remote sensing of the Earth, with special attention given
to institutional roles and relationships among the various academic, government,
and private sector entities involved. As a standing committee of the SSB, the
CES assists in carrying out studies, monitoring the implementation of strategies,
and providing recommendations to the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration (NASA) and other government agencies.
REPORT MENU
NOTICE
In the past, the advice of the CES was directed primarily to the earth
MEMBERSHIP
sciences portion of the Earth Science and Applications Division (ESAD) and to
FOREWORD
the Office of Space Science and Applications (OSSA) of NASA. Although these
SUMMARY
entities within NASA continue to be the principal focus of CES advice, the
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2 committee's purview has been broadened as a result of the SSB reorganization
CHAPTER 3 in 1988-1989.
REFERENCES
ABBREVIATIONS AND
Specifically, the mandate to CES now includes global biology and
ACRONYMS
ecology, previously addressed by the SSB Committee on Planetary Biology
APPENDIX
(CPB), and issues related to remote sensing applications, formerly a function of
the Space Applications Board (SAB) of the National Research Council (NRC).
Thus, the CES now advises on program and issues important to a wider
audience both within NASA—including the applications portion of ESAD, the Life
Sciences Division of OSSA, and the Office of Commercial Programs—and within
other federal agencies that have significant interests in Earth observation
programs, notably the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the United States Geological Survey
(USGS), as well as the interagency Committee on Earth and Environmental
Sciences (CEES). The CES also maintains contacts with other interested parties
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Assessment of Satellite Earth Observation Programs 1991 (Chapter 1)
in the executive and legislative branches, in private industry, and in the university
research community.
The principal NRC documents reviewed by the committee for this
assessment include the following: A Strategy for Earth Science from Space in the
1980's—Part I: Solid earth and Oceans (SSB, 1982a); Data Management and
Computation, Volume I: Issues and Recommendations (SSB, 1982b); Snow and
Ice Research: An Assessment (PRB, 1983); A Strategy for Earth Science from
Space in the 1980's and 1990's—Part II: Atmosphere and Interactions with the
Solid Earth, Oceans, and Biota (SSB, 1985); Remote Sensing of the Earth from
Space: A Program in Crisis (SAB, 1985); Remote Sensing of the Biosphere
(SSB, 1986); and Strategy for Earth Explorers in Global Earth Sciences (SSB,
1988).
The primary purpose of this report is to identify the major scientific
objectices and the principal recommendations in the documents listed above, to
assess NASA's progress in relation to them, and to recommend how the
perceived deficiencies might be rectified. The assessment also covers the Earth
observation activities of NOAA and the private sector in the context of remote
sensing applications policies and programs.
Chapter 2 focuses on NASA's response to the CES science strategy
(SSB 1982a, 1985) and to the principal recommendations in the Committee on
Glaciology report (PRB, 1983) and the 1986 CPB report (SSB, 1986). Chapter 3
reviews the status of applications programs in relation to the 1985 SAB report
and examines the most important programmatic issues in relation to all the
reports mentioned above. Chapter 3 is followed by references and a list of
abbreviations and acronyms. Finally, the appendix contains the guidelines for this
assessment.
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