An overview of the NASA Adaptation and Response in Drylands field experiment scoping study.

Abstract

Drylands cover 41% of Earth's land surface, support 36% of the global population and contribute 60% of global food production. Despite these ecosystems' importance and high vulnerability to droughts and heatwaves, drylands remain some of the most understudied systems on Earth. Monitoring drylands is challenging due to their complex ecosystem structure of visible soil mixed with diverse plant species that respond rapidly to weather and climate. In 2023 and 2024, a NASA scoping study was conducted for a proposed dryland terrestrial ecology field campaign called Adaptation and Response in Drylands (ARID). Thereafter, the NASA ARID scoping team submitted their campaign proposal to NASA Headquarters, providing a study design for how field, aircraft and satellite measurements, as well as modeling, could address the most critical fundamental and applied science questions in drylands. The extensive strategic vision was created by and for the drylands research community, including remote sensors, modelers, experimentalists and ecologists from across the world, and the overall approach can be further utilized and altered for different uses and data information needs. Here, we summarize the final ARID research agenda, including its main objectives, field campaign strategy, data end-user support strategy, and U.S. and global community engagement.