The Full Picture

[

] 88

NSF’s observing systems: platforms

for large-scale environmental research

Arden Bement, Jr., Director; James Collins, Assistant Director for Biological Sciences;

Jeannette Wing, Assistant Director for Computer and Information Sciences and Engineering;

Richard Buckius, Assistant Director for Engineering; Jarvis Moyers, Acting Assistant Director for

Geosciences; David Lightfoot, Assistant Director for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences;

Daniel Atkins, Director, Office of Cyberinfrastructure; Karl Erb, Director, Office of Polar

Programs; Kathie Olsen, Deputy Director, US National Science Foundation

n April of 2001, in the hottest, driest parts of southern

California and Arizona, it appeared to snow. But in fact the

white haze was dust. A swirling storm from Mongolia had

carried dust from the Gobi Desert and deposited it across

almost half the mainland United States. Although it wasn’t the

only such storm to reach the US, the particles of April 2001

were the first Asian dust visible to the naked eye on another

continent.

Asia’s dust storms are growing in number and extent. Among the

reasons for this is spreading drought, which is, in part, the result

of global climate change. Heavy snows once fell over Central Asia

in winter, keeping soils damp through the spring. Now, winters

with little snow allow soils to dry out and be easily carried aloft by

spring winds.

Overgrazing by sheep and goats that belong to the formerly

nomadic peoples of Central Asia has also exacerbated the situa-

tion. Today the region is reminiscent of the 1930s Dust Bowl in

the United States.

This past April, scientists aboard HIAPER, the US National

Science Foundation (NSF)’s High-Performance Instrumented

Airborne Platform for Environmental Research, flew across the

Pacific ocean alongside the Asian dust storm. HIAPER is a

Gulfstream V aircraft modified for environmental research.

The dust plumes registered as the largest such events on Earth.

They affected clouds and weather across thousands of miles and

also interacted with the Sun to increase the effects of greenhouse

gases, in turn playing a role in climate change. Having observed

these effects the natural question for the scientists was: could the

dust affect North American ecosystems as it settled onto forests

and fields, lakes and rivers?

Earth and its systems are changing rapidly as a result of the

global effects of climate change. To adapt to such change we must

study how the interrelated geosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere,

and biosphere interact with each other and with people. As our

quest to understand planetary change also accelerates, finding new

ways of observing the environment increases in importance.

HIAPER is just one of those new ways.

Blanketing the globe with interconnected land,

ocean, and atmosphere environmental observatories

is the goal of the intergovernmental Group on Earth

Observations (GEO). GEO is leading an international

effort to build a Global Earth Observation System of

Systems (GEOSS), key to the accurate prediction of

environmental changes across the planet.

Research is a fundamental component of this effort.

By supporting environmental observing systems for

basic research, NSF is taking the first step toward an

understanding of Earth’s workings. The agency’s

network of observation platforms will crisscross the

nation and the world, and connect with other coun-

tries’ systems, sending data to scientists, students, and

the public around the globe. The observatories address

all nine of the GEO societal benefit areas: climate,

disasters, agriculture, biodiversity, ecosystems, health,

weather, water, and energy.

Through NSF-supported observing systems such as

HIAPER, the National Ecological Observatory

Network, Ocean Observatories Initiative, EarthScope,

and the Arctic Observing Network, scientists seek to

answer questions such as: What forces connect the

biosphere, geosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere

at regional to continental scales? How will life in the

sea and on land, including humans, respond to and

alter climate change? How will global trade affect the

spread of invasive species? How are climate and ocean

circulation linked? How does Earth’s carbon cycle

influence global patterns of precipitation?

Many US federal agencies support environmental

observation systems for specific missions, such as

predicting weather or tracking pollutants. National

Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

(NASA), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and

a constellation of agencies keep an eye on Earth condi-

tions through satellites and ground-based sensors.

GEOSS C

OMPONENTS

– O

BSERVING

YSTEMS