[Senate Hearing 117-866]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
S. Hrg. 117-866
LANDSAT AT 50 AND THE FUTURE OF U.S.
SATELLITE-BASED EARTH OBSERVATION
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HEARING
BEFORE THE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON SPACE AND SCIENCE
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE,
SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION
UNITED STATES SENATE
ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
__________
DECEMBER 1, 2022
__________
Printed for the use of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and
Transportation
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Available online: http://www.govinfo.gov
__________
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
55-823 PDF WASHINGTON : 2024
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SENATE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION
ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
MARIA CANTWELL, Washington, Chair
AMY KLOBUCHAR, Minnesota ROGER WICKER, Mississippi, Ranking
RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, Connecticut JOHN THUNE, South Dakota
BRIAN SCHATZ, Hawaii ROY BLUNT, Missouri
EDWARD MARKEY, Massachusetts TED CRUZ, Texas
GARY PETERS, Michigan DEB FISCHER, Nebraska
TAMMY BALDWIN, Wisconsin JERRY MORAN, Kansas
TAMMY DUCKWORTH, Illinois DAN SULLIVAN, Alaska
JON TESTER, Montana MARSHA BLACKBURN, Tennessee
KYRSTEN SINEMA, Arizona TODD YOUNG, Indiana
JACKY ROSEN, Nevada MIKE LEE, Utah
BEN RAY LUJAN, New Mexico RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin
JOHN HICKENLOOPER, Colorado SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO, West
RAPHAEL WARNOCK, Georgia Virginia
RICK SCOTT, Florida
CYNTHIA LUMMIS, Wyoming
Lila Helms, Staff Director
Melissa Porter, Deputy Staff Director
George Greenwell, Policy Coordinator and Security Manager
John Keast, Republican Staff Director
Crystal Tully, Republican Deputy Staff Director
Steven Wall, General Counsel
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SUBCOMMITTEE ON SPACE AND SCIENCE
JOHN HICKENLOOPER, Colorado, Chair CYNTHIA LUMMIS, Wyoming, Ranking
RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, Connecticut TED CRUZ, Texas
GARY PETERS, Michigan DEB FISCHER, Nebraska
KYRSTEN SINEMA, Arizona, TODD YOUNG, Indiana
BEN RAY LUJAN, New Mexico MIKE LEE, Utah
RAPHAEL WARNOCK, Georgia RICK SCOTT, Florida
EDWARD MARKEY, Massachusetts JERRY MORAN, Kansas
C O N T E N T S
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Page
Hearing held on December 1, 2022................................. 1
Statement of Senator Hickenlooper................................ 1
Statement of Senator Lummis...................................... 2
Statement of Senator Cantwell.................................... 46
Statement of Senator Blumenthal.................................. 54
Witnesses
Stephen M. Volz, Assistant Administrator, National Environmental
Satellite, Data, and Information Service, National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce........ 3
Prepared statement........................................... 5
Dr. Kate Calvin, Chief Scientist, National Aeronautics and Space
Administration................................................. 14
Prepared statement........................................... 16
Daniel Jablonsky, President and Chief Executive Officer, Maxar
Technologies................................................... 19
Prepared statement........................................... 20
Kevin Gallagher, Associate Director for Core Science Systems,
U.S. Geological Survey, Department of the Interior............. 23
Prepared statement........................................... 25
Waleed Abdalati, Director, Cooperative Institute for Research in
Environmental Sciences; Professor, Department of Geography,
University of Colorado, Boulder................................ 31
Prepared statement........................................... 33
Appendix
Response to written questions submitted to Dr. Kate Calvin by:
Hon. Maria Cantwell.......................................... 61
Hon. Kyrsten Sinema.......................................... 62
Response to written questions submitted to Daniel Jablonsky by:
Hon. Maria Cantwell.......................................... 63
Hon. Kyrsten Sinema.......................................... 64
Hon. John Hickenlooper....................................... 64
Response to written questions submitted to Kevin Gallagher by:
Hon. Maria Cantwell.......................................... 65
Hon. Kyrsten Sinema.......................................... 66
Hon. John Hickenlooper....................................... 68
Hon. Raphael Warnock......................................... 69
Response to written questions submitted to Dr. Waleed Abdalati
by:
Hon. Maria Cantwell.......................................... 70
Hon. John Hickenlooper....................................... 71
Hon. Raphael Warnock......................................... 75
LANDSAT AT 50 AND THE FUTURE OF U.S. SATELLITE-BASED EARTH OBSERVATION
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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2022
U.S. Senate,
Subcommittee on Space and Science,
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation,
Washington, DC.
The Subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:33 a.m., in
room SR-253, Russell Senate Office Building, Hon. John
Hickenlooper, Chairman of the Subcommittee, presiding.
Present: Senators Hickenlooper [presiding], Cantwell,
Blumenthal, Lummis, and Fischer.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. JOHN HICKENLOOPER,
U.S. SENATOR FROM COLORADO
Senator Hickenlooper. Great. Terrific. Welcome to the last
Space and Science Subcommittee hearing of the 117th Congress,
``Landsat at 50 and the Future of U.S. Satellite-Based Earth
Observation.''
I know I almost never mention on this committee--well, I
try to mention it fairly frequently, but I am a former
geologist and I have seen firsthand how the dynamic
circumstances around our country, our world, how our world is
constantly changing and the ecosystems across the globe in many
ways support each other, oceans affect forests, and plains.
And we should understand what the phrase ``surf turf'' and
what is above the Earth are all crucially interconnected.
Observations from space allow us to better--get to a better
understanding of changes in our planet over time. The CHIPS and
Science Act reaffirms our Nation's commitment to science and to
research.
Today, we are going to examine important scientific
missions carried out by important partners in Government and
academia, the commercial sector, all playing a role and all
interconnected. Earth observation provides key data that serve
many purposes. Farmers can serve or can measure soil moisture
to make sure they can improve crop yields.
Weather, the National Weather Service forecast to alert
residents of hurricanes and tornadoes. In the case of
emissions, we can detect and increasingly measure fugitive
emissions, such as methane, from oil and gas wells. In terms of
Colorado, the two key issues that we have seen where Earth
observation has become increasingly important, wildfire
mitigation and drought management.
Some would go so far as to describe our droughts in the
West now as so prolonged that they don't qualify to be
considered droughts. They are aridification or desertification.
They are more permanent than generally what we think of a
drought.
We have an image here of the East Troublesome Fire over my
right shoulder here. It burned over 190,000 acres, destroyed
over 350 homes, caused over a half a billion dollars of damage
in Colorado.
And instruments built by Ball Aerospace, Colorado based
company, were on the Landsat 8 satellite, captured images of
the fire, the one on this far from my right. It is a natural
color showing a smoke plume. But the second uses infrared light
to show details of where you have the active fires, bright red,
the burn scars are dark red, and the vegetation is green.
The second image I put up here as part of the show and tell
is Lake Powell, the second largest reservoir in the entire
country and part of the Colorado River Basin system. This
ongoing drought, this aridification, is making water management
a top conservation policy. Last fall's emergency release of
water helped Lake Powell's hydroelectric power generation, but
it was really a stopgap measure.
Lake Powell is currently filled to only 26 percent of its
full capacity, the lowest level since 1967. And you see that in
frightening clarity in that image. These images from Landsat
showed the changing water levels between 1999 and 2021. And by
any measure, these are drastic reductions in water levels over
a relatively short period of time.
With today's hearing, we look forward to better
understanding how our Federal, academic, and commercial earth
observation activities can better complement each other, can be
better orchestrated. How can we use this data to improve
ecosystem conservation or adaptation? And what benefits can
emerging technologies like artificial intelligence or cloud
computing provide for future earth observation?
Today's witnesses include--while our array is a reminds me
of the 1927 New York Yankees, you know, the--one of the
greatest batting orders in the history of baseball. Today's
witness panel brings immense expertise.
Dr. Steve Volz, Assistant Administrator for Satellite
Information Services, and leads NESDIS--N-E-S-D-I-S, I should
spell it out, at NOAA. Dr. Kate Calvin, Chief Scientist of
NASA. Mr. Daniel Jablonsky is the CEO of Maxar Technologies,
also based in Colorado. Mr. Kevin Gallagher leads the Landsat
Program at the U.S. Geological Survey.
And Dr. Waleed Abdalati is the Director of C.U. Boulder's
Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences,
CIRES, and served as co-chair of the recent Earth Science
Decadal Survey.
With that, I will turn it over to Ranking Member Lummis for
her opening statements, and then recognize Chair Cantwell and
Ranking Member Wicker when they get here.
STATEMENT OF HON. CYNTHIA LUMMIS,
U.S. SENATOR FROM WYOMING
Senator Lummis. Thank you, Chairman Hickenlooper. And thank
you witnesses for joining us today. In the West, our land is a
key part of our very lives, our every activity, and certainly
part of our culture.
Whether it is agriculture, energy production, or our parks,
Wyoming's land shapes our people, our economy, and both in
nearly every way imaginable. Having detailed data on how that
land changes over time, how it responds to the changing of the
seasons, or how it is impacted by severe weather is extremely
valuable and necessary to make informed decisions.
That is why I am glad we are holding this hearing today, so
that we can highlight the importance of the Landsat Program by
showing how it interacts with each of these issues. Through
these images, we can better understand how seasonal changes
affect crop yields, better insights into previously unknown
locations for mineral deposits, and a deeper knowledge of how
to prepare for snowmelt across the region.
The Landsat Program has provided significant resources to
individuals and businesses operating in Wyoming, especially
since the program moved toward open data for the public. It is
my hope that we are able to emphasize the work already underway
in the Landsat Program and prepare the program as we move into
the future.
So, thank you all for being here, and I am really looking
forward to your testimony and our discussion.
Senator Hickenlooper. Great. And I don't see--I think this
is one of those moments where we have a lot of--there is a lot
of stuff. There are a lot of balls in the air, so I think our
Chair and our Ranking Member might be a little late or might
become conflicted out.
Anyway, I think we can go to--begin to the--go to our
expert witnesses. And Dr. Volz, why don't you begin? You are
here by video. Since you are on video, you should get special
consideration.
STATEMENT OF STEPHEN M. VOLZ, ASSISTANT
ADMINISTRATOR, NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL SATELLITE,
DATA, AND INFORMATION SERVICE, NATIONAL OCEANIC
AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION,
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Dr. Volz. So, thank you, sir. And I wish I could be there
in person, but I am happy to participate remotely and the
opportunity to do so. Good morning, sir, Chair Hickenlooper,
Ranking Member Lummis, and members of the Subcommittee.
As noted, I am Dr. Stephen Volz, the Assistant
Administrator of NOAA's National Environmental Satellite, Data
and Information Service. It really is an honor to speak to you,
along with so many of my close partners at the anniversary of
the Landsat Program, of NASA's creation, and of the launch of
the TIROS-1 satellite and our own beginnings. We can trace our
agency start in space to the collaborative scientific project
known as the International Geophysical Year.
That effort in 1957 and 1958 spurred satellite development
and highlighted the importance of global Earth observations.
NOAA was established with a broad mission, to study,
understand, and support the health of our oceans and
atmosphere, and a unique charge, to predict how our environment
changes and to predict the events of that environment for our
people from hour to hour and from year to year.
We save lives, protect property, and enhance the American
economy by monitoring and forecasting weather, water and the
climate, and by informing our citizens every day. In that job,
we deploy ships and planes, buoys, balloons, drones, and
satellites. Satellite observations from NOAA and from our
national and international partners account for around 90
percent by volume of all data used by NOAA's forecast models.
And satellites are essential to develop and extend critical
planetary climate data records, which allow us to understand
the changing planet. But we don't just use satellite data. NOAA
defines and designs our Nation's environmental satellite
system.
NASA manages their launch and their construction, and we
operate the fleet of satellites over decades. Our three
agency's missions are complementary. NASA develops the space
technology and the fundamental understanding of how Earth
systems operate.
USGS and NOAA track and investigate the causes and
consequences of climate change, and NOAA exploits technologies
and delivers observations and information that the Nation needs
every hour of every day.
And together, we all develop science driven models of the
Earth and climate system environment to advance our individual
missions. And the need for better understanding of those
systems is great and growing greater.
Our experience with hurricane observations and research has
taught us lessons over the years, that better observations,
research, and modeling lead to better forecasts and outcomes
for our communities in the paths of storms. Improved
observations from satellites, aircraft, and other data sources,
and better research and data assimilation have led to improved
forecasts.
Since Hurricane Andrew hit Florida in 1992, we have reduced
hurricane tracking error by 75 percent and improved intensity
forecast by 50 percent. We are facing hurricanes now that are
stronger and more frequent than in the past, and we are dealing
with more damaging extreme events, including wildfires, as you
mentioned, and flooding occurring year round and nationwide.
We need to be able to precisely forecast fire and flooding
events, as well as derechos and ice storms, not hours but days
in advance in order to inform emergency managers and
communities more effectively. We can do that, but we need
better observations and better models to do it.
NOAA's next generation space architecture is benefiting
from the successes of NOAA's geostationary low-Earth orbit
satellite programs over the years, including different ways of
block buying instruments and satellites, better ground systems,
and the use of commercial data.
Our next generation geostationary satellites currently
provide--[technical problems]--supporting severe weather and
hazardous environmental condition watches and warnings, and the
next-gen geostationary extended observations for GeoXO mission
will continue and expand on the current GOES-R series, with
planned observations through 2055. One of the GeoXO's advanced
capabilities is something--it is called a hyperspectral
infrared sounder.
This sounder will provide improved real time information
about the vertical distribution of atmospheric temperature and
water vapor and will significantly enhance observations of wind
speed and direction. And with these better data, we will be
able to better track storms, predicting the behavior of fire
and smoke around wildfires.
NOAA's current fleet of low-Earth orbit satellites, known
as the JPSS series, and including the just launched JPSS-2,
provide critical weather data and continuous climate data
records. NOAA's future LEO satellites, low-Earth orbit, will
supplement and eventually replace our current JPSS satellites,
providing improved modeling, higher resolution, short and long
term weather forecasts, and better preparing the Nation for
extreme weather and events.
Defining our third leg is our Nation's current space
weather system, and now includes NOAA's observations, and NASA,
and other research missions and extended service life. NOAA's
next--Space Weather Next will extend these observations and
provide operational forecast, helping safeguard our power
grids, civil aviation, and spacecraft and astronauts.
Finally, I would note, we know our citizens need weather
and environmental information to thrive, and not just to
survive in a changing world. NOAA and NESDIS are not just ready
to do this, we were actually created for this mission.
So I thank you for your strong and continued support of our
programs, and I am happy to answer your questions. Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Dr. Volz follows:]
Prepared Statement of Stephen M. Volz, Assistant Administrator,
National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service,
National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce
Chairman Hickenlooper, Ranking Member Lummis, and Members of the
Subcommittee, I am Dr. Stephen Volz, the Assistant Administrator of the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) National
Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS). Thank
you for the opportunity to participate in today's hearing. I am pleased
to join the other witnesses, Kate Calvin of NASA, Kevin Gallagher of
the U.S. Department of the Interior, Waleed Abladati of the Cooperative
Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, and Daniel Jablonsky
of Maxar Technologies, to discuss the 50th anniversary of the Landsat
Program, the 62nd anniversary of the launch of TIROS-1 and the
beginning of NOAA's environmental satellite program, and the 64th
anniversary of the creation of NASA.
All three of our agencies provide important and complementary
support to the wellbeing and economic vitality of our Nation and can
trace our roots back in part to the International Geophysical Year
(IGY), 1957-1958.\1\ The scope of the IGY included global collaboration
in 11 different Earth sciences: aurora and airglow, cosmic rays,
geomagnetism, glaciology, gravity, ionospheric physics, precision
mapping, meteorology and radiation, oceanography, seismology, and solar
activity. The IGY also sparked the monitoring of several key
atmospheric variables including the atmospheric carbon dioxide
concentration at Mauna Loa in Hawaii and the total amount of ozone
above Halley Bay in Antarctica. These activities spurred the
development of rockets and satellites, highlighted the importance of
regular and synchronized global observations, and established
collective activities to provide access to and archive of the
tremendous data and information through the establishment of World Data
Centers.
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\1\ www.nasa.gov/feature/70-years-ago-scientists-establish-the-
international-geophysical-year
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In 1960, NASA and the Department of Defense launched the TIROS-1
satellite, the world's first dedicated weather satellite and the
predecessor for our Polar Operational Environmental Satellites and
Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS). This was followed by the
development and launch of our early Geostationary Operational
Environmental Satellites (GOES). The Department of the Interior's U.S.
Geological Survey (USGS) and NASA developed the Landsat series, which
is the longest continuous, space-based record of Earth's land in
existence. With respect to the immense amount of data our agencies have
gathered, we each operate globally recognized world data centers that
the international community relies upon and provides U.S. leadership in
these areas. At NOAA, the National Centers for Environmental
Information continues to be a national and international repository of
space-based and in situ weather and climate, space physics, and
geomagnetic data and the World Magnetic Model, and also houses the
World Ocean Database. USGS is a leader in land use/land change data,
and NASA is a leader in a wide range of space-based data and research.
Partnerships among the agencies remain strong with interdependence
at the operations level, co-dependence in the maintenance of long-term
environmental data records, regular consultations through the National
Academy of Sciences Decadal Surveys, and U.S. leadership in
multilateral organizations. The participation of Dr. Waleed Abdalati
highlights the essential value of the research and academic community
in the continuing efforts to improve our understanding of the complex
earth environmental systems which in turn lead to improved information
products and services.
The participation of Mr. Jablonsky demonstrates that the aerospace
industry plays an important role in maintaining U.S. leadership in
space-based Earth observation. With successes over the past 10 years,
the U.S. Government will increasingly seek ways to incorporate the
commercial sector in our long-term plans and activities.
NOAA Builds on the Legacy of the International Geophysical Year
NOAA has a unique mission to understand, predict, and support the
health of our oceans and atmosphere. From daily weather forecasts and
severe storm warnings to fisheries management, coastal restoration, and
data to enhance marine commerce, NOAA's products and services promote
economic vitality, affecting more than one-third of America's gross
domestic product. We work to save lives, protect property, and enhance
the American economy through the timely delivery of trusted weather,
water, and climate forecasts, analyses, and information.
For decades, NOAA has been at the forefront of the world's weather
and climate enterprise. We are the global leader in observing the Earth
to understand its interconnected physical and biological systems, and
in disseminating knowledge from that understanding to people,
communities, and industry every day and into the future. Our
observation and information systems drive NOAA's weather, water, and
climate products and services, which afford vital industries--shipping,
fishing, agriculture, construction, energy and water resources, and
more--the ability to predict and plan for the future. As a leading
Federal source for operational weather, water, and space weather
forecasts, and warnings, and climate assessments, we provide critical
predictions and decision support tools by developing unique products
that merge a variety of satellite and in situ data to address complex
societal needs. In many cases our partner agencies (NASA, USGS, DoD)
provide complementary and supplementary roles.
Satellite datasets, collected by NOAA, and our research and
international partner agencies, are essential for NOAA predictions and
monitoring across all scales and times, and account for around 90
percent of all data that is used by NOAA's operational forecast models.
NOAA has the distinct and important role of planning for, jointly
acquiring, and operating the Nation's operational environmental
satellites, and working with our global partners to ensure our systems
work together. Our satellites are relied upon 24 hours a day, seven
days a week for weather, ocean, climate, and space weather data by
NOAA, as well as individuals, businesses, and all levels of government
to protect lives and property within the U.S. and around the world.
NOAA accomplishes this environmental satellite and data mission
through strategic partnerships and operational cooperation with a
number of federal, private, and international space organizations and
academia. Our longest-standing and closest strategic partner in Earth
observations from space is NASA. NOAA's Mission is ``science, service,
and stewardship to understand and predict changes in climate, weather,
ocean and coasts; to share that knowledge and information with others;
and to conserve and manage coastal and marine ecosystems and
resources.'' \2\ NASA seeks ``new knowledge and understanding of our
planet Earth, our Sun and solar system,'' and ``to understand how
biological and physical systems work at a fundamental level,'' with the
intent to understand ``how and why Earth's climate and environment
(are) changing.'' \3\ These complementary missions enable NOAA to
address the observation and information needs to meet the operational
service delivery demands of the Nation, including, among other
services, environmental and climate predictions and analysis, and
weather and water forecasts, warnings, and information.
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\2\ NOAA's Mission and Vision: https://www.noaa.gov/our-mission-
and-vision
\3\ https://science.nasa.gov/about-us/smd-vision
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NOAA and USGS Collaboration
NOAA has a long history of collaboration as well with the USGS, as
both agencies share unique but complementary responsibilities to
protect lives and property. One of the areas of longstanding
collaboration is USGS's use of the NOAA GOES-Data Collection System
(GOES DCS). USGS has deployed over 12,200 ground-based Data Collection
Platforms (DCPs) to support its Water Resources Mission to collect and
disseminate reliable, impartial, and timely data that are needed to
understand the Nation's water resources. The majority of USGS water
data is sent from remote DCPs to the NOAA GOES spacecraft, and is then
received directly by USGS as a direct broadcast from the GOES
spacecraft. This GOES DCS system is relied upon by USGS, the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers to monitor and transmit information on rivers,
reservoir levels, and snowpacks in the American West. Much of this work
is overlaid on Landsat images to depict the extent of floods.
Similarly, scientists at NOAA's Great Lakes Environmental Research
Laboratory use satellites, remote sensing, buoys, and autonomous
platforms to gather information on the Great Lakes to monitor and
forecast the extent of harmful algal blooms. This includes the use of
images from USGS's Landsat-8 to evaluate bloom location at a resolution
of about 30 meters.\4\ The Minnesota Sea Grant Program has developed
remote sensing methods that can use both Landsat and Sentinel satellite
imagery to provide census-level colored dissolved organic matter
measurements across the state of Minnesota, providing essential
information for the understanding and management of lakes.\5\
Researchers with the Maine Sea Grant Program have also used USGS
Landsat data to analyze the suitability of satellite data for use in
site selection for oyster aquaculture.\6\
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\4\ How NOAA tracks harmful algal blooms. research.noaa.gov/
article/ArtMID/587/ArticleID/2469/A-Look-Inside-How-NOAA-Tracks-
Harmful-Algal-Blooms
\5\ Regional measurements of Minnesota's lakes using Landsat 8
imagery. 2020. repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/34252
\6\ Oyster aquaculture site selection using Landsat 8 derived seas
surface temperature, turbidity, and chlorophyll-a
repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/40053
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In addition to its work with NASA and USGS, NOAA also has strategic
partnerships with the Department of Defense, the U.S. aerospace
industry, and the international satellite Earth observation community.
NOAA benefits from and leverages its partnerships with Cooperative
Institutes and Minority Serving Institute Cooperative Science Centers
for research to operations to research (R2O2R) and algorithm
development to increase the value of NOAA's satellite data in
addressing societal challenges, such as air quality in urban areas,
monitoring change in the urbanized coastal environment (land and
water), and weather forecasting in complex urban areas.
NOAA has provided essential environmental satellite data since the
1960s and we plan to do indefinitely. We are currently actively
planning for the next generation of satellite constellations that will
extend into the 2050s, equipping the Nation with a high-performing and
reliable baseline of environmental satellite information. NOAA has
benefited from the longstanding support of the U.S. Congress to provide
oversight and appropriations for our satellite programs. I am pleased
to join you to discuss the importance of our next-generation satellites
and future environmental data for our Nation.
Meeting Shared and Complementary User Needs
At NOAA, we are continuously improving our satellite data and
information to create products and services that meet evolving national
and local needs and requirements. Over the past five years, even
through the COVID-19 pandemic, NOAA has sustained meaningful
interactions with numerous stakeholders to ensure that we understand
the requirements of our primary users of our data services. We have
also met with the customers of those users to understand their working
conditions and to ensure that we provide the data in ways that address
their downstream current and future needs.
Every day, we see communities grappling with environmental
challenges due to unusual or extreme events that affect their health,
security, and economic well being. Below are some examples of regions
and populations that benefit from observations from NOAA satellites, as
well as severe events that are characterized by NOAA satellite
observations. These data and information additionally benefit USGS in
meeting its user needs. Our partnership with the academic community
provides critical support to address emerging areas that require
targeted and dedicated research.
Coastal Populations. In 2020, the marine economy accounted for
$361.4 billion, or 1.7 percent of current-dollar U.S. gross domestic
product.\7\ The concentration of people and economic activity at the
coasts places pressures on ecologically sensitive coastal ecosystems
and leaves residents and visitors vulnerable to coastal hazards such as
hurricanes, erosion, sea level rise, and harmful algal blooms. To
better understand these threats, the NOAA Ocean Service, NESDIS, USGS,
NASA, and other Federal and state partners are involved in joint
projects that use digital elevation models to better protect coastal
communities from coastal inundation and coastal flooding.
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\7\ Marine Economy Satellite Account, 2014-2020. Bureau of Economic
Analysis. 2022
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Underserved Communities. The most severe harm from climate change
falls disproportionately upon underserved communities--those who are
least able to prepare for and recover from heat waves, poor air
quality, flooding, coastal erosion, and other impacts. For example,
through mapping of climate changes using satellite and in situ data, we
know that African American individuals are more likely to live in areas
with the largest projected increases in childhood asthma diagnoses and
extreme temperature-related deaths \8\. NOAA, USGS, NASA, the
Environmental Protection Agency, and others work collaboratively to
ensure that forecasts and warnings reach and are understood by the most
vulnerable citizens and communities, protecting human health. As a
specific response to this need, we are committed to ensuring our
websites are compliant with Section 508 of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act,
including ensuring our information is accessible to visually and
hearing impaired individuals.
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\8\ Climate Change and Social Vulnerability in the United States: A
Focus on Six Impact Sectors. Environmental Protection Agency.
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Farmers. Key production regions for food grains in central
California and the central U.S. are experiencing severe drought this
year. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, as of August 2,
2022, drought affected at least 45 percent of the production acreage
for barley, cotton, rice, sorghum, winter wheat, and hay.\9\ NOAA and
USGS, through programs such as the National Integrated Drought
Information System, play important roles in ensuring that the
agricultural communities have access to its Earth observed and in situ
data to mitigate or minimize the effects of drought and aridification
that is ongoing across the Western U.S.
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\9\ USDA summary of agricultural products affected by drought.
