The solution?... REMOTE SENSING...flying extremely precise instruments in space that orbit the Earth and collect continuous global measurements over long periods of time.
For over a decade NASA'sEarth-observing satellites have delivered critical climate data.
Scientists need this data to understand how and why our planet changes over time. It also helps them make better predictions of future climate patterns.
Now, NASA is ready to launch anew sensor technology: TheVisible/Infrared ImagerRadiometer Suite or VIIRS. This sensor will fly on NASA's next generation Earth-monitoring satellite: TheNPOESS Preparatory Project or NPP.
VIIRS is a continuation of the MODIS instrument flown on NASA's Aqua and Terra satellites.
Justice: From my perspectiveVIIRS is the most important instrument on NPP because it provides continuity to MODIS and MODIS has become an extremely important instrument form global monitoring. I think it's one of the success stories of the NASA program and we are hoping that VIIRSwill be the same.
Narrator: With multi-channel imaging capabilities, VIIRSwill deliver environmental data products faster than its predecessors. These products include visible and infrared imaging of hurricanes, forest fires, volcanoes, sea surface temperature,ocean-color, and atmosphere aerosols. VIIRSwill continue adding to the decades of existing data records, helpings scientists unravel the mysteries of climate change.
Justice: The VIIRS instrument is a scientific measurement tool;it's an instrument that has calibrated measurements of the land surface and it converts those into digital numbers that are then down linked to a ground station. We would take those observations and then we would use those to provide input to models we are developing that simulate the processes of the land and to try then to see what happens if those parameters change.
Narrator: Scientists use these models to increase their understanding of the complex interaction between theEarth system's elements and then make improved global climate predictions.
Chris Justice: "I think the critical thing about the NPP VIIRS instrument is that we will get long-term data records and I think if you want to monitor how the Earth's surfaces changing we need consistent data records and I think this is why this is so important for NASA science, and it is also important for me personally. I can understand how we are responding to climate change and how climate change is affecting the Earth's surface.
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