NSF: Federal agencies join forces to forecast hurricanes .- Las agencias federales se unen para pronosticar huracanes

http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=189617&WT.mc_id=USNSF_51&WT.mc_ev=click

National Science Foundation shares high-flying aircraft with NOAA for 2016 hurricane season

The NSF/NCAR Gulfstream V readies for takeoff on a mission to study a tropical storm. Credit and Larger Version

August 30, 2016

Hurricane forecasters will be ready for the upcoming peak of hurricane season, thanks to a partnership between the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to share a high-altitude atmospheric science research plane.

NSF is providing its Gulfstream V (G-V) aircraft, operated by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), to support NOAA hurricane forecasts through Oct. 12, while NOAA's Gulfstream IV (G-IV) undergoes unscheduled maintenance.

"One of the federal government's primary missions is to ensure the public's health and safety," said NSF Director France Córdova. "NSF is delighted that one of the scientific assets it supports, the G-V aircraft, can ensure a continuity of hurricane forecasting at this critical time of year."

Like NOAA's G-IV aircraft, the NSF/NCAR G-V can fly at high altitudes and deploy sensors that collect data used by the National Hurricane Center.

"It's critical to have detailed measurements of the atmosphere around a hurricane to ensure that forecasts are as accurate as possible," said Antonio (Tony) J. Busalacchi, president of the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, which manages NCAR on behalf of NSF. "NCAR and its research partners have a proven track record of improving predictions of dangerous storms. Consistent with our role of managing NCAR, we take very seriously our ability and responsibility to share our advanced resources in support of NOAA's mission to protect life and property."

Outfitted for hurricane research

Surveillance flights will take place at the request of the National Hurricane Center, targeting storm systems that pose a high risk to the United States or have unusual uncertainties in hurricane model runs.

The NSF/NCAR G-V will be outfitted with the Airborne Vertical Atmospheric Profiling System (AVAPS). The system utilizes parachute-borne instrument packages, called GPS dropsondes -- developed by NCAR with NSF funding -- to obtain atmospheric profiles. The AVAPS system records high-resolution vertical profiles of ambient temperature, pressure, humidity, wind speed and wind direction.

NCAR pilots will guide the aircraft on pre-planned flight tracks, releasing dropsondes approximately every 15 minutes. Dropsondes launched from the aircraft will take measurements, then transmit their sensor data in real-time to the aircraft via radio link.

Data from the dropsondes will be processed by a NOAA technician aboard the plane, then sent to the World Meteorological Organization's Global Telecommunications System for immediate inclusion in hurricane forecast models.

Background on the NSF/NCAR G-V

The NSF Gulfstream-V High-performance Instrumented Airborne Platform for Environmental Research (G-V HIAPER) is designed to meet the needs of scientists who study Earth's environment and work in fields such as atmospheric chemistry and climate; chemical cycles; clouds and aerosols; solar and terrestrial radiative fluxes; upper troposphere-lower stratosphere processes; mountain waves and turbulence; air quality; and mesoscale weather.

The G-V can fly as high as 51,000 feet, allowing scientists to collect data from near the Earth's surface to the tops of storms and to the lower edge of the stratosphere. With a range of about 7,000 miles, the aircraft can reach remote locations, enabling atmospheric research from the North Pole to the South Pole. It can carry 5,600 pounds of state-of-the-art sensors. The G-V is housed at and operated by NCAR.

-NSF-

Media Contacts Peter West, NSF, (703) 292-7530,
pwest@nsf.gov
David Hosansky, NCAR, (303) 497-8611,
hosansky@ucar.edu

Related WebsitesVideo: NSF/NCAR G-V Aircraft: High-Flying Atmospheric Research: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ia0CkQ8qvpI&authuser=0

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency that supports fundamental research and education across all fields of science and engineering. In fiscal year (FY) 2016, its budget is $7.5 billion. NSF funds reach all 50 states through grants to nearly 2,000 colleges, universities and other institutions. Each year, NSF receives more than 48,000 competitive proposals for funding and makes about 12,000 new funding awards. NSF also awards about $626 million in professional and service contracts yearly.

