Feb 25, 2008

Steve Cole Headquarters, Washington 202-358-0918 stephen e cole@nasa gov

MEDIA ADVISORY: M08-042

MEDIA BRIEFING TO DISCUSS NASA'S NEWEST EARTH SCIENCE MISSIONS

WASHINGTON - NASA will hold a media teleconference on Friday, Feb 29, at 11 a m EST, to discuss the innovative science that will be made possible by two new Earth science missions announced earlier this month

The President's Fiscal Year 2009 budget request includes funding to start the Soil Moisture Active-Passive (SMAP) and the Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite-II (ICESat-II) missions SMAP will provide the first-ever high-resolution global maps of soil moisture for early warning of droughts, improved weather and climate forecasts, and predictions of agricultural productivity ICESat-II will precisely measure the heights of ice sheets and sea-ice thickness, and provide estimates of above-ground forest and vegetation biomass These two missions were top priorities of the National Research Council's Decadal Survey of Earth Science and Applications from Space which was issued in 2007

Panelists are: - Jared Entin, Terrestrial Hydrology Program, Earth Science Division, NASA Headquarters, Washington - Seelye Martin, Cryospheric Sciences Program, Earth Science Division, NASA Headquarters - Eni Njoku, Water and Carbon Cycle Group, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif - Jay Zwally, ICESat project scientist, Cryospheric Sciences Branch, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md

Reporters in the U S can participate by dialing 1-888-730-9134 International reporters can participate by dialing 210-234-0009 The passcode is EARTH Supporting information on the new missions will be available at 10 a m , Feb 29, on the Web at:

http://www nasa gov/topics/earth/features/decadal_telecon html

Audio of the teleconference will be streamed live on NASA's Web site at:

http://www nasa gov/newsaudio

-end-

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