Working groups

• Are Working Groups officially associated with NISAR?

  Yes, Working Groups are a mechanism for NISAR to engage with the community and accomplish tasks for increasing NISAR data utility.

• Is there a formal mechanism for interaction and communication within a Working Groups?

  The Working Groups are a mechanism for NISAR and the community to accomplish needed tasks for increasing NISAR data utility. We use slack and telecons as a means for the community to engage with each other specifically about NISAR.

• Would members be responsible for their own funding?

  Working Groups members would be self-funded as their work should align with their current agency mandate.

• If I’m already doing the work, why bother joining the Working Groups?

  Because it creates a direct feedback to the mission, which could help you down the road in using NISAR data.

• Who would determine Working Groups deliverables and timelines?

  People will self-select to join a Working Groups via a form provided to invited participants. In the kick-off meeting, we will define the deliverables and timelines based on who is doing what for their organization and what they need from the mission and the broader community. For example, a task for a Biomass Working Group could be a trade study on uncertainty reporting and a deliverable a formal finding about how to quantify and report uncertainties the NISAR Level 3 product. A person working with US Forest Service Forest Inventory Analysis (FIA) would already think about uncertainty standards and how they are reported, thus engaging in the conversation about biomass uncertainty reporting with NISAR in more depth would naturally align with FIA mandate and enable FIA participation in the Working Groups.

• Why doesn’t NISAR work directly with a single agency?

  NISAR offers global coverage and is concerned with what works for most, not a single agency, hence the need for a Working Groups.

• Who can propose a Working Groups?

  Deputy Program Application Leads (DPAs) coordinate Working Groups with the Project and NASA Program Office. DPAs are responsible for filling in a Working Groups proposal. Working Groups objectives stem either directly from Applications Area specific workshops or previous Working Groups that identified new topics for advancing utility of NISAR data.