1 Earth System Science & Applications Advisory Committee Report Larry Smarr ESSAAC Chair NAC Meeting December 3, 2003

2 How is the global Earth system changing? What are the primary forcings of the Earth system? How does the Earth system respond to natural and human-induced changes? What are the consequences of changes in the Earth system for human civilization? How well can we predict future changes in the Earth system? How is the Earth changing and what are the consequences of life on Earth? ESE Fundamental Science Questions

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ERBS Terra Aqua GRACE QuikScat SAGE III SeaWinds TRMM TOMS-EP UARS Jason Landsat 7 SORCE ACRIMSAT EO-1 TOPEX/Poseidon SeaWiFS ICESat NASA Earth Science Research Satellites

5 Next Generation Missions The Earth Sensorweb Concept Involves Satellites Working In Intelligent Constellations, Adapting To Observed And Modeled Changes And Delivering Tailored Information Products From Space To Science Users

Components of a Future Global System for Earth Observation

7 Geospatial...to enable timely and affordable delivery of Earth Science data and information to users Computing Earth System Science in the future will leverage three ongoing technology revolutions: Technology Emphasis Areas Communications

8 NASA Earth System Science IT Challenges EOSDIS Currently: Ingests Nearly 3 Terabytes of Data Each Day In 2003 it Delivered Over 25 Million Data Products In Response to Over 2.3 Million User Requests Making It the Largest e-Science System in the World This Capability Must Evolve To Handle Still Larger Data Volumes As Well As New Data Types (e.g. Laser-LIDAR Data) Earth System Modeling is a Driving Requirement for High-End Computing, and will Continue to be so as Models: Increase in Resolution and Are Further Coupled (e.g., Atmosphere-Ocean-Land Processes) Other Agencies are Learning from EOSDIS and are Moving Beyond. As NASA Lays Out the Evolution of its Information Infrastructure to Meet its Earth Science Challenges Over The Next Decade, it will Again Need to Move to The Leading-Edge.

9 A OneNASA Supercomputing Success Story The Estimating the Circulation and Climate of the Ocean (ECCO) Project at JPL Has Created a Global Ocean Model Simulation of Velocity and Temperature at 1/4 Resolution ECCO Developed by MIT, SIO, JPL JPL Working with ARC and GFSC Ran the ECCO Simulation on the first 512 Node Shared Memory SGI Altix Reducing the Time it Takes to do a 5-Year Simulation From 3 Months To 3 Days From Decision to Result in 60 Days! NASA Centers, Universities, and Industry Collaboration ECCO simulated ocean surface current (at 15 m) speed in meters per second

10 Removing Barriers to Earth Observing & Simulation One Current Barrier: The Low Throughput of Todays Internet Even Though Internet2 Backbone is 10 Giga bits per second Network is Shared Using TCP/IP Protocol A Remote NASA Earth Observation System User Only Sees: Mbps (May 2003) Throughput to Campuses Typically Over Abilene From Goddard, Langley, or EROS Best FTP with Direct Fiber OC-12: Goddard to UMaryland 123 Mbps UCSDs SIO to Goddard (ICESAT, CERES Satellite Data) 12.4 Mbps1/1000 of the Available Backbone Speed!

11 For Those Who Want the Details… Source: Bernard Minster, SIO, UCSD

12 Parallel Lambdas On Single Optical Fibers NSF Research Promises Orders of Magnitude Improvement! Files Transferred Between Clusters at NCSA and SDSC UDP Over Two 10-Gigabps Dedicated TeraGrid Lamdbas Gbps out of the 20 Gbps Available! Parallel Lambdas Will Drive This Decade The Way Parallel Processors Drove the 1990s Source: Steve Wallach Lambdas

13 OneNASA SuperNetworking Potential Source: Tom West, CEO NLR National Lambda Rail Partnership Serves Very High-End Experimental and Research Applications 4 x 10Gbps Wavelengths Initially Capable of 40 x 10Gbps Wavelengths at Build Out Linking Goddard, ARC, & JPL with SIO Using NLR Under Discussion

14 ESE in the NASA Strategic Plan In Adopting To Understand And Protect Our Home Planet As The First Element Of The NASA Mission, The NASA Strategic Plan Has Raised The Visibility Of Earth Science ESE Has Embraced This As Its Mission And Message The Master Goals/Theme Chart Should Indicate ESEs Supporting Roles In Goals 2 And 5 Because The Emphasis In NASA Plan Is On Articulating A Unifying Framework For Integrated Planning And Budgeting, And Because The Space Architecture Work Was Just Beginning, The Next Steps Were Largely Left To The Six Enterprise Plans. The Next Edition Of The NASA Strategic Plan Should Describe The High Points Of: The Space Architecture, Including The Sensorweb Concept For Earth Science The Information Infrastructure To Enable Research, Including Data & Information Management And High-end Computing The NASA Strategic Plan Says Little About External Partnerships, And Thus The Complex External Environment In Which ESE Operates Is Not Readily Visible This Is Addressed At Length In The ESE Strategy Document

15 ESE Human Capital Needs ESE Faces The Same Challenges As Other Research And Technology Organizations In Recruiting The Future Workforce ESE-specific Needs Include: Scientists Trained In Interdisciplinary Research Modelers With Both Scientific And Computer Science Expertise Software Engineers To Enable Model Algorithms To Run More Efficiently On State Of The Art Computational Assets Engineers With Expertise In Laser Technology Scientific Technologists To Create The Next Generation Of Remote Sensing Techniques And Sensorweb Implementation ESE Has A Small But Effective Education Program, Aimed Principally At Science At The Higher Levels The NASA Education Enterprise Strategy Outlines A Sound Approach It Is Up To The ESE/EE Partnership To Create Initiatives That Meet ESE Needs Within This General Approach e.g., Linking Student Fellowship Grant Programs To Recruiting Efforts

16 Public Communication NASA Needs To Get The Word Out That NASA Does Earth Science To Understand And Protect Our Home Planet ESE Is Preparing To Issue Its First Outreach And Communications Plan To Its Internal Management Team. It Has Built Its Message On The NASA Mission Statement Public Communication And Understanding Of The Earth System Science Concept Pioneered By NASA Is Essential To Turn The Attention Of Science, Engineering, And Other Students To The Challenges And Societal Benefits Of ESE