How NASA’s Climate Adaptation Science Investigators (CASI) Workgroup Brings NASA Science to Support its Centers in Anticipating and Responding to Climate Variability and Change

At the start of the decade, NASA reconstituted the Climate Adaptation Science Investigators (CASI) workgroup that is designed to help bring NASA observations, model products, and personnel to the efforts to plan for the future environmental changes that are likely to impact its centers and facilities and their surrounding communities. Working closely with NASA’s Office of Strategic Infrastructure, NASA has supported a team of scientists from five centers (Goddard, Langley, Marshall, Ames, and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory) to provide localized information about the anticipated future environments for these centers. Subgroups address some of the key drivers that will be impacting the centers and facilities - Temperature & Precipitation, Extreme Weather Events, Sea Level Rise & Coastal Flooding, Fires & Air Quality , Energy & Water Budgets, and Ecosystems. This effort, which builds off the successes and lessons learned from the original CASI effort carried out previously, is designed to provide a mechanism for NASA scientists, environmental managers, and master planners to interact, informed by the latest science that NASA is producing. The CASI effort is an example of NASA’s “Earth Science to Action” strategy in connecting science results to decision-making. Since the environmental issues that may impact centers do not “stop at the center gates” the effort will look to connect to related efforts in the regions in which the centers operate, and that existing efforts carried out by NASA and its partners will be able to amplify the cross-benefits of research and action-oriented efforts. In this talk, a summary of the CASI efforts to date and near term plans will be presented.