PASADENA, Calif. (MARCH 23) AP - NASA scientists are planning an international
satellite system to study the atmosphere more completely, a program moved into
high gear because of recent ominous changes in the ozone layer and other
problems. 

The Earth Observing System will be an international network of space-based
polar laboratories focusing on the planet's weather and ecology, National
Aeronautics and Space Administration project scientist Dixon Butler said
Tuesday. 

''This will bring about a revolution in our understanding of the Earth as a
whole system,'' Butler said via satellite to scientists at agency centers
across the country, including the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena. 

The schedule for the program was recently accelerated because of worrisome
changes in the Earth's atmosphere, such as depletion in the protective ozone
layer, Butler said from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. 

The six satellite labs will also monitor the so-called ''greenhouse effect ''
in which the earth's temperature is gradually rising because of increased
carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, Butler said 

The agency is asking for $20 million in next year's budget to finalize planning
and preparations for launches beginning in 1995, said Charles Redmond, 
a spokesman for NASA's science division. 

The project involves two satellites to be launched by Japanese and European
agencies, as well as four by NASA. It features an estimated $2 billion U.S.
price tag, he said.