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Radar altimetry is a remote sensing technique with a wide range of practical and scientific applications for observing the global ocean, land surface waters, and the Earth’s ice sheets. Understanding complex and technical satellite radar altimetry systems and using the data and information products derived from them can be immensely challenging. Nonexpert users, such as the general public and students in particular, may find that this complexity prevents them from reaping the benefits of the considerable information that satellites can provide. Over the past 28 years and more, experts and amateurs in altimetry outreach have developed programs, activities and information products using a variety of media, targeting a broad spectrum of users in order to demonstrate the significant value of satellite altimetry missions to society. The goal of outreach professionals and nonprofessionals is to convey complex scientific and technical concepts in an understandable and engaging way to a variety of audiences. Outreach people themselves also come from a wide variety of backgrounds: from employees of international space agencies building and launching satellites, through to Mission and Science Team members validating and using the data for research purposes, and science communicators —all with a wide range of motivations. This article reviews the challenges and achievements of altimetry outreach and is largely based on the records of the Outreach and Data Services splinter session of the Ocean Surface Topography Science Team meetings. It includes minutes of splinter sessions, agendas, posters, and collected showcase presentations.

When: 26 May–1 June 2020 Where: Virtual (organized by the University of Washington) While the primary mission of NASA’s Earth Science Division (ESD) is to develop a scientific understanding of the Earth system and how it is responding to human and natural drivers of change, an implicit need is also to understand how best to promote the use of NASA satellite mission products and information for application activities that directly benefit society and our environment [ ]the 2018 National Academies on Science, Engineering, and Medicine Decadal Survey for NASA, “Thriving on Our Changing Planet: A Decadal Strategy for Earth Observations from Space,” clearly underscores the tremendous value of satellite mission data, which “enabled societal applications that provide tremendous value to individuals, businesses, the nation, and the world By virtue of its stated scientific goals, SWOT satellite data are expected to have tremendous societal impact in various sectors that involve water, such as disaster management, reservoir operations, water management, ecosystem services planning, hydropower and navigation, fisheries (freshwater and marine), and marine shipping [ ]in this proposed virtual hackathon architecture, the last 2 days involve intense one-on-one help sessions via a web-conferencing tool such as Zoom to “look under the hood” by highly qualified trainers (known hereafter as “helper hackers”) into the EA’s local device to examine tools/data/models used for the SWOT EA project

Planning is underway for development of the next NASA Mass Change satellite mission, as identified in the National Science Foundation’s 2017-2027 Decadal Survey for Earth Science and Applications from Space (Decadal Survey). NASA has identified a Mass Change Designated Observable (MCDO) Study Team to evaluate satellite mission architectures that could optimally support a range of science and applications needs of user communities (both research and operational) of future mass change missions (i.e., successors to the GRACE and GRACE Follow On missions). The primary science objective of the MCDO, as identified in the Decadal Survey, is the continued measurement of changes in the Earth’s dynamic gravity field over time. The Decadal Survey also emphasizes applications of the mission data products as a major focus, in addition to science outcomes. Operational use and societal benefit derived from the GRACE and GRACE FO data and information products demonstrate the value of these missions. Applications include drought monitoring, quantification of groundwater depletion, flood prediction, and thermal expansion of the ocean, which contributes to sea level rise, to name a few. In order to effectively identify the observational product requirements of future gravity mission applications data users and to develop actionable objectives for mission design, a Mass Change Mission Applications survey was developed. Information on user needs, current uses, and capabilities derived from the survey have provided insights as to desired or required spatial scales, data latency, data formats, and technical capabilities of the users, as well as how to prioritize tradeoffs. The survey focused on evaluating the needs of a broad range of existing and potential user communities in order to incorporate these needs into mission design and architecture studies that are underway.The survey comprises general questions about requirements for a given application, and data use and demographic information to help characterize aspects of the user community. Analyses of the survey results are now being used to inform potential mission architecture designs, evaluate tradeoffs, and ensure that the data products are optimized for a broad user community.

Capacity building using Earth observing (EO) systems and data (i.e., from orbital and nonorbital platforms) to enable societal applications includes the network of human, nonhuman, technical, nontechnical, hardware, and software dimensions that are necessary to successfully cross the valley [of death; see NRC (2001)] between science and research (port of departure) and societal application (port of arrival). In many parts of the world (especially where ground-based measurements are scarce or insufficient), applications of EO data still struggle for longevity or continuity for a variety of reasons, foremost among them being the lack of resilient capacity. An organization is said to have resilient capacity when it can retain and continue to build capacity in the face of unexpected shocks or stresses. Stresses can include intermittent power and limited Internet bandwidth, constant need for education on ever-increasing complexity of EO systems and data, communication challenges between the ports of departure and arrival (especially across time zones), and financial limitations and instability. Shocks may also include extreme events such as disasters and losing key staff with technical and institutional knowledge.

NASA and the French space agency, CNES, with contributions from the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and United Kingdom Space Agency (UKSA) are developing new wide swath altimetry technology that will cover most of the world’s ocean and surface freshwater bodies. The proposed Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission will have the capability to make observations of surface water (lakes, rivers, wetland) heights and measurements of ocean surface topography with unprecedented spatial coverage, temporal sampling, and spatial resolution compared to existing technologies. These data will be useful for monitoring the hydrologic cycle, flooding, and characterizing human impacts on a changing environment. The applied science community is a key element in the success of the SWOT mission, demonstrating the high value of the science and data products in addressing societal issues and needs. The SWOT applications framework includes a working group made up of applications specialists, SWOT science team members, academics and SWOT Project members to promote applications research and engage a broad community of potential SWOT data users. A defined plan and a guide describing a program to engage early adopters in using proxies for SWOT data, including sophisticated ocean and hydrology simulators, an airborne analogue for SWOT (AirSWOT), and existing satellite datasets, are cornerstones for the program. A user survey is in development and the first user workshop was held in 2015, with annual workshops planned. The anticipated science and engineering advances that SWOT will provide can be transformed into valuable services to decision makers and civic organizations focused on addressing global disaster risk reduction initiatives and potential science-based mitigation activities for water resources challenges of the future. With the surface water measurements anticipated from SWOT, a broad range of applications can inform inland and coastal managers and marine operators of terrestrial and oceanic phenomena relevant to their work.

This chapter provides an overview of the NASA Early Adopter Program from the perspective of three new and planned satellite earth observing missions—SMAP, ICESat-2 and SWOT. The level of activity and engagement of the mission’s applications is directly related to the maturity of the mission products and algorithms. Early Adopters were introduced to NASA through the SMAP Mission Applications Program in 2010 and it quickly became adopted by other missions (ICESat-2 2013 and SWOT in 2014). Early Adopters work with the mission scientists to test the thematic uses and applications of mission products, while providing feedback on the accomplishments and challenges of the data.