Climate Data Records from Environmental Satellites, National Academy

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1
1 INTRODUCTION 9
A Need for Climate Observations, 10
The Purpose of This Study, 12
Past Studies of Note, 17
Report Organization, 18
2 LESSONS LEARNED FROM PREVIOUS PROGRAMS 19
Atmospheric Temperature Profiles, 19
Tropospheric Temperatures, 22
Satellite Precipitation, 25
Earth Radiation Budget and Clouds, 27
Vegetation Dynamics and Land Cover, 30
NOAA Snow Map Product, 32
Sea Surface Temperature, 35
Ocean Color, 38
Sea Ice, 40
Summary of Lessons Learned, 43
3 ELEMENTS OF A SUCCESSFUL SATELLITE CDR
GENERATION PROGRAM 45
Organization, 45
Creating Fundamental Climate Data Records, 48
Creating Thematic Climate Data Records, 54
Sustaining a CDR Program, 58
Concluding Remarks, 61
xiv CONTENTS
4 DATA MANAGEMENT REQUIREMENTS 63
Requirements for Data Management of Climate Data Records, 64
System Design, 64
Data Stewardship and Long-Term Archive, 72
Infrastructure, 74
Concluding Remarks, 77
5 PARTNERSHIPS ESSENTIAL FOR IMPLEMENTATION 81
National Partnerships, 82
International Partnerships, 90
Concluding Thoughts, 91
6 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 95
Overarching Recommendation, 95
Applying New Approaches to Generate and Manage Satellite
CDRs, 96
Developing New Community Relationships, 99
Ensuring Long-Term Stability for a Satellite CDR Generation
Program, 101
REFERENCES 103
APPENDIXES
A Workshop Agenda and Participants 107
B Biographical Sketches of Committee Members 111
C Acronyms and Initialisms 117
D EOSDIS Lessons Learned 123
E Previous NRC Recommendations 131