Adaptation and $esponse in Drylands (ARID): Community insights for qcoping a NASA Terrestrial Ecology Field Campaign in drylands

Authors: FELDMAN, A. - Goddard Space Flight Center; REED, S. - Us Geological Survey (USGS); AMARAL, C. - University Of Colorado; BABST-KOSTECKA, A. - University Of Arizona; BABST, F. - University Of Arizona; Biederman, Joel; DEVINE, C. - University Of Arizona; FU, X. - University Of Arizona; GREEN, J. - University Of Arizona; GUO, J. - Office Of Agricultural Research & Development - Thailand; HANAN, N. - New Mexico State University; KOKALY, R. - Us Geological Survey (USGS); LITVAK, M. - University Of New Mexico; MACBEAN, N. - Western University; MOORE, D. - University Of Arizona; OJIMA, D. - Colorado State University; POULTER, B. - National Aeronautics And Space Administration (NASA); Scott, Russell - Russ; SMITH, W. - University Of Arizona; SWAP, R. - National Aeronautics And Space Administration (NASA); TUCKER, C.J. - National Aeronautics And Space Administration (NASA); WANG, L. - Purdue University; WATTS, J. - Woodwell Climate Research Center; WESSELS, K. - George Mason University; ZHANG, F. - University Of Arizona; ZHANG, W. - University Of Arizona

Submitted to: Earth's Future
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/16/2024
Publication Date: 9/20/2024
Citation: Feldman, A., Reed, S., Amaral, C., Babst-Kostecka, A., Babst, F., Biederman, J.A., Devine, C., Fu, X., Green, J., Guo, J., Hanan, N., Kokaly, R., Litvak, M., Macbean, N., Moore, D., Ojima, D., Poulter, B., Scott, R.L., Smith, W., Swap, R., Tucker, C., Wang, L., Watts, J., Wessels, K., Zhang, F., Zhang, W. 2024. Adaptation and $esponse in Drylands (ARID): Community insights for qcoping a NASA Terrestrial Ecology Field Campaign in drylands. Earth's Future. 12(9). Article e2024EF004811. https://doi.org/10.1029/2024EF004811.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1029/2024EF004811

Interpretive Summary: Dryland ecosystems cover 40% of our planet’s land surface, support the lives of billions of people, and are responding dramatically to the combined effects of climate and land use change. These expansive and diverse systems also dominate core aspects of Earth’s climate, storing and exchanging vast amounts of water, carbon, and energy with the atmosphere. Despite the indispensable natural resources and ecosystem services provided by drylands and their high vulnerability to change, drylands are one of the most, if not the most, poorly understood ecosystem types. Such lack of study has been in part due to incorrect historical assumptions that drylands are unproductive “wastelands”. This lack of understanding results in notably poor model representation and forecasting capacity, hindering our representation and decision making for these vulnerable ecosystems. The NASA Terrestrial Ecology Program solicited proposals for a multi-year field campaign, of which Adaptation and Response in Drylands (ARID) was one of two scoping studies selected. With the goal of gathering input from the scientific and data end-user communities, we provide an overview of our ARID kick-off meeting with over 300 in-person and virtual participants held in October 2023 at the University of Arizona. This meeting gathered insights from public and private data end-users and scientists. We also report on follow-up activities that have taken place since then, including town halls, community surveys, and international engagements.

Technical Abstract: Dryland ecosystems cover 40% of our planet's land surface, support billions of people, and are responding rapidly to climate and land use change. These expansive systems also dominate core aspects of Earth's climate, storing and exchanging vast amounts of water, carbon, and energy with the atmosphere. Despite their indispensable ecosystem services and high vulnerability to change, drylands are one of the least understood ecosystem types, partly due to challenges studying their heterogeneous landscapes and misconceptions that drylands are unproductive “wastelands.” Consequently, inadequate understanding of dryland processes has resulted in poor model representation and forecasting capacity, hindering decision making for these at-risk ecosystems. NASA satellite resources are increasingly available at the higher resolutions needed to enhance understanding of drylands' heterogeneous spatiotemporal dynamics. NASA's Terrestrial Ecology Program solicited proposals for scoping a multi-year field campaign, of which Adaptation and Response in Drylands (ARID) was one of two scoping studies selected. A primary goal of the scoping study is to gather input from the scientific and data end-user communities on dryland research gaps and data user needs. Here, we provide an overview of the ARID team's community engagement and how it has guided development of our framework. This includes an ARID kickoff meeting with over 300 participants held in October 2023 at the University of Arizona to gather input from data end-users and scientists. We also summarize insights gained from hundreds of follow-up activities, including from a tribal-engagement focused workshop in New Mexico, conference town halls, intensive roundtables, and international engagements.