Science Research Groups

Without interruption since 1956, Americans have been studying the Antarctic and its interactions with the rest of the planet. These investigators and supporting personnel make up the U.S. Antarctic Program, which carries forward the Nation's goals of supporting the Antarctic Treaty, fostering cooperative research with other nations, protecting the Antarctic environment, and developing measures to ensure only equitable and wise use of resources. The program comprises research by scientists selected from universities and other research institutions and operations and support by a contractor and other agencies of the U.S. Government. The National Science Foundation (the U.S. Government agency that promotes the progress of science) funds and manages the program. Approximately, 3,000 Americans are involved each year. The research has three goals: to understand the region and its ecosystems; to understand its effects on (and responses to) global processes such as climate; and to use the region as a platform to study the upper atmosphere and space. Antarctica's remoteness and extreme climate make field science more expensive than in most places. Research is done in the Antarctic only when it cannot be performed at more convenient locations

The Great Lakes Commission is leading development of an integrated Great Lakes Observing System (GLOS) to provide critical real-time data for multiple users, including, among others, resource managers, researchers, homeland security interests, the commercial shipping industry and the recreational boating community. GLOS will be a regional node of NOAA's multi-year, national Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS) initiative.

To improve our understanding of complex coastal ocean processes, long-term, region-scale measurements are required. Several oceanographic research institutions located on the U.S. East Coast have recently created coastal ocean observing systems to acquire such measurements. In order to facilitate good communication, WHOI CICOR and WHOI COI have begun to develop a central web entry point for participating coastal observatory websites.

GOOS is a permanent global system for observations, modelling and analysis of marine and ocean variables to support operational ocean services worldwide. GOOS will provide accurate descriptions of the present state of the oceans, including living resources; continuous forecasts of the future conditions of the sea for as far ahead as possible; and the basis for forecasts of climate change.

The Physical Oceanographic Real-Time System (PORTS) is an public information acquisition and dissemination technology developed by the National Ocean Service (NOS) in cooperation with the Greater Tampa Bay Marine Advisory Council. The first permanent, fully integrated, operational PORTS was deployed in Tampa Bay during 1990 and 1991. The system is managed, operated, and maintained by the Greater Tampa Bay Marine Advisory Council-PORTS under a cooperative agreement with NOS and the University of South Florida. Tampa Bay PORTS includes the integration of real-time currents, water levels, winds, wave height, visibility, air and water temperatures, and barometric pressure at multiple locations with a data dissemination system that includes telephone voice response, modem dial-up, dedicated modem displays, and World Wide Web/Internet sites. Tampa Bay PORTS consists of four acoustic Doppler current profilers (ADCPs), four water level gages, six anemometers (wind sensors), an atmospheric temperature and barometric pressure sensor, a directional wave gage, packet radio transmission equipment, a data acquisition system, and an information dissemination system (IDS).

NANOOS is the Pacific Northwest ocean observing system regional association established to address the ocean observing and prediction needs of users in Washington, Oregon, and northern California; strong links are established to British Columbia and Alaska observing programs. NANOOS will collect and disseminate coastal ocean and estuarine data and products.

The SEACOOS observing system is to be one of the regional systems ringing the U.S. to form the coastal component of the Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS). The SEACOOS domain encompasses the coastal oceans of and off Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina, from head of tide inland to the seaward boundary of the Exclusive Economic Zone.

The Southern California Coastal Ocean Observing System (SCCOOS) aims to provide integrated coastal observation within the Southern California Bight for scientific purposes and the benefit of society.

NeMO studies the dynamic interactions between submarine volcanic activity and seafloor hotsprings at an observatory, Axial seamount. A volcanic eruption occured at Axial in January 1998, destroying some hydrothermal vent sites and creating new ones. Since then NeMO scientists have been assessing the impact of the eruption and documenting the on-going changes in Axial's summit caldera.

Ocean.US was created by the National Oceanographic Partnership Program to coordinate the development of an operational and integrated and sustained ocean observing system (IOOS). Information from this IOOS system will serve national needs for:
Detecting and forecasting oceanic components of climate variability
Facilitating safe and efficient marine operations
Ensuring national security
Managing resources for sustainable use
Preserving and restoring healthy marine ecosystems
Mitigating natural hazards
Ensuring public health

HiSeasNet is a new satellite communications network designed specifically to provide continuous Internet connectivity for oceanographic research ships and platforms. Access to the Internet is an integral part of nearly every research lab and office on land; extending this access to oceanographic shipsour seagoing laboratories, will broadly impact seagoing research activities.

