Small Satellites and the New Climate Observation Plans

摘要

A rapidly changing Earth environment will stress a wide range of social and economic components of our nation and the rest of the world. Addressing the urgent need to provide timely, relevant data to policymakers faced with the challenges brought about by climate change is one of the science community's highest priorities. NASA and the National Oceanic and At-mospheric Administration (NOAA) have defined plans to start a new set of climate observations, partly to replace aging missions and to provide more pertinent and more accurate climate measurements. A mixed portfolio of mission sizes is vital for Earth science in order to accomplish its broad scope of objectives. We are concerned that the trend toward larger Earth science missions is reducing the opportunities for small satellite missions that can provide nimble and lower-cost solutions for some of the required climate measurements. An immediate reversal of this trend is necessary to ensure the vitality of programs that are presently experiencing cost and schedule growth.