An upcoming NASA mission will provide an unprecedented have a look at ice clouds at high altitudes in Earth’s atmosphere.
NASA’s Polarized Submillimeter Ice-cloud Radiometer (PolSIR) is an instrument designed to check ice clouds that form high above tropical and subtropical regions of the Earth. A pair these relatively low-cost sensors will likely be mounted on two small satellites and launched into low Earth orbit, where they’ll collect data on how ice clouds change over the course of a day. The info will help scientists higher understand each how these ice clouds are responding to climate change and the way they could influence our climate in the long run.
“Studying ice clouds is crucial for improving climate forecasts — and this will likely be the primary time we are able to study ice clouds on this level of detail,” Nicola Fox, associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington, said in an announcement.
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The equipment for the mission are two similar pairs of radiometers, which can measure electromagnetic radiation coming off of the clouds. The radiometers will record infrared radiation at two different frequencies: 325 and 680 gigahertz. Each pair of radiometers will travel aboard a cubesat, a mini satellite somewhat over a foot tall. The 2 cubesats will orbit between three and nine hours apart, enabling them to repeatedly collect data on the ice clouds over a 24-hour period.
“The radiometers, which measure the radiant energy emitted by clouds, will significantly improve our understanding of how ice clouds change and respond throughout the day,” Karen St. Germain, who leads NASA’s Earth Sciences Division, said within the statement.
PolSIR is an element of NASA’s Earth Enterprise class of missions, a gaggle of relatively low-cost missions to explore the Earth and improve our ability to predict future changes. Earth Enterprise missions are chosen through open, competitive grant applications. Submitted by a gaggle at Vanderbilt University, the PolSIR team will receive a grant of $37 million to cover operation costs (not including the price of launch). Ralf Bennartz, chair of the department of earth and environmental science at Vanderbilt, will lead the mission, together with Dong Wu of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
The mission joins NASA’s many other Earth-focused missions, including the recently launched TROPICS experiment and the TEMPO mission, each also Earth Enterprise missions. At its inaugural climate change summit in December 2022, NASA highlighted several earth science missions, which can help us understand the numerous impacts of climate change on our planet.
PolSIR is scheduled to launch in 2027, if all goes based on plan, based on a Vanderbilt University statement.