Skip to content

Unexplainable.net

Watching The World Change

  • MythBusters Denied RFID Study By Elite- VIDEO Simply Unexplainable
  • Interesting Religious Traditions Religion Articles
  • How to Make Herbal Syrups Information and Theories
  • A Hodgepodge of Ancient Facts III Ancient Civilizations
  • Elements of a Good Science Fiction Movie III Information and Theories
  • Julia: The Bloop Sound’s Cousin Simply Unexplainable
  • In the Headlines: September 2009 Other Exciting News
  • Sharing Stories Of Ghost Shadows And Scarry Stuff Ghost And Demons

Satellites CALIPSO and CloudSat Dance around Earth

Posted on February 26, 2005 By jim No Comments on Satellites CALIPSO and CloudSat Dance around Earth

CALIPSO and CloudSat: Dancing Around Earth

Most of us only pay attention to clouds when trying to plan a picnic or an outside activity. But to scientists, they mean much more. Clouds affect temperatures and air quality across the globe and play a crucial role in the planet’s climate.

Clouds are the link between energy and water in the Earth’s climate system; they dominate the energy budget of the Earth and carry the precipitation that redistributes fresh water on the Earth’s surface.

Image right: The diagram shows instrumentation on the CALIPSO satellite. Click on image for larger view. Credit: NASA

To aid our stewardship of Earth, we need to know how to better manage the air quality. We can’t say with any certainty what increasing carbon dioxide will do to the Earth’s climate unless we can improve the way that clouds and aerosols are represented in climate models.

Even small changes in the amount of cloudiness can profoundly change the way the Earth’s climate responds to increased greenhouse gases or aerosols in the atmosphere.

NASA will look to the suite of instruments on two new satellites: CALIPSO (Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations) and CloudSat to help Earth’s leaders make better policy decisions in response to global climate changes.

The satellites are scheduled for launch no earlier than mid-June from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California aboard the same Delta II rocket.

Image left: CALIPSO and CloudSat will fly in formation with other Earth Observing Satellites. Click on image for larger view. Credit: NASA

Scientists need to know the composition of cloud condensation nuclei, the amount of water and ice in clouds, the height of clouds in the sky and the extent to which clouds at different altitudes overlap each other. These factors affect the distribution of heating within the atmosphere and at the surface of the Earth, influencing the circulation of the atmosphere and of the ocean. This is because the balance between incoming sunlight and outgoing energy determines the planet’s temperature and ultimately, its climate.

CALIPSO and CloudSat will join a carefully choreographed dance of satellites. The duo will fly in orbital formation with NASA’s Earth-observing satellites Aqua and Aura, and with PARASOL, a satellite developed by the French space agency, Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES). Collectively, the satellites are known as the “A-train” after the famous jazz tune.

Measurements from CALIPSO and CloudSat will be used to test and improve the accuracy of cloud and aerosol measurements from the other A-train satellites, according to David Winker, NASA’s principal investigator for CALIPSO and Graeme Stephens, NASA’s Principal Investigator for CloudSat.

Within the first 30 days of the launch, CloudSat will be maneuvered into formation to maintain a precise distance and time separation from CALIPSO creating a “virtual” spacecraft platform.

The CloudSat Mission is a partnership between Colorado State Univerity, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, the Canadian Space Agency, the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Department of Energy. Ball Arospace & Technologies Corp. built the spacecraft.

Image right: CloudSat will make key measurements that will advance our limited understanding of cloud-climate feedback. Credit: NASA/Colorado State University

NASA’s Langley Research Center in Virginia is leading the CALIPSO mission, providing overall project management and collaborating with NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, CNES, Ball Aerospace, Hampton University and the Institut Pierre Simon Laplace in France.

