This year,
NASA is looking to answer some of the most pressing questions we have about
our planet, measuring things like sea and land surface temperatures,
rainfall, our water resources, storm system precipitation
structure, and much more, from space. Buckle
your seatbelts, for a whirlwind tour of Earth-observing satellites launching to
low-Earth orbit in 2022.
[seagull noises]
Daydreaming of a trip to the lake?
SWOT focuses on the planet’s most precious resource: Water. The Surface Water
and Ocean Topography mission will help researchers compile the first global
survey of Earth's surface freshwater and study our changing ocean
and coasts. It will use a new radar instrument to measure the elevation
of water in major lakes, rivers, and wetlands as well as the ocean.
SWOT’s water height data helps track regional sea level changes,
observe small-scale ocean currents and eddies,
monitor coastal processes, and assess water resources
on land. With a warming climate, an inventory of Earth’s freshwater
storage and an understanding of sea level rise’s effects on coastal communities
is essential in order to help decision-makers manage their water
resources and plan for hazardous events.
[ocean waves]
Nothing can ruin a vacation quite
like stormy weather. Luckily, NASA
is launching TROPICS, a collection of six small satellites
specially designed to help scientists better understand damaging
tropical storms and hurricanes.
These small but mighty satellites each have a miniaturized microwave
radiometer that peers through clouds and inside developing storms.
Traveling in pairs in three different orbits,
TROPICS will provide near-hourly observations of a storm's
precipitation, temperature, and humidity.
Collectively, TROPICS will be able to observe Earth’s surface more frequently
than current weather satellites making similar measurements. This will give scientists
and forecasters more data to help them understand how
damaging tropical storms form, grow, and intensify.
In June 2021, the TROPICS first proof of concept
satellite launched, collecting important data that showed the promise
of these small satellites to help us prepare for the weather ahead.
[wind noises]
There’s more to dust than meets the eye. Winds on Earth
kick up millions of tons of dust every year, and where that dust goes
matters! Nutrient-rich dust from the Sahara Desert, for example,
is blown across the Atlantic Ocean where it fertilizes the Amazon rainforest.
But dust in the atmosphere can also reflect or trap additional heat
close to Earth’s surface, depending on its color and composition
– exacerbating or diminishing the greenhouse effect.
That’s where EMIT comes in. The Earth surface Mineral dust source InvesTigation
will use spectroscopy – a process that splits light into a spectrum of wavelengths,
which can be used to “fingerprint” different types of materials, including dust.
In this way, EMIT will observe the mineral composition of Earth’s dust
from its perch on the International Space Station. EMIT’s data
will help scientists map the areas on Earth that produce different types of dust,
and help them better understand the behavior of all that dust in the wind.
[wind noises]
For the last decade, a wealth of essential data has been streaming
back to Earth from satellites in the Joint Polar Satellite System,
a collaboration between NASA and NOAA.
Onboard suites of instruments measure … nearly
everything you can think of. Over land, they measure vegetation,
fires, droughts, snowfall, and ice cover,
just to name a few. Over the oceans – sea surface temperatures
and algal blooms. And in the atmosphere –
clouds, rainfall, heat, smoke, dust storms,
ozone, and air quality. These data feed
our daily weather forecasts, helping weather models see further
into the future to predict severe weather like hurricanes, tornadoes,
and snow storms, and monitor our changing climate.
In 2022, NASA and NOAA will launch
JPSS-2, the next mighty bird in the JPSS
program. JPSS-2 and its successors
will carry on the decades-long Earth-observing legacy
through 2038.
Stay tuned...
NASA