The restructured Earth observing system: Instrument recommendations

Abstract

Responding to directions from the EOS Engineering Review Committee [Frieman, 1991] and Congress, the Payload Advisory Panel for NASA's Earth Observing System (EOS) has proposed a restructured EOS to address high‐priority science and environmental policy issues in Earth system science. The panel, which met at a workshop October 21–24 in Easton, Md., is comprised of the EOS interdisciplinary investigators and chaired by Berrien Moore of the University of New Hampshire. The panel's recommendations were submitted to NASA last week.Although the panel's recommended EOS program remains ambitious, it is reduced from the original plan proposed last year. While EOS will retain its emphasis on collecting observations over a 15‐year period, many important measurements are cancelled, deferred, or proposed for provision by international partners. For many measurements, EOS will now rely on international or domestic instruments that are less capable than those originally selected. Some risk is associated with such reliance, and continuity may be endangered.