The National Research Council will conduct a decadal survey to assist the federal government in coordinating and optimizing activities and resources across NASA (flight programs and focused missions), NSF (basic research programs), and NOAA (operational programs). The decadal surveys in space science have been widely praised for having a positive impact on federal agency planning and decision-making, in addition to promoting unity within the space science community. This survey is designed to draw widespread community participation, engage the community in consensus-building, and set specific discipline-specific science targets and priorities for the coming decade. The study will have the following impact: provide scientific direction for the field of solar and space physics; organize the scientific community and the relevant agencies, particularly NASA, NSF, and NOAA; inform other decision-makers in the legislative and executive branches (particularly OMB and OSTP); document the needs for a scientifically- and technically-trained workforce in solar and space physics; and communicate the societal benefits of solar and space physics (e.g., interdisciplinary connections, education, workforce training, public outreach). The report will also contribute to the general public?s greater understanding of recent accomplishments and future goals in solar and space physics. In conducting this assessment, there will be an emphasis on developing a systems approach to the theoretical, ground-based and space-based research programs that comprise the flight programs and focused campaigns of NASA, the ground-based and basic research programs of NSF, and the complementary operational programs of other agencies such as NOAA. This new decadal survey will update and extend the NRC's previous survey in solar and space physics, The Sun to the Earth--and Beyond: A Decadal Research Strategy in Solar and Space Physics (2003). The survey committee, informed by three study panels that will also be established by the Board and supplemented by informal working groups, will broadly canvas the field of solar and space physics. The committee report will reflect an awareness of the science and space mission plans and priorities of potential industry, international, and U.S. agency partners and identify opportunities for cooperation and possibilities for growth or expansion. The survey will solicit and aggregate inputs from across the solar and space physics community via town hall meetings, sessions at professional meetings, and the solicitation of white papers.
800x600 Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE Background and Overview of the 2013-2022 Decadal Survey in Solar and Space Physics From the interior of the Sun, to the upper atmosphere and near-space environment of Earth, and outwards to a region far beyond Pluto where the Sun’s influence wanes, advances during the past decade in space physics and solar physics have yielded spectacular insights into the phenomena that affect our home in space. The decadal survey report, requested by NASA and the National Science Foundation, and carried out with their financial support and with the cooperation of other federal agencies, especially NOAA, presents a prioritized program of basic and applied research for 2013-2022 that will advance scientific understanding of the Sun, Sun- Earth connections and the origins of "space weather," and the Sun’s interactions with other bodies in the solar system. The present decadal survey is the second NRC decadal survey in solar and space physics. Like all NRC decadal survey reports, this decadal survey was conducted with the assistance of a broad swath of the solar and space physics community; the final report represented the efforts of more than 85 solar and space physicists and space system engineers working over an 18-month period. In developing its recommendations, the survey committee also drew on over 300 "white papers" that were submitted by the community in response to a broadly-distributed survey request for concepts and new ideas to advance the discipline. The survey committee also sponsored numerous town-hall meetings and workshops prior to the formal start of its deliberations. Per the study statement of work, the survey’s top-level tasks were to: 1. Provide an overview of solar and space physics science and provide a broad survey of the current state of knowledge in the field; 2. Identify the most compelling science challenges; 3. Identify the highest priority scientific targets for the interval 2013-2022; and 4. Develop an integrated research strategy. Survey Recommendations The survey report’s recommendations are shown in the full report, which is available at: www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=13060. The recommended actions include completion of projects in NASA and the NSF's current program, creation of a new "mid-scale" projects line at NSF, augmentation of NASA and NSF "enabling" programs, and acceleration and expansion of NASA's Heliophysics Explorer Program. For later in the decade, the report recommends beginning new moderate-size NASA missions to address high-priority science targets, and a multiagency initiative to address pressing needs for improved forecasts of space weather and predictions of its impacts on society. Space Weather-Related Recommendations The following recommendations were made by the survey committee to help fulfill its vision of an effective program in space weather that meets national needs—one that advances the fundamental science that underpins understanding of space weather phenomena and its effects on society and the evident need for effective vehicles to translate newly gained knowledge towards societal benefit: Recharter the National Space Weather Program: The survey committee recommends that, to coordinate the development of this plan, the National Space Weather Program should be rechartered under the auspices of the National Science and Technology Council and should include the active participation of the Office of Science and Technology Policy and the Office of Management and Budget. The plan should build on current agency efforts, leverage the new capabilities and knowledge that will arise from implementation of the programs recommended in this report, and develop additional capabilities, on the ground and in space, that are specifically tailored to space weather monitoring and prediction. Work in a multi-agency partnership to achieve continuity of solar and solar wind observations: The survey committee recommends that NASA, NOAA, and the DoD work in partnership to plan for continuity of solar and solar wind observations beyond the lifetimes of ACE, SOHO, STEREO, and SDO. Further, the survey committee concluded that a national, multifaceted program of both observations and modeling is needed to transition research into operations more effectively by fully leveraging expertise from different agencies, universities, and industry and by avoiding duplication of effort. This effort should include determining the operationally optimal set of observations and modeling tools and how best to effect that transition. With these objectives in mind, the committee recommends that: · The space weather community should evaluate new observations, platforms, and locations that have the potential to provide improved space weather services. In addition, the utility of employing newly emerging information dissemination system for space weather alerts should be assessed. · NOAA should establish a space weather research program to effectively transition research to operations. · Distinct funding lines for basic space physics research and for space weather specification and forecasting need to be developed and maintained.
