Space Studies Board Annual Report 2009 (2010)

In 2009, although the Space Studies Board (SSB) did not convene any workshops, summary reports for three 2008 workshops were prepared for publication. In addition, a collection of selected lectures from the 2007-2008 Forging the Future of Space Science international public seminar series commemorating the 50th anniversary of the International Geophysical Year and the SSB was prepared. Forging the Future of Space Science—The Next 50 Years. An International Public Seminar Series Organized by the Space Studies Board. Selected Lectures will be printed in 2010.

The report of the ad hoc planning committee for the Societal and Economic Impacts of Severe Space Weather Events Workshop, formed in 2007 to organize the May 22-23, 2008, workshop to examine the nation’s current and future ability to manage the effects of space weather events on a wide range of critical infrastructures, and their resulting societal and economic impacts, was delivered to NASA in December 2008 and released to the public on January 5, 2009. This report was summarized in the 2008 annual report. Since its release, Severe Space Weather Events—Understanding Societal and Economic Impacts: A Workshop Report has attracted broad media attention, much of which has been focused on the workshop discussion of the prolonged electrical grid outages that could result from a particularly severe event. Some of the articles were of a rather sensational nature, so the National Research Council’s Office of News and Public Information and SSB staff monitor the report press and field incoming requests for information and interviews. The committee chair, Dan Baker, briefed the report to NASA on March 25, 2009. Among its other impacts, NASA indicated that the workshop had created momentum for interagency talks on creating an operational solar monitoring capability. NASA has also requested a follow-on product from the report, essentially an expanded version of the report’s executive summary that can be used to educate policy makers and officials in other agencies.

The ad hoc Planning Committee for the Future International Space Cooperation and Competition in a Globalizing World: A Workshop, under the auspices of the SSB and the Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board (ASEB), organized a public workshop that took place on November 18-20, 2008, in Irvine, California, to review past and present cooperation and coordination mechanisms for space and Earth science research and space exploration, identify significant lessons learned, and discuss how those lessons could best be applied in the future. The workshop featured invited presentations, panel discussions, and four discussion groups dedicated to specific topics. Approximately 50 individuals participated, including the majority of SSB members and one member of the ASEB. Workshop rapporteur James V. Zimmerman and SSB staff prepared a report summarizing the panel sessions and the output of the four discussion groups. Approaches to Future Space Cooperation and Competition in a Globalizing World: Summary of a Workshop was released in June 2009. The summary of the report is reprinted in Chapter 5.

Charles F. Kennel, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego (chair)

A. Thomas Young, Lockheed Martin Corporation (retired) (vice chair)

Daniel N. Baker, University of Colorado

David Goldston, Princeton University

Joan Johnson-Freese, Naval War College

Richard H. Kohrs, Independent Consultant

Molly K. Macauley, Resources for the Future

Berrien Moore III, University of New Hampshire

Joan Vernikos, Thirdage LLC

Warren M. Washington, National Center for Atmospheric Research

Ian W. Pryke, Senior Program Officer, Space Studies Board

Joseph K. Alexander, Senior Program Officer, Space Studies Board

Carmela J. Chamberlain, Program Associate, Space Studies Board

Under the auspices of the Board on Atmospheric Sciences and Climate (BASC), the Board on Mathematical Sciences and their Applications (BMSA), and the SSB, an ad hoc committee was formed to plan and conduct the Workshop on Uncertainty Management in Remote Sensing of Climate Data that took place at the Doubletree Hotel in Washington, D.C., on December 4, 2008.

Convened jointly by the Climate Research Committee, the Committee on Applied and Theoretical Statistics, and the Committee on Earth Studies, the workshop explored uncertainty management in remote sensing of climate information. Through invited presentations and discussion, participants examined sources of uncertainty throughout satellite and other remote data collection systems, including issues of sampling, scale, processing, and validation; described the statistical methods currently used to quantify these sources of uncertainty for climate-relevant data; and explored how modern statistical methods might be used to provide a more powerful framework for characterizing and propagating these uncertainties.

A summary report of the proceedings, Uncertainty Management in Remote Sensing of Climate Data: Summary of a Workshop, was released in 2009; the summary of the report is reprinted in Chapter 5.

Amy Braverman, Jet Propulsion Laboratory (chair)

Philip E. Ardanuy, Raytheon Information Solutions

John J. Bates, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

James A. Coakley, Jr., Oregon State University

Karen Kafadar, Indiana University

Douglas Nychka, National Center for Atmospheric Research

Joyce E. Penner, University of Michigan

Steven E. Platnick, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

Martha C. McConnell, Associate Program Officer, BASC (study director)

Arthur A. Charo, Senior Program Officer, SSB

Scott T. Weidman, Director, BMSA

Katie Weller, Research Associate, BASC

Shelly Freeland, Program Assistant, BASC