We are part of NASA’s MEaSUREs program (Making Earth System Data Records for Use in Research Environments) that strives to provide data products and services for the advancement of Earth remote sensing and pioneers to improve human understanding of our home planet in order to inform economic and policy decisions and improve operational services of benefit to the Nation.
Through the MEaSUREs Program, NASA is continuing its commitment to expand understanding the Earth system using consistent records.
We have been selected to produce an Earth System Data Records (ESDR) which is defined as a unified and coherent set of observations of a given parameter of the Earth system, optimized to meet specific requirements in addressing science questions. These records are critical to understanding Earth System processes, to assessing variability, long-term trends, and change in the Earth System, and to provide input and validation means to modeling efforts.
We are proposing to create two new and innovative ESDRs: Sea Surface Nitrate (SSN) and Nitrate based new production (NnP) using NASA’s high quality remotely sensed phytoplankton Chlorophyll a (Chl) and Sea Surface Temperature (SST). Oceanic primary productionis regulated primarily by the supply of inorganic nitrogen, primarily nitrate (N), while new production constitutes the major fraction of carbon fixed through photosynthesis transported into the oceans’ interior.