NASA Town Meeting
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Earth Science Enterprise Research Strategy for 2000-2010 and Global
Water and Energy Cycle
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Monday, 10 December
1830h to 2030h
Moscone, Room 131 |
| How is the Earth changing and
what are the consequences for life on Earth? NASA proposes to discuss
progress in meeting the goals of its "Earth Science Enterprise (ESE)
Research Strategy for 2000-2010" with the scientific community. We
will use this opportunity to outline broad opportunities for involvement
by the scientific community in all aspects of NASA supported Earth science
research. The mission of NASA's Earth Science Enterprise (ESE) is to
develop a scientific understanding of the Earth system and its response to
natural or human-induced changes, and improve prediction capabilities for
climate, weather, global air quality and natural hazards. The NASA Earth
Science program is driven by the recognition of the societal importance of
the variability of the planetary environment and the realization that
humans are no longer passive participants in the evolution of the Earth
system. The central paradigm of the program is based on the recognition
that: (1) the Earth can be understood only as an interactive system
embracing the atmosphere, oceans and sea-ice, glaciers and ice-sheets,
marine and terrestrial ecosystems, the land surface, and the Earth's
interior; (2) new environmental problems are likely to arise, the
solutions of which must draw on years of accumulated knowledge; and (3)
science is a partner in national and international decision-making aiming
to develop the potential to benefit society and to enhance economic
security. ESE aims to obtain a scientific understanding of the entire
Earth system on a global scale by describing how its component parts and
their interactions have evolved, how they function, and how they may be
expected to continue to evolve on all time scales. The challenge is to
develop the capability to predict those changes that will occur in the
next decade to century, both naturally and in response to human activity.
In addition, the chair of the NASA Earth System Science (ESE) and
Application Advisory Committee will discuss current plans and perspectives
for the NASA Global Water and Energy Cycle Research (GWEC) initiative. (GWEC
is an element of the ESE Science Program). Acting upon the long-term
research strategy adopted by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, NASA
has undertaken a multidisciplinary study of changes in the global water
cycle induced by global climate variations, and consequences of those
changes for the continental water balance and resources. This science
theme aims to progress beyond the simplifications of planetary energy
balance and feedbacks, and quasi-linear climate responses (global warming)
to various radiative forcing factors. The theme will focus on changes in
the rate of water and energy exchanges or transformation in the climate
system, and consequences for weather and hydrologic processes.
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Central America SEIZE and SUBFAC: MARGINS Workshop Results and New
Initiatives
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Monday, 10 December
1830h to 2030h
Moscone, Room 133 |
| Two of the primary initiatives of
the MARGINS program are the Seismogenic Zone and the Subduction Factory. A
workshop was held July 9-13, 2001, at the Hotel La Condesa in Heredia,
Costa Rica to discuss what had been accomplished thus far and to make
recommendations for further work. The workshop focused on the following
topics: Role of incoming plate structure and plate kinematics on
earthquake behavior and tsunami generation; Role of fluid, mass, heat, and
volatile fluxes on seismogenic behavior; Effect of incoming plate
structure on arc geochemistry and volcano behavior; Crust and mantle
fluxes and evolution; and Effects on local populations. The purpose of
this town meeting, following a synopsis of the workshop, is to develop a
strategy for mounting several major interdisciplinary programs to address
many of these broad themes. Examples might include passive and active
seismic experiments designed at understanding the deep structure of the
arc system; a program to expand our knowledge of the Nicaragua system
sufficiently to allow meaningful comparisons with Costa Rica; acquisition
of aeromagnetic and aerogravity data of the Costa Rica-Nicaragua system;
and IODP drilling.
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Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Town Meeting
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Tuesday, 11 December
1730h to 1930h
Moscone, Room 132 |
| Come hear the latest news about ODP
and its successor, the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP), which is
slated to begin on October 1, 2003. In conjunction with the December AGU
Meeting in San Francisco, JOI/USSSP is sponsoring a Scientific Ocean
Drilling Town Meeting. Scientific community leaders will provide brief
updates on ODP and IODP. This is an opportunity to ask questions and voice
your opinions. All are welcome.
Refreshments will be served.
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International Association of Hydrological Sciences (IAHS)
Prediction of Ungaged Basins (PUBS)
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Thursday, 13 December
1530h to 1900h
Moscone, Room 130 |
| In order to focus the scientific
activities of the International Association of Hydrological Sciences(IAHS)
and to make the scientific potentials practical, IAHS initiated a unique
science discussion over the Internet. Many exchanges occurred, and
numerous areas of research were proposed. One proposal that received
enthusiastic support from the various IAHS scientific
commissions and individuals was on the subject of research on ungaged
basins. In The Netherlands in July 2001 at the 6th Scientific
Assembly of IAHS, it was recommended that a Working Group(WG) on
Prediction of Ungaged Basins(PUBS) be established, and that this PUBS WG
hold a series of open discussion meetings and workshops to define the
appropriate research approaches to follow in addressing the ungaged basins
problem. This meeting at AGU will be the first meeting in the series.
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NSF Town Meeting
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The Hydrologic Cycle and Its Role in Arctic and Global
Environmental Change
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Thursday, 13 December
1830h to 2030h
Moscone, Room 131 |
| In September 2000, thirty-three scientists
representing the physical, chemical, and biological disciplines met in a
workshop in Santa Barbara CA to identify the critical research gaps and
formulate a strategy to address the research needs related to arctic
hydrology. Key challenges were associated with (a) a sparse and declining
observational network, (b) lack of understanding of the basic hydrological
processes operating across the pan-Arctic, and (c) absences of
cross-disciplinary synthesis. These gaps demonstrate an urgent need to
reformulate the manner in which arctic hydrological research is funded and
executed. Implementation of the recommended actions will require a
dedicated research program to support arctic hydrological synthesis
studies. Such a program does not now exist, yet has been called for as a
component of the U.S. Global Change Research Program=s initiative on the water cycle. To
support this new science, members of the scientific community have
recommended that NSF invest in the development of a pan-Arctic
Community-wide Hydrological Analysis and Monitoring Program (Arctic-CHAMP)
to provide a framework for integration studies of the pan-Arctic water
cycle and to articulate the role of freshwater in terrestrial ecosystem,
biogeochemical, biogeophysical, ocean, climate, and human dynamics. The
primary aim of Arctic-CHAMP is to catalyze and coordinate
interdisciplinary research with the goal of constructing a holistic
understanding of arctic hydrology through integration of routine
observations, process-based field studies, and integrative modeling. The
contributions of an Arctic-CHAMP toward articulating the diverse physical,
biological, and human vulnerabilities to a changing climate provide an
important impetus for international cooperation in wisely managing this
critical part of the earth system. The goal of this meeting is to inform
the research community of this recommended program and to solicit input on
the scope and execution of the effort.
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Nankai Seismogenic Zone Experiment Town Meeting
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Thursday, 13 December
1830h to 2030h
Moscone, Room 133 |
| The purpose of the town meeting
will be to give a progress report on a preliminary proposal for IODP
Seismogenic Zone Drilling in the Nankai Trough, and to discuss appropriate
strategies for an integrated Nankai IODP drilling program plan in
preparation for submission of the full IODP proposal.
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2001 Fall Meeting