Budget Estimates - Nasa

Mission Directorate:Theme:ScienceEarth ScienceRelevanceRelevance to national priorities, relevant fields, and customer needs:The 2005 NASA Authorization Act and 2006 National Space Policy charge NASA to lead in theadvancement of fundamental scientific knowledge of a global, integrated Earth system. NASA'scapabilities in global Earth observations and models improve our understanding of the geographicallyvarying distribution and rates of change of the global environment and its impacts on society. NASA'scapability is a cornerstone for national and international global integrated Earth-system initiatives,including Presidential Initiatives (Integrated Earth Observations (2005), Vision for Space Exploration(2004), Ocean Action Plan (2004), Climate Change Research Initiative (2002)); CongressionalInitiatives (National Oceanographic Partnership Program (1997), Global Change Research Act(1990), Clean Air Amendments Act (1990)), United Nations Scientific Assessments (IPCC (2007),Ozone Depletion (2006), Millennium Ecosystem (2005)), and the Arctic Council Arctic Climate ImpactAssessment (2005). NASA coordinates with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and NOAA for space-based remoteenvironmental sensing systems. NASA coordinates with USGS on LDCM and with DoD and NOAAfor climate sensors on NPOESS, GOES-R, POES N-prime, QuikSCAT Follow-on, and OSTM Followon.NASA also coordinates with NOAA through user groups to improve data analysis approachesand to facilitate NOAA use of NASA Earth-system data records in NOAA's weather forecasts.Relevance to the NASA Mission and Strategic Goals:NASA has embarked on an ambitious plan to answer the questions of why is the environmentchanging, how will the environment change, what are the environmental impacts on humans, andhow can humans mitigate the impact of environmental hazards. In the efforts to understand and model the global integrated Earth system, Earth Science missionsand analysis activities contribute to NASA's Subgoal 3A.Relevance to education and public benefits:Earth Science research motivates students and young scientists to pursue scientific careers byengaging them in educational activities and research to decipher signals of the global, integratedEarth system. NASA helps improve public understanding of advances and discoveries made inmodeling the Earth as a global integrated system, and the potential societal benefits, such asimproved forecasting for hazards such as hurricanes.Sci-13