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United States Group on Earth Observations
Gene Whitney, OSTP; Teresa Fryberger, NASA; Helen Wood, NOAA
O
n 31 July 2003, the United States hosted the first ever
Earth Observation Summit in Washington, DC. This
initiative attracted participation from more than 30
nations and 20 multilateral organizations and resulted in the
intergovernmental ad hoc Group on Earth Observations (GEO)
establishing the development of a ten-year implementation
plan for the Global Earth Observation System of Systems
(GEOSS).
Following this event, the United States government formed an ad
hoc Interagency Working Group on Earth Observations (IWGEO)
to develop the US component of GEOSS, an Integrated Earth
Observation System (IEOS). In the four years since its establish-
ment, IWGEO has evolved into a formal United States Group on
Earth Observations (USGEO), a standing subcommittee of the
Committee on Environment and Natural Resources (CENR) under
the President’s National Science and Technology Council (NSTC).
The organization’s vision statement runs: “Enable a healthy public,
economy, and planet through an integrated comprehensive and
sustained Earth observation system”.
Today, USGEO is a results-oriented organization that comprises
representatives from fifteen United States federal agencies and
three White House Offices, with co-chairs from the White House
Office of Science and Technology (OSTP), the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
Progress and achievements
The vast range of missions of the US government agencies in the
area of Earth observations requires a systematic approach to inte-
gration. To provide a framework for the integration of US Earth
observations, USGEO developed the Strategic Plan for the US
Integrated Earth Observation System, released in 2005. This strate-
gic plan sets forth goals and requirements for US
observing systems and contributions to GEOSS.
The plan is organized around nine societal benefit
areas that collectively cut across all mission areas of
the USGEO member agencies. These nine societal
benefit areas, while not identical to the societal benefit
areas developed by GEO, are closely aligned to them
and link US efforts to international activities in
GEOSS. USGEO has already made progress towards
realizing the goals set forth in the national IEOS strate-
gic plan. Significant accomplishments have been made
in all societal benefit areas, including the development
of plans for air quality, disaster reduction, integrated
drought monitoring, and land characterization.
USGEO recognizes the importance of transitioning
proven Earth observation systems and programs from
research to implementation. The research and opera-
tional member agencies of USGEO, together with
universities, private sector organizations, and inter-
national partners have collaborated to enhance
Societal benefit areas
• Improve weather forecasting
• Reduce loss of life and property from disasters
• Protect and monitor our ocean resource
• Understand, assess, predict, mitigate and adapt to
climate variability and change
• Support sustainable agriculture and forestry and combat
land degration
• Understand the effect of environmental factors on
human health and well-being
• Develop the capacity to make ecological forecasts
• Protect and monitor water resources
• Monitor and manage energy resources
USGEO Co-Chairs
:
Dr. Gene Whitney (OSTP); Dr. Teresa Fryberger (NASA);
Ms. Helen Wood (NOAA)
US Government Agencies and White House Offices
USGEO Membership
N
ATIONAL
& R
EGIONAL
R
EPORTS