8 
Networking capabilities; 
Transfer of data to permanent 
archives; and 
Exchange of data, commands, 
algorithms, etc., with NOAA, 
ESA, Japan, Canada, and 
possibly others." 
Database management and informa 
tion systems are currently in the 
early planning stages in the 
European, Japanese, and Canadian 
earth observing polar orbiting 
platform programs. These systems 
will be planned to interact with 
NASA's EOSDIS system to enhance 
international global change studies 
and improved environmental 
management. 
U.S. GLOBAL CHANGE STUDIES 
In order to respond to the call 
for global change studies under the 
growing U.S. and international 
public interest and political pres 
sures to support the "Mission to 
Planet Earth" concept, the U.S. 
government created the interagency 
Committee on Earth Sciences (CES) 
in March, 1987. The CES was 
established as a committee of the 
Federal Coordinating Council for 
Science, Engineering, and 
Technology (FCCSET), chaired by the 
Director of the Office of Science 
and Technology Policy (OSTP), who 
also serves as the Science Advisor 
to the President of the United 
States (CES, 1989a, Appendix A; 
CES, 1989b, Appendix C). The 
FCCSET is part of the White House 
budget process and as such can have 
no industry participation. 
The Interagency Committee on Earth 
Sciences (CES) 
The interagency Committee on 
Earth Sciences (CES) was created 
"to increase the overall 
effectiveness and productivity of 
Federal R&D efforts directed toward 
an understanding of the Earth as a 
global system. In fulfilling this 
purpose, the Committee addresses 
significant national policy matters 
which cut across agency boundaries" 
(CES, 1989b, Appendix C). 
Specifically, the CES, for all 
the agencies involved: 
reviews Federal R&D programs 
in Earth Sciences; 
improves planning, 
coordination and communication; 
identifies R&D needs; 
addresses programmatic and 
operational issues; 
provides reviews, analyses, 
advice,and recommendations, 
particularly assessing mankind's 
impact on the global environment; 
and 
develops the Administration's 
response to the call for a report 
to Congress. 
The Chairman of the CES is Dr. 
Dallas Peck, Director of the U.S. 
Geological Survey. He reports to 
the Chairman of the FCCSET. The 
interagency membership of the CES 
consists of: 
Department of Agriculture (DOA); 
Department of Commerce (DOC); 
Department of Energy (DOE); 
Department of the Interior 
(DOI); 
Department of State (DOS); 
Department of Transportation 
(DOT); 
National Science Foundation 
(NSF); 
Environmental Protection Agency 
(EPA); 
National Aeronautics and Space 
Agency (NASA); 
Office of Science and Technology 
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