The report by the U.S. Group on Earth Observations to the United States Office of Science and Technology Policy was presented to the United States Congress on September 10 and is available for review on the White House website, the GEO Secretariat announces.
“…The report identifies 17 critical Earth system parameters, such as gravity, soil moisture, ocean color, and solar irradiance, that must be observed from space, in the air, on land, and at sea, as well as below the land and ocean surfaces. It articulates how the President’s Fiscal Year 2011 budget funds the essential systems to carry out these observations,” the Secretariat wrote in an email to GEO members.
U.S. GEO Co-Chair Shere Abbott’s blog on the White House Office of Science and Technology website contains more information:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/09/10/ostp-delivers-preliminary-plan-national-earth-observations.
“Achieving and Sustaining Earth Observations: A Preliminary Plan Based on a Strategic Assessment by the U.S. Group on Earth Observations” recommends urgent action in these cross-cutting areas:
Û¢ Air Quality (gases and aerosols)
Û¢ Biodiversity
Û¢ Clouds/Aerosols
Û¢ Coastal Zone
Û¢ Earth Radiation Budget/Total Solar Irradiance
Û¢ Fires
Û¢ GeoHazard and Deformation Monitoring
Û¢ Gravity
Û¢ Greenhouse Gases
Û¢ Landscape Characterization/ Vegetation
Û¢ Ocean Color
Û¢ Ocean Surface Vector Winds (OSVW)
Û¢ Precipitation
Û¢ Sea level
Û¢ Soil moisture
Û¢ Solar Wind and Magnetic Storms
Û¢ Water quantity and quality