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The NSF/NCAR Gulfstream V in flight.
Credit and Larger Version

The Gulfstream V in Anchorage, Alaska, during research on global carbon dioxide distribution.
Credit and Larger Version

Inside the G-V: Scientist Eric Morgan with air samples taken above South America.
Credit and Larger Version
The National Science Foundation (NSF)
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NASA : Tropical Cyclone Chapala Over the Gulf of Aden .- El Ciclón tropical Chapala sobre el Golfo de Adén

Hola amigos: A VUELO DE UN QUINDE EL BLOG., El Ciclón tropical Chapala tocó tierra en la parte continental de Yemen temprano el 3 de noviembre de 2015, el dumping lluvias torrenciales a través del paisaje árido. Las estimaciones de los vientos máximos sostenidos en el momento de tocar tierra variaron en cierta medida, pero se reportaron a 130 km / h (80,1 mph) con ráfagas a 145 km / h (90 mph), lo que es una tormenta de categoría 1 en el viento de Saffir-Simpson de Huracanes escala. Esto significa que Chapala es la primera tormenta del huracán-fuerza en el expediente que toque tierra en Yemen.
Estos vientos fuertes se puede esperar que dejar daños detrás, pero por esta tormenta, el principal daño es causado por las lluvias torrenciales en una región muy seca. Mientras Yemen normalmente recibe alrededor de 4 pulgadas (100 ml) por la lluvia cada año, es probable que deje caer dos o tres veces esa cantidad. A partir de la tarde del 03 de noviembre, las evaluaciones iniciales de daños están comenzando a hacerse mientras la tormenta comienza a disiparse sobre la tierra. Las fuertes inundaciones se ha informado, incluso en Mukalla, la quinta ciudad más grande del país.
El Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) a bordo del satélite Aqua de la NASA capturó esta imagen en color verdadero del ciclón Chapala sobre el Golfo de Adén, el 2 de noviembre de 2015, a las 12:40 pm hora local (0940 GMT). En el momento en que la imagen fue adquirida, los vientos máximos sostenidos de Chapala fueron 120 mph (195 km / h), el equivalente a un huracán de categoría 3.

More information.............

http://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/tropical-cyclone-chapala-over-the-gulf-of-aden

Tropical Cyclone Chapala made landfall on mainland Yemen early on Nov. 3, 2015, dumping torrential rains across the arid landscape. Estimates of maximum sustained winds at time of landfall varied to some degree but were reported at 130 km/h (80.1 mph) with gusts to 145 km/h (90 mph), making it a Category 1 storm on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane wind scale. This means that Chapala is the first hurricane-strength storm on record to make landfall in Yemen.

Such strong winds can be expected to leave damage behind, but for this storm, the major damage is being caused by torrential rainfall in a very dry region. While Yemen typically receives about 4 in (100 ml) per rain each year, it is likely to drop two to three times that amount. As of the evening of Nov. 3, initial damage assessments are just beginning to be made as the storm begins to dissipate over land. Heavy flooding has been reported, including in Mukalla, the country’s fifth-largest city.

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this true-color image of Cyclone Chapala over the Gulf of Aden on Nov. 2, 2015, at 12:40 p.m. local time (0940 UTC). At the time the image was acquired, Chapala’s maximum sustained winds were 120 mph (195 km/h), the equivalent of a Category 3 hurricane.

Image Credit: NASA/MODIS/Jeff Schmaltz

Last Updated: Nov. 4, 2015

Editor: Steve Fox

Tags:  Aqua Satellite, Earth, Image of the Day,

NASA
Guillermo Gonzalo Sánchez Achutegui
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NASA : Media Day at Wallops for NASA Hurricane Airborne Mission

Two NASA Global Hawk remotely piloted aircraft will fly over and around hurricanes to study how they form and intensify. The research flights originate from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia.

Image Credit: NASA

 

As the Atlantic Ocean's hurricane season hits its peak, media are invited to visit NASA's latest airborne hurricane research mission using remotely piloted aircraft on Thursday, Sept. 11 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. EDT, at the agency's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.

