NESDIS Program Overview and Strategic Direction

The mission of the National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS) is to provide secure and timely access to global environmental data and information from satellites and other sources to both promote and protect the Nation’s environment, security, economy and quality of life.

In this talk, Dr. Stephen Volz, NESDIS Assistant Administrator, will discuss near-term NESDIS activities within the context of broader NESDIS strategic planning as identified in the 2016 NESDIS Strategic Plan. The talk will include discussion of Gary Davis’ contribution to the NESDIS legacy. Mr. Davis devoted his 37-year career with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to the development and operation of environmental satellites that provide critical Earth and space observational capabilities to the Nation and our international partners. His energy and devotion led to the establishment of true international cooperation in shared environmental satellite data, with innumerable positive results for the U.S. and the international community. He passed his generosity and dedication on to others who now continue his legacy at NOAA and beyond.

2016 saw numerous NESDIS activities that made an impact on the Earth observation and forecasting communities: DSCOVR, the Nation’s first operational space weather satellite, became the primary satellite for NOAA’s space weather forecasts and warnings; Jason-3 was successfully launched and is now providing ocean altimetry data continuity; release of the BAMS State of the Climate in 2015 showed continuation of trends in recent decades; and NESDIS initiated its first commercial pilot project.

NESDIS activities in 2017 and beyond will build on these developments to further benefit the meteorological community, including the launches and operational exploitation of GOES-R, JPSS-1 and COSMIC-2.  These satellites deliver significantly advanced capabilities that will continue to be the backbone of space-based environmental information provided by NOAA.  Meanwhile, NESDIS is looking toward the 2030s and beyond, conducting bottoms-up space segment architecture studies, implementing an enterprise ground system for operations and rapid data product generation, participating in the National Research Council’s second Earth Science and Applications from Space Decadal Survey, and considering how to make best use of all available sources of Earth observation data, domestic and international, research and commercial, to contribute to the NOAA mission.