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Research Project: Understanding Ecological, Hydrological, and Erosion Processes in the Semiarid Southwest to Improve Watershed Management

Location: Southwest Watershed Research Center

Title: An overview of the NASA adaptation and response in drylands (ARID) field experiment scoping study

Author
item FELDMAN, ANDREW - Goddard Space Flight Center
item REED, SASHA - Us Geological Survey (USGS)
item WESSELS, KONRAD - George Mason University
item OJIMA, DENNIS - Colorado State University
item MOORE, DAVID - University Of Arizona
item SMITH, WILLIAM - University Of Arizona
item HANAN, NIALL - New Mexico State University
item AMARAL, CIBELE - University Of Colorado
item BABST, FLURIN - University Of Arizona
item Biederman, Joel
item LITVAK, MARCY - University Of New Mexico
item MAC BEAN, NATASHA - Western University
item POULTER, BEN - Goddard Space Flight Center
item Scott, Russell
item BABST-KOSTECKA, ALICJA - University Of Arizona
item GREEN, JULIA - University Of Arizona
item KOKALY, RAYMOND - Us Geological Survey (USGS)
item PAVLIK, RYAN - National Aeronautics And Space Administration (NASA)
item SWAP, ROBERT - Goddard Space Flight Center
item SERBIN, SHAWN - Goddard Space Flight Center
item TUCKER, COMPTON - Goddard Space Flight Center
item WANG, LIXIN - Indiana University-Purdue University
item WATTS, JENNIFER - Woodwell Climate Research Center
item FLORES, ALEJANDRO - Boise State University
item RATTLING LEAF, JAMES - University Of Colorado
item WASHINGTON-ALLEN, ROBERT - University Of Nevada
item PRENTICE, KAREN - Bureau Of Land Management
item KACHERGIS, EMILY - Bureau Of Land Management
item REYES, JULIAN - Bureau Of Land Management
item RYAN, JASMINE - Us Geological Survey (USGS)
item SAN CLEMENTS, MICHAEL - National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON)
item LOESCHER, HENRY - National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON)
item LEIDNER, ALLISON - US Department Of Interior
item SWETNAM, TYSON - University Of Arizona

Submitted to: Drylands
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/17/2025
Publication Date: 5/26/2026
Citation: Feldman, A., Reed, S., Wessels, K., Ojima, D., Moore, D., Smith, W., Hanan, N., Amaral, C., Babst, F., Biederman, J.A., Litvak, M., MacBean, N., Poulter, B., Scott, R.L., Babst-Kostecka, A., Green, J., Kokaly, R., Pavlik, R., Swap, R., Serbin, S., Tucker, C.J., Wang, L., Watts, J., Flores, A., Rattling Leaf, J., Washington-Allen, R.A., Prentice, K., Kachergis, E., Reyes, J., Ryan, J., SanClements, M., Loescher, H.W., Leidner, A., Swetnam, T. 2026. An overview of the NASA adaptation and response in drylands (ARID) field experiment scoping study. Drylands. 3:2026 e22. https://doi.org/10.1017/dry.2025.10006.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/dry.2025.10006

Interpretive Summary: The goal of this paper is to summarize the ARID scoping study that took place between 2023 and 2024. The ARID scoping study assembled a prioritized research agenda and an initial implementation plan consistent with the mandate of NASA Earth Science Division's Integrated Earth System Observatory (iESO) to "create a 3D, holistic view of Earth, from bedrock to atmosphere." ARID’s core focus area is the dry western U.S. However, ARID is ultimately global by also leveraging an extensive network of international sites and collaborators in Africa, Australia, Mexico, and South America. This cross-continental and cross-scale approach facilitates the evaluation, monitoring, and forecasting of drylands worldwide, ensuring a coordinated effort to address and inform solutions for the challenges facing these critical ecosystems.

Technical Abstract: Drylands cover 41% of Earth’s land surface, support 36% of the global population and contribute 60% of global food production. Despite these ecosystems’ importance and high vulnerability to droughts and heatwaves, drylands remain some of the most understudied systems on Earth. Monitoring drylands is challenging due to their complex ecosystem structure of visible soil mixed with diverse plant species that respond rapidly to weather and climate. In 2023 and 2024, a NASA scoping study was conducted for a proposed dryland terrestrial ecology field campaign called Adaptation and Response in Drylands (ARID). Thereafter, the NASA ARID scoping team submitted their campaign proposal to NASA Headquarters, providing a study design for how field, aircraft and satellite measurements, as well as modeling, could address the most critical fundamental and applied science questions in drylands. The extensive strategic vision was created by and for the drylands research community, including remote sensors, modelers, experimentalists and ecologists from across the world, and the overall approach can be further utilized and altered for different uses and data information needs. Here, we summarize the final ARID research agenda, including its main objectives, field campaign strategy, data end-user support strategy, and U.S. and global community engagement.