The Hurricane and Severe Storm Sentinel (HS3) mission is flying two NASA instrumented Global Hawk aircraft to investigate how hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean basin form and change in intensity. The aircraft are capable of flying as high as to 55,000 feet and can stay airborne for 30 hours. This is the third and final year of the HS3 mission.

During the media event, reporters will meet HS3 scientists and pilots and tour the Global Hawks and the aircraft control center. Reporters also will learn about NASA's climate research program and the new technology the agency is using to better understand hurricanes.

Speakers during the media day include:
-- Bill Wrobel, center director, NASA Wallops Flight Facility
-- Jack Kaye, associate director for research, Earth Science Division, NASA Headquarters, Washington
-- Scott Braun, HS3 principal investigator, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland
-- Chris Naftel, Global Hawk project manager, NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center, Edwards, California
-- Robbie Hood, director of NOAA's Unmanned Aircraft Systems Program, Silver Spring, Maryland

To register for this event, reporters must contact Keith Koehler at keith.a.koehler@nasa.gov. The registration deadline for non-U.S. citizens has passed. The deadline for U.S. citizens is noon, Tuesday, Sept. 9.

The presentation to the media will be streamed online live beginning at 10 a.m.  at:

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nasa-tv-wallops

Media interested in asking questions during the presentation via telephone may contact Keith Koehler for the call-in telephone number and passcode.

For more information on the HS3 mission, including video and imagery, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/hs3

NASA

Guillermo Gonzalo Sánchez Achutegui

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nsf.gov - National Science Foundation - In wake of Hurricane Sandy, Oklahoma tornadoes, NSF awards $32 million in hazards sustainability grants

Scientists will study ways of predicting and responding to hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, earthquakes, tsunamis, wildfires

NSF Hazards Sustainability scientists will study hurricane evacuation during storms like Sandy. Credit and Larger Version

October 21, 2013

Sandy: the deadliest and most destructive hurricane of the 2012 Atlantic hurricane season and the second-costliest hurricane in U.S. history. Damage estimates from the storm surpass $68 billion, a total exceeded only by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

With Sandy's one-year anniversary--October 29th--on the horizon, how do scientists better predict and respond to natural hazards such as hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, earthquakes, tsunamis and wildfires?

To find answers, the National Science Foundation (NSF) recently awarded 12 new grants totaling $32 million through its Interdisciplinary Research in Hazards and Disasters solicitation. The effort is part of NSF's Science, Engineering and Education for Sustainability (SEES) investment.

Hazards SEES is funded by several NSF directorates: Geosciences; Engineering; Social, Economic and Behavioral Sciences; Mathematical and Physical Sciences; and Computer and Information Science and Engineering.

The awards will advance understanding of natural hazards and of technological hazards linked with natural phenomena. They will also improve capabilities for predicting these hazards, mitigating their effects and enhancing the capacity to respond to and recover from natural disasters.

Hazards SEES projects cross the boundaries of the atmospheric and geospace, earth and ocean sciences; computer and information science; cyberinfrastructure; engineering; mathematics and statistics; and social, economic and behavioral sciences.

"Through the Hazards SEES program, NSF has made investments in research that will reduce the impact of natural hazards, enhance safety, and contribute to sustainability," says Roger Wakimoto, NSF assistant director for Geosciences.

"When we face such impending disasters as Hurricane Sandy or the Oklahoma tornadoes, it's critical that we have already developed ways of responding to and recovering from such devastating events."

Hazards SEES scientists and engineers will conduct research on such topics as the integration of natural, human and infrastructure systems for hurricane evacuation and sheltering; volcanic crises in the United States: from precursors to resilience; next-generation warning systems for tornadoes and flash floods; and magnitude 9 earthquake scenarios: modeling, warnings and response and resilience in the Pacific Northwest.

Other projects include predicting landslide hazards; promoting regional resilience to repeated heat waves and hurricanes; preventing flood hazards from becoming disasters through communication of parcel-level flood risk; and developing monitoring, prediction and resilience cyberinfrastructure for wildfires.

