NASA IPY Interest

1. NASA IPY Interest NASA has a strong interest in IPY themes Present environmental status of the polar regions Quantify and understand polar change to improve predictions Understanding of polar-global interactions Scientific exploration in polar regions Importance of polar observatories for study of the Earth-Sun system

2. NASA IPY Activities NASA is one of many US agencies participating in IPY. NSF is the lead US institution. NASA IPY activities include: Earth Observations (from space, aircraft, in situ) NASA satellites and sensors Coordination with US agency partners (NSF, USGS, NOAA) Coordination with international partners (e.g., Canada for RADARSAT-1, Germany for GRACE, etc.) Potential for human observations from orbit (ISS, Shuttle) Scientific studies including a dedicated AO Coordination of data access and processing with domestic and international agencies for observations from space Education and Public Outreach activities

3. Observations from Space The US currently operates 29 satellites with 122 Earth observing sensors (NASA, NOAA, USGS) many in partnership with international space agencies. The US will continue to operate these during IPY and provide scientific access to the data subject to the controlling data policies. The National Research Council has recently released a ‘Decadal Survey’ that offers guidance to NASA, NOAA and USGS on future Earth observations capability. NASA takes this guidance very seriously in planning its program for the period through 2020. Near-term recommended missions include Soil moisture (like Hydros) ICESat follow-on L-band InSAR

4. Data Access and Policy The Antarctic Treaty specifies that scientific observations be made freely available. NASA data policy is free and open access to data. NOAA is similar; USGS often uses COFUR. Nearly all US data sets follow this standard. Exceptions include: PI-led ESSP missions - initial distribution may be science team limited International missions - data policy set by the partner; RADARSAT-1 and ASTER are good examples. Access to US data sets is primarily through NOAA data centers and 9 NASA Distributed Active Archives (http://nasadaacs.eos.nasa.gov). PI-led missions (GRACE, ICESat) may have their own archives

5. Recent NASA IPY Coordination Recognition that the most serious limitation to data access is for SAR/InSAR. This is driven by: high data rate and power consumption competition for acquisition time need for international coordination The limiting factors are often controlled by: multiple acquisition modes constraints on downlink processing capacity data policy NASA is engaged in discussions to alleviate some of these constraints including: RADARSAT-1 (CSA) possible extension as a science mission ALOS (JAXA) - potential use of TDRSS to supplement DRTS, formation of a US interagency partnership (NASA/NSF/USGS) for PALSAR processing and access, discussions with ESA and ALOS nodes for coordinated processing and access to polar data (Antarctic data in particular)

6. Recent NASA IPY Coordination NASA is engaged in discussions to alleviate some of these constraints including: RADARSAT-1 (CSA) possible extension as a science mission continued operation of ASF and McMurdo downlinks continued data processing, archive and distribution through ASF DAAC ALOS (JAXA) - potential use of TDRSS to supplement DRTS, formation of a US interagency partnership (NASA/NSF/USGS) for PALSAR processing and access, discussions with ESA and ALOS nodes for coordinated processing and access to polar data (Antarctic data in particular) NASA may be able to augment downlink, processing and distribution of other SAR data for scientific use subject to scientific demand, partner interest and available resources

7. NASA IPY AO • POC - Craig Dobson craig.dobson-1@nasa.gov Seely Martin seelye.martin-1@nasa.gov • ROSES’06 IPY ~ $6M/yr, ~25 investigations • Scope - highly interdisciplinary with 5 main program elements that leverage enhanced IPY observational capabilities • Integrated analysis of multiple satellite data sets of polar regions • Individual US investigator participation in field activities • Integrated regional modeling of polar regions • Terrestrial • Oceanic • Atmospheric • Biospheric • Cryospheric • Definition studies for US-led, focused IPY activities (to occur in FY08+) • Development of remote sensing instruments suitable for implementation on UAVs LOI due 3/15/06; ~ 90 received Proposals due 5/1/06 - 92 proposals received Reviews - mail + panels - selections expected by end of February 2007

8. Demographics of Proposals • Proposals cover both of Earth’s poles, use of Earth’s polar regions as analogues and comparative studies with other planets. • Arctic (42), Antarctica (13), both (39) • Approx. 30% have a suborbital element. • By discipline focus: • Atmosphere - (40%) • Sea Ice, Ice Sheets and glaciers (40%) • Solid Earth, Hydrology (10%) • Oceans (10%) • By institution: • NASA Centers - (35%) • University,other gov’t labs and industry - (65%)

9. IPY is International & Interdisciplinary • Emphasis of call on international participation • Coordinating with ESA on its IPY AO • Working with ESA, CSA, DLR, JAXA and ASI on coordinating satellite observations, processing and data access/distribution (Also in consultation with GIIPSY IPY project) • A number of proposals are linked to efforts of or cross-submitted to other US agencies - notably NSF. NASA is coordinating with NSF OPP on: • Jointly submitted proposals • Those requiring field access • Others of potential interest to NSF • Many studies examine linkages between cryosphere, ocean, atmosphere, ecosystems, etc. • Many studies (~20) expect to use suborbital observations