[pulsing music]
Narrator: Ten years ago, a remarkable suite of instruments
aboard the first of a series of polar-orbiting
known as the Joint Polar Satellite System.
This is the story of the satellite that led the way.
It has measured storms, fires,
v
improving our weather forecasts, and carrying on
critical long-term measurements of our planet.
Announcer: 4, 3, 2 main engine start, one zero and liftoff
Narrator: On Oct. 28, 2011, the Suomi-NPP satellite
lifted off on a Delta II rocket from Vandenburg, California.
Named after Verner Suomi,
who invented the first spin-scan camera to observe weather from space,
the satellite marked the beginning of another new era
the Join Polar Satellite System, a mission to provde
valuable weather and environmental data into the 2030s.
And during the last decade, Suomi-NPP
has become well known for its Blue Marble images and
also its Day Night Band, which show us power outages
after storms and human activities at night,
such as highways, sea travel, and natural gas flares.
Continuing observations begun by satellites
like NASA’s Terra, Aqua, and Aura,
it allows for a number of products that help people on the ground:
Its data allow us to: Map wildfires, track the movement
of wildfire smoke and then measure the air quality
as that smoke moves through an area.
Measure the insides of hurricanes and reveal the structure and intensity of a storm
and the ocean surface temperature that fuels it,
Track the health of major crops worldwide by showing how they’re impacted
by weather and temperature,
And measure emissions from volcanoes that help determine air quality and visibility for pilots.
Over the last 10 years, NPP data has increased our understanding
of major events, like the life cycle of Hurricane Sandy,
the carbon released by Australian bush fires,
Saharan dust storms across the Atlantic,
and emissions decreases from global pandemic.
The Joint Polar Satellite System’s next satellite
launched six years later in 2017
and its sister satellites will launch over the next decade,
continuing these kinds of vital measurements in the years to come.
[music fades]