"We hope to find new ways of 'beating the storm,'" says Wakimoto, "in whatever form it may arrive."

2013 Hazards SEES Awards

Hazards SEES Type 2: WIFIRE: A scalable data-driven monitoring, dynamic prediction and resilience cyberinfrastructure for wildfires:

 Ilkay Altintas, University of California San Diego

Additional Collaborators: Michael Gollner, University of Maryland College Park

Hazards SEES Type 1: End-to-end development of time-dependent geo-targeted alerts and warnings enabled by dense observations of the 2011 Tohoku tsunami:

 Jean-Paul Ampuero, California Institute of Technology

Additional Collaborators: Jeannette Sutton, U. of Colorado, Colorado Springs

Hazards SEES Type 2: From sensors to tweeters: A sustainable sociotechnical approach for detecting, mitigating, and building resilience to hazards:

 Louise Comfort, University of Pittsburgh

Additional Collaborators: Kathleen Carley, Carnegie Mellon University; Emile Okal, Northwestern University; Lee Freitag, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Hazards SEES Type 2: Dynamic integration of natural, human, and infrastructure systems for hurricane evacuation and sheltering:

 Rachel Davidson, University of Delaware

Additional Collaborators: Linda Nozick, Cornell University; Brian Colle, Stony Brook University/SUNY; Brian Blanton, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill; Randall Kolar, University of Oklahoma

Hazard SEES Type 1: Real-time geospatial infrastructure modeling for disaster response and rapid recovery:

 Craig Glennie, University of Houston

Hazards SEES Type 2: In hot water and harm's way: Modeling to promote regional resilience to repeated heat waves and hurricanes:

Seth Guikema, Johns Hopkins University

Additional Collaborators: Celso Ferreira, George Mason University; Robin Dillon-Merrill, Georgetown University; Katie O'Meara, Maryland Institute College of Art; Margaret Walls, Resources for the Future Inc.

Hazards SEES Type 1: Persistent volcanic crises in the USA: From precursors to resilience:

 Bruce Houghton, University of Hawaii

Additional Collaborators: Robert Wolpert, Duke University; M. J. Bayarri, Marquette University; Michael Lindell, Texas A&M University; Greg Valentine, University of Buffalo; Michael Manga, University of California Berkeley

Hazards SEES Type 2: Hazard prediction and communication dynamics in the modern information environment:

 Rebecca Morss, National Center for Atmospheric Research

Additional Collaborators: C. Michael Barton, Arizona State University; Leysia Palen, University of Colorado Boulder

Hazard SEES Type 2: Next generation, resilient warning systems for tornadoes and flash floods: Brenda Philips, University of Massachusetts Amherst

Additional Collaborators: V. Chandrasekar, Colorado State University; Joseph Trainor, University of Delaware

Hazards SEES Type 2: Preventing flood hazards from becoming disasters through two-way communication of parcel-level flood risk:

 Brett Sanders, University of California Irvine

Additional Collaborators: Edmund Balsdon, San Diego State University; Kristen Goodrich, Southwest Wetlands Interpretive Association

Hazards SEES Type 1: Predicting landslide runout and granular flow hazard: enhanced-g centrifuge experiments, contact dynamics model development and theoretical study:

Colin Stark, Columbia University

Hazards SEES Type 2: Magnitude 9 earthquake scenarios--probabilistic modeling, warnings, response and resilience in the Pacific Northwest:

John Vidale, University of Washington

-NSF-

Media Contacts Cheryl Dybas, NSF (703) 292-7734 cdybas@nsf.gov

Hazards Sustainability awardees will study ways of predicting, responding to tornadoes.
Credit and Larger Version

Hazards SEES researchers will develop cyberinfrastructure for monitoring, prediction of wildfires.
Credit and Larger Version

What are the precursors to volcanic eruptions? Hazards SEES grantees are looking for answers.
Credit and Larger Version

Scientists will study earthquakes in the Pacific Northwest; quake damage here is in Haiti.
Credit and Larger Version

