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Appendixes
A Statement of Task An ad hoc committee will conduct an assessment and prepare a report that will: 1. Prioritize capabilities, especially those related to climate research, that were lost or placed at risk following recent changes to NPOESS and the GOES-R series of polar and geostationary environmental monitoring satellites. These include capabilities that were lost or degraded as a consequence of alterations in the planned constellation of spacecraft and/or the removal or reduction in scope of remaining instruments; and 2. Present strategies to recover these capabilities. In conducting its assessment, the committee will build on information from the workshop that will be con- ducted in June 2007 by the separately appointed NRC Panel on Options to Ensure the Climate Record from the NPOESS and GOES-R Spacecraft and on the panelâs report expected to be issued in August 2007. Included in this assessment will be the committeeâs analysis of the capabilities and timeliness of the portfolio of missions recommended in the 2007 Earth Science and Applications from Space decadal survey to recover these capabilities, especially those related to research on Earthâs climate, and the potential role of existing and planned spacecraft operated by international partners and the role of existing and planned civil U.S. spacecraft. The com- mittee will also make a preliminary evaluation of the risks, benefits, and costs of placingâon NPOESS, GOES-R, or other space-based platformsâalternative sensors to those originally planned. 81
