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The obvious conclusion is that a rich and varied set of space-derived data will exist that can be of great value to research and applications. Whether it is available for effective use involves issues addressed at the Hawaii ISY meeting and by the other working groups of the New Hampshire ISY meeting, such as scientific understanding, data calibration, data availability, and the ability of the global user community to employ the information. 

If the nations of the world are to effectively use this data set, a number of well-organized preparatory actions must be taken. This leads to the working group's second recommendation, that the Space Agency Forum on International Space Year (SAFISY) assign priority to planning and executing the actions needed to permit the widest possible utilization of the data by all nations.

A third recommendation also flows from this data set. Although geographically separated, it nevertheless forms a worldwide "encyclopedia" of Earth science and applications data, which if collected systematically as part of the ISY activities can provide a priceless baseline for future Global Change studies. Further, subsets of the total data set can be assembled for use in support of specialized studies and in educational, economic development, and societal advancement objectives. It is therefore recommended that the SAFISY assign to such working groups or panels that it may form the task of defining this "encyclopedia" and the means for its widest possible utilization.

Ommissions from the Initial ISY Data

Although the initial set is rich and unparalleled in the Earth sciences and applications, there are evident missing capabilities that deserve attention for future space observational systems. The following list includes:

Parameters Not Covered by Current or Planned Observations

Radiation budget
Stratosphere/mesosphere composition (HOx, HCL, total ozone, etc.)
CO
Tropospheric temperature 1-deg C., 1-km vertical resolution
Tropospheric winds
Precipitation
Cloud liquid water and ice content
Boundary layer height
Aerosol profiles
Phytoplankton groups
Snow properties
Lake biology
Plant physiology
Full surface spectra
Soil and mineral identification
Surface soil moisture
Mesoscale geodynamics
Solid Earth gravity field

This leads to the fourth recommendation, that the SAFISY task its subordinate panels with studying the feasibility of adding these capabilities to the initial observational capability.

Summary of Working Group Recommendations

The SAFISY should:

Request the spacefaring nations of the world provide comprehensive and timely data on their existing and planned Earth observational systems for the period 1988-1998, and provide for its periodic updating;

Assign its working groups and panels the task of developing a plan for the timely use of the Earth observations data collected during the ISY to all nations;

Assign to its working groups and panels the task of defining a "global encyclopedia" of the data collected during the ISY period.  The "encyclopedia" may be geographically distributed, but it should in any case be "indexed" in accordance with the Data Systems Working Group recommendation below.  Consideration should be given to bringing together subsets of the total data in documents, electronically recorded media, or other forms for wide spread dissemination;

Assign to its working groups and panels the task of examining the omissions from the basic ISY data set and determining the feasibility (both technologically and economically) of adding those capabilities to later missions.

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