Enhancing NASA's Contributions to Polar Science A Review of Polar Geophysical Data Sets (2001) / Chapter Skim
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5. Conclusions and Recommendations
5. Conclusions and Recommendations
Pages 95-103
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From page 95... ...
This chapter summarizes the lessons learned in earlier chapters and provides recommendations, where possible, to guide future development of NASA and other polar data sets. The committee's conclusions and recommendations are consensus opinions based on the members' expertise and experience, and derived from committee deliberations, conversations with invited speakers (including our NASA liaison and liaisons from each of the DAACs and their user groups)
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From page 96... ...
These 10 high-priority measurements are: · polar precipitation, · surface albedo, · freshwater discharge from terrestrial regions, · all-sky surface temperature, · surface turbulent fluxes, · permafrost, · ocean surface salinity, · ice sheet mass flux, · land surface characteristics, and · sea ice thickness. In some cases, products that appear to be lacking (e.g., surface radiation fluxes)
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From page 97... ...
· Freshwater Discharge from Terrestrial Regions Needed quantities include lateral fluxes of freshwater to polar oceans from ice sheets and glaciers (including runoff and ice discharge) as well as surface and sub-surface runoff from non-glaciated land areas.
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From page 98... ...
· Ice Sheet Mass Flux (Accumulation, Ablation, and Ice Discharge) The key needs related to ice sheet mass flux are for continued measurement and interpretation to understand the variability introduced by ice accumulation and ablation, both temporally and spatially.
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From page 99... ...
Airborne broadband radar measurement of internal layers tied to ice cores can provide a view of the spatial patterns of recent accumulation, while measurement or estimation of ablation rates near the ice sheet margin will require a new multifaceted approach. Interferometric studies of outlet glaciers have shown evidence of rapid change in both Greenland and Antarctica; improved Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR)
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From page 100... ...
Cloud products, sea ice coverage, and sea ice motion are examples. The committee recommends that NASA support systematic comparisons of different versions of the same product, including calibration and validation activities, the establishment of error bars, and the merger or consolidation of data sets depicting the same variables.
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From page 101... ...
The committee recommends that NASA give high priority to fostering the development of spatially and temporally coherent, internally consistent polar geophysical data sets. · Finally, the continued use of satellite-derived data sets in intercomparison and synthesis activities, such as those described above, argues for the long-term archiving of satellite data sets within the NASA data distribution system.
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From page 102... ...
· Improvements in Tools The committee recommends that data set providers document their individual holdings more effectively, and also provide overview documentation of the broad spectrum of data sets available at their site. The addition of browse products to data sets would help users unfamiliar with the data to judge the utility of the data set for their uses.
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From page 103... ...
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 103 the concern of the 1998 DAAC review and reiterate the need to facilitate access to and utilization of ASP products. In particular, the committee recommends that ASP become more proactive in the assembly of panArctic data sets.
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