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'''Updated Q3, 2015'''


<big>'''OCO-2 CO2 Observations-Data'''</big>


The history-making emissions-monitoring, climate change satellite begins making its earth atmospheric science available via JPL-NASA.... Sept 2015
:[[File:Featured.png]]


Look more closely at our [http://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Look_at_how_thin_our_atmosphere_is 'thin blue layer'] ... http://oco.jpl.nasa.gov/science/OCO2DataCenter/
:::<big><big>'''''Planet Citizens, Planet Scientists'''''</big></big>


::::''"Planetary Awareness", a New Vision of Our Home Planet''


[[File:'Thin Blue Layer' of Earth's Atmosphere xl.jpg]]


:::'''''#Earth360''''' | '''''#EarthImaging''''' | '''''#EarthMonitoring''''' | '''''#EarthObservations''''' | '''''#EarthScience'''''


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::[[File:Apollo.jpg]]


Shifting from earth's atmosphere studied from space (in this first-generation of earth-satellite observation), we now look at earth's water sources as studied from space...
::"Earthrise", via NASA's Apollo 8 mission, December 24, 1968


One of the issues rarely confronted when considering high intensive agriculture is the use of water in unsustainable irrigation. The draw down and depletion of aquifers is a rising cost and only recently, with the advent of earth observation and monitoring systems, are technologies becoming available to measure the extent of groundwater basins and recharging capabilities. The new satellite measurements of aquifers/ground water globally, as are now being reported with NASA GRACE satellites, comprise both a warning and a capability of needed sustainable environmental security. Water saving and water security are essential to a sustainable agriculture policy and larger goals of environmental security
::* https://greenpolicy360.net/w/Earthrise


http://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Aquifers


[[File:Aquifers globalstudy 2015.png | link=http://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Aquifers]]


"Time to depletion" -- "Significant segments of Earth's population are consuming groundwater quickly without knowing when it might run out..."
::<big><big>[[Planet Citizen Vision of Living Earth]]</big></big>


"Available physical and chemical measurements are simply insufficient," said UCI professor and principal investigator Jay Famiglietti, who is also the senior water scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. "Given how quickly we are consuming the world's groundwater reserves, we need a coordinated global effort to determine how much is left."
:::<big><big>[[Planet Citizens, Planet Scientists]]</big></big>


'''The studies are the first to comprehensively characterize global groundwater losses with data from space''', using readings generated by NASA's twin GRACE satellites.
::::🌎 [https://www.greenpolicy360.net/mw/index.php?title=Special:Search&search=planetary%20awareness&fulltext=Policy+Search&profile=images&redirs=0 <small>www.planetaryawareness.org</small>]




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[https://greenpolicy360.net/images/1969_beginnings_of_the_modern_environmental_movement.pdf <big>'''Beginnings of the Modern Environmental Movement'''</big>]


<big><big>'''Earth Observation Science Initiatives Grow in Importance'''</big></big>
:<small>* https://greenpolicy360.net/images/1969_beginnings_of_the_modern_environmental_movement.pdf </small>


[http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=4626 '''Groundwater Basins in Distress''']


The GRACE mission reports home -- http://touch.latimes.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-83799955/ -- http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=11466534


http://mashable.com/2015/06/16/groundwater-aquifers-depleted/ -- http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2015/06/16/new-nasa-studies-show-how-the-world-is-running-out-of-water/
'''From the late 1960s and continuing, a '''[[Generation Green]]''' acts and grows into a worldwide politics with a vision of '''[[Environmental protection]]''' for our 'Living Planet'
 
 
[[File:Living Earth.png]]
 
 
::::<big><big>[[Earth Science Vital Signs]]</big></big>
 
:::::<big><big>[[Earth Right Now]]</big></big>
 
 
 
[[File:Green Aura over Earth.jpg]]
 
 
 
<big>'''[[Earth Science Research from Space]]'''</big>
 
 
 
[[File:Earth Information Center - NASA.png]]
 
 
[[File:Earth Information Center from NASA.jpg]]
 
 
 
SJS / GreenPolicy360 Siterunner:
 
 
<big><big>'''Planetary Awareness'''</big></big>
 
<big>[[Planet Citizens]]</big>
 
 
Beginning in December 1968 with [[Earthrise]] and continuing thru 1972 with the Apollo mission's last human-taken [[Whole Earth]] image, humanity's vision of our place in the universe as 'voyagers' in space has begun to shift our common understandings of who we are.
 
We are beginning to realize we are fellow travelers on Spaceship Earth, our Home Planet, and we are reshaping the future of life on Earth, for good and bad.
 
 
[[File:Earth in Human Hands.jpg]]
 
 
In many ways, we now facing existential questions that require 'new ways of seeing'. The [[Environmental movement]] is @ work today to improve our quality of life and to create a healthy, sustainable future for generations to come. [http://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Overview_Effect Earth Observations] are key to understanding our planet's changing, living systems, earth science and acting with wisdom as "Planet Citizens".
 
Explore [[Earth Right Now]] and follow [[Earth Science Research from Space]]...
 
GreenPolicy360 is envisioning [[New Definitions of National Security]] and, as [[Planet Citizens]] within a global green movement, we are communicating in a new era of information technology capable of reaching and engaging nearly all on Earth. 
 
 
 
<big>[[Look at how thin our atmosphere is]]</big>
 
 
[[File:ThinBlue-3 iss030e031276.jpg|link=https://www.greenpolicy360.net/mw/images/ThinBlue_iss030e031276.jpg]]
 
 
[http://www.thinbluelayer.com <big>'''ThinBlueLayer.com'''</big>]
 
'''Protect & Secure "Thin Blue"
 
 
'''Ron Merkord / Caltech:'''
 
''If you were to look at our planet with infrared eyes, rather than in the visible spectrum that we're used to, you'd see a darkening layer covering the planet, as the carbon dioxide levels in our atmosphere reach 50% higher than they should be.''
 
''It's kind of like putting ink in a pool. It doesn't take much to turn the whole pool dark. Our CO2 emissions from our burning of fossil fuels is turning our atmosphere dark to infrared light, causing the greenhouse effect that is warming our planet, and melting the ice.''
 
* https://phys.org/news/2021-01-co2-year-percent-higher-18th.html
 
 
🌎
 
 
<big>'''British Met Office, recalling the beginning of the 'industrial revolution' and British colonial history'''</big>
 
* https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/
 
 
''CO2, carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.... 50% higher than before the industrial revolution due to human-caused emissions, says a Met Office forecast....''
 
* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/CO2_Facts
 
 
 
[[File:CO2 photo.JPG]]
 
 
 
 
○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
 
 
<big><big>'''Planet Earth / Big Picture News'''</big></big>
 
:• [[Green Stories of the Day]]
 
:• [[Climate News]]
 
:• [[EarthPOV]]
 
:• [[Earth Science Research from Space]]
 
:• [[Earth and Space, Politics]]
 
 
[[File:Dove minisat m.jpg]]
 
 
[[File:Planet 4-15-2021 10-22-51 AM.jpg]]
 
 
:• [[Micro-satellites]]
 
:• [[Planet API]]
 
 
 
NASA
 
Above the Oil/Gas Producing Middle East
 
[[File:Over the Nile and Red Sea-2018.jpg]]
 
 
 
<big><big>'''''Climate crisis: Satellites to monitor air pollution'''''</big></big>
 
'''''(May 2019) Air pollution monitoring revolutionised with the launch of a new satellite system '''''
 
 
''Tracking damaging greenhouse gas emissions coming from every large power station in the world in real time''
 
• https://finance.yahoo.com/news/climate-crisis-satellites-monitor-air-155129758.html
 
 
''“Emerging AI remote sensing techniques (intend) to hold every powerful polluter worldwide accountable ... better data ... puts most companies, governments, and environmentalists on the same side ... responsible, forward-thinking groups have started using advanced data to voluntarily slash emissions....”
 
''The system promises far greater accuracy and detailed emissions data for each power station, effectively reducing barriers to insight into the impacts of power generation, ensure accurate emissions data and bring new opportunities to hold companies to account.''
 
''The satellite network will observe the power plants from space, while AI technology will use the image processing algorithms to detect signs of power plant emissions.''
 
 
:• https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Earth_Right_Now
 
:• https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Earth_Science_Vital_Signs
 
 
:··············································································
 
 
 
<big><big>'''OCO-3 News Coverage Should Have Been of a Globally Important Event'''</big></big>
 
OCO-3 arrives at the International Space Station to begin its earth science-space mission. There's little to find in Media coverage on its real-world importance whether on Google News, Bing Search, Yahoo, Duck Duck Go, pick your international news sources...
 
Yet, in fact and substance, the science of OCO-3 is critically important. Earth Science. Measuring CO2. JPL-Caltech/NASA, scientific inquiry at its best. Essential data and baseline information critical for informed policy and decision-making (yet President Donald Trump tried to kill the launch of OCO-3 and related US FY2018 missions to measure and monitor CO2).
 
A global security story... National security... Existential threats ...
 
 
[[File:OCO-3 video.jpg | link=https://youtu.be/7GMjU5pSufk?list=PLTiv_XWHnOZrc_nIeYjlzpcr_3HioYGlo]]
 
 
[[File:OCO-3 video2.jpg | link=https://youtu.be/7GMjU5pSufk?list=PLTiv_XWHnOZrc_nIeYjlzpcr_3HioYGlo]]
 
&nbsp;
 
 
<big><big>'''''OCO-3 Arrives at the International Space Station'''''</big></big>
 
[https://www.latimes.com/science/la-sci-oco-3-orbiting-carbon-observatory-nasa-20190426-story.html (Interview at JPL courtesy of the LA Times)]
 
''OCO-3 was built at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Cañada Flintridge for less than $100 million, using parts left over from its predecessor, OCO-2. Once the carbon observatory gets to the ISS, a robotic arm will mount it on the underside of the space station so it can keep a close eye on the carbon dioxide in Earth’s atmosphere.
 
''That will help scientists answer questions about how and why levels of the greenhouse gas fluctuate over days, months and years.
 
''“Our goal is to get really good data so we can make informed decisions about how to manage carbon and carbon emissions in the future,” said Annmarie Eldering, the mission’s project scientist at JPL.
 
Carbon dioxide makes up a tiny fraction of the molecules in our atmosphere — roughly 400 parts per million. But seemingly small changes in the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere have an outsized effect on the planet’s temperature.
 
''“Carbon is really effective at trapping heat,” Eldering said. “Even changing the ratio from 300 parts per million to 400 parts per million makes a big difference.”
 
''OCO-3 is so sensitive that it can detect changes as small as 1 part per million. So if CO2 levels go from 406 ppm one day to 407 ppm the next, the space-based observatory will record the increase.
 
 
 
::···················································································
 
 
 
::[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Copernicus_EU <big>'''Measuring and Monitoring Atmospheric Emissions'''</big>]
 
 
::[https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2019-04-09/new-satellite-photos-show-europe-s-changing-climate ''Climate Impacts in Europe through the Eyes of Copernicus '']
 
::''https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Copernicus_EU''
 
 
::[[File:Copernicus EU logo.jpg|link=https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Copernicus_EU]]
 
 
:: '''''Detecting methane from space'''''
 
::''"There has been quite a buzz around this unique advancement in space, and the valuable data it will provide on methane, a powerful greenhouse gas that accounts for a quarter of the warming our planet is experiencing today. Curbing anthropogenic methane emissions is one of the most efficient and economical options available to slow the rate of warming over the next few decades, while efforts continue to reduce CO2 emissions worldwide."''
 
 
::* [https://www.bloomberg.com/amp/news/articles/2019-04-17/new-wave-of-satellites-could-pinpoint-greenhouse-gas-offenders '''''New Satellites to Monitor Greenhouse Gas Emitters''''']
 
 
::* [https://www.gov.ca.gov/2018/09/14/governor-brown-closes-global-climate-action-summit-were-launching-our-own-damn-satellite/ '''''Beyond Detecting Methane from Space: California, Planet Labs, and the Environmental Defense Fund Team Up''''']
 
 
::* [https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-04478-6 '''''US environmental group wins millions to develop methane-monitoring satellite''''']
 
 
::'''''The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) is planning to be the first environmental group to send its own satellite into space.'''''
 
::''“We need good solid data so that we really can support global action on climate change, and we’ve got to do it fast,” says Steven Hamburg, the EDF’s chief scientist.''
 
::''The most detailed measurements currently available of atmospheric methane concentrations currently come from a sensor aboard the European Space Agency’s [https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Copernicus_EU Sentinel-5P spacecraft], which launched in October 2017. The Tropospheric Monitoring Instrument provides global coverage at a '''resolution of nearly 50 square kilometres''', but those measurements do not capture the dispersed sources of emissions from oil and gas fields.''
 
::''Commercial firms have developed high-resolution sensors that can be placed aboard 10-centimetre-sided [https://www.nature.com/news/mini-satellites-prove-their-scientific-power-1.15051 CubeSats] to measure emissions from individual wells or other facilities. Those data are proprietary, however, and the measurements cannot be scaled up to the level of an entire oil and gas field.''
 
::''The Environmental Defense Fund team is designing MethaneSAT to provide more-precise measurements, at a '''resolution of 1 square kilometre''', with global coverage at least once a week.''
 
 
 
[[File:You can manage only what you can measure Dr David Crisp, OCO-2, June 2014 m.jpg]]
 
 
 
:::······················································································
 
 
 
:::<big><big>'''On the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 8 launch'''</big></big>
 
::::<big><big>'''[[Earth Science Research from Space]]'''</big></big>
 
 
• https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Apollo.jpg
 
• http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20181220-the-nasa-mission-that-broadcast-to-a-billion-people
 
• https://qz.com/1501935/photos-apollo-8-brought-us-the-moon-as-never-seen-before/amp/
 
• https://petapixel.com/2018/12/20/how-nasas-iconic-earthrise-photo-was-shot/
 
 
 
🌎
 
 
 
[https://spacepolicyonline.com/news/new-earth-science-decadal-survey-to-be-released-friday/ <big>'''''New Earth Science Decadel Survey Released'''''</big>]
 
[https://www.nap.edu/catalog/24938/thriving-on-our-changing-planet-a-decadal-strategy-for-earth '''''Thriving on Our Changing Planet (PDF)''''']
 
[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:EarthDecadel_Priorities-2018.jpg '''''Earth Priorities''''']
 
 
 
[[File:Thriving on Our Changing Planet.png|link=https://www.nap.edu/catalog/24938/thriving-on-our-changing-planet-a-decadal-strategy-for-earth]]
 
 
&nbsp;
 
[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/mw/images/GOES_28600286188_063130e9e4_b.jpg <small>'''First Full Disk Image from GOES-17 / Click for Whole Earth View'''</small>]
 
[[File:Earth via GOES 17 Weather Satellite - first full image May 2018.png]]
 
&nbsp;
 
 
== ''"Vital Signs": Monitoring the Earth's Life Enabling Systems'' ==
 
&nbsp;
 
<big>'''''Looking Back as We Turn from 2017 to a New Year'''''</big>
 
''"This year has been an unequivocal disaster for the future of the planet. President Donald Trump has managed to take a wrecking ball to years' worth of hard work and painstaking negotiations. If not undone, our retreat from the Paris Climate Accords and the EPA's Clean Power Plan alone mean our planet's temperature will rise at a greater rate and our citizen's health will degrade. Other changes in environmental regulations on drilling and auto and appliance efficiency will only make matters worse."''
 
