OrbitalHub

NASA dicit:

Hundreds of meltwater lakes hide deep beneath the expanse of Antarctica’s ice sheet. With a powerful laser altimeter system in space, NASA’s Ice Cloud and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2) is helping scientists “see” under the ice.

Video credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Scientific Visualization Studio/Jefferson Beck (KBRwyle): Lead Producer/Roberto Molar Candanosa (KBR): Lead Writer/Helen-Nicole Kostis (USRA): Lead Visualizer/Helen Amanda Fricker (Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego): Lead Scientist/Matthew R. Siegfried (Colorado School of Mines): Lead Scientist

NASA dicit:

Globally, 2020 was the hottest year on record, effectively tying 2016, the previous record. Overall, Earth’s average temperature has risen more than 2 degrees Fahrenheit since the 1880s. Temperatures are increasing due to human activities, specifically emissions of greenhouse gases, like carbon dioxide and methane.

Video credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Scientific Visualization Studio/Kathryn Mersmann (USRA): Lead Producer/Katie Jepson (USRA): Lead Producer/Jessica Merzdorf (Telophase): Lead Writer/Sofie L. Bates (Intern): Lead Writer/Peter H. Jacobs (NASA/GSFC): Public Affairs Officer/Gavin A. Schmidt (NASA/GSFC GISS): Lead Scientist/Lesley Ott (NASA/GSFC): Scientist/Lori Perkins (NASA/GSFC): Lead Visualizer/Trent L. Schindler (USRA): Visualizer/Jefferson Beck (USRA): Producer/Kathleen Gaeta (GSFC Interns): Producer/Jacob Richmond (NASA/GSFC): Public Affairs Officer

NASA dicit:

Plants play a key role in mitigating climate change. The more carbon dioxide they absorb during photosynthesis, the less carbon dioxide remains trapped in the atmosphere where it can cause temperatures to rise. But scientists have identified an unsettling trend – 86% of land ecosystems globally are becoming progressively less efficient at absorbing the increasing levels of CO2 from the atmosphere.

Video credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Scientific Visualization Studio/Kathryn Mersmann (USRA): Lead Producer/Esprit Smith (KBR): Lead Writer/Benjamin Poulter (NASA/GSFC): Scientist

Wikipedia dicit:

The Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment (SAGE) is a series of remote sensing satellite instruments used to study the chemical composition of Earth’s atmosphere. Specifically, SAGE has been used to study the Earth’s ozone layer and aerosols at the troposphere through the stratosphere. The SAGE instruments use solar occultation measurement technique to determine chemical concentrations in the atmosphere. Solar occultation measurement technique measures sunlight through the atmosphere and ratios that measurement with a sunlight measurement without atmospheric attenuation. This is achieved by observing sunrises and sunsets during a satellite orbit. Physically, the SAGE instruments measure ultraviolet/visible energy and this is converted via algorithms to determine chemical concentrations. SAGE data has been used to study the atmospheres aerosols, ozone, water vapor, and other trace gases.

Video credit: NASA Langley Research Center

NASA dicit:

The Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite, carried atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, lifts off from Space Launch Complex 4 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on November 21, 2020. Launch occurred at 9:17 a.m. PST (12:17 p.m. EST). The mission is an international collaboration between NASA and several partners, and it will collect the most accurate data yet on global sea level and how our oceans are rising in response to climate change. NASA’s Launch Services Program based at Kennedy Space Center was responsible for launch management.

Video credit: NASA’s Kennedy Space Center

NASA dicit:

A cold and stable Antarctic vortex supported the development of the 12th-largest ozone hole on record in 2020. The hole reached its peak extent on September 20 at 24.8 million square kilometers.

Video credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Scientific Visualization Studio/Kathleen Gaeta (GSFC Interns): Lead Producer/Eric Nash (SSAI): Visualizer/Kathryn Mersmann (USRA): Graphics/Paul Newman (NASA/GSFC): Scientist/Susan Strahan (USRA): Scientist