Challenges and Opportunities in Earth Surface Processes

这是一项为期18个月（加上3个月的出版和传播）的研究，由国家研究委员会对地球表面过程的挑战和机遇进行研究。资金将用于支持国家研究委员会（NRC）任命的委员会的会议和差旅费用，以解决任务声明，NRC人员费用以支持该项目，以及报告的准备和印刷。地球表面是一个动态界面，在这里，物理、化学、生物和人类过程引起并受地球系统强迫的影响。这种影响-反馈循环发生在广泛的时间和空间尺度上。它将地球表面与许多科学和社会问题联系在一起，在此背景下，委员会将(1)评估地球表面过程学科领域的最新进展和该领域的基础研究问题；(2)确定在该领域取得重大进展的限速挑战或机会；(3)确定应对这些挑战所需的智力合作和高优先级需求。简单地说，拟议的活动将是一个试金石，并呼吁采取行动，以促进对地球表面过程的理解。更广泛的影响地球表面承载着一系列科学和社会问题。提高对这些过程的理解，一方面将提高我们解决社会问题的预测和解释能力，另一方面也将为进一步的基础研究开辟新的途径。这项研究将提供一个机会，强调人类和生物对地球表面过程的影响的重要性，并提出在未来十年或更长时间内将这一领域的工作效率最大化所需的研究议程的整体观点。该报告将广泛分发给一系列目标受众，其中包括有关的技术界（例如，在研究会议和讲习班上）以及感兴趣的非技术人员（例如，国会工作人员）。

This is a study for an 18-month (plus 3 additional months for publication and dissemination) study by the National Research Council on Challenges and Opportunities in Earth Surface Processes. Funding will be used to support meeting and travel costs for the committee appointed by the National Research Council (NRC) to address the statement of task, for NRC staff costs to support this project, and for report preparation and printing. Earth's surface is a dynamic interface where physical, chemical, biological, and human processes cause and are affected by forcings in the Earth System. This impact-feedback loop occurs over a wide range of temporal and spatial scales. It binds the Earth's surface to a host of scientific and societal issues, and within this context, the committee will (1) assess the state-of-the-art of the disciplinary field of Earth surface processes and the fundamental research questions in the field; (2) identify rate-limiting challenges or opportunities for making significant advances in the field; and (3) identify the necessary intellectual collaborations and high-priority needs to meet these challenges. Simply put, the proposed activity will be a touchstone and call to action to advance understanding of Earth surface processes. Broader Impact Earth's surface plays host to processes that factor into a wide array of scientific and societal issues. Improved understanding of these processes will advance our predictive and interpretive capabilities to address societal issues on the one hand, and open up new avenues for further basic research on the other. The study will present an opportunity to emphasize the importance of human and biotic influences on Earth surface processes and present a holistic view of the research agenda needed to maximize the efficacy of work in this field over the next decade or more. The report will be widely disseminated to a range of target audiences that includes the relevant technical communities (e.g., at research conferences and workshops) as well as interested non-technical people (e.g., congressional staff).