The NPOESS Program was designed primarily to serve operational users who typically need near real time observations and products. Consequently, the Program does not provide for reprocessing, data record gap filling, or development of homogeneous and consistent products over multiple missions. Because climate change signatures are generally small as compared to normal observation variability, climate data records (CDRs) derived from both NPOESS and relevant heritage observations must be developed into unified and coherent long-term records with homogeneous error structures. To ensure defensible scientific conclusions, a CDR development program should use well-accepted and peer-reviewed algorithms, adhere to international metadata, quality control, configuration management and documentation standards, and provide for long-term data preservation and usability.

The skills and resources needed for a successful CDR program are distributed among multiple U.S. agencies. In response to recommendations from the Climate Change Science Program (2003) and other organizations, NOAA and NASA have begun developing a blueprint for a joint-agency program. The program would involve centralized management and coordination, but utilize distributed resources and activities per heritage programs. The CDRs resulting from this program would provide a comprehensive set of climate records useful for developing key climate information products (e.g., trends in hurricane intensity), spatio-temporal analysis of environmental change, and developing a coherent simulation environment for climate models such that key uncertainties, including those identified in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Assessment Report (2007), can be comprehensively addressed. In this paper, we will describe key aspects of the program, including the complementary agency roles that culminate in spiral product development and sustained evolution.