''Perhaps the thing that worries me the most is the massive deforestation underway in areas like Asia and Latin America. Countless trees and millions of square miles of jungle and forest have been removed to accommodate our desires for more -- more wood, more farmland, more pasture, more meat.''
 
''When I first looked down upon the Amazon rainforest in 2001, I saw vast areas of jungle and a wide and winding copper colored river that went on and on and on. A river that was impossible to miss and like no other on the planet. By 2011, however, the part that was most noticeable wasn't the river or the jungle but the large swaths of empty land.''
 
''From space, it looks empty because we are far away. We don't see the crops or the cattle but we do see the loss. We see the loss of an incredibly diverse ecosystem that once held endless possibilities for new medicines and other discoveries.''
 
''We see the loss of a home for so many species that will now have to learn to adapt and survive somewhere else -- or not. And we see the loss of a large amount of carbon, sequestered in a living and breathing ecosystem which created massive amounts of oxygen for all of us.''
 
''That carbon, once the giver of life to millions of species all over our planet, now has a new role: greenhouse gas. It will sit in our atmosphere as CO and CO2 for millennia, but in this case as an invisible blanket, warming our planet, changing our climate and creating a cataclysmic mess for future generations.''
 
 
-- By [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Kelly Mark Kelly] / Updated 4:20 PM ET, Wed December 27, 2017
 
 
························································································
 
 
[[File:Earth from the ISS.gif]]
 
 
[[File:Vital Signs, Taking the Pulse of the Planet Sept2014.png]]
 
 
 
<big>'''''How Satellite Imagery Is Transforming Earth Science, Regional, National & Global Security'''''</big>
 
<big>''"Planetary Health": New methods, new analytical approaches to data collected from earth-facing observation platforms''</big>
 
''“High-resolution earth imagery sources, beyond historic US/NASA/NOAA/ESA research from space, represent rich new troves of information...” says David Johnston of Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment. Johnson and his co-authors embrace satellite imagery “as a legitimate data source that can supplement and even supplant traditional methods.”''
 
''The rapidly growing abundance and sophistication of satellite imagery and remote sensing data is about to change (the scientific fields of earth science)... thanks to a profusion of startup companies, including Planet, DigitalGlobe, Skybox Imaging (later purchased by Google and renamed Terra Bella), Urthecast, and LAND INFO Worldwide Mapping.''
 
 
:• https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Climate_News
 
:• https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Micro-satellites
 
:• https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Earth_Imaging-New_Space
 
:• https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/New_Space
 
 
<big><big>'''[[New Space]]'''</big></big> |  <big><big>'''[[Planet API]]'''</big></big> |
<big><big>'''[[Democratization of Space]]'''</big></big>
 
 
 
[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/NASA_EarthSciences,_Challenges_Public_to_Join_In '''''NASA Challenges the Public to Join In''''']
 
[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Virtual_Earth '''''GreenPolicy360 / Virtual Earth Mapping''''']
 
 
''The technology will prove useful for monitoring commitments made by nations under REDD (the program to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation) as well as under the Paris climate accord and the Convention on Biological Diversity...''
 
 
• https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:INDC
 
 
<big> '''''<u>[[OCO-2]]</u>'''''</big>
 
<big> '''''<u>[[Earth Right Now]]</u>'''''</big>
 
<big> '''''<u>[[Earth Science Vital Signs]]</u>'''''</big>
 
 
• https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Environmental_Security
 
 
 
<font color=green>○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○</font>
 
 
 
<big>'''Rising Threats to National and Global Security'''</big>
 
'''US Retreats from Global Stage, Moves Backwards Under Current White House'''
 
 
[http://strategicdemands.com/the-trump-doctrine/ '''''The 'Trump Doctrine', a Legacy in the Making''''']
 
 
<big>'''''<u>[[Climate News]]</u>'''''</big>
 
 
'''''Time to Act as the US President says No to the Global Community and No to the International Climate Agreement'''''
 
 
:[[File:Wrong, Wrong, Wrong.png]]
 
 
 
[https://www.businessinsider.com/climate-change-national-security-threats-risks-2017-6 '''''June 2017 / Climate change poses a unique threat to national security, military and intelligence experts say''''']
 
 
[https://newsroom.unfccc.int/unfccc-newsroom/experts-call-for-better-regional-climate-observation-and-services/ '''''Better Climate Observation Needed''''']
 
[https://eos.org/articles/former-noaa-chief-scientist-warns-of-threats-to-science '''''Former NOAA Chief Scientist Warns of Threats to Science''''']
 
[https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/10/climate/trump-nasa-satellites-global-warming-data.html '''''Scientists Fear Climate Data Gap as Trump Aims at Satellites''''']
 
 
'''''18 NASA Earth Science [https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/final_earth_obs_fleet06hw.2100_1920x1080.jpg Missions in Space]'''''
 
:• '''''https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4558'''''
 
 
[[File:NASA earth observation fleet as of April 2017.jpg|link=https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Earth_science_missions_in_space_US_circa2017.jpg]]
 
 
[[File:NASA Earth science from space May2015.png | link=http://www.nasa.gov/subject/7782/earth-research-findings/]]
 
 
 
<big><big>'''''2017 / Updates'''''</big></big>
 
 
'''''Via Scientific American'''''
 
[https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/ageing-satellites-put-crucial-sea-ice-climate-record-at-risk/ '''''Ageing Satellites Put Crucial Sea Ice Climate Record at Risk''''']
 
 
<big>'''Track Earth Science Missions, the Politics of Earth Science from Space, and Global/National Security'''</big>
 
 
<big>@</big> <big>'''''<u>[[Earth and Space, Politics]]</u>'''''</big>
 
 
'''''US Politics and Earth Science Research from Space'''''
 
:https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Earth_and_Space,_Politics
 
 
 
<big>'''Trump Administration Budget Undercuts "Earth Science" at NASA '''</big>
 
:'''Vital Security Programs Cut / OCO-3 Mission to Study CO2 in Atmosphere Eliminated'''
 
 
''The proposed NASA budget [http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-trump-budget-nasa-20170316-story.html '''targets the agency’s work on environmental science'''], cutting funding for Earth science research grants. The cuts would go further by eliminating several missions that are in development, including PACE (Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem), which is intended to monitor and provide baseline data of the Earth’s ocean and their health; the Orbiting Carbon Observatory 3, or OCO-3, an instrument to precisely monitor the carbon dioxide in our atmosphere, continuing the unique work of [https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/OCO-2 OCO-2]; and the Climate Absolute Radiance and Refractivity Observatory, or CLARREO, pathfinder, which is to use a solar spectrometer to produce highly accurate climate projections.''
 
:''https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Earth_and_Space,_Politics''
 
::''https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Climate_News''
 
 
 
<big>'''Protecting "The Commons", the "Thin Blue Layer", the Global Atmosphere'''</big>
'''''Look at how thin our atmosphere is...'''''
 
:[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Look_at_how_thin_our_atmosphere_is '''''ThinBlue.com''''']
 
 
<big>'''Baseline Data and the Damage of Interruptions in Baseline Data'''</big>
 
 
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shifting_baseline
 
* [https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:You_can_manage_only_what_you_can_measure_Dr_David_Crisp,_OCO-2,_June_2014_m.jpg @NASA ''Dr. David Crisp: "You can manage only what you can measure"'']
 
 
 
::<font color=green>○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○</font> <font color=blue>○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○</font>
 
 
 
<big><big>'''''<u>[[New Definitions of National Security]]</u>'''''</big></big>
 
 
[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:New_Definitions_of_National_Security.png '''"New Definitions of National Security"''']
:: '''A Project of GreenPolicy360 and [http://strategicdemands.com/new-definitions-of-security/ Strategic Demands]'''
 
[[File:New Definitions of National Security.png]]
 
 
<font color=green>○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○</font> <font color=blue>○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○</font>
 
 
[http://e360.yale.edu/features/eyes-on-nature-how-satellite-imagery-is-transforming-conservation-science '''''Space 'Macroscope', Earth Science''''']
 
''Yale Environment 360 / by Richard Conniff / June 2017''
 
 
[https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/article/doi/10.1093/biosci/bix059/3865418/Google-Haul-Out-Earth-Observation-Imagery-and Google, Earth Observations, Earth Science]
 
:https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Global_Fishing_Watch
 
:https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Global_Forest_Watch
 
 
[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Virtual_Earth '''''Mapping the Earth in the 21st''''']
 
 
<font color=green>○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○</font> <font color=blue>○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○</font>
 
 
<big>*'''''The Critical Importance of "EarthScience360" from Space'''''</big>
 
GreenPolicy360: The election of Donald Trump as US president delivers immediate crisis and a turning point. The president-elect's statements that climate change is a 'hoax' and environmental policies and programs, including NASA 'Earth Sciences', are impediments that need to be ended now assures tumult and a new level of threat to national and global security. Announced administration appointees, as of November 2016, and recent Congressional threats to deeply cut environmental protection and NASA 'Earth Science' budgets are warning signs of coming showdowns over the direction of the nation and the nation's priorities.
 
NASA scientists responsible for vital programs have been reluctant to speak publicly since the election but one anonymous NASA scientist is among the first to write online about the value of earth science research from space.
 
<blockquote>'''''Anon: "We are the largest combined organization of scientists and engineers in the world dedicated to space-based observations of Earth, the Solar System, and the Universe. A huge part of our mission is to design and fabricate Earth-viewing satellites that track long-term changes in topography and climate. These satellites ensure that we have the most complete set of data available to not only predict how humanity's impacts will affect the Earth, but also understand how we can prepare and protect those most vulnerable to climate change and rising sea levels. As an example of our impact on the daily lives of people around the world, one of the satellites I previously worked on, Global Precipitation Measurement, is currently in Earth orbit tracking extreme weather events. Its data allows meteorologists to improve their forecasts of where hurricanes will strike and how intense they will be, as well as to identify the areas that are most prone to floods and landslides, so that we can give advanced warnings to those affected. This is just one of dozens of major Earth-observing satellites that NASA manages everyday.'''''</blockquote>
 
<blockquote>'''''"Today, we were shocked to hear of Trump's plan to scrap NASA's climate change research as part of a crack down on "politicized science". Among the scientific community, climate change is no more "politicized science" than the theory of gravity is. While his crackdown would mean that thousands of scientists and engineers at NASA Goddard would lose their livelihoods, it represents an even greater loss for the world. Without data continuity in our Earth observations, we will be blind to the ravages of climate change: to the deluges and droughts that might devastate crops, to the extreme weather events that destroy communities as the Earth continues to warm. We will not be able to develop the solutions that can prevent Earth's temperatures from rising to catastrophic levels. I urge you to implore your Congressional Representatives to not allow Trump's plan to happen. We cannot sit on the sidelines over the next four years: our future on this planet is at stake."'''''</blockquote>
 
 
[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Earth_and_Space,_Politics'''''Follow the Action (of anti-science forces) as the US Congress Looks to Block Earth Science''''']
:[https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/637 '''''One Case Study of the Mentality -- H.R/637 / 115th Congress "Stopping EPA Overreach Act of 2017"''''']
 
 
[[File:Pruitt talks EPA - CO2.png]]
 
 
[https://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/11/28/under-trump-will-nasas-space-science-include-planet-earth/ '''''Under Trump, Will NASA’s Space Science Include Planet Earth?''''']
 
:-- ''By Andrew C. Revkin / November 28, 2016 / Dot Earth''
 
 
::[[File:Jerry Brown AGU-Dec14,2016.png]]
 
 
'''''December 14, 2016'''''
 
Speaking directly to threats to the value of earth science and earth science research from space, Governor Brown addressed the American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall Meeting in California. The AGU annual gathering is the largest Earth and space science meeting in the world.
 
The AGU is an international scientific society that describes itself as "dedicated to promoting discovery in Earth and space science for the benefit of humanity."
 
 
Jerry Brown:
 
''"We got the scientists. We got the lawyers. And we're ready to fight. We're ready to defend. And California is no stranger to this fight...''
 
''"California is the future. We are pioneering space...''
 
''"Now [https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Earth_and_Space,_Politics some people say] they're going to turn off the satellites that are monitoring the climate... low-earth phenomena, the [https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Landsat_data_users_handbook LANDSAT] and [https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Earth_Science_Research_from_Space all the various measuring satellites that we have]...''
 
''"Well, I remember back in 1978 I proposed a LANDSAT satellite for California. They called me 'Governor Moonbeam' because of that. I didn't get that moniker for nothing.''
 
''"And if Trump turns off the satellites, California will launch its own (d-mn) satellites!"''
 