USDA. August 2022.
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Arctic. The warming in the Arctic is occurring at two to three
times the global average rate and is projected to continue. Older,
thicker sea ice that once covered the central Arctic ocean is now
almost entirely gone.\10\ Extreme events and increasing variability
throughout the Arctic impact the safety and wellbeing of communities
within and far away from the Arctic and carry implications for U.S.
national security interests.\11\ Using Landsat data, NOAA, NASA, and
USGS scientists actively collaborate in Alaska and the Arctic region to
better understand the climate processes that are underway and how those
relate to changes in global weather patterns, the existence of a
persistent ice-free Arctic, and to national security. The National
Weather Service (NWS) uses Landsat imagery to supplement other
satellite sources to map river ice hazards which can be responsible for
severe flooding.
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\10\ Arctic Report Card: Update for 2021. NOAA. 2021.
\11\ Department of Defense Arctic Strategy. DOD. 2019.
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Wildfires. Drought and persistent heat set the stage for
extraordinary wildfire seasons from 2020 to 2022 across many western
states.\12\ Such a rapid increase in the number and intensity of
wildfires has become a major threat to lives, property, public health,
electricity supply, water resource quality, and local and regional
economies in the western U.S. and beyond. NOAA, NASA, USGS, and other
Federal agencies are important partners in supplying actionable
information from our space-based assets to the wildland community to
support the time-critical detection and active management of wildfires.
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\12\ Wildfire Climate Connection. Noaa.gov. August 2022.
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Floods. Floods are the most common and widespread of all weather-
related natural disasters.\13\ In just the three months of June through
August 2022, major flooding or flash floods occurred in six states,
including in Death Valley National Park and Yellowstone National Park.
Before, during, and after flooding events, NOAA, USGS, NASA, and the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers work in close partnership with vulnerable
communities to address flooding and make use of digital elevation
models to better protect communities, informing vulnerable populations
about potential inundation. NOAA's NWS also routinely uses Landsat
imagery to map the extent of flooding.
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\13\ Severe Weather 101. NOAA National Severe Storms Laboratory.
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Heat. Heat is the leading cause of all weather-related deaths in
the United States.\14\ In the summer of 2022, more than 150 million
people were placed under heat warnings and advisories. As part of the
National Integrated Heat Health Information System, NOAA launched
Heat.gov in July 2022 to provide decision-makers and the public with
clear, timely, and science-based information to reduce the health risks
of extreme heat. NOAA, NASA, and USGS work closely together with
partners at Federal, State, and local levels to support affected
populations prepare for, endure, and recover from extreme heat events.
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\14\ Weather Related Fatality and Injury Statistics. National
Weather Service.
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Harmful Algal Blooms. Harmful algal blooms (HABs) occur when algae
grow out of control in marine, Great Lakes, and freshwater
environments. These HABs may produce toxic or harmful effects on
people, infrastructure, fish, shellfish, marine mammals, and birds, and
threaten access safe drinking water supplies. HABs have been reported
in every U.S. coastal state, and their occurrences are on the rise,
increasingly affecting the health of marine ecosystems and people.
Resource managers at Federal, State, local, and Tribal levels share
responsibilities to protect these resources and people from HAB
hazards; data from EO satellites provides foundational data to detect
and monitor HAB outbreaks.
Space Weather. According to the National Research Council, disabled
electric power grids and collateral impacts from geomagnetic storms
could result in economic and societal costs of up to $2 trillion per
large storm, and it could take four to ten years for full recovery of
grids.\15\ By monitoring space weather from space using NOAA and NASA
satellites, and USGS and National Science Foundation (NSF) ground
assets the NWS Space Weather Prediction Center is able to warn users
and commercial partners to safeguard these national assets from space
weather events.
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\15\ National Research Council 2009. Severe Space Weather Events
Understanding Societal and Economic Impacts: A Workshop Report:
Extended Summary. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https:/
/doi.org/10.17226/12643.
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Orbital Debris. A hazard that all members of this panel face is the
exponential rise in the amount of orbital debris that pose threats to
orbiting spacecraft. The NOAA Office of Space Commerce is working with
the Department of Defense, NASA, and commercial companies to stand up a
cloud-based Open Architecture Data Repository where debris can be
tracked and shared with all space operators.
NOAA is helping to meet these challenges through the provision of
trusted and validated data and information as well as user-ready
products and services. The scope of the challenge is enormous, and NOAA
must innovate to meet the need, leverage new technological solutions,
develop broader business models and partnerships with public and
private sectors, and demonstrate organizational agility to adjust to
changing needs, opportunities, and risks. We must do this all while
meeting our critical mission to deliver environmental observations
without interruption.
The increasing number of extreme events and increasing risks of
harm to communities from those events necessitates enhanced information
to meet this challenge. We need to monitor fire events with better
resolution and more rapid response, to observe and forecast water
quality and HABs with better resolution and forecasting, and to monitor
and predict the intensification and trajectory of hurricanes,
tornadoes, and derechos better and faster. Our communities need better
information that is designed and scaled to meet their local and
specific needs in light of increased extreme weather events and
environmental changes. New technologies, developed by the commercial
sector and often demonstrated by NASA research satellites through
direct cooperation with NOAA, must be integrated into NOAA's next-
generation satellite architecture to enable us to more completely
deliver to users the most impactful observations and data.
NOAA's Next-Generation Satellite Architecture
NOAA's next-generation satellite programs will provide enhanced
observations into the 2050s to meet increasing and evolving needs,
contributing both continuous and innovative environmental information
to diverse end users. NOAA will also modernize its information systems
architecture by including seamless integration of NOAA and partner
satellite data and in situ, ship, plane, and drone observations from
our internal NOAA partners, and from a growing community of commercial
providers. Developing these next-generation satellites takes a decade
or longer from concept to launch and full deployment, but we are
committed to and excited about this work.
In recognition of societal needs to adapt to and mitigate the
effects of extreme weather and various hazards, NOAA's next-generation
satellites will include advanced imagers that are relied upon to detect
a wide range of hazards such as hurricanes, floods, and wildland fires.
Harnessing the advances in high performance computing, artificial
intelligence/machine learning, and the cloud, NOAA will provide
additional capabilities to process and deliver data and information to
users such as communities, emergency managers, and city planners to
inform their activities and actions.
The requirement to sense the atmosphere for temperature, pressure,
and water vapor input for weather and environmental numerical models
remains one of NOAA's top priorities for its next-generation systems.
To provide needed protections to coastal communities, NOAA plans to add
an ocean color imager in geostationary orbit that will complement and
vastly augment capabilities in the polar orbit to detect harmful algal
blooms. The capabilities from NOAA's satellites are relied upon by
NASA, USGS, many other Federal and state agencies, and the commercial
sector.
Definition of the next-generation satellite programs is underway,
and definitive life cycle costs have not been finalized. Arriving at
approved program scopes and final life cycle costs, along with the
relevant technological review assessments, will be done in close
coordination and consultation with NASA and the Department of
Commerce's Office of Acquisition Management.
NOAA's 2014-2017 Satellite Observing System Architecture study
evaluated alternative architectures for its next-generation missions.
The study indicated key takeaways for consideration in NOAA's next-
generation satellite constellation plans including an integrated system
of observations from NOAA and international and commercial partners.
NOAA is using this comprehensive assessment to guide the design and
development framework for the future architecture, and continues to
develop NOAA's next-generation plans based on new information and
resource constraints.
Our next-generation plans are also informed by our space
engineering experience over past decades, such as the successes of the
GOES-R Series and JPSS programs, the experiences of our domestic and
international partners, and the U.S. commercial space sector. These
lessons learned and coordination activities are focused on delivering
reliable and continuous data and information for users.
NOAA relies on the U.S. aerospace industry for support throughout
the lifecycle of satellite acquisition-from instrument and spacecraft
bus development to launch vehicle and services to development and
deployment of the antennas and ground systems. As NOAA works with
industry, it is increasingly assessing the ability of commercially
provided data to fill specific mission requirements. Through the
Commercial Data Program, NOAA has purchased radio occultation data that
are currently being integrated into its weather forecast models. As the
commercial sector demonstrates the ability to deliver data that meet
NOAA mission requirements, we will continue to engage and acquire these
commercially-based data as part of our overall next generation
satellite architecture plans.
Implementing NOAA's Next-Generation Satellite Architecture
To best facilitate user needs across orbits and observations,
NOAA's next-generation satellite architecture includes three
portfolios: geostationary observations, low Earth orbit, and space
weather observations (see Figure 1).
The next-generation architecture also includes an evolved support
system to operate the satellites and use the data. This includes
supporting our satellite operators while integrating more and varied
observing system elements. It also involves evolving the ground
infrastructure into a system that supports all satellites and ensures
the data are reliable and shareable. We will transform the ``bits and
bytes'' received from around the world into timely, actionable, and
reliable environmental information and create new data products and
services. NOAA's future architecture will also ensure the quality,
accuracy, and preservation of the Nation's historical environmental
data archives while augmenting this vast repository with new datasets,
merged products, and integrated observations from NOAA, U.S., and
global observing systems.
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Figure 1: Notional Flyout of NOAA's Next-Generation Satellites
Geostationary Observations. NOAA's geostationary Earth orbiting
(GEO) satellites provide the only continuous observations of weather
and hazardous environmental conditions over the Western Hemisphere--
from the eastern Atlantic to the western Pacific and from the Arctic
Circle to the southern tip of South America. Information generated from
our GOES system helps protect the lives and property of the one billion
people who live and work in the Western Hemisphere with continuous,
near-real-time observations and warnings.
NOAA's Geostationary Extended Observations (GeoXO) program is the
next generation of GEO capabilities that will enable the continuous
improvement of terrestrial weather prediction and warning, and will
provide information enabling better climate adaptation and mitigation,
healthy oceans, and resilient coastal communities and economies. As the
follow-on program to the current GOES-R Series, GeoXO will provide
continuity of critical geostationary data with its first launch in 2032
and planned observations through 2055. Due to the significant
capabilities proposed, GeoXO is our largest investment through the
2030s, and due to the criticality of providing continuous observations,
GeoXO has an aggressive 11-year development schedule.
The GeoXO pre-formulation phase included extensive, direct outreach
to thousands of end users in many dozens of organizations as well as
observation value assessments. It also included Observational System
Simulation Experiments, an analysis of observations relative to the
NOAA mission service areas, and consultation with the NOAA Observing
System Council to define future observational needs and select the
recommended payload instruments for GeoXO. End users require continuity
of existing observations for short-term forecasting, severe weather
watches and warnings, and monitoring of a range of hazardous
environmental conditions such as tropical storms, lightning and winds,
flooding, snow, wildfires, volcanic ash, and others. Current and future
instruments in NOAA's GEO support NOAA's weather mission with essential
information to notify and protect people and property across the
country. These observations, together with the 50-year record of GOES
observations, also provide an essential climatological data record
supporting NOAA and national climate analyses and a range of climate
products and services.
Following outreach to users on their satellite data needs, NOAA is
now conducting industry studies to evaluate the technology readiness
and costs of potential new instruments.
A hyperspectral infrared sounder promises to improve
localized forecasts and nowcasting by enhancing weather
forecasting models,\16\ which is critical as extreme weather
events including storms, tornados, and hurricanes become more
frequent and more severe.
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\16\ Geostationary Extended Observations (GeoXO) Hyperspectral
InfraRed Sounder Value Assessment Report. 2021.
repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/32921
An atmospheric composition instrument could provide a new
platform to monitor air quality, track transport and dispersion
of hazardous emissions (volcanic, smoke, chemical, and
radioactive), and monitor greenhouse gasses.\17\ Air pollution
results in at least 100,000 premature deaths and nearly $1
Trillion in damages each year in our Nation.\18\ GeoXO's
atmospheric composition capabilities could improve the guidance
that NOAA provides every day to national, state, and local
environmental authorities who issue pollution alerts.
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\17\ A Value Assessment of an Atmospheric Composition Capability on
the NOAA Next-Generation Geostationary and Extended Orbits (GEO-XO)
Missions. 2020. repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/27224
\18\ Goodkind, A. L., Tessum, C. W., Coggins, J. S., Hill, J. D.,
Marshall, J. D. (2019) Fine-scale damage estimates of particulate
matter air pollution reveal opportunities for location-specific
mitigation of emissions. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., 116(18), 8775-8780.
A geostationary ocean color instrument could complement
instruments in low Earth orbit to expand NOAA's ocean observing
system to support the blue economy, increase coastal
resilience, and help enable NOAA's oceans, coastal, and
fisheries services. This information is also valuable to other
non-federal users to better assess ocean productivity and
health, ecosystem change, aquaculture and fisheries management,
coastal and inland water quality, seafood safety, and hazards
such as harmful algal blooms. Economic analyses estimate the
health effects of HABs at over $1 billion per year and that
more timely and precise forecasts have potential to reduce the
duration fisheries must be closed to avoid seafood
poisoning.\19\
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\19\ The Value of Geostationary Ocean Color. 2021.
repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/33278
GEO satellites allow near real time data sharing partnerships that
provide global benefit for weather forecasting and environmental
monitoring activities. GEO data will be leveraged in innovative global
inputs that supplement low Earth orbiting (LEO) observations. NOAA
observations will be matched with similar satellite missions deployed
in the same period by the European Organisation for the Exploitation of
Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) over Europe and by the Japanese
Meteorological Agency and Korean Meteorological Agency over the western
Pacific and Asia, to create a GEO ring of observations. These combined
observations will provide global data sets for use by NOAA and our
international partners to meet global modeling system and mission
service needs. NOAA has previously benefited from acquisition
efficiencies, just as other partners have utilized U.S. instrument
vendors to meet their own mission needs.
Low Earth Orbit. LEO satellites from NOAA, NASA, and international
partners provide a half century of unbroken climate data records and
are the backbone of global weather forecasting models. These satellites
detect and monitor hazards such as fires, droughts, floods, poor air
quality, coral bleaching events, unhealthy coastal waters, and others.
NOAA itself collects about half of the LEO data we use every day to
meet our ongoing mission needs with the balance provided by our
interagency and international partners. NOAA satellites in the LEO
portfolio will supplement, and eventually replace, the current JPSS
satellites.
The next generation of NOAA LEO satellites will leverage commercial
space capabilities for increased flexibility. Together with NOAA's
fleet and aircraft observations, NOAA's LEO satellite data will support
the missions of all NOAA services including weather forecasting,
fisheries management, ocean and coastal monitoring, and the research
that supports these activities.
For accurate forecasts, weather models integrate measurements from
microwave (MW), infrared (IR), and radio occultation (RO) sounders on
polar satellites. These observations are especially important in polar
regions where geostationary and in situ observational data are sparse.
For example, JPSS provides critical data for nearly all weather
forecasting in Alaska, and this is critical for aviation and the
maritime industry. Ozone measurements also track the contours of the
ozone layer and the extent of stratospheric ozone. Improved MW, IR, and
RO soundings with more frequent observations and better spatial and
vertical resolution have the potential to improve modeling and allow
for higher-resolution short-and long-term weather forecasts.
A distributed constellation of satellites will provide greater
diversity in data needed by the weather forecast models to cover all
facets of the event under investigation, a resilient system less
susceptible to individual satellite failures, and a higher refresh rate
for measurements, which enables higher-accuracy weather forecasts and
improvements in other key applications.
NOAA's next-generation LEO satellites would also provide vital data
for wind speed, sea surface temperature, and ocean color. Hyperspectral
ocean color imagery at improved spatial resolution would improve our
understanding of harmful algal blooms and phytoplankton dynamics to
give managers tools to mitigate economic impacts. The LEO observations
would complement similar ocean color observations from geostationary
orbit. NOAA is working with NASA to assess and integrate the upcoming
Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) mission observations
into our mission services, an example of research for operational use.
Enhanced atmospheric composition sensors for methane, carbon dioxide,
sulfur dioxide, ozone, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, and other
pollutants will enable more timely and accurate forecasts of air
quality hazards and allow NOAA to assess climate change both granularly
and holistically. It is important to note that this increased amount
and diversity of data going into forecast models may also require the
models using the data to adapt and increase their computing power.
NOAA's next-generation satellite architecture for the LEO program
serves users by collecting and delivering the following global
observations: MW soundings and imagery, hyperspectral IR soundings, RO
soundings, visible-IR imaging including day-night band imagery,
measurements of atmospheric composition including ozone, ocean surface
winds, ocean color, radio detection and ranging imagery, 3D winds, and
ocean surface height. NOAA will continue to evaluate and prioritize
these data demands as we scope the program.
Space Weather Observations. Space weather observations aid in
safeguarding fundamental power grid infrastructure, civil aviation, and
on-orbit assets and astronauts. Building on the Space Weather Follow-On
program, the Space Weather Next (SW Next) program will reliably provide
critical space weather products and services to observe and identify
this hazard and support the needs of diverse users across the U.S. and
around the globe. These users will include the electric power and
airline industries, utility and telecommunications companies,
commercial and government satellite operators, U.S. and foreign
governments, and the space weather research and academic communities.
Observations from NOAA's SW Next program will be combined with
complementary data collected by Federal and international partners and
will be processed through NOAA's Office of Satellite Ground Services to
provide the necessary information flow for space weather forecasts.
This data and information flow will enable NOAA's Space Weather
Prediction Center (SWPC), the Office of Space Commerce, and other
operational users to deliver actionable information that protects
critical power grid infrastructure and civil aviation, and provides
essential space situational awareness.
SW Next will maintain and extend space weather observations from a
range of different observing points, selected to most efficiently
provide the comprehensive knowledge of the sun and the near-earth space
environment. These observation points could include LEO, GEO, highly
elliptical orbit, and Lagrange Point 1 (L1) and Lagrange Point 5 (L5)
orbits. As an initial step, NOAA has signed an agreement with the
European Space Agency (ESA) to collaborate on a space weather mission
flying at L5. NOAA will provide a coronagraph, ESA will provide the
spacecraft, other instruments, and operations, and both Agencies will
exploit the observations for science and operations. These observations
will provide near-real-time coronal mass ejection imagery, solar wind,
solar imaging, coronal imagery, solar wind parameters, magnetospheric
particles, and ionosphere parameters, and other relevant observations
required to support space weather forecasts provided by SWPC.
This work supports space weather forecasts as authorized by the
Promoting Research and Observations of Space Weather to Improve the
Forecasting of Tomorrow (PROSWIFT) Act (P.L. 116-181), with the
leadership and support of this Committee, and as driven by the National
Space Weather Strategy and Action Plan (March 2019). Several
complementary projects within SW Next will provide continuity and
resiliency of space weather observations from multiple orbits with
launches in the 2020s, early 2030s, and onward. Just as with our LEO
portfolio, it is important to note that this increase in the amount and
diversity of the data must be accompanied by improvements in our space
environment and weather models, requiring the models to adapt and
increase their resolution and available computing power.
Space weather observations are needed from a multitude of orbit
views, so NOAA is pursuing partnerships to augment the SW Next
architecture. This year for the first time, NOAA is working with NASA
and the NSF to engage the National Academy of Science, Engineering and
Medicine (NASEM) to complete the Decadal Survey for Solar and Space
Physics 2024-2033. NOAA will use the NASEM recommendations to inform
its observing system decisions, and to improve coordination with NASA
and the NSF while addressing combined observational objectives. In
addition, SW Next is developing a methodology to understand the impacts
of observational capabilities on user needs such as alerts, watches,
and warnings. We are engaging with users to better understand how our
products and services support end-user decision-making. This process
will aid in prioritizing NOAA program requirements and in assessing
potential economic and societal benefits. The SW Next program is
evaluating its alternatives to determine the most cost-effective
architecture to meet user needs and will continue to leverage user
engagement to identify and prioritize user needs across the enterprise.
Conclusion
NOAA's next-generation satellite architecture provides the
environmental space-based observations needed for critical weather
forecasts and to meet the growing needs of the Nation in a changing
environment. NOAA's integrated next-generation observing system will
leverage new and existing technologies and partnerships at all levels,
and will combine data from various sources, allowing us to deliver
significantly improved products and services to our users. The urgency
of our changing environment requires action now to better fulfill
NOAA's essential mission to protect lives, property, critical
infrastructure, and our economy.
The challenges our Nation and planet face demand the continued
partnership of Federal agencies, each of which brings longstanding
expertise in our respective areas. Alongside and in cooperation with
the commercial sector's activities, academia, international partners,
and investments in NASA, USGS, and NOAA's next-generation satellites
will allow us all to better serve the Nation.
Senator Hickenlooper. Great, great. Thank you, Dr. Volz.
Now we will move over to Dr. Calvin.
STATEMENT OF DR. KATE CALVIN, CHIEF SCIENTIST, NATIONAL
AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
Dr. Calvin. Thank you. When we look down at earth from
space, we see this amazing, indescribable, beautiful planet. It
looks like a living, breathing organism. These are the words of
Astronaut Ron Garan, who spent 6 months looking down at Earth
from the International Space Station in 2011. They capture how
inspiring it is to observe the Earth from space.
In the years ahead, we will need Earth observations more
than ever for science and for inspiration. Earth observations
are key to helping society understand and effectively respond
to changes in climate and are increasingly used in a range of
societal applications.
NASA's launch of the first Landsat satellite in 1972 marked
the start of a continuous record of land measurements from
space that continues unbroken to this day.
Today, NASA operates a fleet of over two dozen satellites
and instruments on the International Space Station. Earth
observations from space are the foundation of much of what we
know about our planet as a system.
Earth observing satellites, like NASA's long running Terra,
Aqua, and Aura satellites, and the more recent GRACE follow on,
ICESat-2 and Sentinel 6-Michael Freilich have measured changes
in vegetation, carbon dioxide, the mass of ice sheets, sea
level, and much more.
Earth observations are also a foundation for a range of
applications, including weather prediction, disaster response
and recovery, wildfire response, land use planning, water
resource monitoring, agricultural support, food security, air
quality monitoring, and aviation safety.
For example, OpenET is an application that uses publicly
available NASA, USGS Landsat data to provide information to
farmers and ranchers can use to estimate the amount of water
being taken up on their fields or used by their crops. And this
information gives them--this water will usually need to be
replaced through irrigation or rainfall, so this enables them
to use water more efficiently and better plan irrigation.
NASA continues to lead by innovating the state-of-the-art
in remote sensing technologies and following scientific needs
to bring new types of Earth observations into existence. We
will soon launch the surface water and ocean topography, or
SWOT mission, which will improve our understanding of oceans
and terrestrial surface waters, including providing the first
global survey of water running through rivers and lakes.
We are also formulating the Earth System Observatory, a set
of satellites, instruments, and missions that when complete
will provide a more comprehensive view of the planet. When
combined with SWOT and PACE missions, the Earth System
Observatory will measure all major components of the Earth
system, including the human Earth interface.
NASA continues to innovate in measuring and monitoring of
greenhouse gases from space. With the carbon dioxide
monitoring, OCO-2 and OCO-3 satellites, NASA's EMIT mission has
demonstrated the capability of detecting the presence of
methane, a potent greenhouse gas. In the data that EMIT has
collected since being installed on the International Space
Station this July, we have identified more than 50 super
emitters globally.
NASA also announced earlier this year a new contract for
commercial data acquisition with GHGSat, that which uses
satellites to identify methane emissions. Following in the
footsteps of NASA's other commercial data vendors, including
Planet, Maxar, and Spire, GHGSat will provide their data to
NASA for evaluation to determine the utility for advancing
NASA's science and application goals.
NASA plays an essential role in supporting the continuity
of Earth observations through its expertise in flight programs
and integrating innovation into new satellite architectures,
partnering with NOAA and USGS. We launched GOES-T and JPSS-2
this year and look forward to GeoXO and the low earth orbit
architectures.
Landsat Next is just entering formulation. We also merge
interagency and international data to allow the
characterization of short term variability and long term trends
in things like radiation, ozone, and aerosols.
As part of a growing emphasis on providing actionable data
and information to a broad range of users, NASA is planning to
launch an Earth Information Center. This Earth Information
Center will provide a wide range of Earth data and information
to the public and stakeholders.
But the initial focus will be on prototyping capabilities
for greenhouse gas monitoring and information system that will
integrate data from a variety of sources with a goal of making
greenhouse gas data more accessible and usable to policymakers,
researchers, and even students.
And as always, we thank you, Congress, for your support of
NASA's Earth Science. We thank you for the opportunity to share
this exciting work we are doing to advance Earth observation
and maximize its impact, and we look forward to your questions.
[The prepared statement of Dr. Calvin follows:]
Prepared Statement of Dr. Kate Calvin, Chief Scientist,
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
INTRODUCTION
``When we look down at Earth from space, we see this amazing,
indescribable, beautiful planet. It looks like a living, breathing
organism.'' These are the words of astronaut Ron Garan, who spent six
months looking down at Earth from the International Space Station in
2011. They capture how inspiring it is to observe Earth from space.
Garan is one of many NASA astronauts whose relationship with our home
planet has been transformed by his time in space. When people see our
Earth as a blue marble from space, they see it is finite, fragile, and
interconnected.
Space is the best vantage point we have for both seeing and
studying our changing planet. Earth observations gathered from space
are the basis for so much of the scientific data and information that
tells us what we know about Earth and how it is changing. In the years
ahead, we will need Earth observations more than ever, for science and
for inspiration, as we grapple with the growing impacts of climate
change on our planet. Earth observations are key to helping society
understand and effectively respond to changes in climate and are
increasingly used in a range of societal applications.
Earth Observations as the Foundation
NASA has been observing and measuring Earth from space for over 60
years, beginning with the launch of the world's first dedicated Earth
Science mission in 1960. The TIROS-1 weather satellite only lasted 78
days, but it was a precursor mission to today's Earth observing
satellites. Twelve years later, NASA's launch of the first Landsat
satellite in 1972 marked the start of a continuous record of land
measurements from space that continues unbroken to this day. Fast-
forward to 2022 and there are over 1,000 Earth observing satellites in
orbit today, with more being launched each month. These satellites have
different capabilities, sizes, and architectures, and are hosted and
operated by a range of entities, including other U.S. government
agencies, other governments, and a growing private sector.
