Developing an understanding of how our home planet, Earth, functions in response to interactions among land, oceans, and atmosphere has presented a critical challenge that must be met if we are to predict the impacts of human activities on local, regional, and global climate change. The field of Earth science has matured from the point of understanding ocean, land, and atmosphere processes separately, to studying their connections on a global scale. The Earth Observing System will provide data which are critical to increasing our understanding of the Earth as an integrated system.
The overall objective of the EOS Program is to determine the extent, causes, and regional consequences of global climate change. EOS will provide sustained space-based observations that will allow researchers to monitor climate variables over time to determine trends. A constellation of EOS satellites will acquire global data, beginning in 1998 and extending well into the 21st century.
