Earth & Space Research
Public records show a registered, tax-exempt organization in good standing.
What it says it does
INCREASE SOCIETAL UNDERSTANDING OF THE EARTH SYSTEM THROUGH SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH AND EDUCATION.
- Income
- $1.5 million
- Spending
- $1.4 million
- Spent on programs
- 80%
- Reserves
- 2.8 months of spending
- Largest source of income
- government grants, 99%
- Employees
- 9
- Volunteers
- 12
- Highest pay
- $196,568, senior scientist
Source: Form 990 for the year ending June 30, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Financial health
Fair: 65 out of 100. Higher than 37% of charities in its peer group (science, $1m to $10m).
Reserves
10 of 35Spendable reserves would cover 2.8 months of spending.
Debt
10 of 20It owes 50% of what it owns.
Living within its means
15 of 15Income exceeded spending by 2% of income.
Income trend
15 of 15Income rose 0% on the year before.
Spending floor
15 of 1580% of spending went to programs and raising each dollar of donations cost 0 cents.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending June 30, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Governance
Good: 75 out of 100. Higher than 26% of charities in its peer group (science, $1m to $10m).
Independent board
5 of 252 of 4 voting board members are independent.
Conflict of interest policy
15 of 15Has a written conflict of interest policy.
Whistleblower policy
8 of 8Has a written whistleblower policy.
Record keeping policy
7 of 7Has a written policy on keeping and destroying records.
Board minutes
5 of 5Keeps minutes of board meetings.
Board sees the tax return
10 of 10Gave the board a copy of this return before filing it.
Pay set independently
0 of 5Reports no independent review process for its chief executive's pay.
Independent check of accounts
15 of 15Its accounts were audited by an independent accountant.
No reported misuse
10 of 10Reports no diversion of assets, excess benefits or loans to insiders.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending June 30, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Impact evidence
Describes programs. Its tax return describes what it does but we have found no measurable results in it.
Programs described in its return (4)
- $917,163 spent. NASA: [1] PRODUCE ICESAT2 ICEBERG DRAFT ESTIMATES AROUND ANTARCTICA TO IMPROVE WATER DEPTH ESTIMATES, IMPROVING NAVIGATION IN THE SOUTHERN OCEAN; UNDERSTANDING & MODELLING EDDY-SEA ICE INTERPLAY USING ICESAT2; SWOTICESAT-2 COMPARISONS TO IMPROVE SATELLITE RETRIEVALS. [2] CALIBRATION AND VALIDATION OF NASA SMAP DATASETS: DEVELOPMENT OF NOVEL METHODS AND PLATFORMS TO COMPARE WITH IN SITU MEASUREMENTS; PRODUCTION OF CONTINUOUS DATA RECORD FROM ALL SALINITY SATELLITES.[3] ESR PRODUCES THE OSCAR OCEAN SURFACE CURRENT ANALYSIS, INFORMING BOTH FRESHWATER TRANSPORT AND SUPPORTING MARITIME INDUSTRIES.[4] LINKING NORTH ATLANTIC SALINITY AND EDDIES TO ARCTIC FRESHWATER TRANSPORT, A KEY DRIVER OF DENSITY WHICH CONTROLS SEA ICE FORMATION.