 
<font color=blue>○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○</font>
 
 
<big><big>'''''Satellites Launched to Monitor Planet Change'''''</big></big>
 
: '''NASA Earth Science Missions''' - https://eospso.gsfc.nasa.gov/current-missions
 
: [https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:EarthRightNow_Earth_Science_satellite_fleet_circa_2015_m.jpg '''''The Earth Science Satellite Fleet Circa 2015''''']
 
 
:[https://eospso.gsfc.nasa.gov/mission-category/12 '''The A-Train''']
 
:https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:The_A-Train.jpg 
 
 
[[File:EarthRightNow Earth Science satellite fleet circa 2015 m.jpg]]
 
 
 
::<font color=blue>○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○</font>
 
 
<big><big>'''''Earth Science, Ocean Science'''''</big></big>
 
:<big>'''''Studying Sea-Level Rise from Space'''''</big>
 
 
::'''''Jason-3 Successfully Launched into Orbit''''' --- [https://blogs.nasa.gov/Jason-3/ '''''Follow Jason Online''''']
:::''http://www.nasa.gov/press-release/jason-3-launches-to-monitor-global-sea-level-rise''
 
 
 
; <big><big> ''Vital Signs'' </big></big>
 
:[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Earth_Science_Vital_Signs '''''Earth Science, Vital Signs''''']
 
::[https://climate.nasa.gov/ '''''NASA Climate: Vital Signs of the Planet''''']
 
 
 
[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Earth_Right_Now <big>'''''Earth Right Now / NASA'''''</big>]
 
 
[[File:Earth Right Now.png]]
 
 
::[[File:OCO-2 carbon dioxide Sept2014-Sept2015.gif]]
 
 
<big><big>'''''I am OCO-2 -- 'Reporting Home''''''</big></big>
 
 
[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/OCO-2 '''''Visit the Orbiting Carbon Observatory''''']
 
 
[https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2015-whats-warming-the-world/ '''''Climate deniers blame global warming on nature. NASA data begs to differ''''']
 
 
 
 
[[File:Science Insider Mar2015.jpg]]
 
 
'''''Visit NASA's Earth Science News'''''
 
'''''"Vital Signs of the Planet"'''''
 
'''''Critical Missions to Monitor Earth's Systems from Space -- http://climate.nasa.gov/'''''
 
 
 
* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Climate_News | Climate News
 
* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Earth_Observations | Earth Observations
 
* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Environmental_Security | Environmental Security
 
 
 
* Democratization of Space | https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Democratization_of_Space
 
* Earth Imaging-New Space | https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Earth_Imaging-New_Space
 
* Earth Right Now | https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Earth_Right_Now
 
 
[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Earth_Science_Research_from_Space Earth Science Research from Space]
 
 
* Earth Science Vital Signs | https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Earth_Science_Vital_Signs
 
* Landsat Data Users Handbook | https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Landsat_data_users_handbook
 
* Micro-satellites | https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Micro-satellites
 
 
[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:New_Definitions_of_National_Security.png "New Definitions of National Security"]
 
 
* New Space | https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/New_Space
 
* OCO-2 | https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/OCO-2
 
* Planet Labs Doves Fly | https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Planet_Labs_Doves_Fly
 
* Thin Blue Layer | http://www.thinbluelayer.com
 
 
* Earth Observations - https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Earth_Observations
 
* Earth Science - https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Earth_Science
 
* Climate Change - https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Climate_Change
 
* Global Security - https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Global_Security
 
 
[[File:Earth planet changing.jpg]]
 
 
&nbsp;
 
 
<div style="float:left; padding-left:10px; padding-right:10px;">
{| cellpadding="10px" cellspacing="10px" style="background-color:#e9ebde; border:1px solid #c2bfb5;" frame="rhs"
|-
|align="left" width="348px" |
<center>'''Earth Research and Science from Space '''</center>
 
* [http://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Look_at_how_thin_our_atmosphere_is Environmental Security:Thin Blue Layer]
* [http://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Climate_News Climate News]
* [http://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Earth_and_Space,_Politics Earth & Space, Politics]
* [http://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Earth_Right_Now "Earth Right Now, Vital Signs"]
* [http://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Citizen_Science Citizen Science]
* [http://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Planet_Citizens,_Planet_Scientists Planet Citizens, Planet Scientists]
* [http://www.green-horizon.org/eos-part-3/ EOS Eco Operating System - 3]
* [http://www.planetcitizen.org Planet Citizen]
 
|}
</div>
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
::<font color=blue>○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○</font>
 
 
 
'''''NASA/NOAA Earth Observing Satellite Updates'''''
 
[https://www.carbonbrief.org/interactive-satellites-used-monitor-climate-change '''''How satellites are used to monitor climate change''''']
 
'''''Satellites in operation (2016) that are adding to scientists’ understanding of climate change'''''
 
https://www.carbonbrief.org/interactive-satellites-used-monitor-climate-change
 
 
[[File:How satellites monitor climate change circa 2016.png]]
 
 
<big><font color=blue>○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○</font></big>
 
 
[https://sealevel.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/jason3/ '''''Jason-3 Mission'''''] -- [https://www.nesdis.noaa.gov/jason-3/ '''''Jason-3 -- Launched Jan 17, 2016''''']
 
''Ocean circulation patterns, global and regional changes in sea level, and climate implications of a warming world''
 
 
<big><font color=blue>○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○</font></big>
 
 
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fw7GfNR5PLA ''"Watch 25 years of Arctic Sea Ice disappear"'']
 
 
[[File:Arctic sea ice watch 25 yrs of ice cover change.png | link=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fw7GfNR5PLA]]
 
 
<big><font color=blue>○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○</font></big>
 
 
[http://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Earth_Observations '''''Earth Observations''''']
 
[http://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Look_at_how_thin_our_atmosphere_is ''"Thin Blue Layer"'']
 
''https://www.pinterest.com/stratdem/''
 
''https://strategicdemands.com/another-view-of-thin-blue/''
 
 
[[File:'Thin Blue Layer' of Earth's Atmosphere l.jpg]]
 
 
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''https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/New_Definitions_of_National_Security''
 
''https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Environmental_Security''
 


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'''Environmental Security: Earth Science Programs Cut'''


http://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Presidents_budget_see_earth_science.jpg
'''''Latest from the Atmospheric Science Data Center (ASDC) at NASA Langley Research Center'''''
 
''NASA Earth science data in the areas of radiation budget, clouds, aerosols, and tropospheric chemistry''
 
''https://eosweb.larc.nasa.gov/'' --- ''https://eosweb.larc.nasa.gov/projects-supported''
 
 
'''''April 2015'''''
 
 
<big><big>'''''A Successful Era in Climate Science'''''</big></big>
 
[https://www.nasa.gov/feature/langley/calipso-celebrates-10-years-of-cloud-observations-from-space '''''Calipso] - Ten Years in Space (and Flying with [https://nasasearch.nasa.gov/search?query=A-Train&affiliate=nasa&utf8=%E2%9C%93 the 'A-Train'])
 
''Since its launch in 2006, CALIPSO has orbited the Earth tirelessly, using its lasers to take more than 5.7 billion lidar (light detection and ranging) measurements probing the vertical structure and properties of clouds and other particles — such as dust, sea salt, ash and soot — in the air.''
 
''For atmospheric scientists, the ability to regularly and accurately examine clouds and particles at different heights was something new. Gathering that data over such a long time period has contributed to a scientific bonanza.''
 
''Also, scientists are able to combine CALIPSO’s measurements with those of other Earth-observing satellites circling the globe in a cooperative path called the [https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/cloudsat/multimedia/a-train.html A-Train] constellation. CALIPSO and CloudSat, a satellite containing a cloud-profiling radar, launched together on a Delta II rocket, now fly in formation with satellites named Aqua, Aura, Global Change Observation Mission-Water (GCOM-W) and Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO)-2.''
 
''Combining measurements from these A-Train satellites offers a clearer view of what’s happening in the atmosphere.''
 
''“CALIPSO, in complement with the other instruments flying in the A-Train, has provided observations in areas that had never been observed before,” said Pierre Tabary, program manager for atmosphere, meteorology and climate for CNES, the French space agency.''
 
''He said scientists have gained knowledge about clouds, and their impact on incoming solar radiation, as well as on infrared radiation coming from the Earth’s surface, known as the greenhouse effect.''
 
''“There were no other instruments providing such observations before,” Tabary said. “All those data have been used to improve our understanding of how climate works.”''
 
''More than 1,600 scientific and technical reports and published research papers have used CALIPSO data. The data are widely cited in reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change", Tabary said, "a clear demonstration of what CALIPSO has brought to climate science."
 


http://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:House_budget_see_earth_science.jpg
<big>'''Read More about the 'A-Train''''</big>


'''Re: funding cuts to NASA's critical Earth science and space technology programs'''
'''A convoy of "A-Train" satellites has emerged as one of the most powerful tools scientists have for understanding our planet's changing climate...'''


On May 1, 2015, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Director Dr. John P. Holdren issued the following statement on proposed funding cuts to NASA's critical Earth science and space technology programs:
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/a-train/a-train.html


"If enacted, the NASA authorization bill headed to the House floor later this month would do serious damage to the Nation’s space program, as well as to Earth-observation and Earth-science programs essential for predicting, preparing for, and minimizing the damage from disasters both natural and human-induced.
https://www.nasa.gov/content/a-train


The House bill would also gut the NASA “mission to planet Earth”—the satellite observations and related research that provide key measurements and insights relevant to forecasting and tracking hurricanes, fighting wildfires, observing the state of the world’s farms and forests, mapping the extent of droughts, measuring the stocks of groundwater, and monitoring the likelihood of landslides. The draconian cuts in the House bill would also delay advances in our ability to research and prepare for volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, and tsunamis and blind us to changes in the Earth’s oceans and ice sheets that can be discerned only from space."


[http://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/New_Definitions_of_National_Security '''New Definitions of National Security''']
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http://www.greenpolicy360.net/mw/images/You_can_manage_only_what_you_can_measure_Dr_David_Crisp%2C_OCO-2%2C_June_2014_m.jpg
[https://www.facebook.com/NASA/videos/10153188419076772/?pnref=story '''''From Above We See Our Planet''''' ''High Definition Video, from NASA'']


'''''http://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Earth_Right_Now'''''


[http://www.nasa.gov/content/earth-right-now/ ''Earth Right Now'']
[[File:Vital Signs, Taking the Pulse of the Planet Sept2014.png | link=http://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Earth_Science_Vital_Signs]]


''https://twitter.com/hashtag/EarthRightNow?src=hash''


''http://science.nasa.gov/earth-science/''
'''''March 2015'''''


''http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/index.html''
'''''One of the many critical [http://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:NASA NASA earth science missions from space] reports:'''''


: ''http://www.nasa.gov/smap/''
https://www.jsg.utexas.edu/news/2015/03/east-antarctica-melting-could-be-explained-by-oceanic-gateways


: ''http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/GPM/main/index.html''
https://www.nature.com/ngeo/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/ngeo2388.html


: ''http://www.nasa.gov/rapidscat/''
https://www.ig.utexas.edu/research/projects/icecap/


: ''http://www.nasa.gov/cats/''
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/icebridge/


: ''http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/oco2/index.html'' - ''https://twitter.com/iamoco2''
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2015/03/16/the-melting-of-antarctica-was-already-really-bad-it-just-got-worse/


https://thespacereporter.com/2015/03/scientists-discover-that-the-melting-of-antarctica-is-even-worse-than-previously-thought/


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○
 
 
[https://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/02/04/3618338/sneak-peek-space-satellite-launch/ <big>''Sneak Peek at the DSCOVR Mission: Earth pix daily from a million miles''</big>]




[[File:Isn't it time.jpg]]


; <big><big>''DSCOVR is launched and on its way!''</big></big>


[[File:The A-Train.jpg]]
[http://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:DSCOVR_w_EPICcam,_PlasMag_%26_NISTAR.png ''February 12, 2015''] The DSCOVR satellite with its EPIC cam, PlasMag & NISTAR instrument package is on the way... a million mile journey, scheduled to light up, be tested and begin delivering data to Earth in August, including near-real-time imaging of Earth provided online – We will be delivering a stream of amazing imagery of our planet as NASA/NOAA begin uploading EPICs pictures of us!


○


'''''December 2014'''''
It's been some time since December 7, 1972 when the ''only picture ever snapped by a human of the whole earth was captured'' -- [http://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Blue_Marble_photo_-_Apollo_17.jpg '''''our iconic "Blue Marble"'''''] -- Engineers that they are, NASA named the image -- AS17-148-22727


'''''Historic Orbiting Carbon Observatory Satellite Sends Back Most Detailed CO2 View Ever / Dec 18, 2014'''''
As we have been recalling the history, we haven't had returned to us a 'whole earth' image since 1972. Today, Feb 10, the Associated Press reports Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Florida, pointing out from Washington that there hasn't been a full, sunlit picture of the Earth since Apollo 17 in 1972 - NASA's last manned moon-landing mission. Subsequent images have been stitched together, the Senator explained, for composite shots. The Senator has an exceptional point of view as he was an astronaut -- In January 1986, Nelson spent six days orbiting Earth as a payload specialist aboard space shuttle Columbia. His NASA bio adds "The experience gave him a new perspective on the Earth’s fragile environment and a greater appreciation of the importance of our nation’s space exploration program."


[http://disc.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/OCO-2/data-holdings/oco-2 ''Initial OCO-2 data] available in March for scientists and public to download and explore''


[http://phys.org/news/2014-08-oco-.html '''''Phys.org'''''] - [http://news.discovery.com/earth/global-warming/nasa-satellite-sends-back-most-detailed-co2-view-141218.htm ''Discovery''] - [http://www.weather.com/science/environment/news/nasa-satellite-details-co2 ''Weather''] - [http://www.nature.com/news/satellite-maps-global-carbon-dioxide-levels-1.16615 ''Nature'']
The DSCOVR satellite launches into deep orbit with multiple missions -- to monitor space weather and, due to the satellite's orbital distance from Earth (1 mil miles), DSCOVR will be sending back daily images of the 'whole earth' via its EPIC image-taking system and via its NISTAR system [http://www.greenpolicy360.net/mw/images/You_can_manage_only_what_you_can_measure_Dr_David_Crisp%2C_OCO-2%2C_June_2014_m.jpg measuring earth's earth's temperature, our "radiation balance" ("albedo").]  


[http://oco.jpl.nasa.gov/science/ocodatacenter/ ''Sample Data''] -- [https://co2.jpl.nasa.gov/ ''OCO-2 Data Portal'']


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[[File:OCO2 Image Dec19, from earlyNov2014 NASA.jpg]]
 
;<big><big>''ISS mission to monitor #planethome''</big></big>
 
[https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/iss-rapidscat/ '''''ISS -- RapidScat''''']
 
 
[[File:ISS add-ons s.jpg | link=https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/iss-rapidscat/]]
 
 
 
[[[[File:You can manage only what you can measure Dr David Crisp, OCO-2, June 2014 m.jpg]]
 
 
; <big><big>''Time to measure earth soil moisture content -- SMAP''</big></big>
 
 
'''''January 2015'''''
 
 
[https://www.nasa.gov/jpl/smap/technology-innovations-spin-nasas-smap-into-space/index.html#.VKrTSHv44Rn '''''#Earth360, scientific leap forward with the soon-to-launch Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) platform"''''']
 
''Launching '''Jan 29, 2015''' to "measure the moisture in Earth's soils with unprecedented accuracy and resolution.''
 
 
[[File:SMAP vid.png | link=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6tPDOO89t0]]
 
 
[https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=4454 ''SMAP will measure moisture in Earth's soil with greater accuracy and resolution than any preceding mission'']
 
 
○ ○ ○ ○
 
 
; <big><big>''Existential -- Monitoring "vital signs", scientific observations over time, a baseline of planet Earth''</big></big>
 
 
<big>'''''NASA OCO Satellite Sends Back Most Detailed CO2 View Ever'''''</big>
 
''Initial round of CO2 data is released...''
 
