UAH's Earth System Science Center (ESSC) was created to encourage interdisciplinary study of the Earth as an integrated system across traditional boundaries.

It has a diverse scientific staff, including atmospheric scientists, biologists, geologists, engineers, mathematicians and computer scientists.

The ESSC is involved in several areas of Earth System research focusing on the basic science of the earth-atmosphere system. Scientists are involved in the evaluation of global-scale climate models, regional studies of the coupled atmosphere/ocean/ice systems, regional severe weather detection and prediction, measuring the local and global impact of the aerosols and pollutants, detecting lightning from space and the general development of remotely-sensed data bases.

A cross-cutting strength of ESSC scientists is the application of remote sensing data, both space and ground-based, to the myriad of questions related to the Earth System.