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David E. Steitz
Headquarters, Washington          July 2, 2003
(Phone: 202/358-1730)

RELEASE: 03-226

NASA TAKES REASoN-ABLE APPROACH TO EARTH SCIENCES

     NASA has selected 41 proposals in response to the 
"Research, Education, and Applications Solutions Network," a 
cooperative agreement notice known as "REASoN."  

The selected proposals will expedite the use of NASA Earth 
Science observational measurements, models and systems 
engineering capabilities. REASoN ensures scientists studying 
Earth System Science have access to the most accurate and 
complete key geophysical observation records. Solutions that 
serve society will emerge from the selected proposals to help 
us understand and protect our home planet, while inspiring 
our next generation of explorers.

"As NASA increases our efforts in the area of Earth System 
Science, it is vital we pursue new, innovative methods for 
making these tools available to the widest possible 
audience," said Dr. Ghassem Asrar, Associate Administrator, 
Office of Earth Sciences, NASA Headquarters, Washington. "The 
research, applications and education elements of the Earth 
Science community share interests and requirements that can 
be best met through cooperative efforts that can generate, 
access and distribute data, information and knowledge," he 
said.

"These projects will unite previously disparate activities 
and programs under a cohesive management approach, taking 
full advantage of public and private resources and 
partnerships to derive maximum benefit for the public good, 
and are consistent with the President's initiative on 
competitive sourcing," Asrar said.

NASA is generating Earth System data of unprecedented quality 
and quantity, developing data processing and modeling 
capabilities to transform the data into products and 
information, forming new knowledge of our home planet. The 
activities support science findings and applications directed 
toward understanding and predicting the Earth's future. 

NASA Earth Science data, data products and data processing 
algorithms are stored in archives at centers across the 
United States and linked by the Internet for data access and 
distribution. Capabilities developed by NASA complement 
capabilities in the commercial sector to acquire and 
distribute Earth observation data and information products 
using the Internet as the medium of choice by public and 
private sector organizations and the general public for 
access to, and delivery of, digital information.

NASA received 258 proposals in response to the notice. 
Funding availability limited the selection to 41 proposals. 
All proposals went through a peer-review process and were 
selected based on highest merit. NASA has committed $96 
million to support selected proposals. The selected proposals 
come from 17 states.

A complete listing of selected proposals is available on the 
Internet at:

http://research.hq.nasa.gov/code_y/dynamic.cfm?op_fy=2003

For information about NASA and Earth Science on the Internet, 
visit:

http://www.nasa.gov

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