'''''First full set of CO2 data made available in March 2015 for scientists and public to download and explore.'''''
 
 
[http://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/OCO-2 <big>'''''More on the history-making OCO-2 / Orbiting Carbon Observatory'''''</big>]
 
''According to JPL scientists: "Where OCO-2 really excels is the sheer amount of data being collected within a day, about one million measurements across a narrow swath... For fluorescence, this enables us, for the first time, to look at features on the five- to 10-kilometer scale on a daily basis." SIF can be measured even through moderately thick clouds, so it will be especially useful in understanding regions like the Amazon where cloud cover thwarts most spaceborne observations."''
 
''The changes in atmospheric carbon dioxide that OCO-2 seeks to measure are so small that the mission must take unusual precautions to ensure the instrument is free of errors. For that reason, the spacecraft was designed so that it can make an extra maneuver. In addition to gathering a straight line of data like a lawnmower swath, the instrument can point at a single target on the ground for a total of seven minutes as it passes overhead. That requires the spacecraft to turn sideways and make a half cartwheel to keep the target in its sights.''
 
''The targets OCO-2 uses are stations in the Total Carbon Column Observing Network (TCCON), a collaborative effort of multiple international institutions. TCCON has been collecting carbon dioxide data for about five years, and its measurements are fully calibrated and extremely accurate. At the same time that OCO-2 targets a TCCON site, a ground-based instrument at the site makes the same measurement. The extent to which the two measurements agree indicates how well calibrated the OCO-2 sensors are.''
 
''Additional maps released recently showed the results of these targeting maneuvers over two TCCON sites in California and one in Australia. "Early results are very promising," said Paul Wennberg, a professor at Caltech and head of the TCCON network. "Over the next few months, the team will refine the OCO-2 data, and we anticipate that these comparisons will continue to improve."
 
 
[https://oco2.jpl.nasa.gov/ ''More about the OCO-2 mission, making history as it reveals the extent of atmospheric CO2'']  
 
 
○ ○ ○ ○
 
 
; <big><big>''Tracking ocean currents, 'best-ever data''</big></big>
 
'''''November 2014'''''
 
[https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-30191584 '''''From the GOCE mission''''']  
 
''Scientists produce "the most accurate space view yet of global ocean currents and the speed they move..."''
 
https://www.greenpolicy360.net/mw/images/Ocean_currents_from_GOCE_20141125-jpg.jpg
 


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'''''November'''''


[http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=84655&eocn=image&eoci=moreiotd '''''Counting carbon over Southern California - OCO-2 at work''''']
<big><big>''New NASA ERA''</big></big>


'''''October'''''  
'''''Sept 08, 2014''''' - [https://www.nasa.gov/press/2014/september/nasa-hosts-media-briefing-to-announce-new-earth-observing-role-for/ '''''NASA opens a new era'''''] in its exploration of our home planet with the launch of the first in a series of Earth science instruments to the International Space Station, Earth-observing instruments to be mounted on the exterior of the #ISS. ISS-RapidScat will monitor ocean winds for climate research, weather predictions and hurricane monitoring. The second instrument is the Cloud-Aerosol Transport System (CATS), a laser instrument that will measure clouds and the location and distribution of pollution, dust, smoke, and other particulates in the atmosphere. [https://www.climatecentral.org/news/international-space-station-climate-mission-18003 '''''Look closer at the array of instruments'''''] [https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/iss-rapidscat/ '''''#RapidScat'''''] [https://www.nasa.gov/earthrightnow/ '''''#EarthRightNow''''']


[http://oco.jpl.nasa.gov/newsoco/index.cfm?fuseaction=ShowNews&newsID=129 '''''Mission status report''''']


'''''September'''''
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[http://www.heavens-above.com/orbit.aspx?satid=40059 '''''OCO Orbit''''']


'''''[http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2014-320 Megacities]
<big><big>''Ice impacts of Climate Change -- Arctic/Antarctic''</big></big>


'''''August'''''  
[http://www.greenpolicy360.net/mw/images/Antarctica-2016_nasa.jpg '''''Antarctic 2016''''']


[http://www.climatecentral.org/news/nasa-oco2-satellite-data-17893 '''''August 13th/Climate Central news report of first data''''']


[http://climate.nasa.gov/news/1136/ ''NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory scientist who develops software algorithms for OCO to retrieve information about carbon dioxide in our atmosphere'']
'''''The Antarctic: Big Melt Accelerates'''''  




'''''July 2 2014'''''
[[File:5 19 14 andrew antarcticaelevationchanges-640x547.jpg]]


; <big><big>''Watching the Planet Breathe''</big></big>


'''''NASA Launches New Carbon-Sensing Mission to Monitor Earth’s 'Breathing''''''
''The Antarctic: Big Melt Accelerates'' - [http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/aug/24/incredible-polar-ice-loss-cryosat-antarctica-greenland ''Cryosat - Greenland'']


''Antarctica's Flowing Ice'' - [https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Antarctica ''Antarctica'']


[http://www.nasa.gov/press/2014/july/nasa-launches-new-carbon-sensing-mission-to-monitor-earth-s-breathing/ '''''"Climate change is the challenge of our generation,"'''''] '''''says NASA Administrator Charles Bolden'''''
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; <big><big>''Follow the OCO-2 Mission''</big></big>
[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Arctic <big>'''''The Arctic Ice Is Melting: Why?'''''</big>]


[https://twitter.com/IamOCO2 '''''Follow the tweets of the OCO-2 bird''''']


'''''Follow the NASA climate blog'''''
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C4Lj3gcWIAE6dqF.jpg


http://climate.nasa.gov/blog/1105/ -- http://climate.nasa.gov/blog/


<big><big>'''''Permafrost Loss, Potential Impacts, Time to Measure'''''</big></big>


[[File:Oco2 nasa.jpg]]


<big>'''2016'''</big>


[[File:Earth Right Now science.jpg]]
https://nsidc.org/sites/nsidc.org/files/images/cryosphere/fig1.gif


'''''[http://www.nasa.gov/earthrightnow/ Earth Right Now]'''''
Scientists estimate that five times as much carbon might be stored in frozen Arctic soils — [https://nsidc.org/cryosphere/sotc/permafrost.html permafrost] — as has been emitted by all human activities since 1850. This worries people who study global warming. While emissions from permafrost currently account for less than 1 percent of global [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methane methane] emissions, some researchers think this could change in dramatic ways as the world warms and that carbon-rich frozen soil breaks down.


'''''[http://climate.nasa.gov/ Climate.NASA]'''''


'''''[https://oco.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/teams/# OCO Mission teams]'''''
[[File:Permafrost.jpg]]


'''''[http://climate.nasa.gov/blog/1105/ "Game changing" science] [http://space.io9.com/nasas-new-satellite-could-unravel-the-mystery-of-our-ch-1598348848/1598704971/+AnnaleeNewitz Unraveling mysteries]'''''


The map above, based on data provided by the National Snow and Ice Data Center, shows the extent of Arctic permafrost. Any rock or soil remaining at or below 0 degrees Celsius (32 degrees Fahrenheit) for two or more years is considered permafrost.


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Continuous permafrost, which occurs in the coldest areas, refers to areas where frozen soil underlies more than 90 percent of the surface. Discontinuous permafrost occurs in slightly warmer areas, where frozen soils underlie 50 to 90 percent of the surface, while certain features such as rivers and south-facing slopes may be ice-free. In areas with sporadic permafrost, frozen soils underlie 10 to 50 percent of the surface. In areas with isolated permafrost, frozen soils underlie less than 10 percent of the surface, usually only occurring in depressions or north-facing slopes.


; <big><big>''Climate Change, Global Warming''</big></big>


'''''Observing Global Warming with #OCO-2'''''
https://nsidc.org/data/GGD318


'''''Historic launch [http://www.space.com/26403-nasa-oco2-carbon-dioxide-satellite-launch.html #PlanetCitizen mission to study #EarthsAtmosphere]'''''


'''''"First Light!"''''' [http://www.universetoday.com/113866/nasas-carbon-dioxide-greenhouse-gas-observatory-captures-first-light-at-head-of-international-a-train-of-earth-science-satellites/] [http://www.planetary.org/blogs/guest-blogs/2014/20140815-oco-2-first-light-spectra.html] '''''[http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/m/news/news.php?release=2014-272#.U-9Aa2Nab8l OCO-2 announces 'We have data!']'''''
https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=87794&eocn=home&eoci=iotd_title


'''''OCO-2 tweets - https://twitter.com/IamOCO2'''''


'''''[http://phys.org/news/2014-08-oco-.html What monitoring a potential existential crisis looks like...spectra from #OCO-2 #Earth360]'''''
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'''''Earth observing satellites, [http://www.nasa.gov/jpl/oco2/a-train-atmosphere-20140703/index.html#.U7qp9JH8cjw Orbiting Carbon Observatory the "Afternoon Constellation", the "A-Train" joined by ‪#‎OCO-2]''''' newly launched and historic in its mission to study global warming


'''''"Watching the Earth Breathe from Space"''''' [http://oco.jpl.nasa.gov/] [http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2014-198] [http://ecowatch.com/2014/06/18/climate-change-nasa-app/] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmosphere_of_Earth]
'''November 2015'''


'''''[http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/About/ About the Earth Observatory Mission]'''''
[http://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:As_Earth_Warms,_NASA_Targets_'Other_Half'_of_Carbon,_Climate_Equation.jpg '''''As Earth Warms, NASA Targets 'Other Half' of Carbon, Climate Equation''''']


'''''[http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=76697 Where the Trees Are - US]'''''
[[File:As Earth Warms, NASA Targets 'Other Half' of Carbon, Climate Equation 797x448.jpg|link=http://www.greenpolicy360.net/mw/images/As_Earth_Warms%2C_NASA_Targets_'Other_Half'_of_Carbon%2C_Climate_Equation.jpg]]




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<big>'''''Permafrost Threatened'''''</big>


'''''With the launch of OCO-2, a [http://climate.nasa.gov/blog/1105/ "game changer"], the data of #Earth360 will grow in unprecedented ways'''''
https://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=4400


'''''#Earthdata enables informed decisions and policy'''''  
''Using statistically modeled maps drawn from satellite data and other sources, U.S. Geological Survey scientists have projected that the near-surface permafrost that presently underlies 38 percent of boreal and arctic Alaska would be reduced by 16 to 24 percent by the end of the 21st century under widely accepted climate scenarios. Permafrost declines are more likely in central Alaska than northern Alaska.''  


''[http://www.greenpolicy360.net/mw/images/You_can_manage_only_what_you_can_measure_Dr_David_Crisp%2C_OCO-2%2C_June_2014_m.jpg "You can manage only what you can measure"]''
''Northern latitude tundra and boreal forests are experiencing an accelerated warming trend that is greater than in other parts of the world. This warming trend degrades permafrost, defined as ground that stays below freezing for at least two consecutive years. Some of the adverse impacts of melting permafrost are changing pathways of ground and surface water, interruptions of regional transportation, and the release to the atmosphere of previously stored carbon.''  


''“A warming climate is affecting the Arctic in the most complex ways,” said Virginia Burkett, USGS Associate Director for Climate and Land Use Change. “Understanding the current distribution of permafrost and estimating where it is likely to disappear are key factors in predicting the future responses of northern ecosystems to climate change.”''


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'''''[http://www.greenpolicy360.net/mw/images/Eyes_on_the_Earth_2012update.jpg Eyes on the Earth]''''' [http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2012-084] [http://eyes.jpl.nasa.gov/earth/index.html] [http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/education/earthday/earthdayflash.cfm] [http://climate.nasa.gov/]


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tundra


[[File:EarthNow our planet is changing.jpg]]
''A severe threat to tundra is global warming, which causes permafrost to melt. The melting of the permafrost in a given area on human time scales (decades or centuries) could radically change which species can survive there.''


''Another concern is that about one third of the world's soil-bound carbon is in taiga and tundra areas. When the permafrost melts, it releases carbon in the form of carbon dioxide and methane, both of which are greenhouse gases. The effect has been observed in Alaska. In the 1970s the tundra was a carbon sink, but today, it is a carbon source. Methane is produced when vegetation decays in lakes and wetlands.''


[[File:OCO spacecraft.jpg]]
''The amount of greenhouse gases which will be released under projected scenarios for global warming have not been reliably quantified by scientific studies, although a few studies were reported to be underway in 2011. It is uncertain whether the impact of increased greenhouse gases from this source will be minimal or massive.''


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''https://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/17/science/earth/warming-arctic-permafrost-fuels-climate-change-worries.html''


<big>'''''Global Earth Science Data Links'''''</big>
''https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methanogenesis'' -- ''https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenhouse_gas''


'''eGY''' -- electronic Geophysical Year / http://www.egy.org/ -- An Earth and Space Science Information Commons Initiative: International Co-operation for Open Access to Data
'''GEO''' -- Group on Earth Observations / http://www.earthobservations.org/index.php -- Established in 2005, GEO is a voluntary partnership of governments and organizations that envisions “a future wherein decisions and actions for the benefit of humankind are informed by coordinated, comprehensive and sustained Earth observations and information.”
'''CEOS''' -- Committee On Earth Observation Satellites / http://ceos.org/ -- 2015 - CEOS was established in September, 1984 in response to a recommendation from a Panel of Experts on Remote Sensing from Space and set up under the aegis of the G7 Economic Summit of Industrial Nations Working Group on Growth, Technology, and Employment.


This Panel recognized the multidisciplinary nature of space-based Earth observations and the value of coordinating international Earth observation efforts to benefit society. Accordingly, the original function of CEOS was to coordinate and harmonize Earth observations to make it easier for the user community to access and use data. CEOS initially focused on interoperability, common data formats, the inter-calibration of instruments, and common validation and inter-comparison of products. However, over time, the circumstances surrounding the collection and use of space-based Earth observations have changed.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a3/Mlo_ch4_ts_obs_03437.png/300px-Mlo_ch4_ts_obs_03437.png


: The number of Earth-observing satellites has vastly increased.