[5] EVALUATE SALINITY & SEA ICE FORMATION IN THE ARCTIC. [CONTINUED][1] AS PART OF ESR'S EFFORT TO OBSERVE AND QUANTIFY INTERACTIONS BETWEEN SEA ICE, ICE SHELVES, ICEBERGS AND THE OCEAN AROUND ANTARCTICA USING ICESAT-2 ALTIMETRY, NOVEL TECHNIQUES WERE DEVELOPED TO PROCESS ICESAT-2 DATA TO ESTIMATE ICEBERG DRAFTS IN COASTAL ANTARCTIC REGIONS TO IMPROVE WATER DEPTH ESTIMATES. THESE ESTIMATES CAN INFORM MARITIME TRAFFIC IN THE SOUTHERN OCEAN AND PROVIDE OCEAN DEPTH ESTIMATES IN AN AREA OF VERY SPARSE DEPTH SOUNDINGS. IN A NEW STUDY, ESR IS LEVERAGING BOTH THE NASA ICESAT-2 AND SWOT SATELLITES TO STUDY THE ICE-OCEAN CO-EVOLUTION ALONG THE ANTARCTIC AMUNDSEN SEA COAST FROM SWOT USING OPEN CLOUD INFRASTRUCTURE.[2] ESR'S WORK AS PART OF THE NASA INFRASTRUCTURE TEAM IS TO ENSURE THE CONTINUITY OF NASA-SUPPORTED SALINITY VALIDATION AND THE CONSISTENCY AND RELIABILITY OF THE SEA SURFACE SALINITY DATA PRODUCTS. WE MAINTAIN AND CONTINUALLY ENHANCE THE IN-SITU VALIDATION DATA SYSTEM FOR SMAP DATA VALIDATION AND COLLABORATE WITH THE EUROPEAN SPACE AGENCY ON A JOINT VALIDATION PLATFORM. ESR IS CONTINUING THE PRODUCTION OF A HOMOGENOUS AND CONTINUOUS RECORD FROM THREE SATELLITES (SMOS, AQUARIUS, SMAP) TO PROVIDE A NEAR 15-YEAR BEST-ESTIMATE OF SEA SURFACE SALINITY (SSS). SSS CAN BE USED TO TRACK AND PREDICT SEVERE WEATHER EVENTS, PREDICT SEA ICE, AND TO MONITOR RIVERINE FLOWS INTO THE OCEAN.[3] THE OCEAN SURFACE CURRENT ANALYSIS REALTIME (OSCAR) IS A GLOBAL SURFACE DATABASE. ESR SCIENTISTS CALCULATE GLOBAL OCEAN SURFACE MIXED LAYER VELOCITIES FROM SATELLITE-SENSED SEA SURFACE HEIGHT GRADIENTS, WINDS, AND SEA SURFACE TEMPERATURE FIELDS USING OCEAN DYNAMICAL EQUATIONS. OUR RESEARCH PROVIDES THESE DATASETS TO THE GLOBAL COMMUNITY, AND WE ARE CONTINUALLY IMPROVING MODELS OF HOW WIND ENERGY IS TRANSFERRED FROM THE ATMOSPHERE TO THE OCEAN THROUGH THE PLANETARY BOUNDARY LAYER. AS PART OF THIS EFFORT, WE ARE INVESTIGATING VARIABILITY IN OCEAN CIRCULATION PATTERNS OBSERVED OVER MORE THAN THREE DECADES OF OSCAR DATA.[4] THIS WORK COMBINES NASA SEA SURFACE SALINITY, ALTIMETRY, AND OCEAN VECTOR WIND PRODUCTS TO QUANTIFY THE FLUX OF FRESHWATER AND SALT FROM THE NORTH ATLANTIC INTO THE ARCTIC. THE FRESHWATER AND SALT FLUXES INTO THE ARCTIC DETERMINE THE CIRCULATION PATTERN, DEEP WATER FORMATION, AND THE TIMING OF AUTUMNAL SEA ICE FORMATION. [5] THE SALINITY AND STRATIFICATION AT THE SEA ICE EDGE FIELD CAMPAIGN HAS PRODUCED BOTH NOVEL MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS. THESE INCLUDE A FIDUCIARY REFERENCE MEASUREMENT OF SEA SURFACE SALINITY AT A DEPTH OF 1-2CM PERFORMED BY ESR SCIENTISTS, AND THE ANALYSIS OF THE LINK BETWEEN SEA SURFACE SALINITY (SSS) AND THE TIMING OF THE AUTUMNAL SEA ICE ADVANCE IN THE ARCTIC OCEAN. WE HAVE FOUND THAT SSS IS AN EXCELLENT PREDICTOR OF SEA ICE FORMATION, A CRUCIAL VARIABLE FOR ARCTIC MARITIME INDUSTRIES AND DEFENSE APPLICATIONS. [6] ESR SCIENTISTS CONTRIBUTED TO AN INVESTIGATION SEA SURFACE SALINITY VARIABILITY AND ITS UNDERLYING PROCESSES IN THE SOUTH INDIAN OCEAN (SIO). THE WORK IMPROVES OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE PROCESSES CONTROLLING LONG-TERM CHANGES IN THE SALINITY DISTRIBUTION IN THE UPPER-LAYER SIO AND ITS HALOSTERIC CONTRIBUTION TO SEA LEVEL.
