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Earth Science and Applications from Space: National Imperatives for the Next Decade and Beyond (2007)

Chapter: Part II: Mission Summaries

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Previous Chapter: 3 From Satellite Observations to Earth Information

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Suggested Citation: "Part II: Mission Summaries." National Research Council. 2007. Earth Science and Applications from Space: National Imperatives for the Next Decade and Beyond. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11820.

Part II
Mission Summaries

In Chapter 2, the committee describes the observational portion of a strategy for obtaining an integrated set of space-based measurements in the decade 2010-2020. The 17¹ missions listed in Tables 11.1 and II.2 form the centerpiece of this strategy. In Part II—Chapter 4—the committee summarizes in alphabetical order the 17 recommended missions, providing a more detailed discussion of each. Each mission summary also contains references to the particular sections in the panel reports in Part III (Chapters 5-11) in which the missions are discussed, as well as index numbers that point to related responses to the committee's request for information.²

¹	Note that CLARREO is listed twice because its instruments are recommended for support by both NASA and NOAA.
²	The request for information is reprinted in Appendix D. A complete index to the responses is provided in Appendix E. Full-text versions of the responses are included on the compact disk that contains this report.

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TABLE II.1 Launch, Orbit, and Instrument Specifications for Missions Recommended to NOAA

Decadal Survey Mission	Mission Description	Orbit^a	Instruments	Rough Cost Estimate (FY 06 $million)
2010–2013
CLARREO (instrument reflight components)	Solar and Earth radiation characteristics for understanding climate forcing	LEO, SSO	Broadband radiometer	65
GPSRO	High-accuracy, all-weather temperature, water vapor, and electron density profiles for weather, climate,and space weather	LEO	GPS receiver	150
2013–2016
XOVWM	Sea-surface wind vectors for weather and ocean ecosystems	LEO, SSO	Backscatter radar	350
NOTE: Missions are listed by cost. Colors denote mission cost categories as estimated by the committee. Green and blue shading indicates medium-cost ($300 million to $600 million) and small-cost (<$300 million) missions, respectively. The missions are described in detail in Part II, and Part III provides the foundation for selection. ^aLEO, low Earth orbit; SSO, Sun-synchronous orbit.

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TABLE II.2 Launch, Orbit, and Instrument Specifications for Missions Recommended to NASA

Decadal Survey Mission	Mission Description	Orbit^a	Instruments	Rough Cost Estimate (FY 06 $million)
2010–2013
CLARREO (NASA portion)	Solar and Earth radiation; spectrally resolved forcing and response of the climate system	LEO, Precessing	Absolute, spectrally resolved interferometer	200
SMAP	Soil moisture and freeze-thaw for weather and water cycle processes	LEO, SSO	L-band radar L-band radiometer	300
ICESat-II	Ice sheet height changes for climate change diagnosis	LEO, Non-SSO	Laser altimeter	300
DESDynl	Surface and ice sheet deformation for understanding natural hazards and climate; vegetation structure for ecosystem health	LEO, SSO	L-band InSAR Laser altimeter	700
2013–2016
HyspIRI	Land surface composition for agriculture and mineral characterization; vegetation types for ecosystem health	LEO, SSO	Hyperspectral spectrometer	300
ASCENDS	Day/night, all-latitude, all-season CO₂ column integrals for climate emissions	LEO, SSO	Multifrequency laser	400
SWOT	Ocean, lake, and river water levels for ocean and inland water dynamics	LEO, SSO	Ka- or Ku-band radar Ku-band altimeter Microwave radiometer	450
GEO-CAPE	Atmospheric gas columns for air quality forecasts;ocean color for coastal ecosystem health and climate emissions	GEO	High-spatial-resolution hyperspectral spectrometer Low-spatial-resolution imaging spectrometer IR correlation radiometer	550
ACE	Aerosol and cloud profiles for climate and water cycle; ocean color for open ocean biogeochemistry	LEO, SSO	Backscatter lidar Multiangle polarimeter Doppler radar	800
2016–2020
LIST	Land surface topography for landslide hazards and water runoff	LEO, SSO	Laser altimeter	300
PATH	High-frequency, all-weather temperature and humidity soundings for weather forecasting and sea-surface temperature^b	GEO	Microwave array spectrometer	450
GRACE-II	High-temporal-resolution gravity fields for tracking large-scale water movement	LEO, SSO	Microwave or laser ranging system	450
SCLP	Snow accumulation for freshwater availability	LEO, SSO	Ku- and X-band radars K- and Ka-band radiometers	500
GACM	Ozone and related gases for intercontinental air quality and stratospheric ozone layer prediction	LEO, SSO	UV spectrometer IR spectrometer Microwave limb sounder	600
3D-Winds (Demo)	Tropospheric winds for weather forecasting and pollution transport	LEO, SSO	Doppler lidar	650
NOTE: Missions are listed by cost. Colors denote mission cost categories as estimated by the committee. Pink, green, and blue shading indicates large-cost ($600 million to $900 million), medium-cost ($300 million to $600 million), and small-cost (<$300 million) missions, respectively. Detailed descriptions of the missions are given in Part II, and Part III provides the foundation for their selection. ^aLEO, low Earth orbit; SSO, Sun-synchronous orbit; GEO, geostationary Earth orbit. ^bCloud-independent, high-temporal-resolution, lower-accuracy sea-surface temperature measurement to complement, not replace, global operational high-accuracy sea-surface temperature measurement.