Final answer:
NASA's capabilities enhance global carbon budget models by offering real-time data and a unique perspective on carbon trends that can verify, refine or challenge the conceptual models. Satellite technology, like OCO-2, allows for detailed atmospheric CO2 observations crucial for understanding global climate change.
Step-by-step explanation:
NASA's unique capabilities of observing the carbon system augment information in the global carbon budgets by offering a different perspective on carbon trends. Utilizing advanced satellite technology, NASA provides detailed, real-time data that enhance our understanding of how Earth's climate is changing.
For example, the Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO-2) satellite gives scientists comprehensive pictures of global atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations, revealing important spatial and temporal variations that might not be captured in traditional carbon budget models.
Such observational data are crucial for verifying and refining the models discussed in Kump's texts or lectures.
For instance, the models might predict a particular trend in atmospheric carbon dioxide based on fossil fuel emissions and natural carbon cycle processes, which can be confirmed or challenged by satellite observations.
Moreover, NASA's data can identify missing contributions in the carbon budgets, such as underestimating the carbon dioxide absorbed by oceans or the impact of deforestation on atmospheric CO2 levels.
Through these unique observations, NASA contributes to a richer, more nuanced understanding of the global climate change phenomenon and aids in the development of more accurate models for predicting future trends.