Improved tsunami alerts and warnings are among the subjects Hazards SEES scientists will research.
Credit and Larger Version

 

Related WebsitesScience, Engineering and Education for Sustainability NSF-Wide Investment (SEES):

 http://www.nsf.gov/sees
NSF Publication: Discoveries in Sustainability:

 http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2012/disco12001/disco12001.pdf
NSF News: NSF awards first coastal sustainability grants for research on world's most populated areas: http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=129266
NSF News: Long-Buried New Jersey Seawall Spared Coastal Homes From Hurricane Sandy's Wrath:

 http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=128545
NSF News: Where, When Will Thunderstorms Strike Colorado's Front Range, Adjacent Great Plains?:

 http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=127925
NSF News: Incoming! Then Outgoing! Waves Generated by Russian Meteor Recorded Crossing the U.S.:

 http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=127114
NSF Discovery Article: High-peak Creeks, Forest Fires and Landscape Erosion: Could They Be Linked?:

 http://www.nsf.gov/discoveries/disc_summ.jsp?cntn_id=126540
NSF Discovery Article: Trail of Fire Leads to Less Snow, Threatened Water Resources:

 http://www.nsf.gov/discoveries/disc_summ.jsp?cntn_id=127739

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency that supports fundamental research and education across all fields of science and engineering. In fiscal year (FY) 2012, its budget was $7.0 billion. NSF funds reach all 50 states through grants to nearly 2,000 colleges, universities and other institutions. Each year, NSF receives about 50,000 competitive requests for funding, and makes about 11,500 new funding awards. NSF also awards about $593 million in professional and service contracts yearly.

Get News Updates by Email

Useful NSF Web Sites:
NSF Home Page:

http://www.nsf.gov
NSF News:

http://www.nsf.gov/news/
For the News Media:

 http://www.nsf.gov/news/newsroom.jsp
Science and Engineering Statistics:

 http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/
Awards Searches:

 http://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/

 

The National Science Foundation (NSF)

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ESA - SMOS maps record soil water before flood

 ESA > Our Activities > Observing the Earth > The Living Planet Programme > Earth Explorers > SMOS

Soil moisture from SMOS

7 June 2013

 
As parts of central Europe are battling with the most extensive floods in centuries, forecasters are hoping that ESA’s SMOS satellite will help to improve the accuracy of flood prediction in the future.

As its name suggests, the Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission monitors the amount of water held in the surface layers of the soil and the concentration of salt in the top layer of seawater.
This information is helping scientists understand more about how water is cycled between the oceans, atmosphere and land – Earth’s water cycle. It is also helping to improve weather forecasts.
The massive flooding that central Europe is currently suffering was brought about by a wet spring and sudden heavy rains.

SMOS in orbit

SMOS carries a novel microwave sensor to capture images of ‘brightness temperature’ to derive information on soil moisture.
Prior to the torrential rains, SMOS showed that soils in Germany were showing record levels of moisture – in fact, the highest ever observed.
The animation above shows the wet soils in blues and the dryer soils in yellows.
ESA’s SMOS mission scientist, Matthias Drusch, explains, “Data from SMOS can be used to monitor the saturation of the soil.

Flood mapping through the International Charter

“At the end of May we see that the soil was almost fully saturated, with record values for moisture. More rain meant that it immediately ran off as the surplus water could not soak into the soil, and this resulted in these terrible floods.
“Numerical Weather Predication centres are currently assessing the possibility of using SMOS data to improve weather and flood forecasts, so hopefully we will be better placed to predict these events more accurately in the future. ”
Satellite missions such as Germany’s TerraSAR-X and RapidEye are providing imagery to aid the relief effort through the International Charter Space and Major Disasters.

