The US network of satellites monitoring the environmental health of the Earth is on the verge of collapse, according to a highly critical report released on Wednesday by the country鈥檚 National Research Council.
Six recent NASA Earth-observing missions have been delayed, scaled back or completely cut. Several of the cancelled missions were follow-ups to successful satellite projects.
The US is probably responsible for about half of the Earth-science satellites currently in orbit, says Richard Anthes, president of the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research and co-chair of the committee that produced the report.
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Most of the document focuses on research satellites, and Anthes warns that, for example, these map bulges in the Earth that may signal impending volcanic eruptions, track the depleted ozone layer, and analyse changes in soil moisture that may precede a famine. Furthermore, if observational satellites are not replaced weather and hurricane forecasting would suffer.
When current satellites retire, scientists fear there may be a serious data gap. 鈥淭he planning for new missions should probably have been started five to 10 years ago,鈥� says Anthes. 鈥淏ut the community is now waking up.鈥�
鈥淣ASA is currently carefully reviewing each recommendation in the academy鈥檚 report,鈥� says NASA spokesperson Dolores Beasley. 鈥淲e鈥檒l work with the community to respond to all of the recommendations.鈥�
Costly GIFTS
President George W Bush鈥檚 proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2006 lists Earth studies as one of NASA鈥檚 five national objectives. But in that budget, NASA鈥檚 Earth science programmes would get $1.37 billion, about 8% less than they received the year before.
The report recommends that two missions in particular be re-instated as soon as possible. One is the Global Precipitation Measurement mission 鈥� an international network of eight satellites designed to provide worldwide rainfall data. The other is the Geostationary Imaging Fourier Transform Spectrometer (GIFTS), which would measure temperature and water vapour in the atmosphere. NASA has already spent over $100 million on GIFTS.
The panel also recommends that NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) re-evaluate the Ocean Vector Winds, Landsat Data Continuity and Glory missions. Instruments from those missions 鈥� which would measure ocean winds, land surface changes, aerosols and solar irradiance 鈥� could be transferred from NASA to future NOAA satellites.
NOAA is planning to launch its National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System in 2009. 鈥淩ight now, the whole future of Earth observations is basically resting on the NOAA satellites,鈥� Anthes told New 杏吧原创.
鈥淯nusual urgency鈥�
The National Research Council鈥檚 final report on a 10-year research agenda for Earth observations from space is due for release in late 2006. Wednesday鈥檚 interim report was published because 鈥渨e felt that there was an unusual amount of urgency鈥�, Anthes says. 鈥淭here are enough signs that Earth science was losing priority in NASA that we thought damage could be done.鈥�
He says there are many reasons for the slowdown in Earth-science missions, including different national priorities, such as the 2003 war with Iraq, national security and the plan to send humans to the Moon and Mars.
The US House Science Committee will hold a hearing on Thursday to discuss NASA鈥檚 plans for Earth-science research. The space agency鈥檚 associate administrator for science, Alphonso Diaz, will be among those answering questions from congressmen.