: Onboard instruments are more complex and are capable of collecting new types of data in ever-growing volumes.
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: The user community has expanded and become more diverse as different data types become available and new applications for Earth observations are developed.
Users have become more organized, forming several international bodies that coordinate and levy Earth observation requirements.
'''CEOS WGISS''' -- Committee On Earth Observation Satellites / http://ceos.org/ourwork/workinggroups/wgiss/ -- Working Group on Information Systems and Services - WGISS stimulates, coordinates, monitors, and promotes collaboration on the development of the systems and services that manage and supply satellite Earth observation (EO) data and information.
CEOS IDN -- Committee On Earth Observation Satellites / http://idn.ceos.org/ -- International Directory Network (IDN) / http://idn.ceos.org/portals/Home.do?Portal=idn_ceos&MetadataType=0 -- The CEOS International Directory Network (IDN) is a Gateway to the world of Earth Science data and services. The CEOS IDN is an international effort developed to assist researchers in locating information on available datasets and services.  The directory is sponsored as a service to the Earth science community.
GCMD -- Global Change Master Directory / http://gcmd.nasa.gov/
DIF -- DIF Writer's Guide / http://gcmd.gsfc.nasa.gov/add/difguide/index.html -- Directory Interchange Forma... The DIF does not compete with other metadata standards. It is simply the "container" for the metadata elements that are maintained in the IDN database, where validation for mandatory fields, keywords, personnel, etc. takes place. The DIF is used to create directory entries which describe a group of data. A DIF consists of a collection of fields which detail specific information about the data. Eight fields are required in the DIF; the others expand upon and clarify the information. Some of the fields are text fields, others require the use of controlled keywords...Directory Interchange Format (DIF) Writer's Guide, 2015. Global Change Master Directory. National Aeronautics and Space Administration. http://gcmd.nasa.gov/add/difguide/ - http://gcmd.nasa.gov/ -- Global Change Master Directory
GGOS -- GGOS at the GFZ Potsdam / http://www.ggos.org/ -- GGOS is the Observing System of the International Association of Geodesy (IAG). GGOS works with the IAG components to provide the geodetic infrastructure necessary for monitoring the Earth system and for global change research. It provides observations of the three fundamental geodetic observables and their variations, that is, the Earth's shape, the Earth's gravity field and the Earth's rotational motion. GGOS integrates different geodetic techniques, different models, different approaches in order to ensure a long-term, precise monitoring of the geodetic observables in agreement with the Integrated Global Observing Strategy (IGOS)
IVOA -- International Virtual Observatory Alliance (IVOA) / http://www.ivoa.net/ -- The Virtual Observatory (VO) is the vision that astronomical datasets and other resources should work as a seamless whole. Many projects and data centres worldwide are working towards this goal. The International Virtual Observatory Alliance (IVOA) is an organisation that debates and agrees the technical standards that are needed to make the VO possible.
DLR -- Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt / http://www.dlr.de/dlr/en/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-10002/
JPL -- Jet Propulsion Laboratory - California Institute of Technology / http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/
PO.DAAC -- Physical Oceanography Distributed Active Archive Center PO.DAAC / http://podaac.jpl.nasa.gov/
INDIGO -- Inter-service Data Integration for Geodetic Operations / http://indigo.nasa.gov/
UTCSR -- University of Texas at Austin - Center for Space Research / http://www.csr.utexas.edu/ - GRACE mission status / http://www.csr.utexas.edu/grace/operations/mission_status/ - http://podaac.jpl.nasa.gov/grace/ - http://isdc.gfz-potsdam.de/index.php?module=pagesetter&func=viewpub&tid=1&pid=35
 
DGFI -- Deutsches Geodätisches Forschungsinstitut / http://www.dgfi.tum.de/en/


IAG -- IAG Services - International Association of Geodesy / http://www.iag-aig.org/index.php?tpl=text&id_c=1&id_t=102
''A self-reinforcing positive feedback loop is akin to a "vicious circle": It accelerates the impacts of anthropogenic climate disruption (ACD). An example would be methane releases in the Arctic. Massive amounts of methane are currently locked in the permafrost, which is now melting rapidly. As the permafrost melts, methane - a greenhouse gas 100 times more potent than carbon dioxide on a short timescale - is released into the atmosphere, warming it further, which in turn causes more permafrost to melt, and so on...''
ICGEM -- International Centre for Global Earth Models / http://icgem.gfz-potsdam.de/ICGEM/ICGEM.html
PV 2007 -- PV 2007: Proceedings and Results / http://pv2007.dlr.de/main/results_en.htm


Paper: The ISDC concept for long-term sustainability of geoscience data and information / http://pv2007.dlr.de/Papers/Ritschel_ISDC.pdf
[https://www.tayenlane.com/extinction-dialogs/ Extinction Dialogs]


IUGG 2007 -- Proceedings of IUGG XXIV General Assembly / UNION SYMPOSIA Proceedings - Earth: Our Changing Planet / http://www.iugg2007perugia.it/webbook/download.htm
VOiG -- Virtual Observatories in Geosciences (VOIG) Conference 2007 / http://www.egy.org/VOiG/Home.html


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<big>'''''Earth Observation from Space: GreenPolicy Links - 2014'''''</big>
'''Predicted rate of temperature change in Arctic'''


'''''NASA's''''' [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_Science_Enterprise '''''Earth Science Enterprise'''''] (ESE) -- Originally called '''''"Mission to Planet Earth (MTPE)"'''''  
''Arctic temperatures are expected to increase at roughly twice the global rate. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) will in their fifth report establish scenarios for the future, where the temperature in the Arctic will rise between 1.5 and 2.5°C by 2040 and with 2 to 7.5°C by 2100. Estimates vary on how many tons of greenhouse gases are emitted from thawed permafrost soils. One estimate suggests that 110-231 billion tons of CO2 equivalents (about half from carbon dioxide and the other half from methane) will be emitted by 2040, and 850-1400 billion tons by 2100. This corresponds to an average annual emission rate of 4-8 billion tons of CO2 equivalents in the period 2011-2040 and annually 10-16 billion tons of CO2 equivalents in the period 2011-2100 as a result of thawing permafrost. For comparison, the anthropogenic emission of all greenhouse gases in 2010 is approximately 48 billion tons of CO2 equivalents. Release of greenhouse gases from thawed permafrost to the atmosphere may increase global warming.''
[[Image:Mission to Planet Earth .jpg]]


'''''October 2014''''' http://bit.ly/VitalSignsPulseofthePlanet / Video '''''To fully appreciate the detail of the models, click on the gear symbol and set to 720p resolution and choose full screen video'''''
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permafrost#Carbon_cycle_in_permafrost


ESE is dedicated to "''understanding the total Earth system and the effects of natural and human-induced changes on the global environment''." [http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/nsp/mtpe.htm]


'''''Mission to Planet Earth's successor, NASA’s Earth Observing System (EOS), provides long-term global observations of the land surface, biosphere, solid Earth, atmosphere, and oceans.'''''
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[http://sedac.ciesin.columbia.edu/theme/water/data/sets/browse?advsrch=true '''''Earth Observing System Data and Information System - Maps''''']


[http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/NPP/main/#.VDFkmxZab8k '''''Suomi NPP - Next-generation Earth-observing satellite system'''''] [https://www.flickr.com/photos/gsfc/sets/72157627439487497/show/ NPP Images Gallery]
<big>'''''Additional References re: Permafrost Science'''''</big>


[http://www.jpss.noaa.gov/program.html '''''Next generation NASA-NOAA #EarthMonitoring satellite to launch in 2017''''']


'''''"The ultimate beneficiaries are the present and future generations of the people on Earth..."'''''  
'''''Oct 2015 / Via Berkeley Lab''''' -- [https://newscenter.lbl.gov/2015/10/05/permafrost-carbon-climate/ ''A Simpler Way to Estimate the Feedback Between Permafrost Carbon and Climate'']


'''''The goal of the Earth Observing project is "improved understanding of the Earth as ''an integrated system''."'''''  
[https://rsta.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/373/2054/20140423 ''Simplified, data-constrained approach to estimate the permafrost carbon–climate feedback'']


'''''ESE's Mission: "To improve life here'''" and "'''to understand and protect our home planet."'''''  
'''''Via University of Cambridge''''' -- [https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/emissions-from-melting-permafrost-could-cost-43-trillion ''Analysis of the effects of melting permafrost in the Arctic points to $43 trillion in extra economic damage by the end of the next century, on top of the more than the $300 trillion economic damage already predicted'']


'''#EarthScience''', '''#GeoScience''', '''#Earth360''', '''#GP360''', '''#EarthPOV''' 
'''''Alaska's Stirring Permafrost''''' -- https://landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/pdf_archive/cape_halkett_4web.pdf


[http://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Earth_satellites_in_3D.jpg Eyes on the Earth-Earth Right Now], [http://eospso.gsfc.nasa.gov Earth Observing System Project], [https://earthdata.nasa.gov Earth Data], [http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features Earth Observatory], [http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Images/?eocn=topnav&eoci=images], [http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/Grace/ '''Grace'''], [http://grace.jpl.nasa.gov/ Grace-JPL], [http://www.csr.utexas.edu/grace/ Grace-UTexas]


[http://visibleearth.nasa.gov Visible Earth], [http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/GlobalMaps/?eocn=topnav&eoci=globalmaps Global Maps], [http://visibleearth.nasa.gov/view_cat.php?categoryID=1484 Visible Earth_2], [http://visibleearth.nasa.gov/view.php?id=79765 Visible Earth_3], [http://eoimages2.gsfc.nasa.gov/images/imagerecords/79000/79765/dnb_land_ocean_ice.2012.3600x1800.jpg Visible Earth_4], [http://www.nasa.gov/content/earth-missions-list/ '''Earth Mission List''']
[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Arctic <big>'''''As the Arctic Ice Retreats'''''</big>]


'''ICESat-2''' [http://icesat.gsfc.nasa.gov/icesat2/] - [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ICESat-2] [http://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/lasers-path-through-icesat-2 ''Video of ICESat's laser in operation''] [http://dahrjamail.net/former-nasa-chief-scientist-were-effectively-taking-a-sledgehammer-to-the-climate-system ICESat-2 science at work...]


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[[File:Look at how thin our atmosphere is. This is all there is... ISS June2014.jpg]]


[http://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Earth_at_Night '''''Earth at Night @GrnPolicy]
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/ba/Circum-Arctic_Map_of_Permafrost_and_Ground_Ice_Conditions.png


[http://www.noaa.gov/features/02_monitoring/earthnightlights_images.html '''''Monitoring #Earth at night'''''] 


[http://www.greenpolicy360.net/mw/images/Americas_after_dark.jpg '''''Americas after Dark''''']
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[http://www.greenpolicy360.net/mw/images/Asia_from_Suomi_satellite.jpg '''''Asian Nights''''']


[http://www.greenpolicy360.net/mw/images/Europe_and_N_Africa_at_night_SUOMI.jpg '''''Nightime Europe & N. Africa''''']
'''''Much Ado About Methane''''' (2012 / RealClimate.org ... methane-climate background and projections)


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https://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2012/01/much-ado-about-methane/


'''''European space program''''' - [https://earth.esa.int/web/guest/missions/esa-operational-eo-missions '''''earth system monitoring''''']


European Space Agency "'''Living Planet Programme'''" managed by Earth Observation Programmes - [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Living_Planet_Programme]
··································


: GOCE – Gravity Field and Steady-State Ocean Circulation Explorer - launched on March 17, 2009 - [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravity_Field_and_Steady-State_Ocean_Circulation_Explorer]


: SMOS – Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity satellite - studying ocean salinity and soil moisture; launched in 2 November 2009 - [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soil_Moisture_and_Ocean_Salinity_satellite]
'''''Watching the Ice Melt'''''


: '''CryoSat''' is designed to map the Earth's ice cover. CryoSat-2 was launched 8 April 2010 - [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CryoSat] - Euro Cryo Satellite/Earth Imaging
[https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/may/19/doubling-of-antarctic-ice-loss-revealed-by-european-satellite Doubling-of-antarctic-ice-loss-revealed-by-european-satellite]


: [http://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Earth_Science_Research_from_Space '''Geo-science: Eyes in the Sky'''] [http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/aug/24/incredible-polar-ice-loss-cryosat-antarctica-greenland '''Antarctic Ice Loss'''] [http://www.climatecentral.org/news/antarctica-ice-melt-sea-level-18155 '''Antarctic Ice Sheet Expands, Why?''']
[https://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/20/science/the-melting-isnt-glacial.html Melting] / New assessments of impacts of global warming come from Europe's Cryosat spacecraft.  


: Swarm – Three satellites mapping the Earth's magnetism (also see the US GRACE mission). The SWARM constellation was launched successfully on 22 November 2013 - [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swarm_%28spacecraft%29]  
The CryoSat is part of the '''Living Planet Programme''' [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Living_Planet_Programme] / [https://www.dlr.de/rd/en/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-2441/3589_read-5304/] [https://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Observing_the_Earth/The_Living_Planet_Programme] / [http://horizon2020projects.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/1-H0-P-Brunet-1010-RESET-Atl.pdf] of the European Space Agency / [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Space_Agency ESA]


: Aeolus – Atmospheric Dynamics Mission will use an innovative laser to measure winds. Due for launch in 2015 - [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ADM-Aeolus]
Cooperative earth monitoring science between US-Europe ...  


: EarthCARE – Earth Clouds Aerosols and Radiation Explorer will examine the formation and effects of clouds. Due for launch in 2016 - [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EarthCARE]
[https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/Grace/ More data re ice melt-GRACE/US-NASA] / [https://grace.jpl.nasa.gov/] [https://www.csr.utexas.edu/grace/ GRACE]


: BIOMASS is designed to calculate the amount of carbon stored in the world's forests, and to monitor for any changes over the course of its five-year mission. Due to launch in 2020 - [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BIOMASS]


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<big><big>'''''Earth Observing System satellites -- ESA Earth monitoring from Space'''''</big></big>


<big><big>'''Earth Science from Above'''</big></big>
Earth-observing satellites for earth system monitoring include:


from '''National Geographic News'''
The European Space Agency (ESA) "'''Living Planet Programme'''" managed by Earth Observation Programmes - [https://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Technology/About_the_Earth_Observation_Envelope_Programme_EOEP]


PUBLISHED OCTOBER 22, 2014
*GOCE – Gravity Field and Steady-State Ocean Circulation Explorer - launched on March 17, 2009 - [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravity_Field_and_Steady-State_Ocean_Circulation_Explorer]


Scientists have uncovered a cache of satellite images of Earth from the 1960s that had been forgotten in storage for nearly 50 years and that push back the first satellite images of our planet a full 17 years.
*SMOS – Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity satellite - studying ocean salinity and soil moisture; launched in 2 November 2009 - [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soil_Moisture_and_Ocean_Salinity_satellite]


The trove includes the first publicly available satellite photos of Europe, the earliest aerial views of Antarctica's ice, and a record of Central Asia's Aral Sea before it dried up. There's also a rare photo of the most powerful storm to hit North America in modern times.
*'''CryoSat''' is designed to map the Earth's ice cover. CryoSat-1 was lost in 2005. CryoSat-2 was launched 8 April 2010 - [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CryoSat]


The images, when compared with recent satellite photos, show how humankind has changed the planet, from deforestation to changes in sea ice.  
*Swarm – is a trio of satellites to map the Earth's magnetism. The SWARM constellation was launched successfully on 22 November 2013 - [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swarm_%28spacecraft%29]


(Related: [http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/maps-from-space-show-world-s-disappearing-forests/ "Maps From Space Show World's Disappearing Forests."])
*Aeolus – Atmospheric Dynamics Mission will use an innovative laser to measure winds. Due for launch in 2015 - [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ADM-Aeolus]  


Among the images from 1964 were views of Antarctica that showed a greater extent of sea ice than ever measured since. That is, until recent weeks, when the 1964 record was broken just as it was discovered to be a record at all. Unlike Arctic sea ice, which has been in decline due to global warming, the extent of Antarctic ice has varied, making the historical data all the more important for scientists trying to understand what drives changes there.  
*EarthCARE – Earth Clouds Aerosols and Radiation Explorer will examine the formation and effects of clouds. Due for launch in 2016 - [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EarthCARE]


(Related: [http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/06/140609-arctic-ice-maps-atlas-tenth-edition-science/"Shrinking Arctic Ice Prompts Drastic Change in National Geographic Atlas."])
*BIOMASS is designed to calculate the amount of carbon stored in the world's forests, and to monitor for any changes over the course of its five-year mission. Due to launch in 2020 - [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BIOMASS]  


Earth scientists David Gallaher and Garrett Campbell liberated the data from a National Climatic Data Center archive in North Carolina, uncovering 25 boxes of magnetic tapes and photographic film from three Nimbus weather satellites launched in the 1960s and 1970s.


