NASA's Contributions to Carbon Management:
Using Carbon Cycle Science to Inform Decisions

Carbon in the atmosphere is a controlling factor on climate and hence on ecological productivity and the sustainability of life. The flow of carbon among the land, oceans, and atmosphere is called, the carbon cycle. Carbon cycle science is the study of the carbon cycle and includes an emphasis on reducing the uncertainties regarding how carbon enters the atmosphere and how it is stored (sequestered) on land and in the oceans. Carbon management is the extension of carbon cycle science in decision support tools that assist resource managers and policy makers effect carbon emissions and sequestration.

What is the role of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in carbon management? How has NASA's role been defined and how is NASA responding to stakeholders concerned with carbon cycle science and the management of carbon in terrestrial, aquatic, and atmospheric systems?

The United States Congress created NASA in 1958 and assigned the new independent agency responsibility for research and development of non-military aeronautic and space activities for the U.S. government. The legislation that created NASA outlined general objectives for the agency, including:

1. expansion of knowledge of atmospheric phenomena;
2. development and operation of vehicles carrying instruments in space;
3. establishment of long range studies of the potential benefits accrued through the utilization of space for scientific purposes;
4. maintaining the Unite States as a leader in space science and technology and the application of that technology in peaceful activities "within and outside the atmosphere"; and,
5. cooperation with other nations in the pursuit of peaceful application of NASA-developed technology.

(Public Law #85-568 "National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958, Section 102) The mandate given to NASA in 1958 is reflected in the agency's mission statement to understand and protect the Earth, explore the universe, search for life, and inspire the next generation of explorers.

In short, NASA is a science and technology-based organization focused on aerospace. The agency has four directorates - exploration, space operations, aeronautics, and science. The science directorate encompasses the use of space as a unique vantage point to obtain information on the natural and physical processes that shape our environment and affect our well-being. The development and launching of weather research satellites, a NASA function from the agency's first decade, contributes toward understanding the planet's atmospheric dynamics and improves weather and climate predictions. The agency continues to fill that role, providing systems engineering to build and launch the fleet of weather satellites operated by NOAA. In the latter part of the 1960's, NASA developed and demonstrated the ability to study Earth's terrestrial processes with the Landsat program. Since then, the contribution of NASA systems toward increasing understanding of the dynamics of Earth's system processes has steadily expanded. Today, NASA operates a suite of 30 research spacecraft with a total of more than 100 instruments that collect and transmit information daily on the state of Earth’s oceans, land surface, atmosphere, and incoming solar energy. The United States is the primary contributor to technologies used by space programs in the public and private sectors worldwide. These Earth observation technologies provide the data and support the predictions that enable geoscience research and applications to occur at regional, continental, and global scales.

Measurements of key geophysical parameters of the Earth are essential to increasing understanding of its critical physical, chemical, and biological processes. Knowledge of those processes is derived from scientific analysis of observations. In the early 1980's NASA began complementing its Earth observation program with the study of Earth as a system. That science program, which continues today, directs research in atmospheric, terrestrial, and aquatic processes; additionally, it drives the development of innovative Earth-orbiting instruments for measurements and monitoring.