NASA is about to re-enter a space race, but not to the Moon, instead it seems it is going to go head-to-head with ESA in a race to obtain Earth observation data. According to NPR the Obama administration is providing NASA with an extra US$2.4 billion (€1.78 billion) over five years for Earth observation and climate change monitoring.
This may go some way to repair the damage done by the Bush administration in not funding Earth observation programs. The Obama administration might want to free DSCOVR from its Bush (actually Cheney) imposed incarceration.
According to Edward Weiler, associate administrator of NASA's Science Mission Directorate, "This administration has a clear priority for science in general and Earth science in specific. We've got to measure how fast the ice is being depleted, how fast carbon dioxide is being added to the atmosphere as opposed to being taken out of it."
NASA has launched some great environmental spacecraft in the past such as GRACE that has measured Earth’s gravity field and ice loss in Antarctica and water loss. Upcoming launches include Glory (measuring atmospheric aerosols and solar irradiance to evaluate Earth's energy balance), Aquarius (Measuring Ocean Salinity) and National Polar-Orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS).
ESA has its GMES program (global monitoring for environment and security) and has been flying Envisat for over 8 years, collecting terabytes of earth observation data. Other ESA spacecraft include SMOS (Soil Moisture Ocean Salinity Spacecraft) and GOCE (GOCE Successful Launch).
Some great information on carbon dioxide sources and sinks, global methane and nitrogen dioxide, two of the World’s most important greenhouse gases and a significant pollutant gas, is already available online at the ESA PROMOTE Climate Study Support Service and shown here in the various figures.
The coming decade is going to see an enormous increase is space based Earth observation data that will verify beyond any doubt that climate change is happening, and will greatly assist in identifying where, and what, are the biggest contributors. It seems that global environmental information will be extremely important, not only for climate, but also for future economic and political decision making. Maybe that is the reason why NASA, ESA and other space agencies are suddenly so eager to invest in Earth observation.
Trevor Williams is a University of Victoria Mechanical Engineering PhD candidate specializing in renewable energy, power grid modeling and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. He has a bachelors in Aeronautical Engineering, a Masters in Management Science and over 23 years international experience in the space industry, having worked on Earth observation and telecommunications satellites. He is the author of the Eco-Geek blog.
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