Will Collect Data To Improve Accuracy Of Weather Forecasts
NASA is planning an Oct. 27 launch of the first Earth-observing
satellite to measure both key weather variables and global climate
changes. The National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental
Satellite System Preparatory Project (NPP) is the first mission
designed to collect critical data to improve weather forecasts in
the short-term and increase understanding of long-term climate
change. NPP continues observations of Earth from space that NASA
has pioneered for more than 40 years.
NASA Image
NPP's five science instruments, including four new
state-of-the-art sensors, will provide scientists with data to
extend more than 30 key long-term datasets. These records, which
range from the ozone layer and land cover to atmospheric
temperatures and ice cover, are critical for global change
science.
"NPP's observations of a wide range of interconnected Earth
properties and processes will give us the big picture of how our
planet changes," said Jim Gleason, NPP project scientist at NASA's
Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. "That will help us
improve our computer models that predict future environmental
conditions. Better predictions will let us make better decisions,
whether it is as simple as taking an umbrella to work today or as
complex as responding to a changing climate."
NPP serves as a bridge between NASA's Earth Observing System of
satellites and the planned Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS),
which will collect climate and weather data. JPSS will be developed
by NASA for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA). NOAA meteorologists will incorporate NPP data into their
weather prediction models to produce forecasts and warnings that
will help emergency responders anticipate, monitor and react to
many types of natural disasters. "The timing of the NPP launch
could hardly be more appropriate," said Louis W. Uccellini,
director of NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Prediction in
Camp Springs, Md. "With the many billion dollar weather disasters
in 2011, NPP data is critical for accurate weather forecasts into
the future."
NASA Image
A Delta II rocket will carry NPP into an orbit 512 miles above
Earth's surface. Roughly the size of a mini-van, the spacecraft
will orbit Earth's poles about 14 times a day. It will transmit
data once each orbit to a ground station in Svalbard, Norway, and
to direct broadcast receivers around the world.
NPP is set to launch from Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenberg
Air Force Base in California on Oct. 27. The launch window extends
from 0548 to 0557 EDT. The launch recently was delayed two
days due to the repair of the Delta II's hydraulic system. The NPP
spacecraft is scheduled to be transported to the launch pad for
attachment to the Delta II on Oct. 12. NPP's Delta II launch
vehicle also will carry several auxiliary payloads into orbit,
which together comprise NASA's third Educational Launch of
Nanosatellite, or ELaNa, mission. This mission will put five small
research payloads, or CubeSats, into orbit: two for the University
of Michigan; and one each for Auburn University, Montana State
University and Utah State University.