WATER MISSION EXTENDS ITS TALENTS TO CARBON

 

Flooded forest, Czech Republic

22 March 2013

  ESA’s SMOS satellite is not only proving its worth by mapping soil moisture and ocean salinity, this multifaceted satellite has now shown that it can ‘see’ through vegetation to monitor wetlands for a better understanding of Earth’s carbon cycle.
It is widely appreciated that wetlands are important resources of freshwater and are rich in biodiversity.
However, it is less well known that wetlands also emit large quantities of methane – in fact, they contribute more methane to the atmosphere than any other natural source. Wetlands can also be both sources and sinks of carbon.
Although there is less methane in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide, methane is a much more powerful greenhouse gas. It is estimated that atmospheric methane was responsible for about 20% of the rise in global temperatures last century.
Methane emissions are mostly a result of human activity, but wetlands are thought to be responsible for about 20–40% of global emissions.

SMOS measurements

 

The waterlogged wetland soil is a prime habitat for anaerobic microbes. It is the anaerobic decomposition of organic matter covered by water that produces large quantities of methane.
ESA’s SMOS water mission carries a novel microwave sensor to capture images of ‘brightness temperature’ to derive information on soil moisture and ocean salinity. This information is improving our understanding of water cycle.
However, SMOS is showing itself to be a very versatile tool and extending its usefulness to other areas of Earth science.  
Surpassing expectations, SMOS is also being used to monitor thin Arctic sea ice, map freezing soil, determine wind speeds under hurricanes and monitor ocean eddies. Extending the value of SMOS even further, studies have shown that monitoring wetlands could be added to the mission’s repertoire.
Because SMOS measures emitted radiation at a rather long wavelength of 21 cm, vegetation and the atmosphere have little affect on the observations. This means it is possible to look at how wetlands change over time.
Such information is extremely valuable for our understanding of the role that wetlands play in the carbon cycle and how they contribute to atmospheric methane.

Inundation from multiple satellites

 

Moreover, it has recently been demonstrated that observations from SMOS can reproduce features seen in complex datasets that include observations from many satellites such as that shown in the image on the left.
Catherine Prigent from the Paris Observatory explains, “SMOS offers the opportunity to implement fast and easy single satellite algorithms for monitoring wetland areas.
“This complements current methods of analysis that require a lot of work to blend the different products.”
A future SMOS product could be interesting for the GlobWetland II project. This programme, which is funded through ESA’s Earth Observation Data User Element, is helping to establish the Global Wetlands Observing System.
Here, high-resolution optical data such as that from the Sentinel-2 mission, could be combined with the coarse-resolution SMOS observations to make optimal use of available remotely-sensed information.

SMOS in orbit

By mapping wetlands and soil moisture, SMOS can also lead to a better understanding of the exchange processes between Earth’s surface and the atmosphere, including carbon fluxes.
Integrating SMOS observations into global carbon models is another novel application that was presented during the SMOS land application workshop held in February in Italy.

 ESA > Our Activities > Observing the Earth > SMOS

SMOS: The global success story continues

 

Sea-surface salinity and currents

Access the video

22 February 2013 ESA’s water mission is shedding new light on the meandering Gulf Stream, just one of the SMOS satellite’s numerous achievements.
Launched in 2009, ESA’s Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity satellite has been helping us to understand the water cycle.
Over the past three years it has been providing more accurate information on global soil moisture and ocean salinity.

Europe soil moisture decrease

 

New results unveiled today in Spain show that SMOS is now providing new insights into the movement of the Gulf Stream – one of the most intensely studied current systems.
Originating in the Caribbean and flowing towards the North Atlantic, the current plays an important role in the transfer of heat and salt, influencing the climate of North America’s east coast and Europe’s west coast.
Salinity observations from SMOS show that warm, salty water being carried north by the Gulf Stream meets the colder, less-salty water transported southward along North America’s east coast by the Labrador Current, mixing the water masses off Cape Hatteras.
SMOS can distinguish between and follow the resulting eddies that are ‘pinched off’ from the current and form little parcels of warm and salty water in the Labrador Current, and the colder, fresher water in the Gulf Stream.

