[Back to Detailed Agenda]
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| Chairs: Steve Wofsy, Eric Davidson
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Discussion Questions:
- What are the most important carbon cycle science needs and challenges for NASA to address in the next few years?
- How could the current program "portfolio" be improved? Are we doing the right things in/for NACP? Is it time to assess progress before calling for additional new studies?
- How should the advent of OCO affect the program?
- Are we making appropriate progress toward integrating carbon cycle models into Earth system models? If not, what needs to be done?
- What results from this area feed into NASA's Carbon Management program? How can this transition be improved/strengthened?
- What are the key global observations that NASA should make to address carbon cycle issues (e.g., hydrology, biomass, canopy nutrients, canopy health, vegetation composition)?
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--- Please forward any additional comments to the relevant Program Manager at NASA Headquarters. ---
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The functioning and structure of ecosystems are intimately tied to soil moisture. ET also alters soil moisture and ultimately streamflow. Recall landslides in deforested areas. The TE program needs to have a stronger link with the Hydrologic programs - in the use of GRACE, in the design of the Hydrology component of the Decadal Survey.
In the same way, while there has been a lot of discussion of scaling, the discussion generally refers to the scaling of ecosystem structure. There needs to be stronger emaphsis on the scaling of soil mositure. This is especially importnat for climate and carbon studies, as most processes depend non-linearly on soil moisture.
– submitted by Inez Fung at 2006-08-25 10:08:01 |
Radar data can directly address measurements of key global observations for carbon cycle such as hydrology (e.g. flood), biomass and canopy strucutre (health). Since NASA does not currently have any space-borne radar sensor, NASA must encourage the use
of international sensors such as RADARSAT, ENVISAT and ALOS. In the case of ALOS, the data is commercially availbale ($125) and NASA already has a data buy agreement with JAXA. RADARSAT is freely available to the research community although it is limited to low biomass studies. Same is applicable to ENVISAT.
NASA must provide research funding for key measurements using international radar platforms. Such research would contribute to the definition of the design and measurement specifications for future NASA radar platforms. It would also contribute to the education and enhance the role of the U.S. science community.
– submitted by Marc (Mac) Simard at 2006-08-24 15:47:51 |
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