Through decades of Earth observing missions and innovation, NASA
started a revolution and laid the groundwork for the golden age of
Earth observations we see ourselves in today. Today, NASA operates a
fleet of over two dozen Earth observing satellites and instruments
hosted on the International Space Station (ISS). We continue to push
the state-of-the-art in Earth remote sensing from space and take
critical measurements of nearly every component and constituent of the
changing Earth. We also build and launch environmental satellites for
our Federal agency partner NOAA, and we work in close partnership with
USGS through the interagency Sustainable Land Imaging program to
design, develop, and launch USGS' Landsat series of land imaging
satellites. And NASA is pleased to see the success of an industry we
have supported emerging as a robust partner across a number of areas
related to earth observation. .
Earth observations from space are the foundation of much of what we
know about our Earth systems. Datasets from Earth observing satellites
like NASA's long-running Terra, Aqua, and Aura satellites and the more
recently launched Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE-FO),
ICESat-2, and Sentinel 6-Michael Freilich, underpin climate research,
and they are key to developing and testing and verifying Earth system
models.
We also work with people on the ground around the world to solve
problems as they unfold. Earth observations are the foundation for a
range of applications, including weather prediction, disaster response
and recovery, wildfire response, land use planning, water resource
monitoring, agricultural support, food security, air quality
monitoring, and aviation safety. For example, OpenET is a program that
uses publicly available NASA-USGS Landsat data to provide information
to farmers and ranchers on evapotranspiration, so they can estimate the
amount of water being taken up or used by their fields and crops and
that will usually need to be replaced through irrigation or rainfall.
This enables them to use water more efficiently and better plan
irrigation.
Together with our other government partners, we are measuring,
studying, and informing the world about our changing Earth. We are
disseminating the data and knowledge collected for the benefit of
humankind. And we are researching the new technologies and paving the
way for the next generation of Earth observation missions. Our latest
endeavor is NASA's Earth System Observatory (ESO), a series of missions
in development that will launch later this decade that will give us a
3D holistic view of the changing globe.
Innovating the Next Generation of Earth Observations
The ESO responds to the top recommendations from the National
Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine's 2017 Earth Science
and Applications from Space Decadal Survey, including missions
targeting the Academies' priorities for observation: aerosols, clouds,
convection and precipitation; mass change, surface biology and geology,
and surface deformation and change. Formulation activities are underway
for the first four major ESO missions targeting these designated
observables. NASA just received recommendations from an ESO Independent
Review Board (IRB), which took a close look at ESO's science goals,
management and programmatic structures, and preliminary mission
architectures. The IRB reviewed technical concepts formulated by NASA
for the ESO to ensure their robustness, considered the ESO's ability to
achieve NASA's plans, and checked to ensure lessons learned regarding
large missions were incorporated into this effort.
In October, NASA announced the first mission opportunity within the
new Earth System Explorer Program, another priority from the 2017
Decadal Survey. For the Earth Explorer missions, NASA is seeking
submissions of proposals for a medium-sized PI-led mission that will
investigate one or more targeted observables identified by the Decadal
Survey. With a focused programmatic scope, Explorer missions can be
developed relatively quickly and complement the science goals of the
larger Earth System Observatory. They will allow investigators to
propose gathering high priority observations, including, for example,
greenhouse gases, that are not part of the ESO suite of missions.
NASA continues to innovate in the measuring and monitoring of
greenhouse gases from space, building on the legacy of our Orbiting
Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2) and OCO-3 missions, which are able to
measure vertical columns of carbon dioxide concentrations in Earth's
atmosphere and track how CO2 concentrations vary globally
and how they are changing over time. NASA's new Earth Surface Mineral
Dust Source Investigation (EMIT) mission, which launched successfully
in July, has demonstrated the crucial capability of detecting the
presence of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Since July, the EMIT
science team has identified more than 50 methane super-emitters
globally.
NASA also announced earlier this year a new contract for commercial
data acquisition with GHGSat, Inc., of Canada, which uses satellites to
collect methane and carbon dioxide measurements that can help identify
greenhouse gas sinks and sources. Following in the footsteps of NASA's
other commercial data vendors, including Planet, Maxar, and Spire,
GHGSat will provide their data to NASA for evaluation to determine the
utility for advancing NASA's science and application goals.
The data and information provided by EMIT, commercial missions like
GHGSat, and future missions like these, can help decision-makers better
identify, understand, and address methane emissions.
Ensuring Continuity of the Global Climate Record
With a number of NASA's flagship Earth research satellite missions,
including Terra, Aqua, and Aura, reaching end-of-life over the next few
years, an important ongoing conversation has emerged across the Earth
observations community about how to ensure the continuity of the data
provided by missions on which the research and applications communities
have relied for decades. These conversations include questions about
the roles that other Federal agencies, as well as our international
partners, and private sector, can play.
With a new budget line in the FY 2023 Budget, NASA is pursuing key
climate continuity measurements and advancing open science by
leveraging cutting edge data science techniques. In addition, the first
Earth Venture Continuity (EVC) mission, Libera, was selected in
February 2020 and will maintain the 40-year data record of the balance
between the solar radiation entering Earth's atmosphere and the amount
absorbed, reflected, and emitted. NASA plans to announce an opportunity
and solicit proposals for a second EVC mission in 2023.
NASA plays an essential role in supporting continuity of data
records provided by our interagency partners' satellites, including in
building and launching NOAA's environmental satellites, on a
reimbursable basis for NOAA, and helping develop future satellite
architectures for both NOAA and USGS. NASA develops and maintains
critical continuity data records using reprocessed NOAA operational
satellite measurements merged with those of NASA and other agency and
international partners, allowing detection and characterization of both
short-term variability and long-term trends in essential quantities,
such as Earth radiation, ozone, and aerosol concentrations. NASA
provides flight program management expertise and a focus on innovation
to partnered missions, driving Federal science through new approaches
and observation technologies.
For example, NASA has been working closely with USGS to finalize
the next-generation system architecture for the Landsat Next satellite
and will begin formulation activities for the mission activities
shortly. NASA's goal has been striking a balance between incorporating
the latest land imaging technologies with ensuring Landsat's continuous
long-term record of land imagery and data within the budget that the
Administration and Congress can provide. Landsat Next, now expected to
launch as a ``triplet'' configuration of three platforms, will join
Landsat 8 and Landsat 9 on orbit in adding to the continuous long-term
record of land imaging that began with the first Landsat in 1972.
We also expect to expand our commercial interaction working with
the private sector to add their capabilities to our own to benefit
American citizens. NASA's pioneering data purchases have allowed us to
see what small commercial satellite operators can provide now and what
they might in the future, as well as better set the terms of future
procurements and licensing of data for science. We hope our work in
this area will support this industry as it grows.
Earth Observations for Earth Action
As part of a growing emphasis on providing actionable data and
information to a broad range of users, NASA is planning to launch an
Earth Information Center (EIC) next year. The EIC will provide a wide
range of Earth and climate data and information to the public and
stakeholders, but the initial focus will be on prototyping capabilities
for a greenhouse gas monitoring and information system that will
integrate data from a variety of sources with a goal of making GHG data
more accessible and usable to Federal, State, and local governments,
researchers, the public, and other users.
To implement this effort NASA is collaborating with other agencies
including the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to enhance
greenhouse gas monitoring and make greenhouse gas data more accessible
to a broad range of users. NASA will work jointly with other agencies
to develop the greenhouse gas monitoring and information system. The
greenhouse gas monitoring and information system will support regular
updates to national gridded greenhouse gas anthropogenic activity-based
data. The system will also combine EPA's anthropogenic emission data
with atmospheric-based data on natural emissions and fluxes, and enable
the identification and quantification of emissions from large anomalous
events, leveraging aircraft and satellite data.
Through open-source science, NASA provides knowledge, resources,
tools, and technologies to benefit humanity. This provides
opportunities for those outside of NASA to create new applications
using NASA observations, as well as leverage existing applications. For
instance, it can help other government agencies or NGOs as they address
societal or environmental challenges and make decisions in a range of
sectors. NASA is also continuing to improve our engagement with the
public on Earth Science and share information about our planet that can
only be fully unlocked by observing it. NASA is also innovating its
partnerships, with the goal of exploring new paths to applications and
impact. NASA capabilities mean opportunities for engagement with a wide
range of sectors, from agriculture to oil and gas. We are looking at
ways to engage with philanthropies, state agencies, and to connect with
citizens broadly through open science as well as targeting our outreach
through the lens of environmental justice.
CONCLUSION
Increasingly, we see our work in Earth observations through the
lens of its importance to global climate change. Each climate tipping
point presents its own multi-faceted ecological or societal challenge.
For each, we ask how science and Earth observations can inform
responses, by individuals, nations, and the world. The global climate
observing system from space is critical because only from space can we
track the status over time of each of these climate tipping points and
other Earth system changes holistically all around the world. Our
monitoring could provide the first and most clear warning signs that a
climate tipping point is near or has been reached.
And as always, we look to Congress for guidance on priorities and
partnerships, noting congressional interest in science relating to
everything we do. We thank you for this opportunity to share something
of our approach to Earth observation and look forward to your
questions.
Senator Hickenlooper. Thank you, Dr. Calvin. Mr. Jablonsky.
STATEMENT OF DANIEL JABLONSKY, PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE
OFFICER, MAXAR TECHNOLOGIES
Mr. Jablonsky. Chairman Hickenlooper, Ranking Member
Lummis, Chair Cantwell, Ranking Member Wicker, and esteemed
members of the Subcommittee on Space and Science, thank you for
holding this hearing to discuss the important topic of Earth
observation in honor of 50 years of Landsat.
My name is Dan Jablonsky, and I am the President and CEO of
Maxar Technologies. I have been a part of the Earth observation
industry for just over a decade, and before joining the private
sector, I was a surface warfare officer and nuclear engineer in
the U.S. Navy. I am honored to be here today.
Maxar, based in Westminster, Colorado, is a leader in
commercial earth intelligence and space technology, solutions,
and a proud long standing partner to the U.S. Government and
the commercial industry.
Maxar owns and operates a fleet of very high resolution
earth observation satellites and soon will be launching
WorldView Legion, our next generation Earth observation
satellites and the first to be built in-house.
After the passage of the Land Remote Sensing Policy Act of
1992, we were granted the first commercial Earth Observation
License, opening the door to the Earth observation industry.
Since then, satellite imagery has become integral to everyday
life.
Earth observation capabilities identify, monitor, and
address problems that impact the security and economic well-
being of every American. For example, Earth observation data
helps with natural disaster relief and recovery.
Using imagery from satellites and analytical techniques, we
can help forecast potential damage and point on the ground
response teams to locations efficiently, identifying areas that
have been damaged by hurricanes, provide precision 3D mapping
to optimize relief efforts, and across vast stretches of public
and private lands help responders identify and fight wildfires.
Earth observation applications also unlock commerce and
mobility.
Geospatial data is the bedrock for many businesses and
applications that generate significant value for the economy.
For example, Google Maps uses Maxar satellite images to not
only help users navigate the world, but also to locate and find
their way to local businesses, offices, schools, and all other
types of locations.
In more recent years, the commercial, remote sensing
industry has been exploring ways to go beyond the pixel.
Machine learning, autonomous change detection, and object
identification are helping decisionmakers get to answers
quicker.
At Maxar, we are pushing the edge on 3D mapping, taking our
images and making them three dimensional, ushering in a new era
of insight, augmented reality, and immersive experiences.
Critically, the commercial sector is advancing U.S. leadership
in space. Commercial satellite support crucial civil and
national security missions. As we look to the future of our
industry, we must also look to space sustainability.
I thank Senators Hickenlooper, Lummis, Cantwell, and Wicker
for introducing the ORBITS Act, a great step in protecting and
maintaining a sustainable space environment for the future. I
support this effort and look forward to working with you to
find new commercial solutions to solve today's most challenging
problems.
Maxar stands ready to do its part to help build a
sustainable space environment and usher in the next 50 years of
Earth observation advancements. Thank you to the Subcommittee
for holding this hearing, and the opportunity to speak to you
on this important topic.
I am happy to answer any questions you have at this time.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Jablonsky follows:]
Prepared Statement of Daniel Jablonsky, President and Chief Executive
Officer, Maxar Technologies
Chairman Hickenlooper, Ranking Member Lummis, full Committee Chair
Cantwell and Ranking Member Wicker, and esteemed Members of the
Subcommittee on Space and Science:
Thank you for holding this hearing to discuss the important topic
of Earth observation in honor of 50 years of Landsat. My name is Dan
Jablonsky, and I am the President and CEO of Maxar Technologies, a role
in which I have served in since January 2019. I have been a part of the
remote sensing industry for the past decade and before joining the
private sector, I was a surface warfare officer and nuclear engineer in
the U.S. Navy. I am honored to be a part of this hearing today.
About Maxar
Maxar is a leader in commercial Earth intelligence and space
technology solutions and a trusted, end-to-end partner to the U.S.
government and the commercial industry. As a U.S. company with
locations across the country, Maxar designs, manufactures, and operates
communications and Earth observation satellites; space exploration
spacecraft; solar electric propulsion systems; on-orbit satellite
servicing vehicles; and robotics for ongoing space operations and
exploration.
In 1993, the U.S. Department of Commerce granted WorldView Imaging
Company, later known as DigitalGlobe, a legacy Maxar company, the first
license for commercial Earth observation from space. Maxar's Earth
observation satellites have provided imagery to support critical
national security and disaster response missions ever since. Most
recent examples include intelligence related to the war in Ukraine and
damage assessments to support recovery efforts related to Hurricanes
Fiona, Ian, and Nicole. We are proud to serve as a trusted partner to
the U.S. government--providing data-driven insights, analysis, and
recommendations, delivering current, high-resolution satellite imagery,
and enabling 3D data for analysts and decision makers to better
monitor, understand, and respond to current events, deter threats, and
ensure national and global security.
For more than 60 years, Maxar has supported U.S. leadership in
space, manufacturing more than 280 spacecraft, supporting numerous
civil space missions including the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration's (NASA) upcoming Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of
Pollution (TEMPO) mission.
Additionally, we operate, and for the past 20 years have operated,
the most advanced constellation of commercial Earth imaging satellites
in the world. We are headquartered in Westminster, Colorado, and have a
dedicated workforce of over 4,000 across the country including at our
facilities in California, Florida, Michigan, Missouri, Virginia, and
Puerto Rico.
Landsat at 50
We are here today to mark the 50th anniversary of the launch of the
first satellite in the Landsat series by the U.S. Geological Survey
(USGS) and NASA in 1972. The fifty-year archive of Landsat observations
has supplied invaluable, empirical evidence that has helped build
confidence in Earth observation technology and created a shared
understanding of how the Earth is changing. Since that time, Earth
observation technology and the U.S. space industrial base have advanced
rapidly.
As we celebrate this important milestone and look to the future of
U.S. satellite-based Earth observation, I would like to discuss three
important topics today:
The value Earth observation technology provides to society
and how Earth observation technology can be harnessed to solve
some of the biggest problems facing humanity.
The important role the commercial space sector plays
advancing U.S. leadership in space.
The steps industry and Congress should take to help ensure
America continues to lead on Earth observation technology.
Earth Observation Technology Helps Solve Complex Problems
Earth observation technology is key to solving some of the biggest
problems facing humanity and enables a better understanding of the
world around us. Earth observation capabilities help identify, monitor,
and address problems that threaten the security and economic well-being
of every American, and aid in the improvement of the lives of people
across the globe.
In order to most effectively use Earth observation data to address
today's issues, and issues that will arise in the future, Maxar uses
innovative artificial intelligence, machine learning, and algorithm
techniques to extract answers quickly in order to assist decision
makers. The amount of information coming from space is best used by
applying these techniques to get actionable information. We all know
the danger of overgrown trees near powerlines and the impacts a downed
line can have. However, we have applied unique algorithms which can
tell the height of vegetation based off data we obtain from our Earth
observations which can then be used for utility corridor monitoring--
helping customers understand when vegetation near powerlines needs to
be trimmed.
Extreme Weather and Disaster Response
Each year, thunderstorms, floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, and other
weather-related events, cause an average of approximately 650 deaths
and $15 billion in damage in the U.S. About one-third of the U.S.
economy--some $3 trillion--is sensitive to weather and climate.\1\
Earth observation provides decision makers and first responders with
essential information to help them protect lives and property when
extreme weather events occur. Not only is imagery essential, but
technologies like Shortwave Infrared (SWIR) on Maxar's WorldView-3
satellite help first responders identify where wildfires are most
active.
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\1\ https://www.noaa.gov/weather
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Other applications like our Open Data Program provide critical and
actionable information to assist response efforts. Associated imagery
and crowdsourcing layers can provide information to the front lines at
high speed. Using machine learning and satellite imagery, the
government has been able to help forecast potential damage and point
on-the-ground response teams to areas that have been damaged by
hurricanes.
Maxar's 20+ year imagery archive provides a digital history of our
planet that allows change assessment over time. With our extensive
archive and our ability to detect change over time, our data is
regularly used to track droughts, glacial melt, and as with response
efforts, the damage caused by wildfires, floods, hurricanes, and other
natural disasters. For example, our imagery and automated algorithms
were used to map new standing bodies of water after the Hunga Tonga
Hunga Ha'apai volcano eruption and subsequent tsunami.
Maxar's WeatherDesk helps anticipate and mitigate the changing
weather conditions by accessing global weather forecasts and
observations that support better business, mission, and operations
decision-making. Recently, Maxar developed an award-winning high
performance computing solution using NOAA's weather forecasting model
in the cloud and our WeatherDesk team collaborated with Amazon Web
Services, Inc. to optimize this solution and deliver a detailed global
weather forecast 58 percent faster, reducing a 100-minute process to
roughly 42 minutes.
Agriculture and Food Security
Agriculture is a multibillion-dollar industry that contributes a
total of $1.053 trillion of national Gross Domestic Product and 11
percent of employment when derivative industries (e.g., food services,
textile production) are considered.\2\ Earth observation technology
plays a critical role in supporting the agriculture industry by
supplying farmers with information about when to plant crops and their
estimated yields. It also plays an important role in food security,
providing an early warning when food supply may be at risk. For
example, earlier this year, Maxar's WeatherDesk was used to predict a
significant decline in Ukrainian crop harvest, which typically helps to
feed parts of the world facing food scarcity, due to the war.
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\2\ https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/ag-and-food-statistics-
charting-the-essentials/ag-and-food-sectors-and-the-economy/
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Critical Infrastructure
Earth observation technology supports critical infrastructure.
Maxar's Precision3D Telco Suite enables 5G radio network providers to
plan telecommunications networks by accurately mapping terrain to avoid
signal disruptions. This is possible due to Maxar's use of imagery
data, artificial intelligence, and automation. Maxar also provides
insight to analysts on critical energy infrastructure projects in the
oil and gas sectors, helping to preserve finite resources. Our
satellite images also provide critical data for mobility and logistics
operations across the U.S.
National Security
Over the last two decades, Maxar has been a trusted partner to the
U.S. government, providing commercial Earth observation capabilities in
support of national security, including the response to the ongoing war
in Ukraine--ensuring that policymakers have uninterrupted access to
time sensitive, actionable satellite imagery. The transparency provided
by satellites showed the world the buildup of Russian troops along the
border of Ukraine, tracked the early days of the invasion, and have
been used to document atrocities carried out by the Russian military.
Maxar is also helping the U.S. government to harness commercial
capability in support of warfighters with its ability to transform 2D
satellite imagery into 3D models and precision point clouds, a set of
data points in space which create a 3D model. This allows us to provide
more information to intelligence analysts, as well as highly accurate
and sophisticated geolocation data to warfighters. As a result, Maxar's
3D data and capabilities are helping to usher in a new era of insight,
simulation, and modeling.
Advancing U.S. Leadership in Space
Maintaining a robust domestic commercial space industrial base and
ensuring the U.S. government is harnessing the full breadth of
commercial capability--including advanced Earth observation
capabilities--is fundamental to advancing American strategic interests
in space. Commercial satellites increase America's overall resiliency
in space, providing the U.S. government with greater capacity and
capability for civil space and national security space missions.
The National Space Policy recognizes this strategic imperative,
stating in part that ``a robust, innovative, and competitive commercial
space sector is the source of continued progress and sustained U.S.
leadership in space.'' \3\ Leaders in the intelligence community (IC)
have called the commercial sector not ``just a priority, [it's] a
must,'' and, ``part of [the IC's] infrastructure,'' and affirmed the
importance of making sure the U.S. industrial base is and remains
competitive.\4\
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\3\ https://www.space.commerce.gov/policy/national-space-policy/
\4\ https://www.nro.gov/Portals/65/documents/news/speeches/2021/
7Oct21_GEOINT_Sympo
sium.pdf
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Fortunately, the partnership between domestic commercial providers
and the U.S. government is only getting stronger. Recently, the U.S.
government increased its acquisition of commercial imagery across
several U.S. industry providers to meet the growing demand for imagery
and data across the U.S government. The commercial sector has also made
big investments of its own and is working to harness its new and
developing capabilities for the benefit of U.S. government customers.
Programs like NOAA's GeoXO satellite system and NASA's TEMPO satellite
instrument stand to benefit from these leading-edge technologies,
including the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning,
which reveal useful patterns in massive amounts of data-helping
customers reduce resources while increasing scale and speed.
At Maxar, we're looking forward to the enhanced capacity coming
online soon from our next-generation WorldView Legion satellites, which
will more than triple Maxar's capability to collect 30 cm-class
resolution imagery and enable up to 15 revisits per day--providing
unrivaled commercial capability, including even greater persistent
monitoring of priority areas of interest, accelerated change detection,
and timely analysis at scale.
These are just some examples of how the U.S. industrial space base
is helping to provide America with a technological edge in space.
Overcoming Challenges to Sustained U.S. Leadership in Space
Today, there are more than 4,500 active satellites and millions of
other space objects orbiting Earth.\5\ Despite the growth of commercial
capabilities, commercial Earth observation providers face a space
environment that is increasingly complex, making the challenge of
preserving the space environment through responsible space traffic and
debris management all the more urgent. Human-made objects traveling in
Earth's orbit--including the debris caused by recent Chinese and
Russian anti-satellite tests--pose a serious risk to satellites,
spacecraft, and the people on board.
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\5\ https://sia.org/commercial-satellite-industry-growing-as-it-
continues-to-dominate-expanding-global-space-business-sia-releases-
25th-annual-state-of-the-satellite-industry-report/
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In 2016, Maxar's own WorldView-2 satellite was hit by a small piece
of untracked debris. Fortunately, this had no impact on WorldView-2's
ability to operate, but it provides a stark example of the dangers
posed by space junk zipping around the world at 17,000 miles per hour:
any collision could impact our ability to access the technological
advancements we take for granted today, including GPS, weather
monitoring and prediction, satellite imaging, satellite communications,
and more. All these technologies rely on safe access to low Earth
orbit.
Maxar has long been a proponent of limiting space debris and
harnessing commercial technologies, such as propulsion, to support
responsible space traffic management. To do our part, Maxar joined a
group of global commercial space companies in signing on to the World
Economic Forum's Space Industry Debris Statement, which encourages
companies to ``work together to inform and help governments create a
practical set of regulations for the sustainable use of space.'' \6\ We
are also testing a new commercial solution from LeoLabs to help monitor
and track space debris.
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\6\ https://www3.weforum.org/docs/
WEF_Space_Industry_Debris_Statement_2021.pdf
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However, the U.S. government is best positioned to set an example
for the rest of the world to follow. Just as it did thirty years ago
when Congress passed the Land Remote Sensing Policy Act to establish
rules of the road for the then-nascent commercial satellite-based Earth
observation industry, America can help build a global framework for
responsible operations in space. The Administration has been an
important leader in this work, bringing key government and industry
leaders together to understand how we can collaborate to create
enforceable policies. And, I want to recognize and thank Subcommittee
Chairman Hickenlooper (D-CO), Ranking Member Lummis (R-WY), and full
Committee Chair Cantwell (D-WA) and Ranking Member Wicker (R-MS), and
the rest of the Subcommittee and full Committee for their leadership on
the importance of protecting and maintaining a sustainable space
environment through the introduction of the Orbital Sustainability
(ORBITS) Act. We support the ORBITS Act and we look forward to
continuing to work with the Committee and Congress to develop solutions
that will make space sustainable and maintain American leadership.
There's still much work to do, but U.S. leadership is critical in
bringing the rest of the world along.
Conclusion
Despite these challenges--as the Landsat program demonstrates--
America can achieve great feats in space when we work together toward a
common goal. The Landsat program has provided observations for 50
years, changing how we see and understand our planet. Thanks to the
ingenuity of the commercial sector, and our strong partnership with the
U.S. government, I am excited and optimistic for what the next 50 years
will bring.
But that future will not be realized unless stakeholders across
government, industry, and the research community work together to
preserve the space environment by developing clear rules that govern
space debris and space traffic management.
Maxar stands ready to do its part to help build a sustainable space
environment and usher in the next 50 years of Earth observation
advancements. Thank you to the Subcommittee for holding this hearing
and the opportunity to speak on this important topic. I'm happy to
answer any questions you may have at this time.
Senator Hickenlooper. Thank you, Mr. Jablonsky. And with
the proviso that for part of my professional life I wanted to
be on the U.S.--in the U.S. Geological Survey, Mr. Gallagher.
STATEMENT OF KEVIN GALLAGHER, ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR FOR CORE
SCIENCE SYSTEMS, U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY, DEPARTMENT OF THE
INTERIOR
Mr. Gallagher. And we would certainly welcome you.
[Laughter.]
Mr. Gallagher. Chairman Hickenlooper, Ranking Member
Lummis, members of the Subcommittee and Committee, I am pleased
to testify before you today during such a dynamic and
innovative time in Earth observation science.
On behalf of the U.S. Geological Survey, I would like to
recognize and express our appreciation for the support we have
received from Congress over many years for our role in Earth
observation and mapping, and in particular, Senate Resolution
721, celebrating the 50th anniversary of Landsat and its unique
contributions to the Nation. Thank you
The Department of the Interior and the USGS have a long
history of providing observations of the Earth, including its
topography, biology, geological and water resources, and
natural hazards such as earthquakes, volcanoes, wildfires, and
coastal change.
The USGS has been involved in the Landsat program since the
late 1960s, when the Department of the Interior charted a bold
vision for the use of space technology to sustainably manage
the Earth's natural resources.
The unique data from Landsat enables scientists and
analysts around the globe to detect, measure, map, and monitor
critical changes on Earth. Local, tribal, State, and Federal
agencies all rely upon Landsat data and products to help them
understand ongoing changes to their lands, surface waters,
coastlines, ecosystems, and natural resources.
