[IGSMAIL-6008]: your input sought for Geodesy Science Plan

[Meghan Miller]

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IGS Electronic Mail      29 Sep 09:24:22 PDT 2009      Message Number 6008
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Author: Meghan Miller

Geodesy Community Members,

We are writing to invite your contributions to Geodesy Science
planning, whether or not you can attend the workshop next week in Salt
Lake City.

(1)  We would like your input on the grand challenges facing Geodesy.
Please capture your thoughts on power point (or similar) and forward
them to Jaime Magliocca magliocca at unavco.org, by Wednesday at noon if
at all possible; after that please also copy them to the appropriate
session chairs named below.  Your contributions will be taken up in
one or more of the six breakout sessions.

Breakout sessions (detailed descriptions & session chair email
addresses at the end of this message):
Cryosphere  Jeanne Sauber
Global Geodynamics  Brad Hager
Geomorphology and Surface Processes  John Oldow
Natural Hazards  Paul Segall
Climate Change  Steve Nerem
Hydrology  Gerald Bawden

(2)  During the meeting, breakout groups will receive a charge that
will include this guidance:
Develop one or two "grand challenges" in your topic area to which
geodesy can contribute significantly.  By "grand challenges" we mean,
"think big!"  These are goals for the next 5-10 years, not the next
proposal.  It is not necessary that all the pieces be in existence,
and geodesy may be only one of several important contributions needed.
Participants might be thinking about data sets, instrumentation, and
facilities needed to meet these challenges, as well as the workforce
development, education and outreach capabilities that might be needed.

(3)  The writing process will be open for input and comment at various
steps, although it will advance on a tight time line.   The breakout
leaders and others will contribute input from their sessions.
Contributions to the first draft will also be widely solicited.  When
a draft has been assembled, it will be posted for comment - by mid-
November.   Comments will be taken up until January 15, when a final
draft will be hammered out.  We hope that you will be actively engaged
in this process.

(4) If you know of others who might contribute and may not be on the
common geodesy list serves, please feel free to forward this message.

We look forward to receiving your input!

On behalf of the organizing committee:
Jim Davis
Yuri Fialko
Susan Owen
Meghan Miller



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Detail on breakout sessions:
Cryosphere  Jeanne Sauber   jeanne.m.sauber-rosenberg at nasa.gov
Space geodesy has brought major advances in recent years in what we
know about glaciers and the dynamics of
ice flow, including the role of land ice (ice sheets, caps and
glaciers) in current and future sea level rise and the
role of sea ice and associated feedbacks on the global climate system.

Global Geodynamics  Brad Hager  bhhager at mit.edu
Detailed measurements of surface motion and gravity field on
continental and planetary scales are essential for
understanding deformation of the tectonic plates and the fluid
behaviour of the mantle below. Determination of
earth rotation parameters, such as the polar motion and the length of
day is also important for constraining
geodynamic models and the internal structure of the Earth.

Geomorphology and Surface Processes  John Oldow   oldow at utdallas.edu
The Earths land surface is continuously reshaped by catastrophic
tectonic and hydrologic events, sea level rise,
and collapses; all of which impact the terrestrial water supply,
ecosystems, and infrastructure. Measuring and
characterizing the changes in the landscape and how the movement of
water affects the land surface is key in
understanding geologic and hydrologic processes and making links
between hydrology, geology and biosphere.


Natural Hazards  Paul Segall    segall at stanford.edu
Surface deformation and gravity measurements around active faults and
volcanic systems, landslides, regions of
active subsidence are critical to understanding both the scientific
processes and the societal hazards associated
with these systems. Recent advances in geodetic techniques have also
brought applications to tsunami warning
and extreme weather events.

Climate Change  Steve Nerem   nerem at colorado.edu
One of the great scientific challenges is the understanding of
interactions among the cryosphere, oceans, and the
solid Earth, particularly in regard to the global redistribution of
water and the implication for sea level.
Geodetic measurements are also playing an increasingly important role
in weather forecasting and for the study
of atmospheric dynamics.

Hydrology  Gerald Bawden   gbawden at usgs.gov
Geodetic imaging is providing important insights into the dynamics of
local and regional aquifers, surface water,
soil moisture, and snow pack, and is crucial for measuring changes in
the ground-water supply and constraining
the terrestrial water budget. More than 80 percent of the identified
subsidence in the United States is a
consequence of the increasing development of land and water resources,
which threatens to exacerbate existing
land subsidence problems and initiate new ones. Characterizing and
monitoring how surface water (lakes, rivers,
etc) is naturally and anthropogenically redistributed in space and
time is key to resolving the terrestrial water
supply component of the water cycle.  Resolving the aerial extent,
volume, surface velocities and circulation
patterns in rivers and water bodies will significantly advance our
understanding of the terrestrial water budget.