[OBSIPtec] Future Facility Needs workshop wants your advice re: future OBS needs

[David Okaya]

Current and future OBS users,

As you are probably aware, a workshop will be held in two weeks -- the Workshop on Future Seismic and Geodetic Facility Needs in the Geosciences (May 3-6) -- to define what future seismological and geodetic facilities will be needed based on where the scientific challenges are headed.  The results of this workshop will be distilled into a report that will become the guidelines for the next five-year plans of UNAVCO and IRIS, plus for future renewal/improvement of the instrumentation pools and related facilities.

This workshop is seeking input from even those who are not attending the workshop.  This is an opportunity for you to describe what OBS capabilities or facilities could improve what you would like to do or what important topics could be tackled if some aspects of the community OBS pool were improved (i.e., truly next generation capabilities).

The workshop has provided an online "white paper" form where you can provide your thoughts. 
Please consider contributing a white paper that highlights the scientific need for OBS and what facilities would help make advances.   A link that gets you to the form is provided below.  Because the workshop is soon, the due date for white papers is early next week.  Other communities are submitting what are their interests, so it's important that the OBS community have a voice in these planning discussions.

thanks,
David Okaya
Univ. Southern California

PS.  Information provided by the workshop organizing committee:

On May 3-6, 2015, the Workshop on Future Seismic and Geodetic Facility Needs in the Geosciences will be held to gather community input for NSF on the key scientific questions and emerging areas of research the geosciences community will be pursuing in 2018 and beyond, and the seismic and geodetic facility capabilities that will be required to support this research. A workshop report will be drafted to summarize community priorities and recommendations. To enable all community members to contribute to this process, a series of webinars will be held in advance of the workshop and submission of white papers is encouraged. Broad participation in the webinars and white papers is particularly critical because workshop attendance is limited to 120 people. Additional information about the workshop, and the meeting agenda, can be found at the following link:

http://www.iris.edu/hq/workshops/2015/05/future_seismic_and_geodetic_facility_needs_in_the_geosciences

Whitepapers
We encourage all members of the community related to the SAGE and GAGE facilities to submit whitepapers in order to have the broadest possible contribution to the workshop and report. These short 1-2 page whitepapers should describe important scientific questions or problems that individuals and/or groups will be working on in the next decade and the seismic and/or geodetic facilities capabilities needed to support that science. The whitepapers will be available publicly, to breakout groups at the workshop and incorporated into the final workshop report. Everyone is encouraged to submit whitepapers, regardless of whether you plan to attend the workshop or not. A web form to submit whitepapers is available on the workshop website under the “Whitepaper” tab (please note format and word limits.). You can also view whitepaper submissions on that same tab.