In fact, Landsat is the most widely used land remote
sensing data within Federal agencies, and it is the most
frequently cited land dataset in peer reviewed science
literature. Landsat data provide enormous economic benefits in
the U.S. and around the world, far surpassing the Government's
investment in the Landsat satellites.
In the U.S. alone, Landsat is estimated to provide over $2
billion in annual economic benefits and has been a vital
component of the training curriculum for generations of
American scientists. Two unique attributes make Landsat the
gold standard for all civil and commercial land imaging, the
accuracy and precision of the data, and the long and unbroken
record of the data.
Landsat data is incredibly versatile, supporting
applications across the Nation for agriculture monitoring and
forecasting, water resource management, forest health and
productivity, and wildfire mapping and remediation. In fact,
the Office of Science and Technology Policy led Earth
observation assessments done in 2012 and 2016.
Ranked Landsat's impact across societal benefit areas as
second only to the global positioning system. Much like GPS,
weather data--and weather data, Landsat data is a public
utility used daily to help us better understand and sustainably
manage our dynamic planet.
In recognition of the significant cross-Government impact
of Landsat, the DOI and NASA established the Joint Sustainable
Land Imaging Program in 2016 to provide a long term commitment
to historically compatible Landsat observations. This has been,
by all accounts, a highly successful partnership.
Within the SLI Program, NASA is responsible for satellite
development and launch, and the USGS provides ground system
development and flight data operations, which are conducted at
the USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science Center in
Sioux Falls, South Dakota. In September 2021, NASA launched
Landsat-9, the first mission in the SLI partnership.
Landsat-9 has been amazingly successful, working in tandem
with Landsat-8 to deliver highly calibrated multispectral
imagery greater than the landmass of North America and South
America combined, every day.
The follow on SLI mission called Landsat Next will be far
more capable than Landsat-9, meeting users' evolving needs for
improved spectral, spatial, and temporal resolution critical to
identifying and characterizing land surface in areas like urban
areas, agricultural, coastal, the cryosphere, and lands
increasingly impacted by drought and wildfire.
Landsat has experienced a remarkable surge in popularity
and continued relevance. In 2022, the USGS fulfilled more
Landsat data access requests, at last count more than 4
billion, than in the entire previous 49 year history of the
program.
That demand for Landsat data is linked to its global
utility, free and open access in the cloud, and most
importantly, the program's unrelenting commitment to
maintaining the accuracy and precision of the data.
The SLI Landsat Next mission will ensure that future
generations will continue to reap the benefits of the Landsat
series of measurements. I am excited about the future of
Landsat and appreciate the opportunity to speak with you today.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Gallagher follows:]
Prepared Statement of Kevin Gallagher, Associate Director for Core
Science Systems, U.S. Geological Survey, Department of the Interior
Chairman Hickenlooper, Ranking Member Lummis, Members of the
Subcommittee and Committee, I am pleased to testify before you today
during such a dynamic and innovative time in Earth observation science.
The Department of the Interior (DOI) and the U.S. Geological Survey
(USGS) have a long history of providing observations of the Earth,
including its topography; biological, geological and water resources;
and natural hazards such as earthquakes, volcanoes, wildfires, and
coastal change. True to its mission, the USGS is providing science for
a changing world.
History of Landsat
The USGS has been involved in the Landsat program since the late
1960s, when the DOI charted a bold vision for the use of space
technology to sustainably manage the Earth's natural resources.
The first Landsat satellite was launched on July 23, 1972. It has
been succeeded by a series of Landsat satellites that, over 50 years,
have drawn a comprehensive portrait of our planet from 400 miles in
space. The unique data from Landsat enable scientists and analysts
around the globe to detect and monitor critical changes on Earth.
Local, Tribal, state, and Federal agencies all rely upon Landsat data
to understand ongoing changes to their lands, surface waters,
coastlines, ecosystems, and natural resources. Landsat is the most
widely used land remote sensing data source within Federal agencies to
carry out their missions every day.
Landsat data provides enormous economic benefits in the U.S. and
around the world, surpassing the investments in the Landsat technology.
In the U.S. alone, Landsat is estimated to provide over $2 billion in
annual economic benefits. When including benefits to other nations,
Landsat's total annual economic benefits is estimated to be nearly $3.5
billion. Two unique attributes make Landsat the ``gold standard'' for
all civil and commercial land imaging: 1) the accuracy and precision of
the data, and 2) the long and unbroken record of this data.
The U.S. Group on Earth Observation-led Earth Observation
Assessments have ranked Landsat's space system impact as second only to
the Global Positioning System (GPS). Much like GPS and weather data,
Landsat data is used daily to help us better understand and sustainably
manage our dynamic planet--and to improve our ability to combat climate
change. In 2019, the U.S. Global Change Research Program identified
Landsat as a ``critical observatory for climate and environmental
change research due to the unbroken length of the Landsat record and
its ability to monitor remote regions with surface features such as
glaciers, rainforests, permafrost, and coral reefs.''
In recognition of the significant cross-government impact of
Landsat, the DOI and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
(NASA) established the joint Sustainable Land Imaging (SLI) program in
2016 to provide continued, historically compatible, and operational
land-surface observations for public science and services. The 2014 and
2019 National Plans for Civil Earth Observations both endorsed the SLI
Program. In September 2021, NASA launched Landsat 9, the first mission
in the SLI partnership. The next SLI Mission, known as Landsat Next, is
in its planning phase and is intended to replace Landsat 8, which has
been in orbit since 2013. The USGS has rigorously documented
requirements for the next mission to meet users' ever-increasing need
to monitor, understand, and predict complex changes to our Nation's
land and water surfaces. Landsat Next will also ensure that projected
climate-change impacts on our landscapes can be rigorously measured,
assessed, and sustainably managed.
Applications of Landsat Data
Landsat is incredibly versatile for a wide range of applications.
In addition to the widely recognized benefits for the Federal
government and the commercial sector, Landsat is also used
internationally. International space agencies use Landsat data and work
with the USGS and NASA to align with our systems' data and products to
be more interoperable for all users. International non-governmental
organizations make use of Landsat data to provide local assistance for
developing nations.
Landsat data is used for a wide variety of domestic applications.
In Colorado, for example, Landsat has important applications for
agriculture, water, forests, and development of natural resources. In
Wyoming, Landsat's thermal infrared sensor collects data on Yellowstone
National Park's thermal areas, including those previously unknown. As
seen with the recent hurricane in Florida, Landsat supports research
and response efforts on hurricane and storm surge impacts including
assessing tree loss and vegetation damage, structure damage, flooding,
water quality, storm surge debris, coastline shift, and long-term
vegetation recovery in urban and natural ecosystems. (See Appendix A
for graphics/images of these applications.)
Partnership with the Commercial Sector
The commercial sector is a vital part of the Landsat program. Under
government contracts and Federal supervision, commercial firms build
the satellites; build and launch the rockets that carry them into
space; construct the ground systems that collect, archive, process, and
distribute these data to users; perform the flight operations of the
satellites in space; and host the data in the commercial cloud for
users to gain better access.
Recently, there has been an exciting rise of commercially developed
and commercially operated satellites. Today, the commercial industry
has successfully built and deployed constellations of small, low-cost,
low-orbiting satellites that provide high-resolution, high-revisit
optical imagery. This data is useful for a wide variety of
applications, some of which are available to Federal agencies through
existing commercial data contracts. This data can augment and
complement the coarser-resolution, broader area coverage baseline
measurements made by Landsat and other government-sponsored
observatories.
However, commercially owned global satellite systems currently lack
the complicated and expensive calibration capabilities to provide the
long-term science-quality imagery required to fully meet government
objectives. In 2020, the NASA/USGS SLI Architecture Study Team (AST)
provided recommendations for an SLI architecture beyond Landsat 9. The
AST found that Landsat's moderate-resolution shortwave infrared and
thermal infrared imagery--crucial for meeting Landsat global survey
applications--are not projected to be commercially viable in the next
ten years, requiring a government-led solution to ensure data
continuity. The AST also found that commercial data in the visible and
near-infrared spectrum could augment Landsat data to satisfy additional
user needs. Through multiple AST listening sessions, the commercial
sector clearly conveyed its desire for the government to maintain its
gold standard systems like Landsat for use in their commercial imagery
calibration and new product development.
The AST's findings related to the value of Landsat's unique
radiometric and geometric calibration standard to the commercial sector
were echoed by the Landsat Advisory Group (LAG), a subcommittee of the
Federal Geographic Data Committee National Geospatial Advisory
Committee, which provides advice to the Federal government on the
Landsat Program and includes representatives of commercial Earth
observation companies like Maxar and Planet. Multiple white papers
published by the LAG in recent years have articulated the value of
Landsat to the commercial sector, particularly as a trusted reference
source to help calibrate their own sensors.
The Role of Federal agencies
The U.S. government has a vital role to play in prioritizing and
applying science-quality Earth observations to support local, Tribal,
state, and national decisions on sustainable land, water, and resource
usage; especially in the face of extreme weather events and
accelerating climate-change impacts. This role includes making this
data freely and openly available in the public domain to serve as
authoritative datasets for science conducted at the global, regional,
and local levels. Landsat offers consistent, global, full-spectrum
coverage, with observations calibrated consistently over many decades.
Landsat notably includes spectral bands that may not be profitable in
the commercial sector but that meet governmental and societal needs for
global applications like monitoring consumptive water use, climate
change, agriculture, and deforestation.
Another essential role for Federal agencies is to continue to
support development of standards and specifications that support the
interoperability of Earth observations. The DOI and the USGS work
closely with national and international organizations to improve the
interoperability among governmental and commercial Earth observation
data sources. This improved interoperability will benefit all users and
commercial providers by improving the ability to access multiple
datasets to meet their science and operational needs.
Landsat participates and is well represented in numerous
international forums including the Group on Earth Observations (GEO),
the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS), the International
Charter: Space and Major Disasters, and has numerous bilateral
partnerships around the world. In fact, Landsat has led the world
through the development of its Analysis-Ready Data products being
distributed in the commercial cloud. Landsat's Collection 2 data--a
complete reprocessing of the entire data archive--was the very first to
be certified as CEOS-Analysis Ready Data compliant. Analysis-Ready Data
is the key to future interoperability of all Earth observation
satellite data sets, greatly increasing their value for all
applications.
Opportunities for Collaboration between the Federal Government and the
Commercial Sector
The USGS is excited about emerging commercial data sources. Current
commercial imagers cannot provide global, full-spectrum coverage with
the science quality necessary to meet the needs of government users. As
stated earlier, some commercial firms rely on the calibrated Landsat
data as a trusted reference source to evaluate and improve their own
systems' performance. There are ways for the government to work with
the commercial Earth observation industry to benefit both sectors.
Federal agencies continue to perform extensive evaluations of federal,
state, local, and Tribal user needs, as well as the needs of
international users and the public. These studies consistently identify
an increasing potential for commercial data to provide imagery at
higher resolutions and greater frequency than Landsat to address urgent
and short-term environmental events such fires, floods, and other
disasters. In addition, the USGS, NASA, NOAA, and other agencies work
together with commercial data providers in an activity called the Joint
Agency Commercial Imagery Evaluation (JACIE), which provides an
independent characterization of commercial imagery and products and
shares those results across the remote sensing community. This helps
facilitate the use of commercial products while helping providers
better understand how their products are used across the Federal
government.
The technologies for imagery collection, transmission, storage,
processing, and dissemination continue to improve. In the future, the
Federal government will need to determine the optimal roles for
commercial and government capabilities in these areas, taking into
consideration the growing capabilities, potential lower costs,
licensing approaches of commercial systems, and the broad range of
requirements across the user community, to include data accessibility
and redistribution. In addition to satellite systems, there is a
growing potential for the commercial sector to provide ground stations
and mission operations as services, potentially reducing or eliminating
the need and associated costs for government-owned satellite operations
centers and ground-station infrastructure. The Federal government will
also need to determine how commercial advancements best support data
processing, long-term management, and distribution, with the Federal
government continuing to certify data authenticity and maintain the
official, long-term public data archive.
The Future
Federal agencies continue to develop science-quality Earth-
observing systems to provide the foundational data of a multi-source
``data ecosystem'' of U.S. government, U.S. commercial, and
international sources. Commercial Earth observation systems will
increasingly be licensed to provide new and improved data for all.
Through these combined efforts, the U.S. continues to strengthen our
global leadership position in the development, launch, and operations
of Earth observation systems. Further, our ongoing efforts to develop
standards and infrastructure support the goal of interoperability and
widespread access to optimize the exploitation of all Earth observation
data.
Landsat will remain the indispensable ``tool in the toolbox'' for
decision support to government authorities and private sector decision-
makers. Its precision will calibrate other government, commercial, and
international observations. Its spectral and spatial characteristics
will complement the data generated by others and support new
information products and support services.
Landsat provides a domestic baseline capability that complements,
rather than competes with, other international systems. While other
systems may offer individual improvements in terms of spatial
resolution, temporal revisit, or spectral performance, Landsat, with
its five-decade record of robust collection, calibration and archiving,
and its longstanding service as a global reference to cross-calibrate
other missions, improves not only the quality of those systems but the
overall quality of the global ``system of systems''.
Conclusion
Landsat has experienced a remarkable surge in popularity and
continued relevance. In 2022, the USGS has fulfilled more requests for
Landsat data--at last count, more than 4 billion requests--than in the
entire previous 49-year history of the program. That demand for Landsat
data is linked to its global utility, free and open access in the
cloud, and most importantly, the program's unrelenting commitment to
maintaining the accuracy and precision of these data into the future.
It is that commitment to data quality that will perpetuate Landsat's
reputation as the gold standard for all civil and commercial land
imaging in the foreseeable future. I am excited about the future of
Landsat and appreciate the opportunity to speak with you all today.
Thank you.
[Appendix A: Example Images of Landsat scenes]
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WYOMING: This Landsat 8 image from the night of April 20, 2017,
shows a newly emerged thermal area, labeled New Feature (white pixels
indicate warmth), between the Tern Lake Thermal Area and West Tern Lake
in Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. Red triangles indicate
individual mapped thermal features, such as geysers or springs. Image
credit: U.S. Geological Survey.
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COLORADO: These images, using data acquired by Landsat 8 on the
morning of July 31, 2018, near Sterling in northeastern Colorado, show
natural color surface reflectance of agricultural fields on the left
and the actual evapotranspiration (ET) on the right. Evapotranspiration
is the quantity of water removed from surfaces by evaporation and plant
transpiration. The circles indicate center-pivot irrigation systems,
and evapotranspiration measurements can help land and water managers
make informed decisions about water use. Hay and corn are produced in
the area, among other crops.
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FLORIDA: Landsat 7 captured this image of the aftermath of
Hurricane Ian in southwestern Florida, including floodwater and
sediment in the ocean, on the morning of October 2, 2022. Sanibel
Island is shown at the center with Fort Myers Beach and Cape Coral to
the right. Naples is the gray urban area in the lower right.
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FLORIDA: Landsat 9 captured this image of the aftermath of
Hurricane Ian in southwestern Florida on the morning of October 6,
2022. Sanibel Island is shown in the center, with breaches in the
Sanibel Causeway that connects the island with the mainland. (White
clouds also appear in this image.)
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FLORIDA: Landsat 9 captured this image of the aftermath of
Hurricane Ian in eastern Florida on the morning of October 6, 2022. It
shows the coast and New Smyrna Beach, which experienced extensive
flooding.
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GEORGIA: Landsat 9 captured this image of the aftermath of
Hurricane Ian on the Georgia coast on the morning of October 6, 2022.
It shows the area of Brunswick, Georgia (top left), and sediment
spreading out from the shoreline.
Senator Hickenlooper. Right. Thank you. Dr. Abdalati.
STATEMENT OF WALEED ABDALATI, DIRECTOR,
COOPERATIVE INSTITUTE FOR RESEARCH IN
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; PROFESSOR, DEPARTMENT OF
GEOGRAPHY, UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO, BOULDER
Dr. Abdalati. Chair Hickenlooper, Ranking Member Lummis,
and Chair Cantwell, Ranking Member Wicker, and other members of
the Committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify today
on the very important matter of the future of U.S. satellite-
based Earth observations.
I greatly appreciate the work of this committee, and it is
also a privilege to be here with representatives from civilian
agencies and the private sector who develop and operate and
analyze the data for the good of the American people and for
the good of the world.
Observations from space serve us in many ways, from day to
day planning, to national security, to public health, to
resource management, to disaster management and recovery,
feeding our people and understanding--and understanding the
threats and challenges and opportunities associated with our
changing climate.
Some of the benefits are directly derived from the
observations themselves. You can just look and see, and but
many are derived from their integration with models and
complementary data. It is that ecosystem of information. That
is critical and satellites are a fundamental component of that.
Ultimately, however, these observations play a key role in
enabling and empowering us to understand what tomorrow will
bring, and whether that tomorrow is literally tomorrow or the
coming week, the next day or week, as the case is with weather
forecast, or whether it is the next growing or dry season, as
in the case of seasonal forecast, or years and decades down the
road, as is the case with climate projections.
This knowledge and information equip our Nation and society
as a whole for success in managing environmental challenges and
capitalizing on environmental opportunities. We have made
remarkable strides in Earth observation since the launch of the
first TIROS satellite more than 60 years ago, when it
transmitted its blurry images of Earth for two and a half
months.
These observations have become integral to our lives, and
there is still much to learn and tremendously important
benefits to be realized. The work of the agencies represented
here today has been indispensable in enabling us to understand
our environment, how it is changing, and what those changes
mean for life on earth.
They have done so by developing new observing technologies
and capabilities, as well as pioneering and supporting the use
of these capabilities for science and application purposes. And
the work of the private--the work the private sector has
brought forth has been innovative in developing ways of cost
effectively carrying those observations forward, providing data
and information that deliver great benefit to society.
This combined approach is important for continuing to
develop new technological and scientific innovations, and for
providing situational awareness needed to serve society, and
innovative and cost effective ways.
And finally, the engineering and science communities that
develop these capabilities and ensure their value is realized
need to be recognized and sustained, as this committee
certainly has and does.
Some of that community exists at universities like my own,
some at Federal and federally supported facilities, and others
in the private sector and elsewhere. But regardless of where
these talents reside, most share the simple fact that they were
initially cultivated at the Nation's colleges and universities.
So while investments in the development and use of these
capabilities are absolutely critical, investments in the
education and training of those who transform these visions and
aspirations into society serving realities is crucial as well.
Environmental intelligence, as former NOAA Administrator
Dr. Kathy Sullivan used to refer to it, positions our Nation
and society for success in the face of whatever lies ahead. The
space based observations ultimately deliver that intelligence
and associated insights in ways that greatly serve the citizens
of this country and the citizens of the world.
I thank you for your time and your attention on this very
important matter, and I apologize for reading from a computer,
but my written remarks are actually sitting in a taxi somewhere
that brought me here, so----
[Laughter.]
Dr. Abdalati. I am going to close this now and we can talk.
But I wanted to get it right, so thank you.
[The prepared statement of Dr. Abdalati follows:]
Prepared Statement of Waleed Abdalati, Director, Cooperative Institute
for Research in Environmental Sciences; Professor, Department of
Geography, University of Colorado, Boulder
Space-Based Earth Observations: Fundamental to Prosperity, Security,
and Resilience on Our Changing Planet
Chairwoman Cantwell, Ranking Member Wicker, and members of the
Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, thank you
for the opportunity to testify on the very important matter of the
future of U.S. satellite-based Earth observation. I greatly appreciate
the work of this committee and its bipartisan efforts to examine the
importance, state, and prospects for Earth observations from space. In
addition, it is a privilege to be here with representatives from
civilian agencies and the private sector who develop, operate, and
analyze these capabilities for the good of the American people, and for
the good of the world.
As we continue to live in a world in which our relationship with
the environment is critical to our success and prosperity, the value of
knowledge about our environment has never been more consequential. We
live on a changing planet, and space-based observations of Earth not
only provide us situational awareness that allows us to watch the story
of that change unfold, but they provide us the information needed to
understand the underlying causes, the evolution of their behaviors, and
the implications for the future. They provide essential situational
awareness and are a critical element of our national informational
infrastructure that allow us to thrive in the face of environmental
changes and challenges.
Satellite observations are a fundamental component of our everyday
lives (Figure 1), often in ways that many people don't realize,
strengthening our national security, supporting effective resource
management, advancing global health, and supporting our national
prosperity. These benefits directly result from the fact that satellite
observations provide the context, scale, and perspective needed to
understand our Earth environment in ways that can inform our actions to
optimize our relationship with the planet on which we live, by
understanding how it functions, adapting to and managing changes, and
capitalizing on opportunities.
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Figure 1: Many aspects of our individual and collective lives are
positively impacted by data from space-based resources, often in ways
that we do not recognize. SOURCES: Data available as follows: Helping
Plan Our Day--Lazo et al., 2009; comScore, 2014. Protecting Our
Health--WHO, 2016, 2017. Keeping Us Secure--Titley, 2016. Mitigating
Natural Disasters--GAO Highlights, 2017. Ensuring Resource
Availability--UN-Water, 2007; McKinsey Global Institute, 2017. Figure
from National Academy of Sciences Earth Science and Applications from
Space 2017 (NAS, 2018).
These capabilities are applicable to many domains of societal
interest that directly affect our economic and social well-being and
our strength as a nation. Here I will speak to just a few.
Water Resources
Water access and availability is perhaps the element that is most
impactful to our societal well-being. With implications in the United
States that go beyond simply access, into the domains of health, food
production, recreation, and so much more. Globally, the access to water
has further implications for migration and geopolitical stability
(National Intelligence Council, 2021). Domestically, in recent decades,
the western United States has been experiencing the worst drought in
1200 years (Williams et al., 2022). Comprehensive observations of the
elements that contribute to water transport and storage are required in
order to (a) fully appreciate the nature of this drought, (b)
understand the driving factors, (c) recognize the implications of the
stresses on our water resources, and (d) manage these resources most
effectively. Such observations are needed on a scale that is only
available from space.
I recently had the opportunity to join Senators Michael Bennett and
Mitt Romney on a short rafting trip down the Colorado River (Figure 2).
The purpose of that bi-partisan trip was to provide a shared first-hand
and up-close look at the water stresses in the Colorado river basin.
Also on the trip were a rancher, a water manager, a native tribal
leader, and others whose lives and livelihoods are tied to the water.
What was most striking about that trip was how low the water level was
and how slowly the water flowed. Our tour guides talked about how it
``used to be,'' with the relatively still water in the picture standing
in stark contrast to what used to be whitewater rapids. While those
anecdotes are accurate, to truly understand the situation requires a
broader view. One in which Landsat, along with other observing
capabilities, has played an important role. Figure 3 shows a time
sequence of the Colorado River near Lake Powell (a highly-stressed and
depleting reservoir). The sequence shows a reduction in water flowing
through the river over time, part of a longer trend. Our ability to
monitor the river width and flow, not just in this drought-stricken
region, help us understand the scope and scale of the reduced water and
put them into a broader context--the kind of context needed to manage
water effectively. The importance of this ability is underscored by the
fact that the Colorado River System alone provides essential water
resources to seven western states: Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, New Mexico,
Arizona, Nevada and California.
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Figure 2. Senators Romney (left) and Bennet (right) rafting on the
Colorado River on September 27, 2021. Photo: Spenser Heaps, Deseret
News
A key reason for the decreasing river flows is the fact that
typical mountain snows that feed and recharge the rivers in the spring
have been diminishing (Milly and Dunne, 2020). We know this too from
satellite observations, combined with a sampling of ground-based
measurements and hydrological models (informed by these observations)
that make clear that the spatial extent of the snow cover and the
associated water content are decreasing (Figure 4), and melt is
occurring earlier and more rapidly (Musselman et al., 2021). The result
is lower river levels, reduced soil moisture (Figure 5), fewer water
resources, and significant threats to agriculture, ranching, and
tourism.
Moving further below the surface still, there is a space-based
capability that allows us to go beyond the images of the surface (snow,
timing of melt, river flow, and lake extent), and examine what
subsurface storage. The Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE)
satellite, and its successor (GRACE-Follow-on), have measured actual
changes in sub-surface mass to provide an integrated assessment of
overall water storage and how it is changing with time. It does so by
measuring changes in the gravity field, which are directly tied to the
mass that lies beneath the satellites, which fluctuates with water
availability (Rodell et al., 2016). As shown in Figure 6, there has
been a drying trend in the Colorado River Basin
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Figure 3: Colorado River upstream of Lake Powell. The natural-color
images above were acquired in March 1999, April 2005, May 2011, and
April 2021 by the Landsat 5, 7, and 8 satellites. Springtime typically
marks the lowest water levels before mountaintop snow starts to melt
and run down into the watershed. The images capture years with the two
highest and lowest levels over the past 22 years.
(https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/148861/lake-powell-
reaches-new-low)
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Figure 4: Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) Image
of Rocky Mountain snow cover on April 7, 2022 (left) and map of snow
water equivalent (water stored as snow) in the Rocky Mountains on April
1, 2022, as compared to the 2000-2020 average.
https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/149779/taking-stock-of-
rocky-mountain-snowpack
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Figure 5: Soil moisture anomalies in the top meter of soil based in
part on measurements NASA's Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP)
satellite and vegetation indices from the Moderate Resolution Imaging
Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instruments on NASA's Terra and Aqua
satellites.
https://scitechdaily.com/long-term-drought-grips-the-western-u-s-
soils-and-plants-are-parched/
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Figure 6: Changing Freshwater Availability from GRACE, 2002-2015,
(Rodell et al., 2016)
In the immediate term, these observations and how they are used
enable us to manage challenges associated with water access as our
environment continues to change. In the longer term, their value is
further amplified through their ability to inform practices related to
farming, ranching, land use and more. As we observe and understand
trends in our environment, we are better positioned to anticipate what
the future holds in terms of water stresses and water availability.
This advanced knowledge is critical to successfully positioning
ourselves as a nation to manage the emerging challenges and capitalize
on emerging opportunities.
Fires and other Hazards and Extreme Events
The costs associated with natural hazards and extreme events has
been increasing significantly over the last 40 years (Figure 7). All of
these types of events listed below are those that can be observed,
predicted, understood, and most importantly, prepared for and managed
with the aid of space-based observations.
