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NASA Launches Satellites for Weather, Climate, Air Quality Studies |
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WASHINGTON, April 28, 2006/Satnews Daily/ — Two NASA satellites were launched Friday from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., on missions to reveal the secrets of clouds and aerosols, tiny particles suspended in the air.
NASA said CloudSat and CALIPSO -- Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations -- thundered skyward at approximately 6:02 a.m. EDT atop a Boeing Delta II rocket. The two satellites will eventually circle approximately 438 miles above Earth in a sun-synchronous polar orbit, which means they will always cross the equator at the same local time. Their technologies will enable scientists to study how clouds and aerosols form, evolve and interact.
“With the successful launch of CloudSat and CALIPSO we take a giant step forward in our ability to study the global atmosphere,” said CALIPSO Principal Investigator David Winker of NASA's Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va. “In the years to come, we expect these missions to spark many new insights into the workings of Earth's climate and improve our abilities to forecast weather and predict climate change.”
Each spacecraft will transmit pulses of energy and measure the portion of the pulses scattered back to the satellite. CloudSat's Cloud-Profiling Radar is more than 1,000 times more sensitive than typical weather radar. It can detect clouds and distinguish between cloud particles and precipitation. CALIPSO's polarization lidar can detect aerosol particles and distinguish between aerosol and cloud particles. Lidar, similar in principle to radar, uses reflected light to determine the characteristics of the target area.
NASA said sixty-two minutes after liftoff, CALIPSO separated from the rocket's second stage. CloudSat followed 35 minutes later. Ground controllers successfully acquired signals from both spacecraft, and initial telemetry reports show both in excellent health. Over the next six weeks, system and instrument checks will be performed, and the satellites will maneuver into their final orbits.
According to NASA, the satellites will fly in formation as members of NASA's "A-Train" constellation, which also includes NASA's Aqua and Aura satellites and a French satellite known as PARASOL, for Polarization and Anisotropy of Reflectances for Atmospheric Sciences coupled with Observations from a Lidar. The satellite data will be more useful when combined, providing insights into the global distribution and evolution of clouds to improve weather forecasting and climate prediction.
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