The primary objective of HOT is to obtain a long time-series of physical and biochemical observations in the North Pacific subtropical gyre that will address the goals of the U.S. Global Change Research Program. In addition to these general primary objectives, the physical oceanographic component of HOT provides CTD/rosette sampling support for the JGOFS time-series sampling program, and supports development of new instrumentation for hydrographic observations. To date, HOT has supported research on lowered acoustic profiler measurements of currents in support of WOCE objectives (Firing and Gordon, 1990), and on dissolved oxygen sensor technology (Atkinson et al., 1995), to name a few examples.

BBSR has a long history of oceanographic innovation. 1954 saw the implementation of the world's first significant deep-ocean time series, Hydrostation "S", from which data are still being collected. The longevity and success of the program eventually led to BBSR linking with the U.S. Joint Global Ocean Flux Study (JGOFS) program to start the Bermuda Atlantic Time-series Study (BATS), another long-term time-series study examining biogeochemical cycles in the Sargasso Sea near Bermuda. The potential for acquiring more diverse and detailed time-series data was a key motivator in allowing BBSR to establish the Bermuda Atlantic Time-series Study. The BATS team is involved in making monthly measurements of important hydrographic, biological and chemical parameters throughout the water column at sites within the Sargasso Sea. Collaborative research efforts in the Sargasso Sea between BATS and other institutions include the Oceanic Flux Program (OFP), a continuing time-series study of sediment transport measurements into the deep sea (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution), and the Bermuda Testbed Mooring site, where the latest high-technology moored platform is combined with hydrographic and bio-optical sensors (USC, UCSB, MBARI, LDEO).

The Ocean Research Interactive Observatory Networks (ORION) is a program that focuses the science, technology, education and outreach of an emerging network of science driven ocean observing systems. Building on the heritage of the ship-based expeditionary era of the last century, oceanography is commencing a new phase in which research scientists increasingly seek continuous interaction with the ocean environment to adaptively observe the earth-ocean-atmosphere system. Such approaches are crucial to resolving the full range of episodicity and temporal change central to so many ocean processes that directly impact human society, our climate and the incredible range of natural phenomena found in the largest ecosystem of the planet.

The Beyond Einstein program has three linked elements which advance science and technology towards two visions: to detect directly gravitational wave signals from the earliest possible moments of the Big Bang, and to image the event horizon of a black hole. The central element is a pair of Einstein Great Observatories, Constellation-X and LISA. These powerful facilities will blaze new paths to the questions about black holes, the Big Bang, and dark energy. They will also address other central goals of contemporary astrophysics (discussed in Part II of the 2003 Roadmap). The second element is a series of competitively selected Einstein probes, each focused on one of the science questions. The third element is a program of technology development, theoretical studies, and education, to support the Probes and the vision missions: the Big Bang Observer and the Black Hole Imager. The program offers competitive opportunities for mission leadership, technology development, and groundbreaking scientific research, with goals that excite the public.

NASA's Office of Biological and Physical Research (OBPR) conducts interdisciplinary, peer reviewed, fundamental and applied research to address the opportunities and challenges to NASA that are provided by the space environment and the human exploration of space.

The Lamont community maintains a large research effort focused toward understanding the earth's potential for abrupt climate change, its causes, and its effects on humans. Abrupt climate change can include global warming as well as extreme cooling, drought or precipitation events. Paleoclimate research at Lamont focuses on how and why abrupt climate change events occurred in the recent past, sequencing the events leading up to abrupt changes. A joint observational and modeling approach continues to be a hallmark of abrupt climate change research at Lamont.

The official Mars exploration program website of NASA.

Our goal is to inspire learning about the space sciences & technology through this web-based Mars simulator. Using ultra realism in site content and graphics, we present plausible concepts for near future Mars missions drawing upon the depth of knowledge from experts around the world. We invite criticism on all aspects of the design presented on this site. In the futures, our goal is to present an open forum for issues regarding Mars exploration. As part of this effort, we will be presenting alternative designs, technology, and science as we receive input from visitors.

The European Space Agency is Europes gateway to space. Its mission is to shape the development of Europes space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe.