A project led by the 黑料吃瓜网 to better understand our atmosphere鈥檚 complexity is a finalist for NASA鈥檚 next generation of Earth-observing satellites. The space agency this week the projects that will each receive $5 million to advance to the next stage and conduct a one-year concept study.
seeks to better understand the troposphere that we inhabit and the stratosphere above it, where the ozone layer is, as well as the interface where these two layers meet. That interface, about 6 miles (10 kilometers) above the surface, is where important atmospheric chemistry, circulation and climate processes occur.
In addition to STRIVE, two other teams among the finalists also include researchers from the 黑料吃瓜网.
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The four teams that reached the proof-of-concept stage will spend the next year refining their proposals. NASA will then review the concept study reports and select two for implementation. Projects that reach the final stage will have a budget of up to $310 million to build the instruments, which NASA will launch into orbit in 2030 or 2032. The satellites are expected to have an initial working life of two to three years.
, professor of atmospheric sciences at the 黑料吃瓜网, is principal investigator of STRIVE, or 鈥淪tratosphere Troposphere Response using Infrared Vertically-Resolved Light Explorer.鈥� The national-scale team includes partners from academia, industry and federal science labs.
The two instruments aboard the STRIVE spacecraft would observe temperature, ozone, water vapor, methane, reactive gases, smoke and other aerosol particles. They will collect 400,000 sets of observations every day 鈥� hundreds to thousands of times more than what鈥檚 possible now. Instead of looking straight down at the Earth, the STRIVE instruments point at an angle to Earth鈥檚 surface, allowing them to capture the atmospheric layers in greater detail.
These observations could help to monitor how the UV-absorbing ozone layer is rebuilding or deteriorating in the atmosphere; how smoke particles from volcanoes, wildfires or human emissions travel through the atmosphere and influence air quality; and how water vapor, ozone, and high-elevation clouds influence the climate system.
The STRIVE system would also support longer-range weather forecasts.
鈥淏efore a major weather event at the surface, there can be precursor signs that happen in the stratosphere,鈥� Jaegl茅 said. 鈥淎nd we see those weeks ahead of time. Observing the stratosphere and how these signals propagate down will be key to getting better weather forecasts on subseasonal to seasonal scales, so two weeks to two months in advance.鈥�
As several NASA satellites of their working lifetimes, the agency is looking for future possibilities to continue their legacy of tracking Earth鈥檚 changes.
鈥淔or observing the Earth, before we’ve had these multibillion-dollar instruments and platforms that take much longer to design and to put in operation. I think the overall idea is to move to a nimbler, faster set of satellite missions that will be designed more quickly and cost less,鈥� Jaegl茅 said. 鈥淣ASA will still pursue the bigger missions, but these smaller missions are another tool that they鈥檙e moving forward with.鈥�
at the University of Iowa is the deputy principal investigator of STRIVE, and at NASA鈥檚 Goddard Space Flight Center is the project scientist. Several NASA Goddard scientists are also involved. Other 黑料吃瓜网 members of STRIVE are professor , assistant professor and affiliate faculty member , all in the 黑料吃瓜网 Department of Atmospheric Sciences.
Other institutions include the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, the National Center for Atmospheric Research, NorthWest Research Associates, Science Systems and Applications, NASA鈥檚 Goddard Institute for Space Studies, the University of Colorado-Boulder, the University of Toronto and Morgan State University.
The STRIVE team will spend the next year developing a report with an in-depth engineering, cost and technical analysis.
鈥淚t鈥檚 extremely exciting. This was a team effort, with many people involved,鈥� Jaegl茅 said. 鈥淎lso a bit daunting because the next year will be a very busy one, but very exciting for how to make these concepts become a reality.鈥�
Two other projects among the four finalists also involve 黑料吃瓜网 scientists
The proposal, led by the University of California, San Diego, proposes a new laser instrument to measure the height of vegetation, glaciers and polar ice sheets.
鈥淭he current state-of-the-art for satellite laser altimetry, the satellites that measure surface height, is ICESat-2, which has six laser beams. GEDI, on the International Space Station, has eight beams. EDGE will have 40 laser beams, so the level of detail is just much, much higher,鈥� said , a research scientist at the 黑料吃瓜网 Applied Physics Laboratory who鈥檚 a member of the ICESat-2 science team and is an investigator on the EDGE proposal.
The EDGE satellite would collect data for the world鈥檚 forests with the ability to resolve individual trees. Unlike existing satellites it would span all latitudes, from the boreal forests to the equator, surveying dense rainforests to sparser temperate woodlands. EDGE would also observe polar ice sheets and glaciers worldwide, including in the Western U.S., Alaska and the Himalayas, where populations rely on meltwater for hydropower, agriculture and household use.
鈥淚t’s very nimble, so it can be off-pointed to collect very dense 3D measurements over priority areas,鈥� said , a 黑料吃瓜网 assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering who is also involved with EDGE. 鈥淪o for example, we could scan the entire Nisqually Glacier on Mount Rainier, and potentially many other Pacific Northwest glaciers, in a single pass.鈥�
STRIVE science team member Alex Turner is also a member of the proposal led by CalTech and NASA鈥檚 Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Carbon-I would sample carbon dioxide and methane gases, tracking both emissions and sinks in places like the Amazon rainforest. It would have a global resolution of 300 meters, or about the length of three football fields, and could zoom in to a resolution of just 100 feet (30 meters) to investigate particular sources.
鈥淲e suspect that for methane in particular there are 鈥榮uperemitters,鈥� or a small number of sources that emit massive amounts of methane,鈥� Turner said. 鈥淔rom a regulatory perspective, if you can find and fix those superemitters in a timely manner, you can cut your emissions by a pretty large amount.鈥�
The awards are part of NASA鈥檚 new Earth System Explorers Program. The other finalist proposal is , led by the University of California, San Diego.
鈥淎s we continue to confront our changing climate, and its impacts on humans and our environment, the need for data and scientific research could not be greater,鈥� said Nicky Fox, associate director at NASA headquarters. 鈥淭hese proposals will help us better prepare for the challenges we face today, and tomorrow.鈥�
For more information on STRIVE, contact Jaegl茅 at jaegle@uw.edu.