Space-based Earth observations: Informing energy management decision making

Earth observations from space-based sensors have played a significant role in enhancing decision making in the energy sector. In renewable energy applications, spaceborne observations now routinely augment sparse ground-based observations for solar energy resource assessment. We describe the use of these measurements to create value-added datasets for use by non-scientists to improve the ability of their decision support systems and models to provide policy and management decisions. A decade of experience in renewable energy and energy efficiency applications at NASA is discussed.

The roles of the Group on Earth Observations (GEO) and the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS) are also discussed. These organizations are facilitating the deployment of products derived from space-based observations to build a Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS). The roles of these two organizations in implementing the GEOSS vision in the energy societal benefit area, which include collaborations between European and US scientists to improve the availability of renewable energy resource data, are described.