The NASA Terrestrial Ecology Program uses surface, airborne, and space-based observations to understand how Earth’s carbon cycle and terrestrial ecosystems respond to environmental change and human interventions. This improved understanding is gained by combining observations with advanced data analysis techniques and ecosystem process modeling. The goal of the Terrestrial Ecology Program is to improve our understanding of (1) the structure, function, and productivity of terrestrial ecosystems across the globe, (2) the spatial and temporal variability of ecosystem states and processes; (3) the interaction of these ecosystems with the atmosphere and hydrosphere, and (4) the role that these ecosystems play in the cycling of the major biogeochemical elements and water. This improved understanding allows us to develop a capability to diagnose and predict the response of terrestrial ecosystems to environmental change.
The NASA Terrestrial Ecology Program seeks to strengthen the theoretical and scientific basis for measuring the properties of Earth’s vegetation using reflected, emitted, and scattered electromagnetic radiation and develop the methodologies and technical approaches required to analyze and interpret such measurements. These activities will ultimately provide a foundation for the new remote sensing capabilities needed to understand and monitor terrestrial ecosystems at regional to global scales.
NASA’s Terrestrial Ecology Program has a long and rich history of successfully mounting intensive field campaigns (see Section 3). These field campaigns have been aimed at exploiting the synergistic benefits of multidisciplinary science focused on a specific science question or set of science questions. These science questions are addressed using satellite and airborne remote sensing observations in combination with surface and near-surface measurements of smaller scale features and processes. Such field experiments use an integrative modeling framework to synthesize and scale the results across space and time. NASA Terrestrial Ecology field campaigns focus the community’s attention on (a) answering big science questions targeted on important regions or biomes; (b) enabling more effective interpretation and analysis of spacebased measurements; (c) fostering collaborative interactions and building new relationships within the scientific community; (d) providing valuable opportunities for training and educating the next generation of scientists; and (e) leaving a legacy data set of great value for future research.
The ideas and strategy for field campaigns have usually arisen from within the research community – often as a result of discussions among current NASA-funded researchers working on related research questions or through the committees and working groups of national and international programs.
This solicitation requests scoping studies that will (1) identify the scientific questions, (2) develop an initial study design; (3) and propose an implementation concept for a new NASA Terrestrial Ecology field campaign that could be implemented on a six- to nineyear time frame. This solicitation offers resources to facilitate such planning and provides an opportunity to design a major, yet logistically feasible, initiative that advances the Terrestrial Ecology Program’s research goals and makes use of NASA’s unique capabilities to mount well-coordinated projects that use satellite and airborne remote sensing as a central element. Examples of the objectives and scope of previous campaigns are provided in Section 3. An important element of any field campaign must be the synthesis of the observations into a diagnostic and predictive capability that helps us to better understand the role of terrestrial ecosystems in climate change.
Deadlines:
- Notice of Intent: Sep. 16, 2022
- Proposal: Nov. 18, 2022