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Figure 7: Number of billion-dollar disasters in the United States
from 1980 to 2021. Each bar is colored to show the different types of
billion-dollar disasters with the number of events (left vertical axis)
and the associated costs (right vertical axis.). During the first nine
months of 2022 there have been fifteen separate billion-dollar weather
and climate disaster events. Figure is from NOAA National Centers for
Environmental Information (NCEI) at https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/
billions/time-series)
The parameters that drive or contribute to each of these disasters
is derivable from space, and their prediction depends critically on
space-based observations, integrated with ground-based measurements and
modeling capabilities. Perhaps the most familiar example is the
weather-related events, which are managed through weather forecasts
that integrate satellite observations with sophisticated weather
forecasting models.
Closely coupled to the above discussion on drought and water trends
is the prevalence and impact of fires in the United States. This is a
matter that literally hits close to home for me, as my town was
devastated by the loss of 1100 homes in Colorado's Marshall Fire in
December 2021. My family and I were forced to evacuate, and we returned
the next day to neighborhoods that was destroyed and devastated.
As with water resources, satellite observations allow us to go
beyond the local impacts to directly assess the presence and extent of
fires, the nature of their burn scars, the time of recovery, and the
trends in fires and their severity over the years. Moreover,
topographic maps, as well as population and residential distribution
maps, also supported by satellite images, complemented by weather and
wind forecasting, help us understand the vulnerability of communities
associated with fires. When coupled with drought information (such as
the soil moisture and vegetation information described above), the
susceptibility to fire can be assessed, both in real-time and in terms
of longer-term vulnerability.
An analysis of the Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity data set
(data set described in Eidenshink et al., 2007), which integrates
Landsat observations with Federal and state fire reports, have revealed
a significant increase in wildfires, particularly in the western U.S.
(Figures 8 and 9). When combined with population and development data,
the human and economic vulnerability of these regions can be
determined. With this increasing risk of fires and other natural
hazards, understanding the vulnerability is critical to informing
development and management strategies to limit the damage, and manage
its threats to lives and property. The satellite observations are
critical tools in doing so.
In the case of fires, an added capability, informed by space-based
observations of fire location and intensity, to support health and
disaster management is the modeling of smoke movement in the
atmosphere. The High Resolution Rapid Refresh Smoke (HRRR smoke) model
integrated satellite observations of atmospheric composition, and
meteorological conditions, to predict, with great accuracy, the
propagation of smoke during and after the Marshall Fire, enabling an
understanding of where health-risks were high, as was done for the Camp
Fire, California's most destructive fire in its history (Chow et al.,
2022). On a larger scale, it is possible to see not just smoke's
migration and impact on air quality, but also the movement of pollution
and its implications for visibility, temperature, air quality, and
wind.
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Figure 8: U.S. fires during the period 1984-1999 (Panel A) and
2005-2018 (Panel B). Small dots indicate nonextreme fires while extreme
fires are represented with larger orange (area burned >99th percentile
in 1984-1999) or red bubbles (area burned >99th percentile in 2005-
2018).'' The history of the aggregate fires and burned land, and their
associated trends, are shown in Figure 9 below.
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.abc0020
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Figure 9: Number of wildfires in the U.S. (left) and area burned
(right) from 1985 to 2015. The graphs are from https://www.ucsusa.org/
resources/infographic-wildfires-and-climate-change, and the underlying
data are from https://www.mtbs.gov.
While I have focused on drought and fires here, the same type of
utility applies to other types of disasters. In the case of flooding,
for example, the satellite observations (along with models) inform
precipitation amounts, location of precipitation, storm trajectories,
vulnerability to storm surges in coastal areas, river stage, landslide
potential, and threats to people.
The fundamental role of satellites goes beyond understanding the
level of risk and how it evolves over time (with Figure 8 providing a
clear example of information to inform such an assessment). They also
contribute to understanding the vulnerability to such risks in part
through observations of infrastructure and population distribution,
providing important information on how many people are in harm's way
and what the potential impacts of such disasters may be. And finally,
satellites play a key role in managing the aftermath of such disasters
to inform recovery responses and priorities, by providing observations
of the nature, location, and amount of damage, as well as the state of
access routes to enable effective response. (Le Cozannet et al., 2020).
Sea Level Rise
In a more global sense, but with direct ties to our Nation's
shores, oceans have been rising since the late 1800s (Church and White,
2011). While the rise in seas prior to the satellite era was observed
with tide gauges, it was difficult to accurately determine overall rate
of global sea level rise and impossible to determine its regional
character. It was not until the satellites provided global coverage
that it was possible to observe such information. Since the first
routine observations, beginning with the Topex mission in 1993, the
data have shown the global trends in sea level rise of 3.3 mm/yr (which
is higher than that of the previous century), as well as an increase in
the rate of sea level rise over the nearly 30-year record (Figure 10).
More important than the global sea level rise, however is its
spatial distribution, as some areas are rising more rapidly than the
global mean, and some are rising more slowly, even lowering in some
places (Figure 11). The nature of this distribution has to do with
where heat is stored in the oceans, the sources of sea level rise, and
the movement of the land in relation to forces acting on it--mainly
isostatic adjustment in response to land ice changes. Satellite
observations allow us to monitor the surface temperature and water
movement, which combined with models allows us to understand the heat
distribution and transport throughout the world's oceans. They also
provide information on the behavior of the Earth's glaciers and ice
sheets, the shrinking of which has been adding water to high-latitude
regions of the Earth, while at the same time resulting in an upward
movement of high-latitude land masses, and a lowering of land masses at
low latitudes, as the solid earth responds to the lightening of the
load near its polar regions.
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Figure 10: Global mean sea level rise from 1993-2022 derived from a
sequence of satellite altimeters.
(https://sealevel.colorado.edu)
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Figure 11: Regional trends in sea level rise for the 1993-2021
period.
(https://sealevel.colorado.edu)
All of these factors, observable and quantifiable from space,
provide a picture of the rate of sea level rise, its causes, its
regional distribution, and coastal vulnerability to storm surges. These
storm-surge events are also observable from space, predicted by
operational satellites, and the damage assessed by commercial and other
satellite observations.
Quantifying sea level rise, understanding its spatial variability,
assessing vulnerability, predicting coastal flooding, assessing the
damage, and informing recovery are critical to our national interests,
particularly considering that the effects of sea level rise on the
order of 1 meter by 2100 is conservatively predicted to result in costs
of hundreds of billions of dollars to the U.S. alone (Neuman et al.,
2015). Our understanding of vulnerability in this area and the likely
implications is all made possible by satellite observations, not just
of sea level rise itself, but of the factors that contribute to it, and
the factors that ultimately result in the water from these rising seas
invading our shorelines.
Sea ice
While much of what I have addressed to this point is tied to
phenomena that we see or feel directly in our country and on its
shores, there is another area, seemingly far removed from our everyday
lives, in which satellites have been absolutely critical in observing
change that has direct environmental, economic, and strategic impact.
That is the disappearance of Arctic sea ice. The layer of ice that
blankets the Arctic ocean is a driver in the weather and climate of
this nation, and has direct ties to economic and strategic interests.
Since 1978, we have been able to track the extent and concentration of
sea ice cover (Figure 12), using both civilian satellites and non-
classified data from defense satellites, and since 2003, we have also
been able to track its thickness (Figure 13). Both the extent and
thickness are changing in ways that will have a profound impact on how
we live and function.
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Figure 12: Annual extent of Arctic sea ice, at its minimum extent
each year (late September) for the period 1978-2022. Minimum extent is
indicative of the overall state, since it includes the ice that
survives the summer melt season
https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/5036
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Figure 13: Arctic sea ice volume calculated from ICESat, CryoSat-2
and ICESat-2 ice thickness fields, for February-March (in red) and
October-November (in blue). The Linear trends are calculated using
estimates from longer time series of ICESat and CryoSat-2. (Kacimi and
Kwok, 2022)
From a weather and climate perspective, modern civilization has
never known an ice-free Arctic in the summertime, yet we are likely
headed to such a state in the coming decades (Liu et al., 2022). The
implications range from a disruption in the Earth's radiation balance,
as the darker ice-free water absorbs more sunlight than is the case in
its ice-covered state, to changes in ocean circulation and associated
weather and climate phenomena, as the melting ice freshens the Arctic
waters. The impacts for North America of these changes could be felt on
time scales of days (weather), to months (seasonal climate), to years
and decades. Successfully managing these changes requires information
on where and how they are occurring, as well as information on the
associated changes in the atmosphere and ocean--all of which are
supported by space-based observations.
From an economic standpoint, an ice-free Arctic can offer
tremendous commercial and trade opportunities, as the Arctic ocean
becomes seasonally navigable, greatly reducing the transport costs
between North America and Asia. Understanding the navigability, and
planning out the most cost-effective routes, however, requires
situational awareness, which requires observations that only satellites
can provide. One of the challenges in observing the Arctic is that it
is frequently cloud-covered. Many of our Arctic-observing satellites
operate in the microwave portion of the electromagnetic spectrum, which
allows them to see through clouds, enabling the tracking of sea ice,
and assessment of its thickness, and navigability. As the shrinking
trend of Arctic sea ice continues, an understanding of that trend can
inform investments into Arctic navigation capabilities that could
ultimately have tremendous economic payoff.
From a strategic sense, an ice-free Arctic and increased economic
activity, creates an exposed marine border and vulnerable operations in
the Arctic that will require the kind of security considerations and
management that has not been necessary in the past. Such management
will require situational awareness on scales that are best achieved
through satellite coverage.
It is important to recognize that the behavior of sea ice, as is
the case with sea level rise, occurs on scales that require
observations that span hundreds, even thousands, of kilometers. Such
observations are far beyond the capability of any sea-faring vessel.
The satellites provide the scale of observation, and the context and
perspective of change against a broader Earth system backdrop, to truly
understand the nature, causes, and implications of such changes. It is
also worth noting, with regard to the monitoring of Arctic sea ice and
the shrinking high-latitude ice, the orbits of polar-orbiting or near-
polar-orbiting satellites converge in the polar regions, offering far
more frequent coverage then they do at lower latitudes, thus from a
sampling perspective, polar regions are well-suited to satellite
monitoring.
National Security
Finally, another extremely important dimension of U.S. interests,
in which satellite observations are essential is in the national
security space. Understanding threats to military infrastructure
requires knowledge of the kind described above. As one example, the
Norfolk Naval Station is the largest in the world, and because of its
situation in coastal Virginia, the risks associated with sea level rise
are of great importance. The assets that observe sea level rise and
inform predictions, as well as observations that enable weather
forecasting and climate projections have direct implications for this
base and its operations. Other facilities are similarly subject to a
range of environmental exposure for which knowledge of risks is
essential for effective operations. Another domain in which satellite
observations are very important is with respect to the theater of
operations in conflicts involving U.S. forces. Knowledge in this domain
requires intelligence on conditions on the ground and in the air, and
how they will evolve throughout the operations period. In addition, the
risks of conflict, which are driven by such matters as drought,
resources, food access, etc., are informed by the access and
information provided by satellite observations. Understanding
population migration, strategic actions of parties of interest, all
benefit from space-based observations. Many of these are acquired in
the domain of the intelligence community and Department of Defense, but
there are capabilities, such as weather forecasts, that are enabled by
observations in the civil space domain that either fill gaps in or
complement those in the classified domain.
This year the Office of the Director of National Intelligence
(ODNI) released The Annual Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence
Committee (ODNI, 2022) in which it categorizes threats to National
Security interests into eight topic areas:
China,
Russia,
Iran,
North Korea,
Health Security,
Climate Change and Environmental Degradation,
Additional Transnational Issues, and
Conflicts and Instability.
While the management of each of these threats benefit to some
degree from space-based observations, Health Security and Climate
Change and Environmental Degradation stand out as relying heavily on
civilian satellite observations to enable their understanding and
support predictions of future conditions and future threats. Similarly,
as described above, assessing and anticipating conflicts and
instability are supported by such observations as well. With regard to
climate change specifically, the 2021 National Intelligence Estimate
(National Intelligence Council, 2021) further supports the importance
of understanding climate change in a national security context.
Sustaining Important Observations
The capabilities in space-based Earth observations have advanced
tremendously over the last two decades, with companies such as Maxar,
Tomorrow.io, IceEye, Planet, Capella, and others developing
capabilities with direct applications for commercial and government
markets. These capabilities do--or will--provide robust and timely
monitoring of fundamental Earth system parameters that include visible
and thermal imaging, precipitation monitoring, all-weather surface
conditions, surface deformation, etc. These efforts are quite
impressive and represent a significant advance in the Nation's
capabilities to make cost-effective, economically valuable observations
of the state of the Earth for various applications. There remain
challenges however for securing important Earth observations for which
there is great societal need, but no viable commercial business model.
While the economic value of imagery, for example is intuitive, there
are some variables needed to advance science, and that have a less
direct benefit to specific applications of the sort that would generate
paying customers.
While it may seem that such observations could be sustained by
operational agencies, this is often not the case. Once NASA-sponsored
efforts have demonstrated success in such observations, the resource-
limited operational agency investments are, appropriately, targeted at
fulfilling their operational function, such as weather forecasting, in
the case of NOAA, or land surface change and land-resource management
in the case of USGS. There are variables that are vitally important to
our success as a nation and society in planning for an evolving future
state, but that don't have an operational benefit that directly aligns
with these agencies' core mission and that don't lend themselves to
commercial viability. Some examples of the most critical include:
carbon monitoring to understand the evolution of carbon, its
sources and sinks and its implications for atmospheric warming,
precipitation amount and type, to better understand
precipitation processes, which are critical for assessing
drought, flooding, and water availability,
mass change to track the movement of water throughout the
Earth, including aquifer depletion and replenishment, as well
as ice sheet and glacier changes and their impacts on sea level
rise,
the monitoring of incoming and outgoing radiation to assess
the Earth's energy balance, and the degree of warming and
cooling and how it varies with time and space,
stratospheric ozone, to assess exposure potential to harmful
ultraviolet radiation,
tropospheric ozone, to understand the health risks
associated with increases,
soil moisture to assess water availability (and its
evolution) for plant growth and drought conditions, and
ocean salinity, to improve understanding of ocean
circulation characteristics and the movement of heat by and
through the ocean, in particular between the equator and the
poles.
There are other variables of interest, and in some cases, the
military satellite observations provide data for civilian purposes
(such as ocean winds). In other cases, private foundations provide
support for very specific applications (e.g., methane and carbon
dioxide monitoring). We also rely on international partners for some
measurements that are not part of the U.S. portfolio, as has
historically been the case for synthetic aperture radar for example and
will be the case for upcoming atmospheric composition observations.
U.S. Leadership
The United States has pioneered many space-based Earth observations
and has also effectively partnered with international agencies to
advance Earth observation and understanding. NASA has invested in and
developed various technologies and capabilities that have pushed
technological and scientific boundaries. Some of these sensors have
transitioned to the operational communities; some have been taken on by
the private sector, and some have been carried forward by international
organizations. In this way, U.S. leadership in space-based observations
has produced tremendous benefits for our Nation and humankind. Success
in the future requires a continued innovation on the technical and
scientific fronts, as well as on the programmatic front. This is where
the broader space-based Earth observing enterprise requires investments
in the research and development (primarily NASA), development and
operational use (agencies such as NOAA and the USGS), and the
innovation of the private sector, bringing low-cost approaches to
critical observational needs. The challenge is that, while each of
these entities does its part and does it well, there are significant
gaps in the broader Earth observing enterprise that will impair our
ability to anticipate and prepare for environmental challenges and
opportunities that lie ahead.
In addition, U.S. leadership is challenged by the limited degree of
domestic talent to work on such capabilities. There is currently a
great deal of competition for the appropriate skilled workforce across
all related disciplines in science and engineering, with some of the
various smaller start-up companies providing significant competition
for the larger more established entities (such as NASA centers or the
larger contractors). On the one hand, this is very good, as these
start-ups introduce novelty and ingenuity into the pursuits, but at the
same time, a robust workforce that supports a diverse set of
capabilities is essential for U.S. leadership in this arena.
The needs are primarily in basic engineering--aerospace,
mechanical, electrical, computer, etc., which includes robotics and
autonomy, and the universities remain the key source for entry-level
engineers. The limiting factor, however, is at the mid-career level
engineers who, in addition to their domain expertise and capabilities
in systems engineering. In other words, people who are able to put all
the components together to deliver a successful project. In addition,
it is important that these systems engineers have a basic understanding
of the science and applications for which these systems are being
developed, so trade-offs can be assessed. Talent in this area is in
high demand and of limited supply. They are aggressively sought by all
types of organizations (small start-ups, large contractors, NASA
centers, etc.), and competition is high. In some cases, the domestic
labor workforce is not sufficient to meet these needs, and
international talent needs to be brought in. For the U.S. space-based
Earth observation enterprise, the challenges are not so much at the
entry level, but in the availability of seasoned mentors, to help these
entry-level engineers evolve into project leadership roles.
Conclusion
These are just a few examples of the critical importance that
space-based observations play in our lives and how they contribute to
our livelihoods, safety, and prosperity. There are too many to
comprehensively address for this hearing, but these examples make the
point that such observations can positively impact how we live in a
day-to-day sense, how we thrive as a nation, and how we succeed as a
society on a changing planet. The benefits from such observations are
realized in many sectors. Among them are:
everyday citizens, who rely on forecasts in such areas as
weather and air quality to plan their days and even week's
activities and make health risk exposure choices,
the insurance industry, who relies on observations of risk,
damage, and vulnerability to effectively insure the properties
of people subject to potential environmental threats,
land resource managers, who require intelligence on resource
availability, risks and trends,
water managers, who require information on current and
predicted water availability, drought, usage, and related
resources,
coastal managers, who require information on sea level rise,
land subsidence or uplift, coastal erosion, and storm
forecasts,
urban planners, who need to understand vulnerability of
populations and structures to weather and climate related
events, so they can plan accordingly,
the transportation sector such as aviation and shipping (on
land, sea, and via rivers), who need to understand and manage
the navigability of rivers, the skies, and the oceans, all of
which have tremendous impacts on supplies and costs of goods,
farmers, who need to know the degree to which factors
affecting crop health, crop yield and optimum times for
planting and harvesting,
ranchers, who similarly need to know the health of lands for
grazing,
the recreation industry (e.g., skiing, rafting, etc.), who
rely on information about snowpack, river flow, vegetation
health, etc. to plan their operations,
those managing disaster response, who need to know avenues
for evacuation and access;
the military and national security community, who need to
understand threats to their resources, potential areas of
resource-driven environmental conflict, conditions in theaters
of operations, and potential vulnerability of U.S. assets, and
elected officials and other policymakers who rely on
credible information for policies such as resource management,
Federal flood insurance, rebuild vs. relocate decisions.
It is clear that space-based observations of Earth improve lives,
enable us to manage environmental challenges, and provide great
economic benefit. They do so by providing the context, scale, and
perspective needed to characterize, understand, anticipate, manage, and
respond to change. In so doing, they enable--and empower--individual,
national, and societal success.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify and for your commitment to
this important topic.
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Senator Hickenlooper. Thank you. Dr. Abdalati. And I was
impressed that you were using--you know, not killing trees like
the rest of us. I appreciate that. I now turn it over to our
Chair Cantwell, who is an expert in her own right in not just
technology, but in aerospace.
STATEMENT OF HON. MARIA CANTWELL,
U.S. SENATOR FROM WASHINGTON
The Chair. Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman. And thank you,
and to Senator Lummis, for holding this important hearing, and
to our witnesses adding a lot of insight and valuable
information about the success and opportunities for us in this
area.
We know that the unmatched scientific legacy of the U.S.
Geological Survey's Landsat program and the key partnerships
that they have had with NASA have been successful. And of
course, NASA being in the news now with the landmark Artemis I
mission, which just reached a point at almost 270,000 miles
from Earth, farther than any other human related spacecraft. I
would like to start by congratulating them, NASA, and their
Artemis program, as well as the workforce in my state and
across the Nation who participated in this.
With 42 Washington companies contributing components for
Artemis, our State remains an aerospace leader and NASA is
keeping the United States in a world leadership position here
as well. NASA, of course, does a lot more than explore space,
and since its founding, it has had a mission to help us
understand Earth, a mission shared by the USGS and the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
And for over 50 years, these agencies have been working
with their academic and commercial partners and giving the U.S.
a leadership role in developing and deploying satellite based
remote sensing systems for monitoring the Earth. Now, I can't
tell you how important we feel this is today.
In the case of Landsat, publicly available data yielded
over $2 billion in annual benefits to U.S. users, and over $1
billion in annual benefits to users outside the United States.
The total global Earth observation commercial market is
projected to be almost $8 billion by 2030. You may have gone
over all this data, OK.
But this data, these services, this market represents
sustained growth and opportunities, particularly in areas like
agriculture, to crop insurance, to urban planning, and a very
important subject for us in the Northwest and my colleagues
here on this committee, wildfires.
In Washington, the data and processes of information by
NOAA Western Regional Center in Seattle, which houses offices
for the National Weather Service and National Environmental
Satellite Data and Information Services, data from these
offices are invaluable in helping us cope with these increasing
wildfires.
During the season, and my colleagues I know in Western
States saw this, an unbelievable increase in these instances.
For example, the Bolt Creek Fire burned approximately 15,000
acres on the East of Seattle in King County.
We are used to having these fires on the other side of the
Cascades, on the East side of the Cascades. We are not so used
to having them on the West side of the Cascades. And Earth
observation data were essential for real time fire mapping
measurements, part of suppression in assessing post-hazard
burns.
This is incredibly important because in this particular
area it is very steep and it is one of our two highway passes
across the Cascades, and without that data and information, nor
that highway, it becomes very precarious.
So looking forward, we know that there is going to be a
growing need around wildland fire prediction and long term
adaptation. We must be vigilant about these fires. And
residents who just suffered through the Bolt Creek fires have
to worry now about landslides, which is why this--all of this
information, as those of you who are involved in this already
know, that that kind of fire damage leaves you very, very
vulnerable.
So the United States must continue to sustain its growth in
Earth observation capabilities in alignment with our community
needs and scientific consensus, and the symbolic development of
research and operational capabilities managed by NASA, NOAA,
and USGS will, I believe, remain very critical to how the
partners in the private sector also develop.
So I look forward to having an opportunity, Mr. Chairman--
you know, I don't want to get ahead of you and Senator Lummis
on questions, but thank you to the witnesses, and thank you for
holding the hearing.
Senator Hickenlooper. Madam Chair, I think you are
probably--your schedule, I can only imagine it. So if you would
like to go first with questions, I think that is alright with
me.
Senator Lummis. Absolutely.
Senator Hickenlooper. Ranking Member Lummis concurs.
The Chair. OK. So to our--Dr. Volz, thank you for being
here, virtually I guess. I wanted to--could you speak how
infrastructure funding that was part of the bipartisan
infrastructure law, Fire Ready Nation Act of 2020 to strengthen
NOAA's fire weather service capabilities, are helping us with
the fire and keeping residents safe? And what else do you think
we need to do to help expand this capacity within NOAA?
Dr. Volz. Thank you, ma'am, for the question. It is an
excellent question, and we definitely appreciate the disaster
supplemental funds, which provided the resources to us.
So with those particular funds in the supplemental, we have
been able to accelerate the delivery--the development and
delivery of some fire products which take the information we
get from our geostationary satellite GOES-R, and modeling--and
working with our National Weather Service with modeling to make
a better use of those products to our fire emergency managers,
but also into such services as our high resolution rapid
refresh model, which allows us to forecast the propagation of
smoke and other effects that are coincident with the fire.
These are products that were in the pipeline that we know
we are ready to do, but we were resource limited, and we were
able to accelerate them, for example, with the inclusion of
these disaster supplemental funds.
Looking forward, we definitely have seen the increase in
the fire events and our next generation--we have a number of
other products which we are continuing to improve, but in the
next generation geostationary satellite, for example, the
GeoXO, we have particularly targeted bands which are better
focused on fire initiation and have increased the resolution on
those so that we will be able to spot smaller fires faster and
then give fire emergency managers a quicker response time to
those fires.
And one of the amazing facts in my mind was that we are
able to contain roughly 97 percent of the fires that occur, but
those 3 percent we don't contain in the first hours are the
ones that lead to the bulk of the damage around the country.
So if we can even improve that by 1 percent, we can
significantly reduce the impact of major fires around--in the
West and elsewhere in the U.S.
The Chair. So what do we need to do to execute on that from
a satellite point--?
Dr. Volz. Well, we are continuing the development of the
products and services. We are using the supplemental funds. But
also GeoXO is now--it is in our program and is not confirmed
yet. It is ready for the next step.
And we are actually taking it to the Department of Commerce
in the next two weeks for the next step in initiation, and we
hope to be able to--it will require funding for the first
launch, will be in 2032.
And we will take the time between now and then to develop
those satellites and to prepare the weather service and all of
the whole ecosystem, as Dr. Abdalati said, of managers and
responders to deal with the increased data when we get it. It
is important that we get the investments to supplement and to
deliver the next generation of enhanced observations that will
meet the growing need.
The Chair. Well, this doesn't--I mean, I mean, I know look,
there is a lot of satellite use and a lot of interest that
people have. But in this case, we get from the Weather Service
every, usually by May and then maybe an update later in the
summer, this is where the hot spots are going to be.
They already have their projections. Here is who is really
going to be at the brunt of this, you know, with weather
forecast. So sometimes it might be Wyoming and it might be
Colorado, and sometimes it is Washington and Oregon.
And even, you know, you can get a map that is very red in
Alaska, and you are thinking, how can this be? But I know that
my colleagues from Alaska can tell you it is real. They have
had fires up there they never predicted.
So at that time, we would then dedicate satellite
monitoring to say whatever those hot spots would be for a
period of, what, a month, 2 months? So we literally would be
calling out, you know, calling out these fires. What--describe
what it is that we would do? I stumped our witness. I think
they--I think they got----
Senator Hickenlooper. He might have gotten frozen.
The Chair. Yes. There you go. Can you hear us, Mr.--Dr.
Volz?
Dr. Volz. I can hear you now. I am sorry. You froze for
just a second. So, yes, I hear you.
The Chair. OK. My question was, are we targeting--we need
satellite capability to target certain areas for, like, months
at a time, I guess is the question?