Gallaher had heard about the data at a conference and called the National Climatic Data Center to request access to some pictures of Greenland. "We have no way of figuring out what's Greenland," came the reply.
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That's because the data had never been sorted or digitized. So Gallaher and Campbell took on the painstaking process of digitizing hundreds of thousands of photos and making them publicly available....


○
'''''The European Space Agency's mission:'''''
 
To benefit citizens "asking for a better quality of life on earth... for greater security and economic wealth... to pursue dreams, to increase knowledge... for younger people to be attracted to the pursuit of science and technology... ESA's purpose shall be to provide for, and to promote, for exclusively peaceful purposes, cooperation in space research and technology and space applications, with a view to their being used for scientific purposes..."
 
 
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<big><big>'''''New Space, "democratization of space", start-up ventures, #EarthScience #MicroSats #OpenSource Data'''''</big></big>
 
 
: [http://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Planet_API '''''PlanetAPI''''']
 
: [http://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Micro-satellites '''''New Space, Monitoring the Earth by Satellite''''']
 
 
<font color=blue>○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○</font>
 
 
[[File:Polar cloud 2 m.jpg]]
 
 
 
:<font color=blue>○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○</font> <font color=green>○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○</font>
 
 
<big>'''''"It's All Connected": Small to Large"'''''</big>
 
:'''''The Oceans, 70% of the Earth's Surface'''''
 
 
:[[File:Prochlorococcus blue-green.tiny ones.png]]
 
 
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marine_ecosystem '''''Ocean Food Chain -- Ocean Ecosystems / #OceanScience''''']
 
[http://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Phytoplankton.jpg '''''Phytoplankton... Diatoms... Oxygen Creators, CO2 Digesters... Zooplankton, Food-of-the-Seas''''']
 
 
[[File:Phytoplankton.jpg]]
 
 
[[File:Plankton swirl Jan 2015.jpg]]
 
 
<big><big>'''''Plankton Swirl -- Climate Dance'''''</big></big>
 
 
[[File:Plankton Phytoplankton--'Climate Dance'.jpg]]
 
 
<big><big>'''''Phytoplankton Oxygen Factories in the Southern Ocean'''''</big></big>
 
 
[[File:Whole Earth One Connected System Astro-Gerst 2014.png]]
 
 
<big>'''''NASA Earth Observatory'''''</big>
 
 
[https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=87465&src=twitter-iotd ''Phytoplankton are essential ecosystems of the seas]. They are floating, drifting, plant-like organisms that harness the energy of the Sun, mix it with carbon dioxide that they take up from the atmosphere, and turn it into carbohydrates and oxygen.''
 
''Scientific estimates speak of approximately half the oxygen in the Earth's atmosphere being the result of plankton photosynthesis and phytoplankton are critical to the marine food web, being the primary producers of food in the oceans, from phytoplankton to zooplankton to fish and shellfish to whales.''
 
''Like plants and trees on land, "phytoplankton give us a lot more than food". Whether the current science estimates that '''50 or 80 percent of the oxygen in our atmosphere''' has been produced by phytoplankton, the health of the blue-green ocean life is essential for [http://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Sustainability sustainable ocean ecosystems].''
 
''The tiniest of living organisms exert an outsized influence on the planet.''
 
 
<font color=blue>○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○</font>
 
 
<big><big>'''''Phytoplankton rapidly disappearing'''''</big></big>
 
<big>'''''Loss of mini marine plants at base of food web threatens sea’s ecology'''''</big>
 
''A rapid loss of phytoplankton threatens to turn the western Indian Ocean into an “ecological desert,” a new study warns. The research reveals that phytoplankton populations in the region fell an alarming 30 percent over the last 16 years.''
 
''A decline in ocean mixing due to warming surface waters is to blame for that phytoplankton plummet, researchers propose online January 19 in Geophysical Research Letters. The mixing of the ocean’s layers ferries phytoplankton nutrients from the ocean’s dark depths up into the sunlit layers that the mini plants inhabit.''
 
''The loss of these microbes, which form the foundation of the ocean food web, may undermine the region’s ecosystem, warns study coauthor Raghu Murtugudde, an oceanographer at the University of Maryland in College Park.''
 
''“If you reduce the bottom of the food chain, it’s going to cascade...”''
 
 
<big><big>'''''Blue-Green in the Oceans & Connection to Life on Earth'''''</big></big> 
 
:'''''"A single kind of blue-green algae in the ocean produces the oxygen in [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ty5puoADMU one of every five breaths] we take"'''''
:: ''~ from "The World Is Blue: How Our Fate and the Ocean’s Are One" by Sylvia Earle / National Geographic''
 
 
 
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:::::::'''New Ways of Seeing Our World'''
 
:::::::[[File:New Ways of Seeing.jpg]]
 
 
&nbsp;
 
 
<center>[[File:Pale Blue Dot.jpg]]</center>
 
<center>Pale Blue Dot, the Home Planet</center>
 
 
&nbsp;
 
:::::::<big><big><big>'''Earth Observations... Observe!'''</big></big></big>


<big>'''Shrinking Arctic Ice Prompts Drastic Change in National Geographic Atlas'''</big>  
::::::::[https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=tree%20hugger <big>''' #TreeHugger visitor tree hugging'''</big>]


[http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/06/140609-arctic-ice-maps-atlas-tenth-edition-science/ '''Warming oceans have caused a drastic reduction in sea ice''']


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::::::[[File:Tree hugging visitor.jpg]]




[[File:Image of the Day -- Dec 18, 2014.jpg]]


:::::::[[File:Green Branching Out.jpg | link=https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/GreenLinks]]




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Latest revision as of 22:57, 13 September 2024


Featured.png
Planet Citizens, Planet Scientists
"Planetary Awareness", a New Vision of Our Home Planet


#Earth360 | #EarthImaging | #EarthMonitoring | #EarthObservations | #EarthScience


Apollo.jpg
"Earthrise", via NASA's Apollo 8 mission, December 24, 1968


Planet Citizen Vision of Living Earth
Planet Citizens, Planet Scientists
🌎 www.planetaryawareness.org


Beginnings of the Modern Environmental Movement

* https://greenpolicy360.net/images/1969_beginnings_of_the_modern_environmental_movement.pdf


From the late 1960s and continuing, a Generation Green acts and grows into a worldwide politics with a vision of Environmental protection for our 'Living Planet'


Living Earth.png


Earth Science Vital Signs
Earth Right Now


Green Aura over Earth.jpg


Earth Science Research from Space


Earth Information Center - NASA.png


Earth Information Center from NASA.jpg


SJS / GreenPolicy360 Siterunner:


Planetary Awareness

Planet Citizens


Beginning in December 1968 with Earthrise and continuing thru 1972 with the Apollo mission's last human-taken Whole Earth image, humanity's vision of our place in the universe as 'voyagers' in space has begun to shift our common understandings of who we are.

We are beginning to realize we are fellow travelers on Spaceship Earth, our Home Planet, and we are reshaping the future of life on Earth, for good and bad.


Earth in Human Hands.jpg


In many ways, we now facing existential questions that require 'new ways of seeing'. The Environmental movement is @ work today to improve our quality of life and to create a healthy, sustainable future for generations to come. Earth Observations are key to understanding our planet's changing, living systems, earth science and acting with wisdom as "Planet Citizens".

Explore Earth Right Now and follow Earth Science Research from Space...

GreenPolicy360 is envisioning New Definitions of National Security and, as Planet Citizens within a global green movement, we are communicating in a new era of information technology capable of reaching and engaging nearly all on Earth.


Look at how thin our atmosphere is


ThinBlue-3 iss030e031276.jpg


ThinBlueLayer.com

Protect & Secure "Thin Blue"


Ron Merkord / Caltech:

If you were to look at our planet with infrared eyes, rather than in the visible spectrum that we're used to, you'd see a darkening layer covering the planet, as the carbon dioxide levels in our atmosphere reach 50% higher than they should be.

It's kind of like putting ink in a pool. It doesn't take much to turn the whole pool dark. Our CO2 emissions from our burning of fossil fuels is turning our atmosphere dark to infrared light, causing the greenhouse effect that is warming our planet, and melting the ice.


🌎


British Met Office, recalling the beginning of the 'industrial revolution' and British colonial history


CO2, carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.... 50% higher than before the industrial revolution due to human-caused emissions, says a Met Office forecast....



CO2 photo.JPG



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Planet Earth / Big Picture News

• Green Stories of the Day
• Climate News
• EarthPOV
• Earth Science Research from Space
• Earth and Space, Politics


Dove minisat m.jpg


Planet 4-15-2021 10-22-51 AM.jpg


• Micro-satellites
• Planet API


NASA

Above the Oil/Gas Producing Middle East

Over the Nile and Red Sea-2018.jpg


Climate crisis: Satellites to monitor air pollution

(May 2019) Air pollution monitoring revolutionised with the launch of a new satellite system


Tracking damaging greenhouse gas emissions coming from every large power station in the world in real time

• https://finance.yahoo.com/news/climate-crisis-satellites-monitor-air-155129758.html


“Emerging AI remote sensing techniques (intend) to hold every powerful polluter worldwide accountable ... better data ... puts most companies, governments, and environmentalists on the same side ... responsible, forward-thinking groups have started using advanced data to voluntarily slash emissions....”

The system promises far greater accuracy and detailed emissions data for each power station, effectively reducing barriers to insight into the impacts of power generation, ensure accurate emissions data and bring new opportunities to hold companies to account.

The satellite network will observe the power plants from space, while AI technology will use the image processing algorithms to detect signs of power plant emissions.


• https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Earth_Right_Now
• https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Earth_Science_Vital_Signs


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OCO-3 News Coverage Should Have Been of a Globally Important Event

OCO-3 arrives at the International Space Station to begin its earth science-space mission. There's little to find in Media coverage on its real-world importance whether on Google News, Bing Search, Yahoo, Duck Duck Go, pick your international news sources...

Yet, in fact and substance, the science of OCO-3 is critically important. Earth Science. Measuring CO2. JPL-Caltech/NASA, scientific inquiry at its best. Essential data and baseline information critical for informed policy and decision-making (yet President Donald Trump tried to kill the launch of OCO-3 and related US FY2018 missions to measure and monitor CO2).

A global security story... National security... Existential threats ...


OCO-3 video.jpg


OCO-3 video2.jpg

 


OCO-3 Arrives at the International Space Station

(Interview at JPL courtesy of the LA Times)

OCO-3 was built at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Cañada Flintridge for less than $100 million, using parts left over from its predecessor, OCO-2. Once the carbon observatory gets to the ISS, a robotic arm will mount it on the underside of the space station so it can keep a close eye on the carbon dioxide in Earth’s atmosphere.

That will help scientists answer questions about how and why levels of the greenhouse gas fluctuate over days, months and years.

“Our goal is to get really good data so we can make informed decisions about how to manage carbon and carbon emissions in the future,” said Annmarie Eldering, the mission’s project scientist at JPL.

Carbon dioxide makes up a tiny fraction of the molecules in our atmosphere — roughly 400 parts per million. But seemingly small changes in the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere have an outsized effect on the planet’s temperature.

“Carbon is really effective at trapping heat,” Eldering said. “Even changing the ratio from 300 parts per million to 400 parts per million makes a big difference.”

OCO-3 is so sensitive that it can detect changes as small as 1 part per million. So if CO2 levels go from 406 ppm one day to 407 ppm the next, the space-based observatory will record the increase.


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Measuring and Monitoring Atmospheric Emissions


Climate Impacts in Europe through the Eyes of Copernicus
https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Copernicus_EU


Copernicus EU logo.jpg


Detecting methane from space
"There has been quite a buzz around this unique advancement in space, and the valuable data it will provide on methane, a powerful greenhouse gas that accounts for a quarter of the warming our planet is experiencing today. Curbing anthropogenic methane emissions is one of the most efficient and economical options available to slow the rate of warming over the next few decades, while efforts continue to reduce CO2 emissions worldwide."





The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) is planning to be the first environmental group to send its own satellite into space.
“We need good solid data so that we really can support global action on climate change, and we’ve got to do it fast,” says Steven Hamburg, the EDF’s chief scientist.
The most detailed measurements currently available of atmospheric methane concentrations currently come from a sensor aboard the European Space Agency’s Sentinel-5P spacecraft, which launched in October 2017. The Tropospheric Monitoring Instrument provides global coverage at a resolution of nearly 50 square kilometres, but those measurements do not capture the dispersed sources of emissions from oil and gas fields.
Commercial firms have developed high-resolution sensors that can be placed aboard 10-centimetre-sided CubeSats to measure emissions from individual wells or other facilities. Those data are proprietary, however, and the measurements cannot be scaled up to the level of an entire oil and gas field.
The Environmental Defense Fund team is designing MethaneSAT to provide more-precise measurements, at a resolution of 1 square kilometre, with global coverage at least once a week.


