“ESA’s CryoSat and the Copernicus Sentinel-1 missions have been used to measure subtle changes in the elevation and flow of ice shelves that, in turn, reveals how huge canyons are forming underneath. Warm bottom ocean water is entering the cavity under Antarctica’s Dotson ice shelf and is stirred by Earth’s rotation. This is causing one side of the ice shelf to melt. The canyon, which has formed over 25 years, is now 200 m deep in places and the ice just above it is heavily crevassed, affecting the shelf’s future ability to buttress the ice on land.”
Video credit: ESA/University of Edinburgh–N. Gourmelen/Planetary Visions
“Early on the morning of Saturday, November 18, NASA successfully launched for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) the first in a series of four advanced polar-orbiting satellites, equipped with next-generation technology and designed to improve the accuracy of U.S. weather forecasts out to seven days. The Joint Polar Satellite System-1 (JPSS-1) lifted off on a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base on California’s central coast. JPSS-1 data will improve weather forecasting and help agencies involved with post-storm recovery by visualizing storm damage and the geographic extent of power outages.”
“This timelapse video shows Sentinel-5P satellite, from final preparations to liftoff on a Rockot launcher, from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia, on 13 October 2017.
The Sentinels are a fleet of satellites designed to deliver the wealth of data and imagery that are central to the European Commission’s Copernicus programme. This unique environmental monitoring programme is providing a step change in the way we view and manage our environment, understand and tackle the effects of climate change and safeguard everyday lives.
Sentinel-5 Precursor – also known as Sentinel-5P – is the first Copernicus mission dedicated to monitoring our atmosphere. The satellite carries the state-of-the-art Tropomi instrument to map a multitude of trace gases such as nitrogen dioxide, ozone, formaldehyde, sulphur dioxide, methane, carbon monoxide and aerosols – all of which affect the air we breathe and therefore our health, and our climate.
With a swath width of 2600 km, it will map the entire planet every day. Information from this new mission will be used through the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service for air quality forecasts and for decision-making. The mission will also contribute to services such as volcanic ash monitoring for aviation safety and for services that warn of high levels of UV radiation, which can cause skin damage. In addition, scientists will also use the data to improve our knowledge of important processes in the atmosphere related to the climate and to the formation of holes in the ozone layer.
Sentinel-5P was developed to reduce data gaps between the Envisat satellite – in particular the Sciamachy instrument – and the launch of Sentinel-5, and to complement GOME-2 on MetOp. In the future, both the geostationary Sentinel-4 and polar-orbiting Sentinel-5 missions will monitor the composition of the atmosphere for Copernicus Atmosphere Services. Both missions will be carried on meteorological satellites operated by Eumetsat. Until then, the Sentinel-5P mission will play a key role in monitoring and tracking air pollution.”
“NASA and NOAA scientists work together to study the ozone layer, monitoring the hole over Antarctica as it fluctuates with the seasons. This year, the ozone hole’s annual maximum set a record — the smallest it’s been since 1988. The hole in the ozone layer is caused each year as ozone molecules react with chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) in the atmosphere. The reactions occur at cold temperatures, so the hole reaches a maximum size each year at the end of southern winter, and then heals during the warmer summer months.
Although CFCs have been banned since 1987 under the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, the compounds decay very slowly, and still remain in the atmosphere. This year, the small ozone hole was mostly caused by warmer temperatu res, which slowed down the reactions between ozone and CFCs.”
Music: Stars Align by Andrew Michael Britton [PRS]
“ICESat-2 (Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite 2), part of NASA’s Earth Observing System, is a planned satellite mission for measuring ice sheet elevation, sea ice freeboard as well as land topography and vegetation characteristics. ICESat-2 is a planned follow-on to the ICESat mission. It will be launched in 2018 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California into a near-circular, near-polar orbit with an altitude of approximately 496 km. It is being designed to operate for 3 years, and will carry enough propellant for 7 years.
The ICESat-2 mission is designed to provide elevation data needed to determine ice sheet mass balance as well as vegetation canopy information. It will provide topography measurements of cities, lakes and reservoirs, oceans and land surfaces around the globe, in addition to the polar-specific coverage.
