Earth System Science

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Earth System Science Applications Advisory
Committee Report

• Larry Smarr
• ESSAAC Chair
• NAC Meeting December 3, 2003

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ESE Fundamental Science Questions
How is the Earth changing and what are the
consequences of life on Earth?

• 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?

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(No Transcript)
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NASA Earth Science Research Satellites
Jason
EO-1
SeaWiFS
ICESat
ACRIMSAT
TOMS-EP
ERBS
TOPEX/Poseidon
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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
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Components of a Future Global System for Earth
Observation
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Technology Emphasis Areas
Earth System Science in the future will leverage
three ongoing technology revolutions
Computing
...to enable timely and affordable delivery of
Earth Science data and information to users
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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.
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A OneNASA Supercomputing Success Story
NASA Centers, Universities, and Industry
Collaboration

• 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!

ECCO simulated ocean surface current (at 15 m)
speed in meters per second
www.sgi.com/features/2003/nov/nasa/index.html
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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
• 10-50 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!

http//www.evl.uic.edu/cavern/rg/20030817_he
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For Those Who Want the Details
Source Bernard Minster, SIO, UCSD
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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
• 18.62 Gbps out of the 20 Gbps Available!

www.evl.uic.edu/cavern/rg/20030817_he
Source Steve Wallach
Parallel Lambdas Will Drive This Decade The Way
Parallel Processors Drove the 1990s
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OneNASA SuperNetworking Potential
Linking Goddard, ARC, JPL with SIO Using NLR
Under Discussion
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
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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

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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

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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