Dr. Volz. No, I would say that is a misrepresentation that
the GOES--the geostationary satellites are observing all the
time, 24/7 with no interruption.
You mentioned the forecasting for a seasonal and the like,
and that, we don't change our satellite assets to observe those
differently based on high vulnerability versus low
vulnerability, but it allows the communities to preposition to
prepare emergency responses to those areas that may be listed
as higher vulnerability.
What we can do, improve forecasting, ecosystem forecasting,
understanding the health, the vegetation health, the soil
moisture content, the general ecosystem, environmental factors
to give even more higher resolution and higher?
[Technical problems.]
The Chair. Better broadband.
[Laughter.]
The Chair. Well, Mr. Chairman, I will--I think the point
here I would make if Dr. Volz was back with us is just, so
there is no reason why we shouldn't do this. So this is going
to save us money. The three of us know how much fire damage is
costing us.
And if you can prevent some of it by what we say are
activities of hasty response, and if we can use our geo-system
to do that, let's do it. So thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Senator Hickenlooper. Thank you. And I think that is, that
sense of when you get to a fire soon enough, you dramatically
transform the damage done.
The one thing you learn, every Governor in the West learns
is that if you can get there in that first few hours when it is
smoldering before it breaks into a blaze, you have got a very
good chance of controlling it. Let me switch a little bit.
Dr. Calvin, how will NASA and the Earth Information Center,
this is the news Senator Bill Nelson talked about in 2021,
coordinate with other Federal agencies to address priorities,
wildfires, but methane emissions, land use?
So much of this, and I think you all could speak on this in
terms of the great challenges to orchestrate and to integrate
all the different sources of data. So, speak to that, if you
can start.
Dr. Calvin. Yes. Thank you. And thank you for the question.
I think what we all recognize is that there is increasing
challenges. We have just been talking about wildfire and there
is other agriculture and droughts, and we have a lot of
information both at NASA and other Federal agencies.
And the idea behind the Earth Information Center is to
bring that together and make that information accessible to
people so that they can respond to the challenges they are
seeing in their communities. And there are a lot of
complementary sets of information or all around the Federal
Government.
One of the prototypes that we are thinking of for the Earth
Information Center is around greenhouse gas in monitoring and
measurement. And here there is an interagency working group
that has been actively working together on how you can bring
that data together.
So how can you take the activity based inventories produced
by EPA and combine it with satellite based observations from
NASA, and other ground and surface space observations from
other agencies and bring that all together to provide more
complete information.
And so we look forward to working with our Federal partners
to make that a reality.
Senator Hickenlooper. You know, and I am old enough, I
think I am the only person here that is old enough to remember
when Landsat first delivered images, real images. Before we had
seen it in movies.
We had various art directors' perspective, what they
thought it would look like, but it was so different when we saw
it. And, you know, it really is to this day one of the most--to
remember back to how amazingly transformational it was in our
consciousness. It is hard to imagine today.
Mr. Jablonsky obviously there has been a rise in the
commercial small sats, these constellations of small
satellites, and a number of companies such as Maxar have
demonstrated the ability to produce high resolution, very high
resolution earth observation data.
What can small sats, if that is a word, it must be the word
because it is written here--what can small sats with higher
resolution imagers, how can they provide targeted observations
over specific areas of interest? And what are some of the--what
is an example of that?
Mr. Jablonsky. Well, thanks, Senator. I think probably the
best way to tee that up would be to describe the vast amount of
data coming in from the commercial, as well as Government
satellites, and how that is being, you know, dealt with to
make--to help decisionmakers take action on it in a fairly
rapid fashion.
So, for example, Maxar's satellites have 30 centimeter
pixel size, so that anything with a, you know, larger than 30
centimeters in a frame becomes visible. That means we can not
only see, but using artificial intelligence algorithms, count
all the cars in a city in a single satellite pass and do that
in seconds because of the revolutions that we have had in cloud
computing, as well as machine learning algorithms and
artificial intelligence in recent years.
It has been demonstrably, I think, very effective in
matching that type of data with weather patterns, for example,
to then help fight wildfires in the West. So not only
understanding where the fires are, but when you overlay weather
patterns and terrain and elevation and difficulty and road
networks and where resources are, figure out the best way to
rapidly minimize the damages and impacts that might be
happening while keeping life safe.
Because when people go out into the field, if they are on
the wrong upslope and the wind changes, you know, that is when
you can have a loss of emergency responders' lives. So, Maxar
and other commercial providers collect massive amounts of the
planet every day--millions and millions of square kilometers
and terabytes and petabytes of data.
And it is too much for any one human to get through, so
getting that data into the right places, making it accessible
through cloud enabled environments and Internet enabled
environments, so that the first responders in a command center
in Wyoming or Colorado can get to that information quickly, and
then overlay their decisions on to it, is what we are working
on.
Senator Hickenlooper. Perfect. Dr. Abdalati, you have a
great deal of experience working with NASA and NOAA. C.U.
Boulder now has a research partnership with NOAA. Can you
discuss the importance of interagency coordination to federally
funded Earth observation missions, and maybe a concise
suggestion or two for improvement?
Dr. Abdalati. Well, certainly the coordination is
absolutely critical because we have on, you know, upstream of
the effort is the development of the technology, testing of the
technologies, then deployment of the technologies to learn how
to observe the parameters we need to observe.
And then further downstream, as you see in the case of
Landsat, for example, are the satellites that support weather
forecasting. We have the use of those capabilities to advance
science, to advance applications, to provide information that
inform our day to day planning.
So the spectrum of activities from discovery, and
discovering how to discover, is at one end to the other end of
using the information, turning that into something of direct
value to people. So that doesn't happen with just NASA doing
its part and then kicking it over to USGS or kicking it over to
NOAA.
There needs to be this reach across agencies, and it does
exist, where at the user end of things, more operational end of
that continuum, the needs are articulated so that NASA further
upstream can be working toward delivering something that can be
of use.
And at the same time, as new capabilities emerge and are
being developed, the operational agencies need to be aware of
what the potential is. So that integration is absolutely
critical. And as far as improving it, I will say this, it works
well in an interaction sense.
Where I would suggest improvements is there are still
things that fall through the cracks because NOAA, USGS has its
mission--have their missions. NASA has its capabilities that it
develops. And when the mission centric perspective, as is
appropriate, is exercised by the agencies, they are looking at,
OK, what do I have to fulfill my mission?
There are observations that need to be done, that need to
be continued, that don't quite fit into the operational space,
but have been developed and continue to be developed by NASA.
And finding a way to keep those going, even though they support
knowledge, they support understanding our planet and how it
operates, don't necessarily map to the operational function of
the agency.
So some overarching entity that says, this is what the
enterprise needs to carry out and I think that will improve it.
Senator Hickenlooper. I appreciate that. Thank you. Ms.
Lummis.
Senator Lummis. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Dr. Calvin, one of
the things that our committee has been focused on is the
growing concern about orbital debris. Is there a threat posed
to the Landsat Program by growing amounts of orbital debris? Is
this something you are focused on?
Dr. Calvin. So at NASA, people think about this, and we
agree that it is important to ensure that space is usable for
years to come. Space debris and mega constellations are an
issue that need to be addressed by U.S. leadership. And I think
I can refer other colleagues within my agency for more
information on that.
Senator Lummis. Thank you very much. Dr. Abdalati, being
from the West, you know well the dangers of not only drought,
but also some surprise flooding from snowpack melt in Wyoming.
We saw a lot of damage this spring around Yellowstone
National Park, where we had a surprisingly rapid snow melt due
to some unseasonably warm weather, and rain simultaneously. And
so are there ways that Landsat can help mitigate these sorts of
disasters?
Dr. Abdalati. Well, the mitigation--what we can do is
observe as they unfold. So we can mitigate the management of
those kinds of disasters and preparation.
And it is not just Landsat, it is other observations
because it requires understanding the potential for rain. You
know, how much water is in the atmosphere? How much is going to
fall out? How much snow, we call it snow water equivalent, is
stored in the mountain. So, you mentioned rain.
Rain makes melt happen much faster. It is a much more
efficient energy delivery system for melt. So it really
requires the monitoring and forecasting of rainfall,
temperature, the rate at which it will occur, the topography,
because the runoff of the water dictates or is a big driver and
flooding as well.
So all of those elements combined. Certainly Landsat is a
component of it, but there is much more to be observed.
Senator Lummis. Thank you. Mr. Gallagher, as you know,
Wyoming is rich in oil, gas, coal, uranium. It is my
understanding that using images from Landsat, we were able to
determine the subsurface composition of minerals and other
deposits based on above ground particles.
Certainly it is true with uranium. We see that in Fremont
County, Wyoming, as well as some other counties. How is the
data collected by Landsat Program making our natural resource
location and extraction more efficient, pinpointing it a little
better?
Mr. Gallagher. Good. Thank you for the question. So, yes,
it is true that the superficial geology, if you know the
superficial geology, then it can tell you whether or not it is
complimentary for minerals and oil and gas.
Landsat has some spectral bands that provide some--certain
information about the surface. More broadly at USGS, we have
other sensors that can do that as well. So in my mission area,
I partner with the Energy and Minerals Mission Area on a
project we call Earth MRI.
So we are flying airborne instrumentation that is
electromagnetic data that lets us see into the subsurface for
the identification of critical minerals. So I just cite that as
an example.
As my colleague said, they are really multiple sensors that
give you that kind of information, both on the surface and
subsurface, and Landsat has a role.
Senator Lummis. Thank you. Dr. Volz, are you still there?
Can you hear me?
Dr. Volz. Yes, I can hear you fine. Go ahead.
Senator Lummis. Thanks. I want to expand on a question that
was asked earlier. Are there data sets that can be used to help
us combat wildfires in real time? As Chairman Hickenlooper
stated, you know, if we can catch them early enough, we can
really contain the damage. And I am curious about whether data
sets can be used in that way?
Dr. Volz. What Dr. Abdalati just said a few minutes ago--
Yes, we are getting--we are getting a lot of feedback.
Dr. Volz. All right, OK. But yes.
Senator Lummis. OK. Good, good. You answered my question.
And--Yes. And then you reference up Dr. Abdalati's name, so I
wonder if I might turn to elucidate a little bit.
Dr. Abdalati. Yes, I am sorry, can you restate? You are
asking if there are data sets that can be used?
Senator Lummis. Yes, that can help us identify in real time
wildfire potential or----
Dr. Abdalati. Oh, certainly. You know, and in fact, I
personally, my neighborhood was destroyed by the Marshall Fire
in Colorado. We lost 1,100 homes. Mine was not one of them.
There was a lot of smoke damage.
But personally, as we were evacuating, I with my daughter
and my coughing dog, I just looked around at how dry the land
was and felt the wind, you know. And so it is information on
wind speeds. It is information on drought.
Soil moisture is key because while it was likely human
ignited fire, as most wildfires are, the conditions for the
fuel for it were in the dryness of the soil and the vegetation,
the winds that just caused it to rip through the neighborhood,
the area.
So data sets are soil moisture, information on vegetation
so we understand its health, how dry it is, is it kindling or
is it, you know, green. Winds, precipitation, and all of these
can be derived from not solely or exclusively, but from
satellite observations, as some of which were mentioned here.
Landsat is a great element of that system. But there are
also things like forecasting winds and understanding soil
moisture and other data sets. So, yes, it is an integration of
capability.
Senator Lummis. Thank you. And can I ask one more quick
question? Do I have time for that?
Senator Hickenlooper. Sure.
Senator Lummis. Mr. Jablonsky, is there a way the private
sector can work with the public sector's data sets and
information to provide even more information?
Mr. Jablonsky. Thank you, Senator. Absolutely. For example,
on a private sector satellite, WorldView 3, we have over 20
multispectral bands, including shortwave infrared sensors.
And those shortwave infrared sensors can actually see
through the smoke to determine the boundaries of a wildfire,
where the hotspots are and help the teams on the ground as
determined. It can also tell you when you think you have got a
fire out, where you still have localized hotspots that you
might need to take care of or work on.
And then Maxar and other commercial companies have weather
desk type abilities. So, for example, our weather prediction
capabilities are used commercially, but can also be used by
Governments to determine crop health, to figure out economic
indicators, and in areas like this, think about what a
propagation pattern might look like in a localized area.
Senator Lummis. Thank you, panel. Really appreciate your
testimony.
Senator Hickenlooper. Great. Senator Blumenthal.
STATEMENT OF HON. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL,
U.S. SENATOR FROM CONNECTICUT
Senator Blumenthal. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Appreciate all
of you on the panel being with us today. My guess is that not a
lot of Americans understand or appreciate the immense value of
the work that Landsat and similar kinds of systems do for our
country, not to mention the vast potential value that they can
add in terms of our understanding of the planet and our efforts
to save it.
Connecticut's coastline, as you probably know, has a number
of expansive estuaries like Long Island Sound that are teeming
with flora and fauna, with other kinds of ecosystems that are
threatened by global warming and human development, and natural
disasters, and more. Landsat has been instrumental in better
understanding Connecticut's waterways.
In 2018, the Interstate Environmental Commission studied
hypoxia, as you know, there are zones lacking oxygen,
indicating poor water quality in Long Island Sound, using
Landsat data to help determine the contributing factors to that
problem. And Landsat data has also been used to examine ocean
conditions and so forth.
My question has to do with how accessible this data is to
ordinary Americans, to environmental groups, to the public in
general. I think you may have touched on this, Dr. Calvin, in
one of your answers to Senator Hickenlooper, but perhaps you
could elaborate on how this data can be made more publicly
available and accessible to people who are interested in it,
like citizens groups, environmental advocates, and others.
And I would be interested in views that others may have on
that same question.
Dr. Calvin. Yes. Thank you for the question. So all of
NASA's satellite observations are publicly available, but one
of the things we are working on at NASA is making them more
accessible. They are often large datasets. You need a lot of
technical expertise.
So some of the things we are doing is moving some of these
to the cloud so that you don't need a supercomputer, and
providing more trainings on the data, including some in Spanish
language.
And then when I was answering Senator Hickenlooper's
question earlier about the Earth Information Center, so part of
what we are doing is trying to make it more accessible to the
public.
And just one example of a tool we have now, we have a sea
level rise tool, so you can look at coastal cities around the
U.S. or around the world and see how much sea level has risen
till now and how much it might rise in the future.
And we are continually working to make sure our data sets
are usable to people and accessible.
Senator Blumenthal. Others have comments? If not, Dr.
Calvin, I am interested in the work that you have done on food
and water. Can you talk generally about what we are seeing and
learning about water quality in the United States, quantity and
quality of water?
Dr. Calvin. So we are seeing changes in the water cycle in
general, more heavy precipitation events, more droughts. And a
lot of what we can see with NASA's satellite observations, we
can monitor and observe those changes.
And so we have talked a little bit earlier today about how
we can see things like soil moisture and better understand
that. We have a satellite launching 2 weeks from today called
the Surface Water and Ocean Topography Mission, and this will
provide us the first global survey of water running through
rivers and lakes.
So any river larger than 100 meters in width, we will be
able to see that. And then for oceans, we will get a better
understanding of ocean circulation. And all of those things
impact food.
So a lot of, you know, water scarcity work is looking at
how much water do we have available, which the Surface Water
and Ocean Topography Mission will tell us. And then we also
need to know how much water we need.
And so some of the other satellites that NASA has that can
give us information about irrigation needs and soil moisture
would be important for that as well.
Senator Blumenthal. You expect that that kind of analysis
and factual collection will indicate some solutions, some steps
we ought to take?
Dr. Calvin. You know, the goal with NASA is to provide the
information in an actionable ways that people can use that as
their own to inform their decisionmaking. And so we will be
working with stakeholders and users to understand what their
questions are and provide information that is relevant to
those.
Senator Blumenthal. Thank you. Thanks very much, Mr.
Chairman.
Senator Hickenlooper. Thank you. Now I have a question, a
couple of questions more. I don't know--I suspect a Ranking
Member Lummis might have a question extra.
Senator Lummis. You know, I do, but I know that they just
scheduled a call to vote.
Senator Hickenlooper. I know, but I think we can be like 10
minutes late.
Senator Lummis. Good. OK.
Senator Hickenlooper. I think--this is a unique set. We
have votes being scheduled against our will. I shouldn't say
that. Why don't you go ahead and ask the question, and I will
ask a question.
Senator Lummis. Well, I would like to explore, I thought it
was fascinating to hear about the abilities of both Government,
Landsat and satellite data, and private sector satellite data
being used almost simultaneously and in a complementary way on
some significant weather events or fire events.
And so I would just like to explore just a little more, Mr.
Gallagher and Mr. Jablonsky, with how--who analyzes it? Let's
say you have a significant hurricane off the coast, or you are
watching it develop or some such observable event.
How do you coordinate between private sector information
and Department of Interior information specifically?
Mr. Gallagher. Thank you for the question, Senator. So I
will speak quickly about the Landsat data itself. We refer to
Landsat data as medium resolution. So a little more on that. It
is a pixel is 30 meters by 30 meters.
That is about the size of a baseball diamond. And so a
Landsat seeing one image is actually about 13,000 square miles.
So it is medium resolution. It is--you are seeing things at a
scale of regional scale. So a lot of the commercial sources of
data are much higher resolution. You heard our colleague here
talking about submeter resolution through their imagery data.
So when an event like that occurs, the data is very
complementary because the Landsat data is looking at the
regional patterns, denuding of the landscape, loss of shoreline
erosion, or high wind that takes out green infrastructure and
human built infrastructure.
The lower--the higher resolution data is fed to emergency
responders who are responding on the scene for what is needed
in terms of immediate responses. Landsat data is usually used
for longer term recovery.
How people access the data in real time? We have done in
recent months and years efforts to put all the Landsat data in
the cloud and make it immediately accessible in that way. And
we also serve it, of course, through the USGS through a tool
called Earth Explorer.
Senator Lummis. Thank you.
Mr. Jablonsky. Just as an overlay on that, Senator. The
Government has been far reaching in its efforts to get access
to commercial resources and make them broadly accessible.
The largest program is the electro-optical commercial layer
program with the National Reconnaissance Office, by which they
spend significant amounts on commercial data and license that
data in such a way that it is then broadly accessible to all
U.S. Government personnel and for U.S. Government type
programs.
It is a very taxpayer friendly way to buy something once
and then propagate it throughout the entire ecosystem. Beyond
that, then the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency has a
program called Global EGD, or Enhanced Geospatial Delivery,
which started as a small program over a decade ago in
Afghanistan, about how do you get satellite data to people very
quickly, that has now expanded to include worldwide reach.
So from the time the satellites go overhead until that
imagery, very high resolution imagery is available to over
hundreds of thousands of users across the Federal Government,
it might be a matter of 10 to 30 minutes.
So, and it is broadly accessible. With a CAC Card in the
U.S. military, you can just log in and get access. NASA has
access. NOAA has access. One estimate was that the Federal
Government saved over $1 billion by making that data accessible
to the Census Bureau as they were doing their work.
So I think it is a very, you know, far reaching, expansive
way to make that information available and strong support for
those programs.
Senator Lummis. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Great
hearing.
Dr. Volz. Senator Lummis, this is Steve Volz.
Senator Lummis. OK.
Dr. Volz. If I can make a comment on that. You brought the
example up of hurricanes. I think that there is definitely
complementarity between a very high resolution commercial
sector and moderate resolution, as Kevin Gallagher mentioned.
But what is necessary is the pre-prep, is the preparation
so that the information sources are planned in advance, the
integration is done, the systems are compatible.
And it goes back to the point I think that Dr. Abdalati was
saying is that we have a whole systems of observations,
including commercial and Federal, and making them interoperable
in the right environment so that when the event does occur, a
hurricane or a fire, you are not arguing about whose data.
You are using an integrated system where the data are then
seamlessly used. So it is not a question of getting--going
through the CAC, as we just heard, and getting the data. But
knowing the data are available and it is seamless in terms of
time and in scale.
And that is where the operational system side works with
the planning, and the dry runs, and we do this on a regular
basis months in advance on an annual basis so that we have all
of the players in the loop for utilizing the best data for the
most--for every application as they come forward.
And that is what the collaboration really is key between
the Federal, the commercial, and the local partners.
Senator Lummis. Impressive. Thanks.
Senator Hickenlooper. Yes. And there are companies, a
number of companies, Palantir comes to mind, but companies that
can help pull all those datasets from disparate sources
together and make them help facilitate that interoperability
that I think we all agree is a necessity.
My last question is just--and again, I still have at home
my Landsat, the first book of imagery, I think was 1974 it came
out and I just couldn't believe it. And I was, you know, as I--
when I got my Masters in Earth Environmental Science, it became
kind of my handbook in a funny way of how we could think about
the Earth.
Back then, we didn't call it climate change. We called it
the greenhouse effect, but everyone knew it. And many of those
early predictions back from the 1970s and 1980s and even the
1990s are being borne out in a frighteningly accurate way.
I just thought we could run down and let each of you just
say a minute about the ability, and if you have a suggestion I
am always looking for action items, but the ability to see
methane is something that is a hot topic right now.
And, but it is not just methane, but the ability to really
begin looking at this Earth as an organism that breathes and
inhales and exhales, and what we need to do to be able to--part
of this is communicate to the American public that this
pollution is going to have real effects, but part of it is
actually measuring it in such a way that we can respond to it.
So I will give you each 30 seconds or 40 seconds, because I
think otherwise I am going to get shouted down by the powers
that--the powers that be. Anyways, so let's start with--I guess
we will start, Dr. Volz, now that we have you back and then we
will go to Dr. Calvin and down the line. Be concise.
Dr. Volz. Thank you. In my 30 seconds, I would say it is
really the integration of all of these. To understand how the
earth is breathing, you need to look at it in a multispectral,
multi-factors way, and that is bringing the data together and
having them interoperable.
And we are doing that in moving all of our data systems,
those records and the current observations, into a cloud based
format so that we can bring these observations together, public
and private, high resolution and low resolution, global, so
that we can have that holistic understanding of the Earth.
And that allows us to do that forecast modeling and to
explain the environmental systems better. Thank you.
Senator Hickenlooper. Great. Dr. Calvin.
Dr. Calvin. Yes. So we are also working toward bringing
together multiple observations of different satellites and
instruments. They have different spatial resolution, different
revisit rates, different gases that they can observe. And so
bringing all that together and then continuing to innovate.
So IMET is an instrument installed on the International
Space Station. Its primary science is around mineral dust, but
the science team realized they could observe methane with it,
and so they are now using it for that as well.
And so thinking about how can we be innovative about how we
measure and monitor.
Mr. Jablonsky. Several times we have spoken about cloud
based activities, and Maxar moved approximately 120 petabytes
of data fully into the Amazon cloud. So it is completely
accessible and searchable, and algorithms can run over those
entire datasets, which are a 20 year record of the planet.
The next big change now is to take all of the other
datasets and position them geographically in an area so that
they can all be--run with algorithms across the same dataset.
So taking 3D precision data registration techniques, taking
multiple sources of data, all getting them into that cloud
infrastructure so that the data structures can be useful to do
things like predict methane detection, to do all the things you
want to do with it.
So that is the next big revolution.
Senator Hickenlooper. Great.
Mr. Gallagher. So Landsat has been this independent,
unbiased witness for the last 50 years to all the changes that
have taken place on Earth from 4 billion people to almost 8
billion people, and all the changes associated with that. It is
a marvelous time series data.
And the next big revolution is to be able to mine data sets
like that. First of all, maintain those data sets.
So 50 years from now, we have 100 years of observation
data, but also to mine that time series using artificial
intelligence and machine learning to do--to understand what
happened before and how that brought us to today and make
projections about where that is going to take us in the future.
Senator Hickenlooper. Right.
Dr. Abdalati. And I would say it requires that we
continually look at all the relevant parameters of the Earth's
system. It isn't just watching it rain. It isn't just watching
it flood. It is all the pieces of it and integrate them. And
doing so requires looking in parts of the electromagnetic
spectrum that our eyes can't see.
So it may not be something visible, but it is there. Water
vapor is not something we really see, but understanding its
content and, you know, quantity and movement is critical. So
integrating all the parameters within the Earth system and
observing it in a sustained and continued way.
And as far as communicating goes, you know, I would just
say make what is not visible to people visible. You know, it is
hard, as I said, to see water vapor. But there are animations.
There are ways of depicting the moisture in the air that can
really speak to people. And the agencies, I think, do a good
job of that. We just need to continue to get it out there.
Senator Hickenlooper. Great. Well, thank you all. And I
apologize. I could sit here, obviously an hour and go. Nothing
I like more than getting a little more granular on some of
these issues and having you all in one place. It is
exhilarating.
So I have a number of other questions I want to put--you
will get them. Well, they will get collected into the record.
Thank you all for making the effort to come here.
And Dr. Volz as well. I think that we are, and I feel this,
that we are on the edge of actually getting to the ways that we
can demonstrate what the reality is and what the rate of change
is, which is what the, you know, looking at these long-term
data sets is so powerful.
We can see changes in the rate of change. I think we can
get to a point where we can mobilize not just our country but
the world and really address some of these issues much more
successfully than we have in the last few decades.
So thank you for all your public service, private service
and public service, and look forward to working with you all
together.
Senators who wish to submit questions for the record,
questions will be due December 15, and look forward to seeing
you all again, sooner than later.
We are adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 11:52 a.m., the hearing was adjourned.]
A P P E N D I X
Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Maria Cantwell to
Dr. Kate Calvin
Intergovernmental Personnel Act (IPA): You are an employee of the
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) on detail to NASA. Of
course, PNNL's main campus is in Richland, WA with over 4000 employees,
though you work at one of PNNL's satellite campuses in College Park in
Maryland. These campuses conduct ground-breaking research on the
environment, sustainable energy, and coastal/national security.
Therefore, it is not surprising that NASA would want to tap into the
talent at PNNL and hire you as their Chief Scientist and Senior Climate
Advisor.
Question 1. Given the highly competitive market for technical
talent in the space industry, what additional hiring authorities and/or
programs would be helpful to NASA to attract individuals with the
rights skills into the Agency?
Answer. NASA has existing special authorities, such as critical pay
authority and hiring and pay flexibilities for STEM positions, that
help us to attract specialized and highly skilled candidates. These
authorities support our multi-year, overarching strategy to provide
more agility across our entire workforce, including increased talent
mobility and investment in non-permanent civil service appointments to
support shorter duration projects and projects where required skills
and knowledge change rapidly.
