Smarr Named Chair of NASA's Earth Systems Science and Application Advisory Committee

8.06.2003 -- Calit² director Larry Smarr was appointed recently by NASA to chair its Earth System Science and Applications Advisory Committee (ESSAAC). This important committee "advises and makes recommendations to the NASA Administrator and the NASA Advisory Council on the full scope of Earth Science strategic goals and objectives." Such recommendations then influence agency programs for Earth system science, applications, technology, development, commercialization, and education.

Dr. Smarr convened the first meeting of this committee under his chairmanship July 16-17 in Washington, DC. At this meeting, the committee was given an overview of, and had the opportunity to discuss, the strategy of the Earth Science Enterprise, led by NASA Associate Administrator, Dr. Ghassem R. Asrar.

The Earth Observing System (EOS) is the centerpiece of NASA's Earth Science Enterprise. It is composed of a series of satellites, a science component, and the EOS Data and Information System (EOSDIS) supporting a coordinated series of polar-orbiting and low-inclination satellites for long-term global observations of the land surface, biosphere, solid Earth, atmosphere, and oceans. EOSDIS is the largest operational science data system in the world. NASA is planning the evolution of the observing and information systems for the coming decade in response to both new scientific understanding and the availability of new technologies. One focus of the ESSAAC in the coming years will be to provide advice from the scientific community on how the EOSDIS system might best evolve to take advantage of emerging Internet technologies.

Dr. Smarr remains a member of the NASA Advisory Council, chaired by Dr. Charles Kennel, director of the UCSD Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO), which reports directly to the NASA Administrator, Mr. Sean O'Keefe.

The ESSAAC meets twice a year, and publishes the results of its deliberations and plans at http://science.hq.nasa.gov/.The committee has had 15 previous meetings dating back to the early 1990s.

The next ESSAAC meeting will be hosted by Dr. Smarr and Dr. Kennel in February 2004 at SIO.