One of NASA’s goals is to understand the effects of natural and human-made hazards on the atmosphere and predict the effects of climate change. Scientists who learn new ways to improve conditions on Earth may use that knowledge to monitor the health of other planets as we travel to the Moon, Mars and beyond

Space and Astrology

Post navigation

Previous Post: Alien Abductions-Their Purpose
Next Post: Bacteria Thrives 1000’s of Years In Freezing Temps

Related Posts

  • NASA Moon Reports Space and Astrology
  • Nemesis Hurling Comets at Earth? Space and Astrology
  • Next Generation: Where Are They Now? Space and Astrology
  • Space Gets Explioted Too! Space and Astrology
  • Earthlike Planet Discovered By Astronomers Space and Astrology
  • Mars Bunny Shape Deplicted On The Surface Space and Astrology

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recent Posts

  • The Meat Eater couple arrested for child abuse
  • The Meat-Eater boxer kidnapped and raped a young school Girl
  • Carnist man arrested for 198 years for raping and shooting a woman
  • Mitch McConnell- Eating Cow Corpses
  • Animal Flesh Eater Arrested: Felony Charges Serious Injury To 3 Month Old!

Recent Comments

No comments to show.

Archives

  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • May 2020
  • June 2018
  • February 2018
  • July 2016
  • May 2016
  • February 2016
  • September 2015
  • July 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • July 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • December 2009
  • November 2009
  • October 2009
  • September 2009
  • August 2009
  • July 2009
  • June 2009
  • May 2009
  • April 2009
  • March 2009
  • February 2009
  • January 2009
  • December 2008
  • November 2008
  • October 2008
  • September 2008
  • August 2008
  • July 2008
  • June 2008
  • May 2008
  • April 2008
  • March 2008
  • February 2008
  • January 2008
  • December 2007
  • November 2007
  • October 2007
  • September 2007
  • August 2007
  • July 2007
  • June 2007
  • May 2007
  • April 2007
  • March 2007
  • February 2007
  • January 2007
  • December 2006
  • November 2006
  • October 2006
  • September 2006
  • August 2006
  • July 2006
  • June 2006
  • May 2006
  • April 2006
  • March 2006
  • February 2006
  • January 2006
  • December 2005
  • November 2005
  • October 2005
  • September 2005
  • August 2005
  • July 2005
  • June 2005
  • May 2005
  • April 2005
  • March 2005
  • February 2005
  • January 2005
  • December 2004
  • November 2004
  • October 2004
  • September 2004
  • August 2004
  • July 2004
  • June 2004
  • May 2004
  • April 2004
  • March 2004
  • February 2004
  • January 2004
  • December 2003
  • November 2003
  • October 2003

Categories

  • Ancient Civilizations
  • Benjamin Fulford Story
  • Corrupt Carnivores
  • Cryptology and Monsters
  • Eating Healthy
  • Ghost And Demons
  • Information and Theories
  • Mars Coverage
  • Meditation And Spirituality
  • Mysteries
  • NASA Articles
  • Other Exciting News
  • Personal Accounts
  • Pictures And Multimedia
  • Political Conspiracies
  • Recent Submissions
  • Religion Articles
  • Self Improvement
  • Simply Unexplainable
  • Space and Astrology
  • Technology Articles
  • True Stories
  • UFOs and Aliens
  • Unexplainable Video Library
  • Unexplainable Weather
  • What You Think You Know About 911 – But Don’t Information and Theories
  • Celebrities with Tattoos that Pay Homage to the Devil Information and Theories
  • Haunted High Schools Throughout Houston Ghost And Demons
  • Submitted Picture Featuring Ghostly Smake Trails Ghost And Demons
  • Batavia Conference: Thermal Imaging & Scary Game Exploration Ghost And Demons
  • The Bohemian Grove Encampment (Where Initial Talks of the Atomic Bomb Took Place) Will Greet Members Again in July Information and Theories
  • CDC Announces Zombie Survival Preparedness Plan Simply Unexplainable
  • Open Ghost Case- Can You Help Us? Ghost And Demons

Copyright © 2023 Unexplainable.net.

Powered by PressBook News Dark theme