NASA has also implemented several new tools to create a workforce
that is efficiently shaped and sized to meet the needs of the future.
These tools include:
Enhanced hiring flexibilities including direct hire
authority which provides greater reach to external talent and
faster time to hire;
Talent Marketplace--an internal application where detail and
lateral opportunities are shared with the workforce; and
Increased use of rotations, temporary assignments and
promotions, and just-in-time training to upskill, reskill or
broaden capabilities of the existing workforce.
Wildland Fires: Washington State had the second-and third-worst
fire seasons on record in 2020 and 2021. This year, warmer weather is
extending the fire season in the Northwest by 2 months compared to the
1970s. NASA satellites and services play a critical role in the
detection of fires as well as the tracking of fire and smoke.
That is why I fought for additional fire weather infrastructure in
the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and why Senator Sullivan and I
introduced the Fire Ready Nation Act of 2022.
Question 2. What new capabilities or satellite monitoring
strategies might NASA be able to employ with additional investments in
the near-term to (1) identify regions that are prone to fires and (2)
to monitor new ``hot spot'' areas as they develop with the goal of
identifying and containing fires early in their life cycle.
Specifically, which priority items (pre-, active-, and post-fire) could
be accelerated to reduce the most damaging and costly impacts of fires?
Answer. Emerging approaches to airborne and satellite fire risk and
vulnerability sensors include vegetation LIDAR and hyperspectral
imaging to quantify fuel loading while passive microwave and synthetic
aperture radar could monitor soil moisture. NASA is also exploring
products such as OpenET (evapotranspiration data products derived from
optical data and weather station data) to estimate live fuel moisture,
which is likely more important than soil moisture for understanding
fire risk.
NASA's pre-fire focus is on using existing and new sensors for soil
moisture and fuels. The active-fire priority is developing new sensors
for airborne or satellite platforms for eventual full-time, day and
night observations of fire location and intensity. Post-fire efforts
are focused on better monitoring burn scars and forecasting
precipitation to understand debris flow and landslide potential.
Question 3. Could you highlight some of the next-generation Earth
Observing instruments that NASA is working on now that will
revolutionize our understanding of the Earth system in the future?
Answer. Within the FY 2024 budget request for Earth Science, NASA
requests funding to initiate four Earth System Observatory missions:
Surface Biology & Geology, Atmospheric Observing System--Sky,
Atmospheric Observing System--Storm, and Mass Change. These missions
will provide key information to guide efforts related to climate
change, natural hazard mitigation, fighting forest fires, and improving
real-time agricultural processes. In addition, the Budget request
supports the initiation of the Landsat Next mission, which will ensure
continuity of the longest space-based record of Earth's land surface
and will provide new capabilities for the next generation of Landsat
users.
The fifth ESO mission, Surface Deformation & Change, will remain in
the pre-formulation study phase until FY 2026. This observable can be
met by the NISAR mission when it launches in FY 2024.
NASA is also looking toward future selections that will advance our
understanding of the Earth system. During FY 2024, NASA intends to make
selections from the Earth Venture Instrument-6 Announcement of
Opportunity (AO) and will release the fourth Earth Venture Suborbital
AO. NASA will also release the first Earth Explorers AO in FY 2023, to
provide competitive opportunities for medium-sized instruments and
missions that address specific science and applications needs as
identified in the most recent Earth Science and Applications Decadal
Survey.
______
Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Kyrsten Sinema to
Dr. Kate Calvin
Drought and Fire Monitoring: Fire season begins in late April in
Arizona, as the Southwest experiences the most severe drought in twelve
hundred years. This is one month earlier than the average start of peak
fire season between May and June. Earlier this year, the Tunnel Fire
north of Flagstaff burned over twenty thousand acres while the Crooks
Fire consumed over six thousand acres south of Prescott. After the
fires were extinguished, burn scars have led to significant flooding
issues in Flagstaff and other areas in northern Arizona.
Question 1. How can researchers utilize Landsat data to examine the
effects of drought and wildfire and help predict where future fire and
flooding events may occur?
Answer. Landsat satellites have been collecting information about
water supplies, forest fires, and land use since the 1970s. Landsat
data is used to locate and allocate water resources, assess water
pollution, and manage watersheds--all vital to understanding the
effects of drought. Landsat also plays an important role in assessing
the impact of fires on forest ecosystems and human society. Landsat
satellites document the location and extent of burned areas, how
severely fires burn, and the subsequent regrowth of the land after a
forest fire. All this information helps land managers better manage our
forests and other natural resources in the context of fire. When
combined with soil moisture data, Landsat can also improve drought and
deluge monitoring to better understand where fire and flood events may
occur.
Question 2. How does your agency share this information with
Federal and local emergency officials, Federal land management
agencies, and water managers to inform their response to drought,
wildfire, and flood risks?
Answer. NASA's Applied Sciences Disasters Program works with
partners across Federal and State government, including Federal and
local emergency services, with private sector organizations, and
scientific and academic institutions, to leverage Earth observation
(EO) data, products, and models to provide actionable data to relevant
decisionmakers across communities in the United States and the world.
For example, Landsat and other EO data is used to populate the NASA
Disasters Mapping Portal, which provides near real-time information and
specific products to respond to disasters, such as floods and
wildfires. These products are open and accessible to all and empower a
range of stakeholders to make more informed decisions, including those
with limited GIS knowledge.
Question 3. Can your agency utilize Landsat data to predict or
track urban areas that will experience the worst heat on a summer day,
as well as the features of certain urbanized areas that contribute to
or mitigate extreme heat areas? If so, can you describe the process for
making those predictions?
Answer. Landsat data, together with other EO data, including NASA's
Ecosystem Spaceborne Thermal Radiometer Experiment on Space Station
(ECOSTRESS), can be used to identify extreme heat areas and understand
the impact to surrounding communities. Landsat uses observations in the
near-infrared part of the electromagnetic spectrum to determine which
parts of a city are warmer or colder over time. This can be connected
to other factors including Nitrogen Dioxide and other pollutants from
automobiles to reconstruct the cause and effect of urban heat. Recent
NASA research on urban heat, using sources like ECOSTRESS, has been
able to identify particularly heat-vulnerable areas and allow local
governments and their partners to consider mitigation approaches, like
thermal resistant paint, as reflected in NASA work in Los Angeles.
Question 4. What steps have you taken to minimize the threats posed
by space debris? Are there any actions Congress can take to help
address this issue?
Answer. NASA's budget request for its debris-related activities is
almost $40 million. Supporting the funds requested in the President's
Budget is needed to continue the essential work on this issue. NASA's
activities to address the challenge of space debris have four
components: debris mitigation, debris tracking and characterization,
debris remediation, and crosscutting policy research and analysis.
Mitigation. Office of Chief Engineer (OCE) and Office of
Safety and Mission Assurance (OSMA) are the Agency's orbital
debris technical authorities. The Orbital Debris Program Office
(ODPO) within OSMA is a leader in developing research and
technologies to both accurately measure the debris environment
and reduce the creation of debris during spacecraft operations.
The Science Mission Directorate's (SMD) Heliophysics Division
supports the development of on-orbit debris sensors and other
space environment measurement tools.
Tracking and characterization. NASA's Conjunction Assessment
and Risk Analysis (CARA) Program is focused on better
understanding the risks posed by space debris so that
spacecraft can operate more safely. The Trajectory Operations
Officer (TOPO) and Flight Dynamics Officer (FDO) at the Johnson
Space Center provide conjunction risk analysis support to NASA
human space flight missions, including ISS and vehicles
visiting the ISS.
Remediation. The Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD)
supports the development of low TRL debris remediation
technologies that may one day be utilized to reduce the threat
of existing space debris. NASA's Office of Technology, Policy
and Strategy (OTPS) is studying costs and benefits of cleaning
up space debris, with insights for NASA, industry, and
policymakers.
Crosscutting Policy Research and Analysis. OTPS conducts and
sponsors economic, policy and social research and analysis
related to solving the challenge of orbital debris.
______
Response to Written Question Submitted by Hon. Maria Cantwell to
Daniel Jablonsky
Future of Computing and EO Data: Commercial companies such as Maxar
have been critical in identifying flooding from Nooksack River and
wildland fires in my state of Washington. In addition, commercial
companies can augment Federal government datasets with advancements in
artificial intelligence and cloud computing.
Maxar has partnered with companies in my state, including Microsoft
and Amazon Web Services, to advance the use of cloud storage and
computing in Earth Intelligence.
Question. Given these advancements, what is Maxar's vision for data
processing, storage, and distribution over the next decade? How will
this change access and decision making for U.S. citizens?
Answer. Maxar is focused on continuing to deliver the best data and
analytics it can. With world-leading resolution for commercial imagery,
we are continually advancing how our data can be used. Our Precision3D
technology is creating a digital twin of the globe which will continue
to make significant advancements in the use of Earth observations for
logistics, mapping, and even in gaming. We are also focused on
delivering actionable intelligence to our government partners with
constantly improving timelines.
All of this is done with better processing and better storage. As
Maxar continues to push forward and continues to lead the commercial
sector with these products, the ability to process our data will be
more important than ever. Data security and storage is of great
importance, and we take our security measures seriously. Maxar's data
is stored in the United States, and we take every effort to ensure that
both our data and our satellites are secure through a variety of
encryption techniques. Our partnerships with data companies are
invaluable and we look to continue to grow these opportunities.
As our technology continues to advance it will lead to better, more
accurate, and more timely access for our decision makers. Specifically,
we work closely with the private sector to provide solutions that make
their businesses more effective. As mentioned, Maxar's data can provide
better logistics to increase the efficiency of delivery routes. The 3D
maps derived from Maxar's satellite imagery are also improving the
rollout of 5G networks by showing obstructions that can impact signal.
These are just a few examples of many on how commercial Earth
observation data is playing a key role for decision makers in both
government and the private sector.
______
Response to Written Question Submitted by Hon. Kyrsten Sinema to
Daniel Jablonsky
Space Debris: One potential threat to our Landsat network is space
debris that can damage or even destroy our satellites while they are in
orbit. The Department of Defense's global Space Surveillance Network
tracks over 27,000 objects of space debris, but thousands of other
objects that are too small to observe can still represent a hazard.
Question. What steps have you taken to minimize the threats posed
by space debris? Are there any actions Congress can take to help
address this issue?
Answer. I thank Congress for understanding the immediate need to
address space debris and look forward to finding ways Congress and the
commercial sector can partner for solutions. Maxar's satellites are
fully maneuverable which ensures that we have the ability to move out
of the way of not only debris, but also other active satellites without
maneuverability. Additionally, we deorbit our satellites long before
current regulations require. Maxar is an active participant in the
Commercial Integration Cell which is used to share information and best
practices to maximize space situational awareness. Looking forward, in
order to contribute to the growing need for space situational
awareness, Maxar has invested in a technology called non-Earth imaging,
which allows Maxar to image objects in space. This technology helped
Maxar identify that our own satellite was hit by an untracked piece of
space debris. It will be able to help diagnose the health of other
satellites in the future as well.
I support the ORBITS Act and think that is a good first step in
helping address orbital debris. Additionally, I think a better system
for rules of the road will help because while we are focused rightfully
so on current debris, we must also ensure that active spacecraft are
not creating debris or the potential for collisions that would create
debris fields. Congress having an active engagement with the commercial
space sector and spacecraft operators will also help create policies
that can begin to tackle the dangers posed by space debris.
______
Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. John Hickenlooper to
Daniel Jablonsky
Commercial Capabilities I: Maxar is an ongoing participant in
NASA's Commercial Smallsat Data Acquisition Program. A NASA evaluation
report on the CSDA pilot highlighted the utility of commercial datasets
accessed through the program and the benefits provided to commercial
partners. End User License Agreements (EULAs) between NASA and CSDA
partners are structured to promote data use and sharing while also not
obstructing commercial growth. It is cost prohibitive for NASA to make
these datasets fully public, and the evaluation report underscored that
restrictive EULAs were making it more challenging for researchers to
share and publish data.
Question 1. How has the CSDA program supported the growth of
Maxar's EO capabilities? How could it be improved to promote greater
use and access to commercial datasets while still promoting commercial
growth?
Answer. I want to thank Congress for its leadership and support of
the commercial remote sensing industry. Congress continues to ensure
that commercial capabilities are leveraged for key programs and that
they are adequately funded. NASA's Commercial Smallsat Data Acquisition
(CSDA) program looks to procure commercial data for a variety of uses
and to help tell the story of what is happening on Earth. Maxar has not
been a major provider of data for the CSDA program, largely because
NASA can receive much of the same data through the National
Reconnaissance Office's (NRO) Electro Optical Commercial Layer (EOCL)
contract. There may be opportunity in the future to provide increased
access to data and products, but those conversations are still ongoing.
I'd encourage NASA to look at the licensing agreements of the EOCL
contract, as they strike a good balance in maximizing use and
publication of data, while still protecting commercial growth.
Commercial Capabilities II: There has been a rise in the launch of
commercial ``smallsats'' and constellations. Companies such as Maxar
have demonstrated the capabilities of these smallsats to produce high-
resolution images of the Earth.
Question 2. What are the unique capabilities that commercial
satellites provide that might supplement or complement Federal systems?
How can commercial datasets with higher spatial and temporal
resolutions be used to support the broader Earth Observation mission?
Answer. First, I'd like to clarify that Maxar's Earth observation
satellites are not smallsats. Our current Earth observation satellites
are 2800 kg in weight and 5.7 meters tall and our next gen Legion
constellation are around 800 kg in weight and 3 meters tall--this size
is necessary in order to carry optics that provide for very high-
resolution imagery. That said, commercial satellites provide an
opportunity for the Federal government to leverage the pace of
innovation in the private space sector. The government can license
images and analytics through contracts with companies like Maxar and
use this to augment government missions. Commercial Earth observation
data is unclassified and quickly sharable between agencies and even
with allies during times of need. This shareability is a cost savings
to the taxpayer as the government is only paying for the data once, and
it can be used for national security missions, humanitarian missions,
or even during natural disasters. For example, with our planned Legion
constellation and worldview satellites that are in-orbit today, we will
be able to aid Federal governments with disaster response and recovery
with up to 15 times a day revisit, providing near real time information
of the events unfolding on the ground to the first responders. Another
example of our unique capabilities is Maxar's ability to build and
maintain 3D models with very high detail and accuracy that can
complement Federal programs such as 3DEP (3D Elevation Program from
USGS). These 3D models are critical to understand the impacts of
climate change and increasing intensity of disasters and how to develop
resiliency plans to support our homeland security.
______
Response to Written Question Submitted by Hon. Maria Cantwell to
Kevin Gallagher
Landsat Data: Landsat has provided a virtually unbroken record of
Earth Observation data for the last 50 years. As you said in your
testimony, the U.S. Geological Survey has been intimately involved
since the beginning of the program and has since 2008 provided free and
open access to Landsat data. These data have become an invaluable
resource for our Nation's infrastructure, informing urban planning,
precision agriculture, and disaster response.
Question. Could you describe the importance of Landsat's historical
dataset? What new data will the Landsat Next satellite bring, and how
do you see the program evolving from there?
Answer. Both today's Landsat observations and the long-term data
record to which they contribute provide unique value and impact
Scientific and technology advancements in data storage, data
processing, and algorithms have enabled Landsat's data record to give
us new insights into changes occurring on our Nation's land surfaces,
surface waters, and coastal regions.
Following the first Landsat mission, launched in July of 1972, we
have had at least one satellite in the series collecting data and often
two satellites, which is our current operational baseline. This
baseline allows us to image the entire Earth's land surfaces every
eight days. Landsat's multi-decadal, global data record is unique--no
other Earth-observing satellite mission comes close to its timespan,
its consistency, and its scientific accuracy. Two U.S. Group on Earth
Observations-led interagency Earth Observation Assessment reports
ranked Landsat as the most impactful Earth-observing satellite system
used by Federal agencies. In short, Landsat is a unique ``witness'' to
changes that have occurred across the globe over the last 50 years.
While Landsat senses phenomena visible to the human eye, it also
can ``see'' in the near infrared (NIR), shortwave IR (SWIR), and
thermal IR (TIR) regions of the electromagnetic spectrum.
Landsat's capabilities enable users to perform land use and urban
development planning, observe soil moisture, accurately estimate
agricultural water use, assess crop health, understand wildfire risk
and forest recovery processes, and respond to natural disasters,
including flooding, drought, and wildfire, while also supporting many
other societal applications.
The Landsat archive is open and accessible to all users. Utilizing
cloud processing and storage, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has
reprocessed and re-released the entire dataset as Landsat ``Collection
2''. The dataset provides every Landsat measurement taken over the life
of the Landsat program as a time-series of observations, thus enabling
in-depth analysis of land cover changes over the past 50 years. In a
little less than two years, the USGS has recorded over 4 billion user
accesses to this data.
Throughout Landsat's history, the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration (NASA) and the USGS have continually advanced its
technology to better address users' growing needs for high-quality
data. The earliest Landsat missions sensed the Earth in four spectral
bands, and in the 1980s, Landsat utilized eight bands, including a
thermal band. Today, Landsat 8 and 9 operate in 11 bands. The USGS has
also advanced the mission's spatial resolution-the ability to resolve
small or adjacent details in an image. The earliest Landsat satellites
imaged at about 75-meter resolution, whereas Landsat 8 and 9 operate at
30-meter resolution--about the size of a baseball infield. Landsat Next
will image in 26 spectral bands at resolutions as fine as 10 meters,
more than doubling Landsat spectral and spatial resolution
capabilities. Landsat Next will also improve revisit rates so that
every location on Earth will be imaged every six days.
Landsat Next's spectral, spatial, and timeliness requirements are
driven by the most detailed land imaging user needs ever available for
Landsat formulation. We conduct our peer-reviewed user needs process
across the USGS, the Department of the Interior (DOI), and other
Federal agencies. This process connects our users' continually growing
science and public service needs to specific Landsat Next spectral
bands while maintaining Landsat Next's continuity with the historical
data record.
Under the NASA-USGS Sustainable Land Imaging partnership, Landsat
Next will provide the core, operational U.S. Government land-imaging
capability for the Nation. The USGS will augment this core capability
through partnerships with commercial and international satellite data
providers, to serve an even broader array of user needs than can be
served by a single system.
The Landsat Program is evolving on the ground as well as in space.
We are improving the interoperability among Federal, commercial, and
international land-imaging datasets. While Landsat already provides
essential calibration utilized by the commercial satellite providers,
which enhances interoperability, we intend to optimize user tools for
discovering and accessing data across disparate archives-enabling a
multi-source ``data ecosystem''--so that users may apply multiple
datasets (commercial and government) for improved land cover/land use
analysis, monitoring, and forecasting. These capabilities and tools
will help U.S. scientists answer some of the Nation's most pressing
questions about resource management, disaster preparation, response,
and mitigation, ecosystem health, and climate change resiliency.
Prior to launching Landsat Next, NASA and the USGS expect to
determine Landsat Next's successor mission and analyze future
commercial and international remote sensing capabilities to determine
the best approach to address our users' future needs. We plan to work
closely and collaboratively with NASA and other organizations as we
chart our future course.
______
Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Kyrsten Sinema to
Kevin Gallagher
Drought and Fire Monitoring: Fire season begins in late April in
Arizona, as the Southwest experiences the most severe drought in twelve
hundred years. This is one month earlier than the average start of peak
fire season between May and June. Earlier this year, the Tunnel Fire
north of Flagstaff burned over twenty thousand acres while the Crooks
Fire consumed over six thousand acres south of Prescott. After the
fires were extinguished, burn scars have led to significant flooding
issues in Flagstaff and other areas in northern Arizona.
Question 1. How can researchers utilize Landsat data to examine the
effects of drought and wildfire and help predict where future fire and
flooding events may occur?
Answer. Arizona is in a region where forest fires and drought are
occurring more often and with increasing intensity. Landsat plays a
critical role in wildfire science and in helping to prevent damage to
life, property, and natural resources. Land managers and scientists use
Landsat to predict wildfire, assess wildfire risks, and to understand
their immediate and long term impacts. They also use Landsat to map the
rapidly growing wildland-urban interface, which is highly susceptible
to wildfire damage.
Scientists use Landsat to characterize vegetation and fire fuel
load. This characterization enables them to model different fire
regimes and to support proactive vegetation and fire management to
reduce fire risks and mitigate fire impacts, such as erosion and
flooding. Land managers and scientists also use Landsat to assess the
severity and extent of large fires as they plan recovery efforts, to
estimate how much pollution burning releases into the air, and to
monitor the post-fire recovery of burned areas.
Landsat can capture active fires and smoke plumes as they occur,
showing images of large, rapidly developing fires in the West. Because
Landsat instruments can detect surface temperature differences over
broad areas, they can also help detect wildfires burning in remote
regions.
Question 2. How does your agency share this information with
Federal and local emergency officials, Federal land management
agencies, and water managers to inform their response to drought,
wildfire, and flood risks?
Answer. The USGS shares Landsat data and information products with
partner agencies working to address these risks. Landsat enables
natural resource managers to assess the severity and extent of large
fires for planning recovery efforts. For example, the U.S. Department
of Agriculture (USDA) U.S. Forest Service (USFS) Burned Area Emergency
Response (BAER) team uses Landsat data to map vegetation, water, and
soil changes immediately after a fire. With these maps, the USFS can
identify the most severely burned areas and treat them to mitigate
increased water runoff and erosion. BAER has been estimated to yield
cost savings ofup to $35 million over a five-year period. By using
Landsat data to map vegetation, water, and soil changes after a fire,
response staff can identify the patchwork of burned areas left in the
wake of the flames.
Landsat also enables fire fuel mapping through the joint USFS--DOI
LANDFIRE program. This program supports a range of land management
analysis and modeling for fire behaviors and informs strategic land
management.
Worldwide, droughts can have disastrous impacts on lives and
livelihoods. Landsat data show the impact of drought on vegetation at a
scale that enables water managers to better allocate limited water
resources. Landsat's unique thermal infrared data can map
evapotranspiration (ET)--water evaporating from the ground or
transpiring from the plants--to estimate water use, soil moisture, and
drought impacts on vegetation and ecosystems. As climate change
exacerbates drought conditions, Landsat can help improve water
allocation to support more effective adaptation.
Landsat captures before and after images of flooding across the
Nation and around the world, illustrating flood extent, vegetation
loss, and structural damage. Landsat can also help monitor post-
flooding impacts on water quality and long-term vegetation recovery. By
using Landsat to map historic flooding patterns, USGS hydrologists can
better predict future flood hazards.
Question 3. In particular, can you describe how the U.S. Geological
Survey's Arizona Water Science Center in Flagstaff employs Landsat data
when making forecasts regarding the Colorado River and Arizona
watersheds?
Answer. While the Arizona Water Science Center's activities focus
primarily on field work and in-situ observation, Landsat has
complemented this work in the Colorado River Basin and Arizona
watersheds. Irrigation accounts for over 40 percent of freshwater
withdrawals in the United States. Increased demand for scarce water
supplies has shifted water management strategies from increasing water
supply to innovatively managing water use at sustainable levels.
Landsat's unique thermal infrared data enables field-scale measurements
of ET to accurately estimate consumptive water use. With the warming
climate and increasing drought conditions, Landsat-based analyses
provide a reliable, consistent, impartial, and non-proprietary data
source to inform water rights negotiations and resolve water rights
disputes. Landsat-based water use information is also combined with
climate models to forecast future water use across the Colorado River
Basin.
Prolonged drought has changed Arizona's watersheds, water quality
and availability, riparian vegetation, and ecosystems. Scientists and
land managers use Landsat to monitor vegetation type conversions,
native and invasive species along the watersheds, inform watershed
restoration efforts, and monitor restoration progress over time. One
example involves their use of Landsat to monitor vegetation
establishment and growth after installing rock detention structures--
low-cost, low-tech, natural systems in dryland streams. Landsat data
recorded 30 years of sustained or increased vegetation cover where
these natural structures were installed, despite prevailing long-term
drought conditions. Landsat observations demonstrated that these
nature-based solutions can help improve watershed condition and boost
local climate change resilience.
Additionally, Flagstaff Science Center scientists have used Landsat
data collaboratively with the San Carlos Apache Nation in Arizona, to
support the Tribe's management of its natural resources. They have used
Landsat to assist the National Park Service with understanding
potential effects of climate change on wildlife habitat in park lands.
The Center's staff has used Landsat data to derive global cropland
extent maps to support food security and sustainable agricultural
practices.
Heat Health: Large portions of central and southern Arizona
experience extreme heat events, particularly during the summer months.
Extreme heat can contribute to negative outcomes for individuals who
lack access to air-conditioned residences or suffer from ailments that
affect the ability of their bodies to regulate heat. 552 people died in
Arizona from heat-related causes in 2021, and nearly 2,800 passed away
over the past 10 years from heat-related causes.
Question 4. Can your agency utilize Landsat data to predict or
track urban areas that will experience the worst heat on a summer day,
as well as the features of certain urbanized areas that contribute to
or mitigate extreme heat areas? If so, can you describe the process for
making those predictions?
Answer. Yes, Landsat has informed municipal authorities' urban
heat-island and green infrastructure efforts in various U.S. cities,
including metropolitan New York City, Chicago, Illinois, and Boston,
Massachusetts. Landsat collects surface temperature and vegetative
change information that pinpoints urban heat islands. This information
supports urban authorities' actions to mitigate heat stresses for
residents. This work is growing in scope and urgency as urban and
exurban landscapes throughout the world are growing at a rapid pace,
with the total area of urban land cover estimated to triple between
2000 and 2030 and as global average temperatures continue to rise.
Continuing urbanization has numerous impacts on social and
ecological systems. These impacts include expansion into critical
protected areas, loss of croplands, changes in local hydrology, and
changes to local climate. All these factors can contribute to
residents' increased heat-borne mortality rates. Monitoring these
landscape changes is critical for urban planners, resource managers,
and decision makers seeking sustainable and equitable growth. Landsat
is well-suited to this task, due to its multi-decade imagery archive,
landscape-scale spatial resolution, and range of spectral imaging
capabilities.
