National Aeronautics and Space Administration

National Climate Assessment

NASA National Climate Assessment (NCA) Activities

Projects Funded Under the Indicators Solicitation

Development and Testing of Potential Indicators for the National Climate Assessment

Indicators are anticipated to be an important component of future NCAs.  The USGCRP is leading an effort to identify a first set of physical, societal, and ecological indicators that would inform decision-makers and the public about our nation’s changing climate.

As a contribution to this effort, the Earth Science Division announced a competitive research opportunity in 2012 to use NASA-produced data and/or modeling products, in concert with other data sources, to develop and test indicators that address the needs expressed in the NCA vision for a national system of indicators. This program will support 14 projects with a total funding of approximately $2.5M for a period of 12-18 months, ending in 2014.  Dr. Paul Houser was selected to be the team lead. A revised USGCRP indicators proposal is available here.

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
TITLE
INSTITUTION

STATUS UPDATES
Aug. 2013* April 2014**
(login required)		 January 2015
William Emanuel Land Cover Indicators for U.S. National Climate Assessments Pacific Northwest National Laboratory select select  
Mark Flanner Cryosphere Radiative Forcing: An Indicator of Climate Feedback and Environmental Change University of Michigan select select select
Rong Fu Improving Assessment of Regional Climate Change in Supporting of Regional Resilience to Extreme Climate Events Over the US Southern Great Plains The University of Texas at Austin select select select
Simon Hook Inland Water Temperature: An Ideal Indicator for the National Climate Assessment NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory select select select
Paul Houser Water Cycle Intensification Indicator (WCI) George Mason University select select select
William Koshak Indicators Derived From TRMM/LIS Satellite Lightning Observations NASA Marshall Space Flight Center select select select
Kyle McDonald Development of Integrated Land Surface Water State Indicators for Climate Assessment The City College of New York select select select
Jianhua Qian Frequency of Winter Weather Regimes in the US Northeast as an Indicator for National Climate Assessment University of Massachusetts Lowell select select select
Alex Ruane The Agricultural Productivity Indicator Analysis System (APIAS): Tracking the Agricultural Impacts of Climate Variability and Change NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies select select select
Steven Running Translating EOS Datasets Into National Ecosystem Biophysical Indicators University of Montana select select select
Scott Sheridan Development of a Water Clarity Index for the Southeastern U.S. as a Climate Indicator Kent State University select select select
Harry Stern The Timing of Arctic Sea Ice Advance and Retreat as an Indicator of Ice-Dependent Marine Mammal Habitat University of Washington, Seattle select select select
Daniel Tong Development and Testing of a Dust Indicator for Climate Assessment in the Western United States George Mason University select select select
Stephanie Weber Using NASA Earth Science Datasets for National Climate Assessment Indicators: Urban Impacts of Heat Waves Associated with Climate Change Battelle Memorial Institute select select select

 

* Additional information from the August 2013 indicators webex:
•       Indicators overview – Paul Houser
•       NCA indicators overview – Melissa Kenney

** Additional information from the April 2014 webex:
•       Agenda
•       NCA overview – Fred Lipschultz
•       NCA indicators presentation – Melissa Kenney