- $135,876 spent. NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION (NSF):EARTH AND SPACE SCIENTISTS SUPPORTED A FIELD SEASON IN SOUTH-WEST GREENLAND IN SUPPORT OF THE ICECAPS-MELT PROGRAM. ICECAPS-MELT IS A COLLABORATIVE EFFORT TO UNDERSTAND ATMOSPHERESNOW INTERACTIONS ON THE GREENLAND ICE SHEET, WITH A FOCUS ON MELT PROCESSES IN THE HIGH INTERIOR. ESR SCIENTISTS CURATED AND PUBLISHED IN-SITU SNOW PROPERTY DATASETS AND RAN HIGH-RESOLUTION SNOW AND ENERGY-BUDGET MODELS, INTEGRATING OBSERVATIONS FROM AUTONOMOUS OBSERVATORIES AT SUMMIT STATION AND CAMP RAVEN AND LEVERAGING CITIZEN SCIENCE. THIS WORK PROVIDES CRITICAL CONTEXT FOR SATELLITE MEASUREMENTS AND IMPROVES PREDICTIONS OF HOW SURFACE MELT WILL EVOLVE.
- $79,106 spent. NORWEGIAN POLAR INSTITUTE: EARTH AND SPACE RESEARCH SCIENTISTS INSTALLED AND SUPPORTED THE INTEGRATED CLOUD AND BOUNDARY-LAYER OBSERVATORY AT THE TROLL OBSERVING NETWORK, A RESEARCH STATION IN ANTARCTICA THAT IS OPERATED BY THE NORWEGIAN POLAR INSTITUTE. THE OBSERVATION STATION COMBINES STATE-OF-THE-ART SENSORS INCLUDING SCANNING CLOUD RADAR, MICROWAVE RADIOMETRY, DEPOLARIZATION LIDAR, AND AUTOMATED RADIOSONDE SYSTEMS TO PROVIDE CONTINUOUS OBSERVATIONS OF ANTARCTIC CLOUDS, RADIATION, AND BOUNDARY-LAYER PROCESSES. ESR SCIENTISTS COLLABORATE ON INSTALLATION, DATA ANALYSIS, AND MODELING, DELIVERING REAL-TIME DATASETS THAT HELP UNRAVEL HOW ANTARCTIC CLOUDS REGULATE ENERGY EXCHANGE AND CONTRIBUTE TO GLOBAL WEATHER PATTERNS.
- $155 spent. ESR SUMMER INSTITUTE:THE SUMMER INSTITUTE IS A MENTORED RESEARCH AND TRAINING PROGRAM THAT ENGAGES STUDENTS IN GEOSCIENCE AND DATA SCIENCE PROJECTS ADDRESSING REAL-WORLD CHALLENGES. IN 2025, WE DEVELOPED THE SKILLS OF FOUR STUDENTS, RESULTING IN EXTERNALLY VISIBLE OUTCOMES, INCLUDING BLOG PUBLICATIONS, CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS, AND PEER-REVIEW ARTICLES, WHILE STRENGTHENING THE EARTH SCIENCE WORKFORCE PIPELINE.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending June 30, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Legitimacy checks
Is it registered with the IRS? Passed.
Listed in the IRS master file of tax-exempt organizations as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Has the IRS revoked its tax-exempt status? Passed.
Not on the IRS automatic revocation list.
Source: Automatic revocation of exemption list, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Are donations tax-deductible? Passed.
On the IRS list of organizations eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions.
Source: Publication 78 data: organizations eligible for tax-deductible contributions, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Is it keeping up with its IRS filings? Passed.
Most recent return on file covers the year ending June 2025.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
How long has it been tax-exempt? Passed.
Recognized by the IRS since June 1995.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Is it in good standing with state regulators? Passed.
Not on California's list of charities barred from soliciting. Other states are not yet checked.
Source: May Not Operate or Solicit for Charitable Purposes list, California Attorney General, Registry of Charities and Fundraisers, file dated October 21, 2026.
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