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40 OCEANOGRAPHY IN THE NEXT DECADE 



scientific and technical purposes, and supports related science. 

 NASA-developed technology provided the first synoptic viev^s of 

 Earth, and NASA Earth observation programs have since evolved 

 into the present international operational and research missions 

 for remote sensing of processes in the atmosphere and at the ocean 

 and land surfaces. The great difficulty in observing the ocean by 

 conventional means (ships and buoys) led oceanographers early in 

 the post-Sputnik period to recognize the value of spaceborne ob- 

 servations. 



In the more than 30 years since satellite imagery vv^as first 

 demonstrated, NASA and the ocean community have achieved 

 notable successes. Satellite-measured sea surface temperatures 

 are now routine input for weather and climate forecasting. NASA 

 guided this technology to its present mature operational state. 

 The Seasat and Nimbus-7 missions demonstrated the validity of 

 the idea that the ocean surface's shape and color could be mea- 

 sured from space and would be useful. Data from these two satel- 

 lite missions are still used by ocean scientists. 



As part of the Earth Observing System (EOS), NASA plans a 

 major data and information system, the Earth Observing System 

 Data and Information System (EOSDIS). EOSDIS will contribute 

 to the Global Change Data and Information System, a joint ven- 

 ture of NASA, NOAA, and USGS mentioned earlier. Oceano- 

 graphic data will form an important part of these data systems, 

 and the oceanographic community should ensure that it is well 

 represented on the advisory and management groups for these 

 systems. Beginning in the early 1980s, NASA worked with the 

 academic oceanography community to develop a plan for satellite 

 oceanography and to build a first-class national oceanographic satellite 

 capability. NASA established excellent scientific centers at the 

 Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the Goddard Space Flight Center, 

 and put together an effective headquarters team that oversaw the 

 centers' research and supported research at academic institutions, 

 many of them outside the mainstream oceanographic institutions. 

 This effort, which was endorsed at the highest levels of the agency, 

 led to a period of extremely effective collaboration and joint projects. 

 Both NASA and the institutions learned from each other: NASA, 

 a large federal agency oriented toward massive team efforts ex- 

 tending over many years, and the research community, which is 

 often interested in smaller projects lasting no longer than a gradu- 

 ate student's thesis period. 



The investment that NASA made in marine science in the 



