NASA NTRS2002
The Earth Observing System (EOS) is a space-based observing system comprised of a series of satellite sensors by which scientists can monitor the Earth, a Data and Information System (EOSDIS) enabling researchers worldwide to access the satellite data, and an interdisciplinary science research program to interpret the satellite data. During the last couple of years, seven EOS science missions were launched, representing observations of (i) total solar irradiance, (ii) Earth radiation budget, (iii) land cover & land use change, (iv) ocean processes (vector wind, sea surface temperature, ocean topography, and ocean color), (v) atmospheric processes (aerosol and cloud properties, water vapor, and temperature and moisture profiles), (v) tropospheric chemistry, (vi) sea ice concentration, and (viii) precipitation. In succeeding years many more satellites will be launched that will contribute immeasurably to our understanding of the Earth's environment. In this lecture I will describe how scientists are using NASA's Earth science data to examine land use and natural hazards, environmental air quality, including dust storms over the world's deserts, cloud and radiation properties, sea surface temperature, and tropospheric chemistry. This lecture will describe the Terra satellite, launched in December 1999 and still operating, and each of the five sensors onboard the spacecraft. This overview will highlight the goals and objectives of this mission, and describe the contributions and unique datasets provided by each sensor. This lecture will form the background for an extensive weeklong course on Terra and all the algorithms that have been developed and implemented to process the data from this spacecraft. This lecture will include a description of the Terra orbit, launch, data communication with the spacecraft, and data processing and archival of the data.