[unav_all] Geodesy Science Plan workshop - take two

[Meghan Miller]

Long Range Science Plan for Geodesy
October 5-6, 2009
Hilton - Salt Lake City Center
Salt Lake City, Utah

Over two decades, rapid advances in geodesy have opened new fields and  
enabled the interrogation of the kinematics, structure, and dynamics  
of the solid Earth and its fluid envelopes.  With the continued  
development of advanced terrestrial and space geodetic methods,  
geodesy has grown rapidly and there are now crucial geodetic  
applications in a wide range of scientific fields, from ground water  
systems and fault dynamics to mapping the speed of ice flows and the  
amount of water vapor in the atmosphere.   The pace of this change is  
quickening, and is coupled with the recognition of this technology- 
driven science as a national asset in a global economy.  In response  
to the need to articulate new and emerging research opportunities in  
geodesy and its interdisciplinary applications, we are planning an all  
day workshop in Salt Lake City on October 6, 2009.

The need for a plan builds on many recent advances:  (1) expanded  
geodetic imaging at regional and global scales, including but not  
limited to LiDAR, InSAR, UAVSAR, and global topography and time- 
variable gravity; (2) progress towards mm-level global positional  
geodesy and mm/yr sea level variability; (3) opportunities for  
studying the time-variable dynamics of Earth systems relevant to  
climate change; (4) availability of research, civic, and commercial  
real-time GPS networks around the world; (5) a burgeoning demand for  
TLS technology; (6) improvements in data access and analysis with web  
services and cyberinfrastructure; (7) the potential for expanded use  
of autonomous integrated geodetic and geophysical ground-based  
networks and space-based observing systems to study new scientific  
targets in new geographic settings – including the polar regions – and  
expand to new science disciplines; (8) new tools for ingestion and  
analysis of large and complex data sets; (9) new applications in  
research areas such as cryospheric science, atmospheric science and  
hydrology; (10) the potential to build on and to integrate continent-  
and global-scale data sets such as Plate Boundary Observatory/ 
EarthScope, GRACE, and the planned DESDynI mission; (11) opportunities  
to advance early warning with integrated geophysical data sets;   and  
(12) community commitment to integrative scientific studies that link  
massive data sets to physically-based models, with direct relevance to  
mitigation of natural hazards, through the collection and stewardship  
of long-term geodetic observations.

We invite your participation in a workshop that will result in a  
written plan in a Grand Challenges format,  identifying emerging  
science questions, required workforce development and diversity, and  
needed instrumentation and facilities.  This plan will inform a number  
of other national science planning initiatives scheduled to occur in  
2010.  We anticipate support from NSF, NASA and USGS for the workshop  
and particularly encourage broad participation in fundamental areas of  
geodesy as well as  its applications, across the spectrum of techniques.


To Apply:

We encourage all scientists interested in geodesy and its  
interdisciplinary geoscience applications to apply for the workshop.  
Space is available for approximately 75 participants. Accepted  
applicants will be provided with support for lodging and meals, as  
well as air fare.  The application deadline is September 8, and  
successful applicants will be notified by September 14. To find this  
announcement on the web and to apply, please go to: http://www.unavco.org/community/announce_meetings/2009/2009-Geodesy-Community-Workshop.html 
.


Jim Davis (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, jdavis at cfa.harvard.edu 
)
Yuri Fialko (SIO/IGPP, yfialko at ucsd.edu)
Meghan Miller (UNAVCO; meghan at unavco.org)
Susan Owen (Jet Propulsion  Laboratory, Susan.Owen at jpl.nasa.gov)