Earth Science Reference Handbook [ Missions: Aura ] 101
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- Is the Stratospheric Ozone Layer Recovering
| Earth Science Reference Handbook [ Missions: Aura ] 101 Aura Summary
Aura’s four instruments study the atmosphere’s chemistry and dynamics. Aura’s measurements enable us to inves- tigate questions about ozone trends, air–quality changes and their linkage to climate change. Aura’s measurements also provide accurate data for predictive models and useful information for local and national agency decision–sup- port systems. Instruments • High Resolution Dynamics Limb Sounder (HIRDLS) • Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) • Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) • Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES) Points of Contact • Aura Project Scientist: Mark Schoeberl, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center • Aura Deputy Project Scientist: Anne Douglass, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center • Aura Deputy Project Scientist: Joanna Joiner, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Other Key Personnel • Aura Program Scientist: Phil DeCola, NASA Headquarters • Aura Program Executive: Lou Schuster, NASA Headquarters • Aura Mission Director: William Guit, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Mission Type Earth Observing System (EOS) Systematic Measurements
Launch • Date and Location: July 15, 2004, from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California • Vehicle: Delta II 7920 rocket Relevant Science Focus Areas (see NASA’s Earth Science Program section) • Atmospheric Composition • Climate Variability and Change • Weather Related Applications (see Applied Sciences Program section) • Agricultural Efficiency • Air Quality • Public Health Aura Science Goals The Aura mission seeks to answer three main science questions: • Is the stratospheric ozone layer recovering? • What are the processes controlling air quality? • How is Earth’s climate changing? Key Aura Facts Joint with the Netherlands, Finland, and the U.K. Orbit:
Type: Polar, sun–synchronous Equatorial Crossing: 1:45 p.m. Altitude: 705 km Inclination: 98.2º Period: 100 minutes Repeat Cycle: 16 days Dimensions: 4.70 m × 17.37 m × 6.91 m Mass: 2967 kg (1200 kg of which are in instruments) Power: Solar array provides 4800 W. Nickel– hydrogen battery for nighttime operations. Downlink: X–band for science data; S–band for command and telemetry via Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS) and Deep Space Network to polar ground stations in Alaska and Norway.
Design Life: Nominal mission lifetime of 5 years, with a goal of 6 years of operation. Contributor: Northrop Grumman Space Technology Aura URL eos–aura.gsfc.nasa.gov/ Earth Science Reference Handbook 102 [ Missions: Aura ] validate Aura data and to address the science by making additional measurements.
This strategy emphasizes the strengths of both focused science campaigns and aircraft measurements. Campaign instruments make constituent measurements that are more complete than can be obtained from satel- lites. Campaign data are also obtained for much smaller spatial scales and with high temporal resolution compared to satellite data. Aircraft missions, on the other hand, take place a few times each year at most and are limited to a small portion of the globe. The Aura instruments make global observations throughout the year and provide data sets that reveal whether or not the campaign observations are truly representative of the atmosphere’s chemistry.
The Aura validation program also capitalizes on routine sources of data such as the ozonesonde network and the Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Com- position Change (formerly the Network for Detection of Stratospheric Change, or NDSC). Ground–based radi- ometers and spectrometers make column measurements similar to those made by instruments flying on Aura. Ground–based lidars measure temperature and some trace–gas constituent profiles. Balloon–borne instruments measure profiles of stratospheric constituents up to 40 km. Smaller balloons carry water–vapor instruments in the tropics to validate Aura’s measurements of this impor- tant gas. Flights of aircraft, such as the DC–8 (medium altitude) and WB–57 (high altitude), provide tropospheric profiles of ozone, carbon monoxide, and nitrogen species. Aircraft lidars measure profiles of ozone and temperature for long distances along the satellite track. Scientists can also compare profiles of stratospheric constituents from Aura with those from other satellites, including the NASA Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS), the European Space Agency Environmental Satellite (ESA Envisat), and the Canadian Science Satellite (SCISAT) and use data–assimilation techniques to help identify systematic differences among the data sets. The Aura validation program also includes an instrument develop- ment program and field campaigns scheduled between October 2004 and Autumn 2007. Aura Science Questions
Ozone is formed naturally in the stratosphere through break–up of oxygen (O 2 ) molecules by solar UV radia- tion, followed by the uniting of individual oxygen atoms with O
2 molecules, forming ozone (O 3 ) molecules. Ozone is destroyed when an ozone molecule combines with an oxygen atom to form two oxygen molecules, or through catalytic cycles involving hydrogen, nitrogen, chlorine, or bromine–containing species. For centuries, the atmo- Aura Mission Background Aura is the third in the series of large Earth Observing System platforms to be flown by NASA with international contributions. Aura, along with Terra (launched Decem- ber 1999) and Aqua (launched May 2002), provides an unprecedented view of the global Earth system. The Aura mission consists of four instruments on a common spacecraft (the same bus design as for Aqua) designed to provide the essential services for the instruments.
Aura is part of the A–Train of satellites, which, when the formation is complete, will include at least four other NASA missions—Aqua, Cloud–Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO), CloudSat, and the Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO)— as well as a French Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES) mission called Polarization and Anisotropy of Reflectances for Atmospheric Sciences coupled with Ob- servations from a Lidar (PARASOL). Aura is the trailing spacecraft in the formation and lags 15 minutes behind Aqua. While each satellite has an independent science mis- sion, measurements from the various spacecraft can also be combined. These complementary satellite observations will enable scientists to obtain more information than they could if all the various observations were used indepen- dently. This offers a new and unprecedented resource for exploring aerosol–chemistry–cloud interactions. See the Earth Observing Program section for more details on the A–Train.
As suggested in part by the name, the objective of the Aura mission is to study the chemistry and dynam- ics of Earth’s atmosphere, with emphasis on the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (5–20 km altitudes). Aura’s measurements enable us to investigate questions about ozone trends and air–quality changes, and their link- ages to climate change. They also provide accurate data for predictive models and provide useful information for local and national agency decision–support systems. Aura Mission Validation Aura’s focus on the troposphere and lower stratosphere presents challenges for validation, because this region exhibits much more spatial and temporal variability than the middle and upper stratosphere. To meet these chal- lenges, the Aura project has adopted a strategy to increase the scientific return from the validation program. Some of the validation activities are embedded within focused science campaigns. These campaigns have been selected to obtain data needed to unravel complex science ques- tions that are linked to the three main Aura science goals. Scientists plan to use the satellite data to understand the overall chemical and meteorological environment during the campaigns. Aircraft measurements are used both to Yüklə 270,44 Kb. Dostları ilə paylaş:
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