The Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder, delivered by Northrop Grumman in 2005, was the first science instrument delivered to NPP. Ozone in the atmosphere keeps the Sun's ultraviolet radiation from striking the Earth. The Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite (OMPS) will measure the concentration of ozone in the atmosphere, providing information on how ozone concentration varies with altitude. Data from OMPS will continue three decades of climate measurements of this important parameter used in global climate models. The OMPS measurements also fulfill the U.S. treaty obligation to monitor global ozone concentrations with no gaps in coverage.
Northrop Grumman, the prime contractor for NPOESS, has the responsibility for overseeing the development of sensors for NPP; Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corporation (NYSE:BLL) built the instrument and is integrating the NPP spacecraft for NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. NPOESS is being developed for the NPOESS Integrated Program Office as the next generation low-Earth orbiting operational environmental system.
"OMPS delivery represents a major step forward for this important program," said Dave Vandervoet, vice president of Civil Systems Division for Northrop Grumman's Space Technology sector. "Following on the recent CERES delivery, and with the upcoming Cross-track Infrared Sounder delivery, the NPP spacecraft will have flight unit instruments to integrate, enabling the program to take the next important step into system integration and test on the path to launch."
"Ball's next generation OMPS instrument is designed to significantly outperform its predecessors," said Cary Ludtke, vice president and general manager of Civil and Operational Space for Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corporation. "From SAGE III to SBUV/2 and now OMPS, Ball's ozone monitoring sensors continue to advance atmospheric science research."
OMPS is comprised of two sensors, a nadir sensor and limb sensor. Measurements from the nadir sensor are used to generate total column ozone measurements, while measurements from the limb sensor generate ozone profiles of the along-track limb scattered solar radiance. Production of the OMPS Flight Model 2 (FM2) instrument for the first NPOESS spacecraft designated as C1 is also well underway. All three major components of the FM2 Nadir sensor are complete and in component level testing. Production of printed wiring boards for the FM2 Main Electronics Box is approximately 50 percent complete. The OMPS FM2 delivery is scheduled for December 2010, in preparation for the NPOESS C1 launch scheduled for 2013.
The NPP mission is a joint effort between NASA and the NPOESS Integrated Program Office to bridge long-term climate data measurements between research satellites and operational systems as well as to reduce risk in preparing for NPOESS to go operational.