The ICESat-2 project is being managed by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. The sole instrument is being designed and built by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, and the bus is being provided by Orbital ATK. The satellite will launch on a Delta II rocket provided by United Launch Alliance. As of November 2017 this is the last planned launch of the Delta ll launch vehicle.
The sole instrument on ICESat-2 will be the Advanced Topographic Laser Altimeter System (ATLAS), a space-based LIDAR. ATLAS will time the flight of laser photons from the satellite to Earth and back; computer programs will use the travel time from multiple pulses to determine elevation. The ATLAS laser will emit visible laser pulses at 532 nm wavelength. The laser is being developed and built by Fibertek, Inc. As ICESat-2 orbits, the ATLAS will generate six beams arranged in three pairs, with the pairs 3.3 km apart, in order to better determine the surface’s slope and provide more ground coverage. ATLAS will take elevation measurements every 70 cm along the satellite’s ground path. The laser will fire at a rate of 10 kHz. Each pulse sends out about 20 trillion photons, almost all of which are dispersed or deflected as the pulse travels to Earth’s surface and bounces back to the satellite. About a dozen photons from each pulse return to the instrument and are collected in a beryllium telescope.”
Music: “Cristal Delight,” Fred Dubois, Killer Tracks
Ryan Fitzgibbons (USRA): Lead Producer
Kate Ramsayer (Telophase Corp.): Lead Writer
Ryan Fitzgibbons (USRA): Writer
Ryan Fitzgibbons (USRA): Lead Animator
Adriana Manrique Gutierrez (USRA): Animator
Thorsten Markus (NASA/GSFC): Lead Scientist
Thomas A. Neumann Ph.D. (NASA/GSFC): Lead Scientist
“ICESat-2 (Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite 2), part of NASA’s Earth Observing System, is a planned satellite mission for measuring ice sheet elevation, sea ice freeboard as well as land topography and vegetation characteristics. ICESat-2 is a planned follow-on to the ICESat mission. It will be launched in 2018 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California into a near-circular, near-polar orbit with an altitude of approximately 496 km. It is being designed to operate for 3 years, and will carry enough propellant for 7 years.
The ICESat-2 mission is designed to provide elevation data needed to determine ice sheet mass balance as well as vegetation canopy information. It will provide topography measurements of cities, lakes and reservoirs, oceans and land surfaces around the globe, in addition to the polar-specific coverage.
The ICESat-2 project is being managed by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. The sole instrument is being designed and built by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, and the bus is being provided by Orbital ATK. The satellite will launch on a Delta II rocket provided by United Launch Alliance. As of November 2017 this is the last planned launch of the Delta ll launch vehicle.
The sole instrument on ICESat-2 will be the Advanced Topographic Laser Altimeter System (ATLAS), a space-based LIDAR. ATLAS will time the flight of laser photons from the satellite to Earth and back; computer programs will use the travel time from multiple pulses to determine elevation. The ATLAS laser will emit visible laser pulses at 532 nm wavelength. The laser is being developed and built by Fibertek, Inc. As ICESat-2 orbits, the ATLAS will generate six beams arranged in three pairs, with the pairs 3.3 km apart, in order to better determine the surface’s slope and provide more ground coverage. ATLAS will take elevation measurements every 70 cm along the satellite’s ground path. The laser will fire at a rate of 10 kHz. Each pulse sends out about 20 trillion photons, almost all of which are dispersed or deflected as the pulse travels to Earth’s surface and bounces back to the satellite. About a dozen photons from each pulse return to the instrument and are collected in a beryllium telescope.”
Music: “Cristal Delight,” Fred Dubois, Killer Tracks
Ryan Fitzgibbons (USRA): Lead Producer
Kate Ramsayer (Telophase Corp.): Lead Writer
Ryan Fitzgibbons (USRA): Writer
Ryan Fitzgibbons (USRA): Lead Animator
Adriana Manrique Gutierrez (USRA): Animator
Thorsten Markus (NASA/GSFC): Lead Scientist
Thomas A. Neumann Ph.D. (NASA/GSFC): Lead Scientist
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