Viewing the Earth’s Global Environment from Space: from Scientific Knowledge to Societal Benefits

The vantage point of space provides a unique opportunity to see all the elements of the global
Earth system – atmosphere, ocean, land surface, ice, biosphere – and how they interact with each
other. The ability to characterize both natural processes and those caused by humans, as well as
the ability to study processes on a range of time scales from days to decades, helps scientists
characterize and understand earth system variability and its causes and effects, as well as
allowing for improvements in predictive capability. With this information, Earth system
scientists can work with partners in other federal and international agencies, academia, industry,
and the non-profit sector to help anticipate and respond to both naturally-occurring and humaninduced
changes in the Earth system.

In this talk, a review of how satellite-derived information, integrated together with
complementary data from aircraft and surface based measurements and used in the context of
Earth system models, is advancing our knowledge of the Earth and how the resulting information
is being used by NASA and its interagency and international partners will be presented.
Link to seminar page: https://www.atmos.colostate.edu/colloquia/