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Appendix 3: Project Sequoia 2000 Scenarios A3.1 Overview This appendix presents scenarios that illustrate important aspects of the way in which eosdis is likely to be used by the research community. The scenarios demonstrate how scientific imperatives are translated into requirements and specifications for the data system. These scenarios are not fanciful “blue sky” conjectures; they are based on current research by Earth scientists participating in Project Sequoia 2000 at several University of California campuses. Therefore, they come directly from knowledgeable eos customers who will be the end users of the data stream. Further, they depend only on current technology and on conservative estimates of technological evolution. The scenarios have been chosen to be representative of several characteristic areas of research. We begin with the use of satellite measurements in the study of an important aspect of the global carbon cycle: the biomass burning source of atmospheric carbon dioxide. Remote sensing data (avhrr today; modis in the future) can be employed to infer changes in the amount of carbon dioxide produced by fires in California. Together with fossil fuel combustion, biomass burning is thought to be a major source of the observed increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide, and its importance may be even greater in the future. This type of research is a key element to understanding the likely evolution of the chemical composition of the atmosphere and, hence, of climate change. The second scenario demonstrates the use of satellite imagery in monitoring snow cover, an application that has many practical hydrological implications, including water supply estimation and flood forecasting, and which is also central to climate research. Changes in snow cover are key signals of short-term climate variability, closely related to phenomena such as the Indian monsoon and El Ni?o. They are also sensitive indicators of secular trends in climate and are expected to re