You can manage only what you can measure Dr David Crisp, OCO-2, June 2014 m.jpg


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On the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 8 launch
Earth Science Research from Space


• https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Apollo.jpg

• http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20181220-the-nasa-mission-that-broadcast-to-a-billion-people

• https://qz.com/1501935/photos-apollo-8-brought-us-the-moon-as-never-seen-before/amp/

• https://petapixel.com/2018/12/20/how-nasas-iconic-earthrise-photo-was-shot/


🌎


New Earth Science Decadel Survey Released

Thriving on Our Changing Planet (PDF)

Earth Priorities


Thriving on Our Changing Planet.png


 

First Full Disk Image from GOES-17 / Click for Whole Earth View

Earth via GOES 17 Weather Satellite - first full image May 2018.png

 


"Vital Signs": Monitoring the Earth's Life Enabling Systems

 

Looking Back as We Turn from 2017 to a New Year

"This year has been an unequivocal disaster for the future of the planet. President Donald Trump has managed to take a wrecking ball to years' worth of hard work and painstaking negotiations. If not undone, our retreat from the Paris Climate Accords and the EPA's Clean Power Plan alone mean our planet's temperature will rise at a greater rate and our citizen's health will degrade. Other changes in environmental regulations on drilling and auto and appliance efficiency will only make matters worse."

Perhaps the thing that worries me the most is the massive deforestation underway in areas like Asia and Latin America. Countless trees and millions of square miles of jungle and forest have been removed to accommodate our desires for more -- more wood, more farmland, more pasture, more meat.

When I first looked down upon the Amazon rainforest in 2001, I saw vast areas of jungle and a wide and winding copper colored river that went on and on and on. A river that was impossible to miss and like no other on the planet. By 2011, however, the part that was most noticeable wasn't the river or the jungle but the large swaths of empty land.

From space, it looks empty because we are far away. We don't see the crops or the cattle but we do see the loss. We see the loss of an incredibly diverse ecosystem that once held endless possibilities for new medicines and other discoveries.

We see the loss of a home for so many species that will now have to learn to adapt and survive somewhere else -- or not. And we see the loss of a large amount of carbon, sequestered in a living and breathing ecosystem which created massive amounts of oxygen for all of us.

That carbon, once the giver of life to millions of species all over our planet, now has a new role: greenhouse gas. It will sit in our atmosphere as CO and CO2 for millennia, but in this case as an invisible blanket, warming our planet, changing our climate and creating a cataclysmic mess for future generations.


-- By Mark Kelly / Updated 4:20 PM ET, Wed December 27, 2017


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Earth from the ISS.gif


Vital Signs, Taking the Pulse of the Planet Sept2014.png


How Satellite Imagery Is Transforming Earth Science, Regional, National & Global Security

"Planetary Health": New methods, new analytical approaches to data collected from earth-facing observation platforms


“High-resolution earth imagery sources, beyond historic US/NASA/NOAA/ESA research from space, represent rich new troves of information...” says David Johnston of Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment. Johnson and his co-authors embrace satellite imagery “as a legitimate data source that can supplement and even supplant traditional methods.”

The rapidly growing abundance and sophistication of satellite imagery and remote sensing data is about to change (the scientific fields of earth science)... thanks to a profusion of startup companies, including Planet, DigitalGlobe, Skybox Imaging (later purchased by Google and renamed Terra Bella), Urthecast, and LAND INFO Worldwide Mapping.


• https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Climate_News
• https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Micro-satellites
• https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Earth_Imaging-New_Space
• https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/New_Space


New Space | Planet API | Democratization of Space


NASA Challenges the Public to Join In

GreenPolicy360 / Virtual Earth Mapping


The technology will prove useful for monitoring commitments made by nations under REDD (the program to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation) as well as under the Paris climate accord and the Convention on Biological Diversity...


• https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:INDC


OCO-2

Earth Right Now

Earth Science Vital Signs


• https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Environmental_Security


○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○


Rising Threats to National and Global Security

US Retreats from Global Stage, Moves Backwards Under Current White House


The 'Trump Doctrine', a Legacy in the Making


Climate News


Time to Act as the US President says No to the Global Community and No to the International Climate Agreement


Wrong, Wrong, Wrong.png


June 2017 / Climate change poses a unique threat to national security, military and intelligence experts say


Better Climate Observation Needed

Former NOAA Chief Scientist Warns of Threats to Science

Scientists Fear Climate Data Gap as Trump Aims at Satellites


18 NASA Earth Science Missions in Space

• https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4558


NASA earth observation fleet as of April 2017.jpg


NASA Earth science from space May2015.png


2017 / Updates


Via Scientific American

Ageing Satellites Put Crucial Sea Ice Climate Record at Risk


Track Earth Science Missions, the Politics of Earth Science from Space, and Global/National Security


@ Earth and Space, Politics


US Politics and Earth Science Research from Space

https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Earth_and_Space,_Politics


Trump Administration Budget Undercuts "Earth Science" at NASA

Vital Security Programs Cut / OCO-3 Mission to Study CO2 in Atmosphere Eliminated


The proposed NASA budget targets the agency’s work on environmental science, cutting funding for Earth science research grants. The cuts would go further by eliminating several missions that are in development, including PACE (Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem), which is intended to monitor and provide baseline data of the Earth’s ocean and their health; the Orbiting Carbon Observatory 3, or OCO-3, an instrument to precisely monitor the carbon dioxide in our atmosphere, continuing the unique work of OCO-2; and the Climate Absolute Radiance and Refractivity Observatory, or CLARREO, pathfinder, which is to use a solar spectrometer to produce highly accurate climate projections.

https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Earth_and_Space,_Politics
https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Climate_News


Protecting "The Commons", the "Thin Blue Layer", the Global Atmosphere Look at how thin our atmosphere is...

ThinBlue.com


Baseline Data and the Damage of Interruptions in Baseline Data



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New Definitions of National Security


"New Definitions of National Security"

A Project of GreenPolicy360 and Strategic Demands

New Definitions of National Security.png


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Space 'Macroscope', Earth Science

Yale Environment 360 / by Richard Conniff / June 2017


Google, Earth Observations, Earth Science

https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Global_Fishing_Watch
https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Global_Forest_Watch


Mapping the Earth in the 21st


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*The Critical Importance of "EarthScience360" from Space

GreenPolicy360: The election of Donald Trump as US president delivers immediate crisis and a turning point. The president-elect's statements that climate change is a 'hoax' and environmental policies and programs, including NASA 'Earth Sciences', are impediments that need to be ended now assures tumult and a new level of threat to national and global security. Announced administration appointees, as of November 2016, and recent Congressional threats to deeply cut environmental protection and NASA 'Earth Science' budgets are warning signs of coming showdowns over the direction of the nation and the nation's priorities.

NASA scientists responsible for vital programs have been reluctant to speak publicly since the election but one anonymous NASA scientist is among the first to write online about the value of earth science research from space.

Anon: "We are the largest combined organization of scientists and engineers in the world dedicated to space-based observations of Earth, the Solar System, and the Universe. A huge part of our mission is to design and fabricate Earth-viewing satellites that track long-term changes in topography and climate. These satellites ensure that we have the most complete set of data available to not only predict how humanity's impacts will affect the Earth, but also understand how we can prepare and protect those most vulnerable to climate change and rising sea levels. As an example of our impact on the daily lives of people around the world, one of the satellites I previously worked on, Global Precipitation Measurement, is currently in Earth orbit tracking extreme weather events. Its data allows meteorologists to improve their forecasts of where hurricanes will strike and how intense they will be, as well as to identify the areas that are most prone to floods and landslides, so that we can give advanced warnings to those affected. This is just one of dozens of major Earth-observing satellites that NASA manages everyday.

"Today, we were shocked to hear of Trump's plan to scrap NASA's climate change research as part of a crack down on "politicized science". Among the scientific community, climate change is no more "politicized science" than the theory of gravity is. While his crackdown would mean that thousands of scientists and engineers at NASA Goddard would lose their livelihoods, it represents an even greater loss for the world. Without data continuity in our Earth observations, we will be blind to the ravages of climate change: to the deluges and droughts that might devastate crops, to the extreme weather events that destroy communities as the Earth continues to warm. We will not be able to develop the solutions that can prevent Earth's temperatures from rising to catastrophic levels. I urge you to implore your Congressional Representatives to not allow Trump's plan to happen. We cannot sit on the sidelines over the next four years: our future on this planet is at stake."


Follow the Action (of anti-science forces) as the US Congress Looks to Block Earth Science

One Case Study of the Mentality -- H.R/637 / 115th Congress "Stopping EPA Overreach Act of 2017"


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Under Trump, Will NASA’s Space Science Include Planet Earth?

-- By Andrew C. Revkin / November 28, 2016 / Dot Earth


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December 14, 2016

Speaking directly to threats to the value of earth science and earth science research from space, Governor Brown addressed the American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall Meeting in California. The AGU annual gathering is the largest Earth and space science meeting in the world.

The AGU is an international scientific society that describes itself as "dedicated to promoting discovery in Earth and space science for the benefit of humanity."


Jerry Brown:

"We got the scientists. We got the lawyers. And we're ready to fight. We're ready to defend. And California is no stranger to this fight...

"California is the future. We are pioneering space...

"Now some people say they're going to turn off the satellites that are monitoring the climate... low-earth phenomena, the LANDSAT and all the various measuring satellites that we have...

"Well, I remember back in 1978 I proposed a LANDSAT satellite for California. They called me 'Governor Moonbeam' because of that. I didn't get that moniker for nothing.

"And if Trump turns off the satellites, California will launch its own (d-mn) satellites!"


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Satellites Launched to Monitor Planet Change

NASA Earth Science Missions - https://eospso.gsfc.nasa.gov/current-missions
The Earth Science Satellite Fleet Circa 2015


The A-Train
https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:The_A-Train.jpg


EarthRightNow Earth Science satellite fleet circa 2015 m.jpg


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Earth Science, Ocean Science

Studying Sea-Level Rise from Space


Jason-3 Successfully Launched into Orbit --- Follow Jason Online
http://www.nasa.gov/press-release/jason-3-launches-to-monitor-global-sea-level-rise


Vital Signs
Earth Science, Vital Signs
NASA Climate: Vital Signs of the Planet


Earth Right Now / NASA


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I am OCO-2 -- 'Reporting Home'


Visit the Orbiting Carbon Observatory


Climate deniers blame global warming on nature. NASA data begs to differ



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Visit NASA's Earth Science News

"Vital Signs of the Planet"

Critical Missions to Monitor Earth's Systems from Space -- http://climate.nasa.gov/




Earth Science Research from Space



"New Definitions of National Security"




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Earth Research and Science from Space











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NASA/NOAA Earth Observing Satellite Updates

How satellites are used to monitor climate change

Satellites in operation (2016) that are adding to scientists’ understanding of climate change

https://www.carbonbrief.org/interactive-satellites-used-monitor-climate-change


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Jason-3 Mission -- Jason-3 -- Launched Jan 17, 2016

Ocean circulation patterns, global and regional changes in sea level, and climate implications of a warming world


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"Watch 25 years of Arctic Sea Ice disappear"


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Earth Observations

"Thin Blue Layer"

https://www.pinterest.com/stratdem/

https://strategicdemands.com/another-view-of-thin-blue/


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https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/New_Definitions_of_National_Security

https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Environmental_Security


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Latest from the Atmospheric Science Data Center (ASDC) at NASA Langley Research Center

NASA Earth science data in the areas of radiation budget, clouds, aerosols, and tropospheric chemistry

https://eosweb.larc.nasa.gov/ --- https://eosweb.larc.nasa.gov/projects-supported


April 2015


A Successful Era in Climate Science

Calipso - Ten Years in Space (and Flying with the 'A-Train')

Since its launch in 2006, CALIPSO has orbited the Earth tirelessly, using its lasers to take more than 5.7 billion lidar (light detection and ranging) measurements probing the vertical structure and properties of clouds and other particles — such as dust, sea salt, ash and soot — in the air.

For atmospheric scientists, the ability to regularly and accurately examine clouds and particles at different heights was something new. Gathering that data over such a long time period has contributed to a scientific bonanza.

Also, scientists are able to combine CALIPSO’s measurements with those of other Earth-observing satellites circling the globe in a cooperative path called the A-Train constellation. CALIPSO and CloudSat, a satellite containing a cloud-profiling radar, launched together on a Delta II rocket, now fly in formation with satellites named Aqua, Aura, Global Change Observation Mission-Water (GCOM-W) and Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO)-2.

Combining measurements from these A-Train satellites offers a clearer view of what’s happening in the atmosphere.

“CALIPSO, in complement with the other instruments flying in the A-Train, has provided observations in areas that had never been observed before,” said Pierre Tabary, program manager for atmosphere, meteorology and climate for CNES, the French space agency.

He said scientists have gained knowledge about clouds, and their impact on incoming solar radiation, as well as on infrared radiation coming from the Earth’s surface, known as the greenhouse effect.

“There were no other instruments providing such observations before,” Tabary said. “All those data have been used to improve our understanding of how climate works.”

More than 1,600 scientific and technical reports and published research papers have used CALIPSO data. The data are widely cited in reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change", Tabary said, "a clear demonstration of what CALIPSO has brought to climate science."


Read More about the 'A-Train'

A convoy of "A-Train" satellites has emerged as one of the most powerful tools scientists have for understanding our planet's changing climate...

https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/a-train/a-train.html

https://www.nasa.gov/content/a-train


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From Above We See Our Planet High Definition Video, from NASA


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March 2015

One of the many critical NASA earth science missions from space reports:

https://www.jsg.utexas.edu/news/2015/03/east-antarctica-melting-could-be-explained-by-oceanic-gateways

https://www.nature.com/ngeo/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/ngeo2388.html

https://www.ig.utexas.edu/research/projects/icecap/

https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/icebridge/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2015/03/16/the-melting-of-antarctica-was-already-really-bad-it-just-got-worse/

https://thespacereporter.com/2015/03/scientists-discover-that-the-melting-of-antarctica-is-even-worse-than-previously-thought/


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Sneak Peek at the DSCOVR Mission: Earth pix daily from a million miles


DSCOVR is launched and on its way!

February 12, 2015 The DSCOVR satellite with its EPIC cam, PlasMag & NISTAR instrument package is on the way... a million mile journey, scheduled to light up, be tested and begin delivering data to Earth in August, including near-real-time imaging of Earth provided online – We will be delivering a stream of amazing imagery of our planet as NASA/NOAA begin uploading EPICs pictures of us!

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It's been some time since December 7, 1972 when the only picture ever snapped by a human of the whole earth was captured -- our iconic "Blue Marble" -- Engineers that they are, NASA named the image -- AS17-148-22727

As we have been recalling the history, we haven't had returned to us a 'whole earth' image since 1972. Today, Feb 10, the Associated Press reports Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Florida, pointing out from Washington that there hasn't been a full, sunlit picture of the Earth since Apollo 17 in 1972 - NASA's last manned moon-landing mission. Subsequent images have been stitched together, the Senator explained, for composite shots. The Senator has an exceptional point of view as he was an astronaut -- In January 1986, Nelson spent six days orbiting Earth as a payload specialist aboard space shuttle Columbia. His NASA bio adds "The experience gave him a new perspective on the Earth’s fragile environment and a greater appreciation of the importance of our nation’s space exploration program."


