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The Earth is an oasis in the vastness of space. The natural environment of the Earth is the basis from which life, as it is known, is derived and upon which all life depends for its existence. Without it, human civilizations cannot succeed and thrive. Humans and all life on Earth depend on the natural environment for uncontaminated air, water, food and the other necessities of life such as energy and shelter. As the human population continues to grow, the demands for nature's resources continue to escalate and the Earth's life-sustaining systems are taxed more than ever before. It is critical to understand the natural world, how it is chang-ing, and how humans can help sustain it.
NASA's Office of Earth Science (OES) studies the total Earth environment--atmosphere, ice, oceans, land, biota, and their interactions--in order to understand the effects of natural and human-induced near-term changes on the global environment, and to lay the foundation for long-term environment and climate monitoring and prediction. During FY2000, numerous research and technology efforts were accomplished, the results of which address the major goals of the OES Enterprise:
- Observe, understand, and model the Earth system to learn how it is changing, and the consequences for life on Earth.
- Expand and accelerate the realization of economic and societal benefits from Earth science, information, and technology.
- Develop and adopt advanced technologies to enable mission success and serve national priorities.
Ames Research Center supports the OES by conducting research and by developing technology with the objective of expanding the knowledge of the Earth's atmosphere and its ecosystems. These are also goals of the Agency's Astrobiology research and tech-nology efforts, which are led by Ames. A complementary objective is to apply the knowledge gained to practical everyday problems, and to transfer the technology and knowledge to users outside NASA.
Key components of the Earth Science Division's research programs include the study of the physical and chemical processes of biogeochemical cycling; the dynamics of terres-trial ecosystems; the chemical and transport processes that determine atmospheric composition, dynamics, and climate; and the physical processes that determine the behavior of the atmosphere on the Earth and other solar system bodies.
Earth scientists at Ames engage in research related to four of the NASA strategic enter-prises.
The Earth Science Enterprise
NASA Headquarters Code Y
Terrestrial ecology and atmospheric assessments, airborne instrument development, applications, Astrobiology, and Information Technology
The Human Exploration and Development of Space Enterprise
NASA Headquarters Code U
Application of technology to issues of human health
The Aeronautics and Space Transportation Technology Enterprise
NASA Headquarters Code R
Environmental assessments of aircraft operation, remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) sensor development, and science demonstration
The Space Science Enterprise
NASA Headquarters Code Y
Planetary atmospheres study
Research efforts include environmental concerns related to stratospheric ozone depletion, perturbations in the chemical composition of the atmosphere, and climatic changes resulting from clouds, aerosols, and increasing amounts of greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere. Numerous state-of-the-art instruments are flown successfully each year, and critical data are collected for stratospheric and tropospheric research.
At Ames, scientists and technical personnel design, develop, and perform both remote sensing and in situ experimental measurements. In addition they perform computer simulations of atmospheric processes and ecosystems processes to understand exchanges between the biosphere and the atmosphere using both airborne and satellite sensor data. The scientists conceive and develop advanced instrumentation to satisfy the measurement requirements of all supported enterprises emphasizing both airborne and selected spacecraft sensors. Project managers and project scientists provide science mission management and science leadership for major NASA science programs and other agency science programs. Staff scientists conceive and develop applications programs utilizing proven and developing technology. Additionally, they transfer developed scientific knowledge and technology to commercial and private interests, national and international governmental agencies and ministries, other disciplines, and educational institutions.
The Airborne Sensor Facility (ASF) within the Earth Science Division provides remote sensing support for OES investigations, and for calibration and validation studies for the Earth Observing System (EOS). It is tasked with maintaining and operating a suite of OES facility sensors that are made available to the science community at large through the NASA flight request process. The sensors are flown on various NASA, U.S. Department of Energy, and other aircraft, as required.
The ASF does data processing, flight operations, sensor calibration, systems development, and data telemetry. Current activities are centered around the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS) and the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) airborne simulators (the MODIS Airborne Simulator, MAS, and the MODIS ASTER instrument, MASTER), which are being used to characterize calibration sites and develop algorithms for the new Terra (EOS AM-1) satellite systems. These data are processed into a calibrated Level-1B product at the ASF, and delivered to the instrument science teams via the EOS Distributed Active Archive Centers.
Research results and technology developments are published in the scientific literature. Additionally, many of these results are disseminated to the commercial and educational communities contributing to a better public understanding of the Earth Science Enterprise within NASA.
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