Descartes Labs, a New Mexico-based startup, has mapped urban growth
and heating by using Landsat data combined with machine learning
algorithms and Geographic Information Systems. The company produced a
map of urban heat islands in the greater Boston area by generating a
mosaic of Landsat's thermal bands over several months. Its results show
the stark difference between urban green spaces, major transportation
corridors, and built-up areas. The team was also able to detect local
patterns on the landscape resulting from large climate-controlled
warehouses or brick buildings. Through Descartes Labs' platform, it is
possible to model seasonal changes in urban land-surface temperature
over the course of more than thirty years, with significant
implications for the study of climate and its effects on cities.
A September 2019 report featured on National Public Radio also used
Landsat thermal-imaging capabilities to determine whether urban areas
of lower income are correlated with higher daytime temperatures. The
report found a strong, negative correlation between heat and income in
many cities, indicating that the urban poor are often more susceptible
to heat-related illnesses than their wealthier counterparts.
______
Response to Written Question Submitted by Hon. John Hickenlooper to
Kevin Gallagher
Earth Observation Mission Architectures: The USGS and NASA
collaborated on the Sustainable Land Imaging Architecture Study to
examine novel concepts for next generation Earth observing missions,
including the use of satellite constellations. They also gathered user
feedback to establish data requirements and maximize scientific impact
of future Landsat missions.
Question. Can you discuss how the findings of this study will
impact the Landsat Next mission?
Answer. The USGS participated in two separate efforts to quantify
the requirements and determine the architecture of the Landsat Next
mission. First, the USGS National Land Imaging Program sought to
understand and document user needs associated with Earth observation in
general, and moderate-resolution space-based Earth observation in
particular. The Program utilized a peer-reviewed process consisting of
hundreds of expert interviews to understand user applications and
observation needs. These findings were compared to existing and future
observing systems to identify gaps in planned Earth observation
capabilities.
These findings were a direct input into our second effort, a
mission architecture study. Along with NASA, our Sustainable Land
Imaging partner, the USGS commissioned an Architecture Study Team to
examine candidate architectures which would maintain the
Congressionally mandated Landsat data continuity record while also
addressing the gaps identified by our user needs analysis. The Team
developed scores of architecture options and evaluated them against
mission capabilities, required technologies, and relative costs. It
presented its methodology, driving requirements, leading candidate
architectures, and its recommended architecture to NASA and DO1/USGS
leadership. Recommendations were guided by the need to execute a cost
effective solution that would meet the user needs within the schedule
and risk constraints of an operational Landsat mission. The
architecture proposed by the study team, and eventually accepted by the
agency partners and administration, is known as ``hybrid triplets''.
The triplets are a simultaneously operating constellation of three
observatories in a repeating ground track Sun-synchronous orbit. The
selected architecture achieves an aggregate six-day revisit over the
Earth's land surface and more than doubles Landsat's spectral and
spatial resolution.
For Landsat Next, NASA and the USGS determined that this hybrid
triplets architecture will be the most cost-effective option to meet
user needs for emerging science and applications while assuring
continuity--an enduring connection--to the historical land record
started by Landsat back in 1972.
The new architecture will enhance users' ability to perform land
use and urban development planning, observe soil moisture, accurately
estimate agricultural water use, assess crop health, understand
wildfire risk and forest recovery processes, and respond to natural
disasters including flooding, drought, and wildfire, while also
supporting many other societal applications.
______
Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Raphael Warnock to
Kevin Gallagher
Coastal Erosion: Georgia's coast is home to numerous barrier
islands that support thousands of residents and significant
biodiversity. These islands play a crucial role in not only tourism and
shipping, but also protecting the mainland from powerful winds, tides,
currents, storms and hurricanes.
Question 1. Your testimony references Landsat images showing the
effects of Hurricane Ian on the coastlines of Georgia and Florida. How
does the United States Geological Survey (USGS) use Landsat data such
as this to work with local governments to address coastal erosion?
Answer. Landsat's consistent, reliable, repeated observations of
Earth's landscapes keep an objective record of their conditions before
and after disasters. This information serves as an essential tool for
inventorying land resources, assessing the risks of hurricanes, mapping
the extent of hurricane damage, and planning post-disaster recovery in
states such as Georgia.
Landsat images are among the remote sensing images that feed into
the USGS's Hazards Data Distribution System. This system is used by
local responders across the Nation to support citizens affected by
hurricanes, typhoons, volcanoes, earthquakes, widespread flooding, and
other hazards.
During the recent Hurricane Ian, Landsat 8 passed directly over the
storm's eye on Sept 28 as the hurricane approached southwest Florida,
enabling scientists to scrutinize the images and analyze the forces
that made it so catastrophic. In the hours after the storm passed,
millions lost power.
Landsat helped capture the extent of the power outage, as well as
post-storm sediment runoff from rivers and streams on Florida's
southwest coast. Authorities used Landsat to generate the first high-
resolution, broad scale land disturbance map detailing damage wrought
by the hurricane's wind and storm surge. This map was released just
days after the storm to aid teams on the ground in their search and
recovery work.
Landsat measures coastal change not only after storms but
continuously through time. This capability enables scientists and
coastal managers to calculate erosion trends, evaluate processes that
shape coastal landscapes, and predict how coastlines will respond to
future storms.
Agriculture: As you may know, Georgia is a proud agricultural
state. However, changes in weather patterns and climate can threaten
the success of Georgia's agricultural sector.
Question 2. Your testimony discusses the importance of Landsat in
agriculture. Please elaborate on how USGS partners with the
agricultural sector to identify challenges and implement solutions
based on Landsat data. How can an agricultural state such as Georgia
strengthen its partnership with the USGS to better support farmers?
Answer. Freely and easily accessible Landsat data has long
benefited the agricultural sector. The USGS would be glad to work with
the USDA and your staff to discuss how Landsat can further benefit
Georgia's farmers.
Millions of farmers and consumers already benefit from Landsat data
that improve crop and water management decisions. Food and farming
organizations rely on Landsat's unbiased, accurate, and timely
information. It enables Federal and state agencies, local authorities,
businesses, and farmers to analyze the health and vigor of crops they
mature over the growing season; to understand needs of specific fields
for fertilizer, irrigation, and rotation; to monitor planted acreage to
forecast crop production and fight crop insurance fraud; to decide how
much water is used in irrigation; and to forecast the impacts of
drought on particular crops.
Farmers once had to walk their entire farm, which could be hundreds
of acres, on a regular basis to witness the same crop conditions that
can now be readily detected by Landsat. The USDA uses Landsat data as a
key input into several reports during the growing season that forecast
crop production. In turn, the multimillion-dollar U.S. agricultural
commodities market relies on these forecasts when conducting futures
trading.
Nearly two-thirds of U.S. surface-freshwater withdrawals are for
crop irrigation. Keeping track of just how much water gets used--and
making sure it gets used efficiently and legally, where and when it's
needed across millions of acres of crop land--is no easy task. Landsat
images can map evapotranspiration--water evaporating from the ground or
transpiring from the plants--to estimate how much water crops are
using.
As rising temperatures, more widespread droughts, and intensifying
weather events threaten food security and farmers livelihoods, farmers
can use Landsat as a tool for effective action before, during, and
after the growing season.
______
Response to Written Question Submitted by Hon. Maria Cantwell to
Dr. Waleed Abdalati
Observation Gaps: As one of the co-chairs of the 2017 Earth Science
Decadal Survey, Director of NOAA's Cooperative Institute for Research
in Environmental Science (CIRES) and a former NASA Chief Scientist, you
are uniquely positioned to talk about the Nation's current Earth
observations, continuity of those observations, and what may be missing
from the portfolio.
Question. On January 5, 2023, it will be 5 years since the release
of the last Earth Science Decadal Survey. Given that you are
approaching the mid-term assessment, which measurements do you believe
are critical to be sustained and which new measurements should be added
to the portfolio to improve our understanding of Earth's changing
climate? What are the tangible benefits of these measurements (or the
consequences of not obtaining these measurements)?
Answer. The Earth Science and Applications from Space 2017 (ESAS)
Decadal Survey was a two-year effort that drew on the input from many
hundreds of scientists. The panels and committee that wrote the report
numbered approximately 100. The priorities that have been put forward
were robustly developed, and they still remain priorities today. As
such, my interest is in seeing the recommendations of the Decadal
Survey implemented as soon as is practical. There have been some
delays, and little has changed in terms of scientific and applications
needs, so what were priorities at the time of release remain priorities
today. As such, NASA's Earth System Observatory (ESO), which seeks to
implement the recommendations of the Decadal Survey in the ``Designated
Observable'' category, should remain the primary focus of NASA's
mission development efforts. The ESAS committee also recommended
several Earth Explorer mission (missions on the order of $350M each)
opportunities to explore several areas among a list identified in the
Decadal Survey that spanned atmosphere, ice, ecosystems, ocean and
atmospheric winds, snow depth, and trace gases. The discriminator among
these would be the feasibility/likelihood of successfully achieving
their science objectives within the $350M cost caps. These priorities
remain.
Where there is an additional need, however, which was referred to
in the Decadal Survey, but for which a path has yet to emerge, is in
continuity of some critical measurements that do not quite fit into the
NASA Earth process and discovery domains or the NOAA operational
domain. These are sustained routine monitoring observations of
important environmental parameters that are necessary for us to
understand the evolution of our planet, particularly in the face of
climate change. We addressed this to some extent in the Decadal Survey,
by calling for an Earth Venture Continuity opportunity, which seeks to
develop low-cost capabilities for conducting some critical Earth
observations in a sustained way to provide this important information.
To date, the continuity of observations that don't fall into the NASA
or NOAA buckets remains a challenge, and they remain an important need.
The benefits of executing the Decadal Survey recommended missions
have been articulated in the Decadal Survey. In short they are an
improved understanding of environmental processes that affect the way
we live, such that we can be in a position to thrive on our changing
planet. The benefits of identifying ways to conduct sustained
observations in critical areas are that we will gain a better
understanding of the rate of change on our planet and the underlying
consequences, which will empower us to meet the associated challenges.
Acquiring that understanding--beyond the research and operational
domains--is also fundamental to our success as a nation and society in
the face of our changing environment. The consequences of not doing
both the missions outlined in the Decadal Survey and the additional
continuity missions will be a compromised ability to manage
environmental changes (natural and human-induced). This compromised
ability will be a result of (a) not fully understanding the processes
driving those changes and their likely behavior in the future and (b)
not understanding the rate at which those changes are occurring and the
magnitude and implications of those changes. The absence of such
knowledge and information will significantly impede our ability to
manage and navigate those changes, resulting in sub-optimal, and in
some cases very costly and harmful, responses to those changes.
We as a nation have been very fortunate in the fact that many of
our Earth observing instruments (such as those on the Terra, Aqua, and
Aura satellites) have surpassed their design lives by decades, and in
the fact that many of our international partners have taken on the
task, in a number of cases, of sustained observations. However,
understanding these variables and processes are too important to leave
to good fortune. A well-considered strategy is needed for prioritizing
the range of variables needing continuity of measurements and
subsequently prioritizing those needs against those associated with
operational and discovery capabilities that are the subject of NOAA and
NASA investments.
______
Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. John Hickenlooper to
Dr. Waleed Abdalati
Drought Forecasting: Droughts threaten the livelihood and security
of communities across the country. Water resource research is one of
the primary focus areas at the Cooperative Institute for Research in
Environmental Science (CIRES). CIRES researchers monitor changes in
water supply and demand in order to inform policies for adaptation,
resilience, and protection of this critical natural resource.
Question 1. What data could next-generation satellites collect to
improve our ability to forecast, mitigate, and recover from droughts?
Could ground-penetrating radar data aid our research on-and response
to-droughts? Are there any current or planned missions flying radar
instruments?
Answer. The ability to forecast, mitigate, and recover from
droughts has several elements, some of which satellite observations can
contribute to through the understanding of drought conditions, their
evolution, and the associated processes. Our ability to understand and
forecast droughts depends on our ability to assess the state of and
changes in: subsurface water storage, near surface wetness of land/
soil, rainfall rates, water stored as snow in the snowpack, and the
rate at which this rain and snowfall runoff at the surface vs.
penetrate into the ground and/or replenish aquifers.
For comprehensive subsurface water mass, the key space-based
observational tool we have at the moment is the GRACE Follow-on (GRACE-
FO) mission, which determines changes in large scale water storage by
measuring perturbations in the Earth's gravity field. An assessment of
changes in the water storage from such measurements is shown in Figure
1 for the period 2002-2016. NASA plans to fly a follow-on to the GRACE-
FO mission known as the Mass Change (MC) mission, currently planned for
launch later this decade. It is expected to have the same capabilities
as GRACE-FO. The resolution of this capability is on the order of 100
km, but technological advances can allow for improvement in the future.
Such advances include increased precision and accuracy of the ranging
between satellites (the gravity measurements of GRACE and GRACE-FO rely
on accurately measuring distance between two satellites in orbit) and
flying multiple satellite pairs, with the latter providing the greatest
opportunity for improvement and more detailed analyses. Currently there
is no plan in place for extended gravity measurements after the Mass
Change mission (beyond the early 2030s), leaving a critical measurement
capability for drought assessment in question.
For near surface wetness (soil moisture), long wavelength microwave
sensors, both active (radar) and passive (radiometers), provide the
ability observe soil water content. This is made possible by the fact
that soil moisture affects both the emission of microwave energy from
within the surface, and the penetration of radar into the soil and
associated backscatter. While each provides some capability of
assessing soil moisture, when combined (as was the case with the design
of the Soil Moisture Active and Passive (SMAP) Mission), the
complementary capabilities make for a more robust set of measurements.
Currently, our ability to resolve soil moisture is on the order of 10
km, which is useful for homogeneous terrain (such as expansive
farmland) but poses challenges on heterogeneous terrain that varies
within the footprint. Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) has been shown to
provide insight into variability of soil moisture on small scales, but
its accuracy is limited by surface roughness and structure. None-the-
less, it has the potential to provide information on relative
variations in soil moisture. There is a range of synthetic aperture
radar missions in operation and planned by international partners, but
the U.S. has no current mission on orbit. The U.S. does have one in
development, however, NISAR, which is a joint mission with the Indian
Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
Another key measure of drought in the form of river and reservoir
storage can be ascertained from visible and infra-red imagery, as in
the case of the historic Landsat records, showing the drying out of
lakes and reservoirs throughout the world. An example is shown in
Figure 2 which provides a multi-decadal history of the health and
stages of the Colorado River. In addition, surface dryness and its
implications for vegetation and health can be inferred from visible and
near-infrared imagery, a capability that has existed for decades in a
number of forms, and is expected to continue into the foreseeable on
commercial, operational, and research instruments.
Finally, the ability to measure and quantify rain and snowfall are
key to understanding the sustainment and replenishment of water
supplies. Precipitation can be measured using active radar and passive
radiometers as is the case for the Global Precipitation Measurement
(GPM) Mission, led by NASA and the Japanese Space Agency, JAXA. The
resolution of such measurements is about 10 km x 10 km. The spatial
character of snowfall deposited on the ground can be measured with
visible imagery, since the reflectivity of snow is far greater than the
reflectivity of background land surfaces, but the more important
parameter is the snow water equivalent (SWE), which is a function of
snow depth and density. One tool for measuring snow depth is the laser
instrument on NASA's Ice Cloud and Land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-
2), since laser scattering characteristics vary as a function of snow
depth (Lu et al., 2022). Such measurements provide some insight into
snow water equivalent stored in the pack, but without knowledge of the
snow density, the information is not complete. One of the missions
called for in the Decadal Survey in the Earth Explorer category is a
mission to measure snow water equivalent, which would likely be a
microwave sensor that ``sees'' into the snow and can provide
information not just on snow depth, but the associated snow water
equivalent.
While the visible imagery, such as Landsat has a robust history,
and the outlook is good for sustained observations, the other
capabilities are limited going forward. The GRACE and GRACE Follow-on
missions will be succeeded by NASA's Mass Change mission, extending
gravity measurements into the next decade, however the SMAP mission
suffered a failure of its active sensor, and there is no successor
planned. Therefore the benefits of radar subsurface measurements will
likely not be realized, except through some of the international and
U.S. SAR missions, which have their own challenges in retrieving snow
water equivalent. The passive microwave sensors are expected to
continue through the coming decade, but their future beyond that is
uncertain. The likelihood of a mission to directly measure snow water
equivalent is not known, because it will depend on how successfully
such a mission competes in NASA's Earth Explorer budget line. Our
vision on the decadal survey was for there to be three Earth Explorer
missions in the 2017-2027 decade to address three of the seven priority
areas identified in the Decadal Survey:
Greenhouse gases
Ice elevation
Ocean surface winds and currents
Ozone and trace gases
Snow depth and snow water equivalent
Terrestrial Ecosystem Structure
Atmospheric Winds
Unfortunately, there will likely be only one or two, rather than
three. The future of snow depth and snow water equivalent measurements
will depend on the success of such a proposal in the limited Earth
Explorer competition(s).
All of these on-orbit or planned sensors provide the capability to
observe the movement and evolution of water on and within the Earth's
surface and in the atmosphere, however, predicting water resource
availability and the associated implications, requires the integration
of these observations with meteorological and hydrological models.
Moreover, managing the challenges associated with changes in water
resource availability requires policies that are targeted toward
ensuring that whatever the effects of natural and human-caused climate
change are, society can adapt. The satellite observations are a
fundamental tool for informing those choices, but in the end, managing
the challenges depends on a combination of observations, modeling,
policies adopted, and choices made.
References:
Lu X, Hu Y, Zeng X, Stamnes SA, Neuman TA, Kurtz NT, Yang Y, Zhai P-W,
Gao M, Sun W, Xu K, Liu Z, Omar AH, Baize RR, Rogers LJ, Mitchell
BO, Stamnes K, Huang Y, Chen N, Weimer C, Lee J and Fair Z (2022)
Deriving Snow Depth From ICESat-2 Lidar Multiple Scattering
Measurements: Uncertainty Analyses. Front. Remote Sens. 3:891481.
doi: 10.3389/frsen.2022.891481
Rodell, M., Famiglietti, J.S., Wiese, D.N. et al., (2018). Emerging
trends in global freshwater availability. Nature (557)651 https://
doi.org/10.1038/s41586-018-0123-1
Decadal Survey Recommendations on Commercial Data Use: NASA's
Decadal survey provides a forum for members of the scientific community
to help guide the agency's objectives and future missions. You recently
served as the Co-Chair of the Earth Decadal Survey, which discussed the
utility of commercial Earth Observing datasets.
Question 2. Can you share more about why the Earth Science Decadal
Survey focused on the importance of commercial data sources in its
recommendations?
Answer. The Earth Science Decadal Survey explicitly pointed to the
importance of commercial data sources primarily because the need for
space-based observations in meeting critical societal goals is such
that NASA's budget cannot accommodate them all. It was also done
because commercial capabilities have evolved considerably in the last
decade to the point where they can be a more cost-effective tool for
some Earth observations. Because of limits in Federal resources, and
because NASA does not have the budget to carry out all the work that is
needed, the adoption of more cost-effective ways of observing the Earth
is a necessary part of the space-based Earth observation portfolio.
There are some cases in which the commercial sector can provide Earth
observing capabilities of sufficient quality at a significantly lower
cost than Federal agencies can develop them. These tend to be in areas
in which a commercial business model can be profitable, such as with
visible and infrared sensors. As a result, the science community sent a
clear message that when these cost-effective methods can be used to
provide sufficient critical Earth observations of high priority
parameters, they should be used so that more could be done with the
resources available. The commercial sector is by no means a substitute
for the science capabilities that NASA missions enable or many of the
operational capabilities that NOAA missions provide, but they are an
important complement for providing cost-effective measurements that
have become more routine and don't require significant technology
development in order to provide useful data for scientific and societal
purposes.
NASA & NOAA: Roles and Missions: You have a great deal of
experience working with both NASA and NOAA. CU-Boulder now has a
research partnership with NOAA through the Cooperative Institute for
Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES).
Question 3. Can you discuss the importance of interagency
coordination to federally-funded Earth Observation missions? Do you
have any suggestions for improvements to prevent unnecessary
duplication or uncertainty over responsibilities?
Answer. Interagency coordination is absolutely critical for an
effective Earth observing program. Were there to be overlap in
observing capabilities, there would be an inefficient use of resources.
Where there are gaps between the agencies' combined portfolios, there
is an absence of knowledge and information fundamental to societal
success. Both agency missions are clear, and I don't see significant
overlap in capabilities, but there are important gaps, and going
forward it is crucial that all of the needs for space-based Earth
observation be articulated, and an agreed-upon framework that involves
all relevant agencies be adopted for meeting those needs.
These gaps arise from observations that are needed to understand
and prepare for the Earth's changes and their implications for local,
regional, national, and global populations but do not fit either into
NOAA's operational mission or NASA's mission of discovery and process
understanding. Examples include monitoring the evolution of Arctic sea
ice, monitoring sea surface heights and sea level rise, assessing the
changes in ice sheet mass balance and their implications for sea level
rise, monitoring the Earth's radiation budget, etc. In each of these
cases, I refer to monitoring. This is because climate variations and
associated implications require observing for sustained periods of time
for the purpose of understanding the evolution of the state of certain
geophysical variables (such as sea surface height). Such observation
strategies are not geared toward immediate operational (e.g., weather
forecasting) needs, and at the same time they do not fit well into the
category of exploring and understanding Earth environmental processes.
Addressing the need to fill these gaps requires a well-considered
strategy for prioritizing the range of variables in need of continuity
of measurements and establishing a framework for implementing these
observations. Doing so means that NASA's or NOAA's (or both) agency
responsibilities would need to be expanded to address the need for this
kind of monitoring, and resources would need to be allocated for this
purpose. If additional resources were not to be allocated for this
expansion of agency mission, then they would come at the expense of
current agency priorities, which both agencies are having difficulty
meeting in the current budget environment.
In such a scenario, judgements would need to be made on the
relative value of these monitoring missions against the exploration and
operational value of the missions currently in the portfolio. In the
end, our success as a nation depends on robust capabilities in all
three areas--research, operations, and monitoring.
______
Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Raphael Warnock to
Dr. Waleed Abdalati
Natural Disasters: Your testimony discusses how space-based
observations can be used to track storm trajectories, vulnerability to
storm surges, and other weather threats to people.
Question 1. How can these observations better help communities in
states such as Georgia, which may be vulnerable to natural disasters
such as tornadoes and storms, prepare and respond to natural disasters?
Answer. These observations are already used to help communities
prepare for natural disasters in that they inform prediction and allow
for short-term preparation for impending disasters such as tropical
storms and coastal flooding. However, this is under conditions in which
disasters are imminent, and the data and associated forecasts can
inform evacuations, rescue, and other quick-response strategies.
Ideally, preparation for natural disasters should occur long before
they strike. As a result, in addition to forecasts, there is a need for
assessments of disaster likelihood and vulnerability, so communities
can prepare in advance. If we just consider one example, such as
coastal flooding in Georgia, such assessments would include
understanding coastal topography, an assessment of vulnerability to
storm surge, the determination of coastal sea level rise, etc. In
western states, such assessments would likely be along the lines of
vulnerability to fire or drought. For the Georgia coastal flooding
example, observations and data that support such assessments include:
the history of meteorologic observations that show the
evolution of tornadoes, hurricanes, and other severe weather,
the time series of regional sea level rise,
local topography,
integrity and vulnerability of structures and infrastructure
in coastal regions,
rain rates to assess flooding risks.
NASA has made a concerted effort to work with the applications
communities, the kind that would be doing these types of assessments,
to better understand their needs and to produce data in usable formats.
At the same time, NOAA produces coastal topography maps, and forecasts
that allow for the risk assessment in the near term. What is needed,
however, involves a more integrated strategy of multiple agencies
(NASA, NOAA, USGS, NSF, FEMA, etc.) to quantify risks that would inform
building strategies and management approaches. A simple example is the
reassessment of flood zones. What was a 100-year flood zone as little
as 30 years ago, is often now subject to the recurrence of those ``100-
year-floods'' in just a few decades, or in some cases, just a few years
(Marsooli et al., 2019). Space-based observations, provide the
foundational data to inform such reassessments, by providing
fundamental insights into the processes that produce such disasters and
by tracking the history and evolution of change, thus informing
assessments of the rate, magnitude, and likelihood of future change.
Similar assessments should be made for the other types of risks, such
as fires in the drying west, landslides in mountainous regions, and
flooding near rivers, to name a few.
Question 2. What challenges, if any, have you observed in the
ability of communities to effectively use these space-based
observations to prepare for natural disasters?
Answer. In some ways this depends on the types of disasters. For
those related to weather (which can include fires and flooding), the
challenges have been limited, as a result of our Federal agencies being
good at examining the data and model results and predicting the
likelihood of natural disasters and where they will occur. The
forecasts have improved significantly over the last two decades, and
the location and magnitude of weather-and climate-related disasters are
much better understood than they were even ten years ago. NOAA, as an
agency with an operational focus has always had a history of delivering
products (whether derived from observations or models) that are usable
by the community.
The products primarily developed by NASA have been more in the
domain of advancing research and advancing knowledge, and thus have
been developed more for use by a particularly data savvy research
community. More recently, however, it has become clear that NASA's
Applied Sciences Program has made a robust and concerted effort to
broaden the base of users of space-based observations for applications,
including disaster preparedness and response, and ensure that their
products are of such a nature that these communities can make effective
use of them. NASA deserves great credit for their efforts to work from
a user-needs perspective (which includes data formats, volumes, and
other usability considerations) as a complement to its efforts to
advance scientific knowledge and understanding. There are still some
hurdles to overcome, as community management entities tend to stick
with familiar types of data and systems, but the conversations between
the expanding base of potential users and NASA will improve this aspect
of disaster preparation. NASA's continuing efforts in this area should
be supported and commended.
To summarize, the challenges have not been in the domain of
forecasting and use of forecasts, which is familiar to many and has
been very successful. The challenges are more in the domain of direct
data use from observations, as not all potential users are familiar
with or comfortable with these data products. The situation is
improving, as NASA continues to strive to understand user needs and
works to present data in forms that are most valuable to user
communities, and as these user communities continue to become more
comfortable and familiar with how to use these types of data sets.
Reference:
Marsooli, R., Lin, N., Emanuel, K. et al. Climate change exacerbates
hurricane flood hazards along U.S. Atlantic and Gulf Coasts in
spatially varying patterns. Nat Commun 10, 3785 (2019). https://
doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-11755-z
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