The DSCOVR satellite launches into deep orbit with multiple missions -- to monitor space weather and, due to the satellite's orbital distance from Earth (1 mil miles), DSCOVR will be sending back daily images of the 'whole earth' via its EPIC image-taking system and via its NISTAR system measuring earth's earth's temperature, our "radiation balance" ("albedo").


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ISS mission to monitor #planethome

ISS -- RapidScat


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[[You can manage only what you can measure Dr David Crisp, OCO-2, June 2014 m.jpg


Time to measure earth soil moisture content -- SMAP


January 2015


#Earth360, scientific leap forward with the soon-to-launch Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) platform"

Launching Jan 29, 2015 to "measure the moisture in Earth's soils with unprecedented accuracy and resolution.


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SMAP will measure moisture in Earth's soil with greater accuracy and resolution than any preceding mission


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Existential -- Monitoring "vital signs", scientific observations over time, a baseline of planet Earth


NASA OCO Satellite Sends Back Most Detailed CO2 View Ever

Initial round of CO2 data is released...

First full set of CO2 data made available in March 2015 for scientists and public to download and explore.


More on the history-making OCO-2 / Orbiting Carbon Observatory

According to JPL scientists: "Where OCO-2 really excels is the sheer amount of data being collected within a day, about one million measurements across a narrow swath... For fluorescence, this enables us, for the first time, to look at features on the five- to 10-kilometer scale on a daily basis." SIF can be measured even through moderately thick clouds, so it will be especially useful in understanding regions like the Amazon where cloud cover thwarts most spaceborne observations."

The changes in atmospheric carbon dioxide that OCO-2 seeks to measure are so small that the mission must take unusual precautions to ensure the instrument is free of errors. For that reason, the spacecraft was designed so that it can make an extra maneuver. In addition to gathering a straight line of data like a lawnmower swath, the instrument can point at a single target on the ground for a total of seven minutes as it passes overhead. That requires the spacecraft to turn sideways and make a half cartwheel to keep the target in its sights.

The targets OCO-2 uses are stations in the Total Carbon Column Observing Network (TCCON), a collaborative effort of multiple international institutions. TCCON has been collecting carbon dioxide data for about five years, and its measurements are fully calibrated and extremely accurate. At the same time that OCO-2 targets a TCCON site, a ground-based instrument at the site makes the same measurement. The extent to which the two measurements agree indicates how well calibrated the OCO-2 sensors are.

Additional maps released recently showed the results of these targeting maneuvers over two TCCON sites in California and one in Australia. "Early results are very promising," said Paul Wennberg, a professor at Caltech and head of the TCCON network. "Over the next few months, the team will refine the OCO-2 data, and we anticipate that these comparisons will continue to improve."


More about the OCO-2 mission, making history as it reveals the extent of atmospheric CO2


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Tracking ocean currents, 'best-ever data

November 2014

From the GOCE mission

Scientists produce "the most accurate space view yet of global ocean currents and the speed they move..."

https://www.greenpolicy360.net/mw/images/Ocean_currents_from_GOCE_20141125-jpg.jpg


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New NASA ERA

Sept 08, 2014 - NASA opens a new era in its exploration of our home planet with the launch of the first in a series of Earth science instruments to the International Space Station, Earth-observing instruments to be mounted on the exterior of the #ISS. ISS-RapidScat will monitor ocean winds for climate research, weather predictions and hurricane monitoring. The second instrument is the Cloud-Aerosol Transport System (CATS), a laser instrument that will measure clouds and the location and distribution of pollution, dust, smoke, and other particulates in the atmosphere. Look closer at the array of instruments #RapidScat #EarthRightNow


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Ice impacts of Climate Change -- Arctic/Antarctic

Antarctic 2016


The Antarctic: Big Melt Accelerates


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The Antarctic: Big Melt Accelerates - Cryosat - Greenland

Antarctica's Flowing Ice - Antarctica

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The Arctic Ice Is Melting: Why?


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Permafrost Loss, Potential Impacts, Time to Measure


2016

https://nsidc.org/sites/nsidc.org/files/images/cryosphere/fig1.gif

Scientists estimate that five times as much carbon might be stored in frozen Arctic soils — permafrost — as has been emitted by all human activities since 1850. This worries people who study global warming. While emissions from permafrost currently account for less than 1 percent of global methane emissions, some researchers think this could change in dramatic ways as the world warms and that carbon-rich frozen soil breaks down.


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The map above, based on data provided by the National Snow and Ice Data Center, shows the extent of Arctic permafrost. Any rock or soil remaining at or below 0 degrees Celsius (32 degrees Fahrenheit) for two or more years is considered permafrost.

Continuous permafrost, which occurs in the coldest areas, refers to areas where frozen soil underlies more than 90 percent of the surface. Discontinuous permafrost occurs in slightly warmer areas, where frozen soils underlie 50 to 90 percent of the surface, while certain features such as rivers and south-facing slopes may be ice-free. In areas with sporadic permafrost, frozen soils underlie 10 to 50 percent of the surface. In areas with isolated permafrost, frozen soils underlie less than 10 percent of the surface, usually only occurring in depressions or north-facing slopes.


https://nsidc.org/data/GGD318


https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=87794&eocn=home&eoci=iotd_title


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November 2015

As Earth Warms, NASA Targets 'Other Half' of Carbon, Climate Equation

As Earth Warms, NASA Targets 'Other Half' of Carbon, Climate Equation 797x448.jpg


Permafrost Threatened

https://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=4400

Using statistically modeled maps drawn from satellite data and other sources, U.S. Geological Survey scientists have projected that the near-surface permafrost that presently underlies 38 percent of boreal and arctic Alaska would be reduced by 16 to 24 percent by the end of the 21st century under widely accepted climate scenarios. Permafrost declines are more likely in central Alaska than northern Alaska.

Northern latitude tundra and boreal forests are experiencing an accelerated warming trend that is greater than in other parts of the world. This warming trend degrades permafrost, defined as ground that stays below freezing for at least two consecutive years. Some of the adverse impacts of melting permafrost are changing pathways of ground and surface water, interruptions of regional transportation, and the release to the atmosphere of previously stored carbon.

“A warming climate is affecting the Arctic in the most complex ways,” said Virginia Burkett, USGS Associate Director for Climate and Land Use Change. “Understanding the current distribution of permafrost and estimating where it is likely to disappear are key factors in predicting the future responses of northern ecosystems to climate change.”


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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tundra

A severe threat to tundra is global warming, which causes permafrost to melt. The melting of the permafrost in a given area on human time scales (decades or centuries) could radically change which species can survive there.

Another concern is that about one third of the world's soil-bound carbon is in taiga and tundra areas. When the permafrost melts, it releases carbon in the form of carbon dioxide and methane, both of which are greenhouse gases. The effect has been observed in Alaska. In the 1970s the tundra was a carbon sink, but today, it is a carbon source. Methane is produced when vegetation decays in lakes and wetlands.

The amount of greenhouse gases which will be released under projected scenarios for global warming have not been reliably quantified by scientific studies, although a few studies were reported to be underway in 2011. It is uncertain whether the impact of increased greenhouse gases from this source will be minimal or massive.

https://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/17/science/earth/warming-arctic-permafrost-fuels-climate-change-worries.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methanogenesis -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenhouse_gas


https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a3/Mlo_ch4_ts_obs_03437.png/300px-Mlo_ch4_ts_obs_03437.png


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A self-reinforcing positive feedback loop is akin to a "vicious circle": It accelerates the impacts of anthropogenic climate disruption (ACD). An example would be methane releases in the Arctic. Massive amounts of methane are currently locked in the permafrost, which is now melting rapidly. As the permafrost melts, methane - a greenhouse gas 100 times more potent than carbon dioxide on a short timescale - is released into the atmosphere, warming it further, which in turn causes more permafrost to melt, and so on...

Extinction Dialogs


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Predicted rate of temperature change in Arctic

Arctic temperatures are expected to increase at roughly twice the global rate. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) will in their fifth report establish scenarios for the future, where the temperature in the Arctic will rise between 1.5 and 2.5°C by 2040 and with 2 to 7.5°C by 2100. Estimates vary on how many tons of greenhouse gases are emitted from thawed permafrost soils. One estimate suggests that 110-231 billion tons of CO2 equivalents (about half from carbon dioxide and the other half from methane) will be emitted by 2040, and 850-1400 billion tons by 2100. This corresponds to an average annual emission rate of 4-8 billion tons of CO2 equivalents in the period 2011-2040 and annually 10-16 billion tons of CO2 equivalents in the period 2011-2100 as a result of thawing permafrost. For comparison, the anthropogenic emission of all greenhouse gases in 2010 is approximately 48 billion tons of CO2 equivalents. Release of greenhouse gases from thawed permafrost to the atmosphere may increase global warming.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permafrost#Carbon_cycle_in_permafrost


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Additional References re: Permafrost Science


Oct 2015 / Via Berkeley Lab -- A Simpler Way to Estimate the Feedback Between Permafrost Carbon and Climate

Simplified, data-constrained approach to estimate the permafrost carbon–climate feedback

Via University of Cambridge -- Analysis of the effects of melting permafrost in the Arctic points to $43 trillion in extra economic damage by the end of the next century, on top of the more than the $300 trillion economic damage already predicted

Alaska's Stirring Permafrost -- https://landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/pdf_archive/cape_halkett_4web.pdf


As the Arctic Ice Retreats


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https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/ba/Circum-Arctic_Map_of_Permafrost_and_Ground_Ice_Conditions.png


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Much Ado About Methane (2012 / RealClimate.org ... methane-climate background and projections)

https://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2012/01/much-ado-about-methane/


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Watching the Ice Melt

Doubling-of-antarctic-ice-loss-revealed-by-european-satellite

Melting / New assessments of impacts of global warming come from Europe's Cryosat spacecraft.

The CryoSat is part of the Living Planet Programme [1] / [2] [3] / [4] of the European Space Agency / ESA

Cooperative earth monitoring science between US-Europe ...

More data re ice melt-GRACE/US-NASA / [5] GRACE


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Earth Observing System satellites -- ESA Earth monitoring from Space

Earth-observing satellites for earth system monitoring include:

The European Space Agency (ESA) "Living Planet Programme" managed by Earth Observation Programmes - [6]

  • GOCE – Gravity Field and Steady-State Ocean Circulation Explorer - launched on March 17, 2009 - [7]
  • SMOS – Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity satellite - studying ocean salinity and soil moisture; launched in 2 November 2009 - [8]
  • CryoSat is designed to map the Earth's ice cover. CryoSat-1 was lost in 2005. CryoSat-2 was launched 8 April 2010 - [9]
  • Swarm – is a trio of satellites to map the Earth's magnetism. The SWARM constellation was launched successfully on 22 November 2013 - [10]
  • Aeolus – Atmospheric Dynamics Mission will use an innovative laser to measure winds. Due for launch in 2015 - [11]
  • EarthCARE – Earth Clouds Aerosols and Radiation Explorer will examine the formation and effects of clouds. Due for launch in 2016 - [12]
  • BIOMASS is designed to calculate the amount of carbon stored in the world's forests, and to monitor for any changes over the course of its five-year mission. Due to launch in 2020 - [13]


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The European Space Agency's mission:

To benefit citizens "asking for a better quality of life on earth... for greater security and economic wealth... to pursue dreams, to increase knowledge... for younger people to be attracted to the pursuit of science and technology... ESA's purpose shall be to provide for, and to promote, for exclusively peaceful purposes, cooperation in space research and technology and space applications, with a view to their being used for scientific purposes..."


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New Space, "democratization of space", start-up ventures, #EarthScience #MicroSats #OpenSource Data


PlanetAPI
New Space, Monitoring the Earth by Satellite


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"It's All Connected": Small to Large"

The Oceans, 70% of the Earth's Surface


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Ocean Food Chain -- Ocean Ecosystems / #OceanScience

Phytoplankton... Diatoms... Oxygen Creators, CO2 Digesters... Zooplankton, Food-of-the-Seas


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Plankton Swirl -- Climate Dance


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Phytoplankton Oxygen Factories in the Southern Ocean


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NASA Earth Observatory


Phytoplankton are essential ecosystems of the seas. They are floating, drifting, plant-like organisms that harness the energy of the Sun, mix it with carbon dioxide that they take up from the atmosphere, and turn it into carbohydrates and oxygen.

Scientific estimates speak of approximately half the oxygen in the Earth's atmosphere being the result of plankton photosynthesis and phytoplankton are critical to the marine food web, being the primary producers of food in the oceans, from phytoplankton to zooplankton to fish and shellfish to whales.

Like plants and trees on land, "phytoplankton give us a lot more than food". Whether the current science estimates that 50 or 80 percent of the oxygen in our atmosphere has been produced by phytoplankton, the health of the blue-green ocean life is essential for sustainable ocean ecosystems.

The tiniest of living organisms exert an outsized influence on the planet.


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Phytoplankton rapidly disappearing

Loss of mini marine plants at base of food web threatens sea’s ecology

A rapid loss of phytoplankton threatens to turn the western Indian Ocean into an “ecological desert,” a new study warns. The research reveals that phytoplankton populations in the region fell an alarming 30 percent over the last 16 years.

A decline in ocean mixing due to warming surface waters is to blame for that phytoplankton plummet, researchers propose online January 19 in Geophysical Research Letters. The mixing of the ocean’s layers ferries phytoplankton nutrients from the ocean’s dark depths up into the sunlit layers that the mini plants inhabit.

The loss of these microbes, which form the foundation of the ocean food web, may undermine the region’s ecosystem, warns study coauthor Raghu Murtugudde, an oceanographer at the University of Maryland in College Park.

“If you reduce the bottom of the food chain, it’s going to cascade...”


Blue-Green in the Oceans & Connection to Life on Earth

"A single kind of blue-green algae in the ocean produces the oxygen in one of every five breaths we take"
~ from "The World Is Blue: How Our Fate and the Ocean’s Are One" by Sylvia Earle / National Geographic


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New Ways of Seeing Our World
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Pale Blue Dot.jpg
Pale Blue Dot, the Home Planet


 

Earth Observations... Observe!
#TreeHugger visitor tree hugging


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Subcategories

This category has the following 16 subcategories, out of 16 total.

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Pages in category "Earth Observations"

The following 176 pages are in this category, out of 176 total.

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Media in category "Earth Observations"

The following 200 files are in this category, out of 1,414 total.

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