The Need for New and Improved Satellite Data for Regional Climate Models (RCM)

Over the past few decades, the scientific community and government have recognized changes in the global climate system, although there is some controversy on both the amount of change and the causes and effects. While many agencies, universities and organizations have developed regional and global climate models to determine causes, substantiate and forecast climate changes, and ascertain effects, they are all dependent on accurate data for initial conditions and past trends. Regional Climate Models (RCM) are especially dependent on accurate, high resolution data for localized climatic forecasts used for agriculture, wild fire prediction, drought prediction, energy output predictions and other applications. Satellite data is a key driver in climate models and influences the quality of the model output – higher resolution data improves climate modeling accuracy. This presentation highlights the need for such data, the current state of satellites and satellite data available for use in RCMs, and the future of satellite technology and data that can support and improve RCMs. Additionally, this study will touch on the beneficial impacts a regional climate model enterprise will have on the United States of America's climate change policy and its decision makers.