Identifying Data Needs and Gaps, and Ways to Improve Decision-Making of Stakeholders via the NASA Carbon Monitoring System Applications Project

The objective of the NASA Carbon Monitoring System (CMS) Initiative is to prototype the development of the capabilities necessary to support stakeholder needs for Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) of carbon stocks and fluxes. The CMS Program was initiated by U.S. Congress in 2010 and up to today it continues to develop products that characterize and quantify carbon sources and sinks in the United States and the global tropics. Six years ago, NASA selected an applications project to engage potential end users of CMS data and gather feedback about their data needs. The overarching objective of the CMS applications effort is to engage with the users of carbon data and other similar communities to ensure that the current and planned CMS science outcomes and data products are used in broad decision-making contexts. Applications have become an integral part in converting data developed by NASA into actionable knowledge that can be used to shape carbon policy. A CMS Applications Program Framework has been developed and validated in the last couple of years, providing a baseline and structure to the activities being undertaken by the Applications Team, and with the possibility of being replicated by future NASA mission applications efforts. One of the main activities from the applications efforts is the coordination of applications workshops, where scientists and stakeholders engage in discussions about data needs, potential utility of CMS data products, lessons learned from their use, and how these products impact organizational goals and improve decision-making. This year, besides the annual CMS Applications Workshop, we also coordinated a Joint USFS-NASA Applications Workshop, with the participation of the CMS leadership, as well as several PI's and stakeholders. The workshop provided an opportunity to highlight how CMS scientists and stakeholders are already closely collaborating with USFS, as well as to identify new decision support needs that CMS data products can address. The presentation will highlight the pre- and post-workshop efforts, a summary of lessons learned on how different stakeholders are using CMS data products, as well as remaining data needs and gaps to understand how CMS products can help improve additional decision-making processes.