The scientific pursuit of capturing, collecting, analyzing and reporting data on environmental conditions caused by carbon emissions around the world has received a boost with the announcement of the launch of the Planetary Skin project. NASA and Cisco will work together to develop the Planetary Skin. It would be an online collaborative platform to capture and analyze data from satellite, airborne, sea- and land-based sensors across the globe. This data will be made available to the public, governments and others to measure, report and verify environmental data in near-real-time to help detect and adapt to climate change. They would kick off the project with a series of pilot projects, including 'Rainforest Skin,' which will be prototyped during the next year. Rainforest Skin will focus on the deforestation of rainforests around the world and explore how to integrate a comprehensive sensor network. It also will examine how to capture, analyze and present information about the changes in the amount of carbon in rainforests in a transparent and useable way.. Cisco will bring its experience and expertise in networking technologies and advanced innovation to the project. Cisco's experts will conduct complex data analysis and modelling, and share an in-depth knowledge of the next generation Internet Protocol architectures to determine how to best prototype, replicate and scale a Planetary Skin to participants (Cisco, NASA and whichever other organizations join in this endeavour). Cisco is also working on the Planetary Skin program with the United Nations, multi-lateral development banks, businesses and international government agencies.
Planetary Skin participants will pool their skills, assets and technologies to develop the decision support capabilities to effectively manage natural resources and climate change-related risks. NASA's first spacecraft dedicated to studying atmospheric carbon dioxide was not a success as the launch failed. Named the Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO), it would have provided the first complete picture of human and natural carbon dioxide sources as well as their sinks. It was designed to map the global geographic distribution of these sources and sinks and study their changes over time. Had the launch been successful, the mission data would have helped scientists reduce uncertainties in predicting future carbon dioxide increases and make more accurate climate change predictions. Did the Planetary Skin project intend using data from the OCO and how big a set back was the failed mission for Planetary Skin?"The Planetary Skin project was planning on using data from the NASA Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO) in the coming years. Although the loss of OCO is most unfortunate for all carbon related research projects, Planetary Skin will not suffer a major setback without OCO, since we have a plan to use many other data sources for the project," NASA's Senior Research Scientist, Mr. Christopher Potter replied by emails
Planetary Skin participants will pool their skills, assets and technologies to develop the decision support capabilities to effectively manage natural resources and climate change-related risks. NASA's first spacecraft dedicated to studying atmospheric carbon dioxide was not a success as the launch failed. Named the Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO), it would have provided the first complete picture of human and natural carbon dioxide sources as well as their sinks. It was designed to map the global geographic distribution of these sources and sinks and study their changes over time. Had the launch been successful, the mission data would have helped scientists reduce uncertainties in predicting future carbon dioxide increases and make more accurate climate change predictions. Did the Planetary Skin project intend using data from the OCO and how big a set back was the failed mission for Planetary Skin?"The Planetary Skin project was planning on using data from the NASA Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO) in the coming years. Although the loss of OCO is most unfortunate for all carbon related research projects, Planetary Skin will not suffer a major setback without OCO, since we have a plan to use many other data sources for the project," NASA's Senior Research Scientist, Mr. Christopher Potter replied by emails
The Hindu, 12th March 2009
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