SMOS in orbit

 

SMOS is able to monitor this process thanks to its high resolution and frequent revisits. This is giving scientists a new view of how salt is exchanged across current boundaries – a key to understanding the ‘conveyor belt’ of global oceanic circulation.
These and other scientific achievements from three years of the SMOS mission were presented at a conference held today at ESA’s European Space Astronomy Centre in Villanueva de la Cañada, near Madrid, Spain. SMOS was realised with special contributions from France and Spain.
“SMOS is the second Earth Explorer we have placed in orbit – and is delivering important new information on global soil moisture and ocean salinity for a broad range of applications,” noted Volker Liebig, ESA Director of Earth Observation Programmes.
The mission’s Lead Investigators, Yann Kerr and Jordi Font, are the focal point of the scientific research of the mission and lead discussions on soil moisture and ocean salinity findings.

Hurricane Sandy from SMOS

Unexpected results demonstrating the versatility of this collaborative European mission – like the findings on the Gulf Stream – were also highlighted at the event by Nicolas Reul from Ifremer, France’s institute for sea research.
Surpassing expectations, SMOS data are being used to monitor Arctic sea-ice extent and thickness, providing daily coverage of the Arctic Ocean.
In addition, the satellite can determine wind speeds under hurricanes – such as last year’s Hurricane Sandy that devastated parts of the US east coast – by measuring the microwave radiation emitted by rough seas.
Today’s workshop included a welcome by the head of ESA’s European Space Astronomy Centre in Spain, Álvaro Giménez, and a speech on the future of space technology in Spain by Luis Valero, Spain’s General Secretary for Industry and SMES.

OVER 30 YEARS OF GLOBAL SOIL MOISTURE OBSERVATIONS FOR CLIMATE

19 June 2012 Water held in soil plays an important role in the climate system. The dataset released by ESA is the first remote-sensing soil moisture data record spanning the period 1978 to 2010 – a predecessor of the data now being provided by ESA’s SMOS mission.

The datasets are now available to the science community for feedback analyses and climate model validation.
The amount of water held in global soils makes up only about 0.001% of the total water found on Earth.
It is crucial for plant growth, but is also linked to our weather and climate. This is because soil moisture is a key variable controlling the exchange of water and energy between the land and the atmosphere: dry soil emits little or no moisture to the atmosphere.

The water cycle

A recently detected decline in the global evaporation trend could, for example, directly be explained by limited moisture supply.
The relationship between soil moisture and the climate system is not yet fully understood, and global long-term soil moisture observations have so far not been available. That means the evaluation of climate models with regard to the drying and wetting trends and associated feedbacks with temperature is still difficult in many regions worldwide.
In 2009, ESA launched a dedicated satellite mission, SMOS, that provides high quality and direct measurements of soil surface soil moisture. While the key applications for SMOS data are weather forecasting, hydrology and water management, the mission also provides data in near-real time for operational applications.

SMOS

However, to address the current lack of historical long-term soil moisture data for climate applications, ESA has also been supporting the development of a global soil moisture data record derived by merging measurements acquired in the past by a series of previous and current European and US satellites.
These activities were initiated within the Water Cycle Multi-mission Observation Strategy project, led by ITC (The Netherlands), inside ESA’s Support To Science Element programme. The activities are now being continued and refined in the context of the Climate Change Initiative.
ESA is announcing the release of the first soil moisture climate data record spanning the period 1978 to 2010.
The 32 years of data allow for a robust calculation of the climatology, which in turn can be used to calculate anomalies. For example, areas of drying are evident, such as in the central US in 2005, Brazil and East Africa in the summer of 2007, southern China in the winter of 2009–10 and in 2010 in Russia.
Flooding is also evident, such as in Afghanistan in 1992, East Africa in 1998–99, Morocco in 2008 and the 2010–11 Queensland floods in Australia.

Soil moisture June–August 2010

The data record was generated by merging two soil moisture datasets. The first is based on active microwave datasets processed by the Vienna University of Technology and is based on observations from the C-band scatterometers on Europe’s ERS-1, ERS-2 and MetOp-A satellites.
The other dataset was generated by the Vrije University of Amsterdam in collaboration with NASA, based on passive microwave observations from the Nimbus-7, DMSP, TRMM and Aqua missions.
The harmonisation of these datasets aimed to take advantage of both types of microwave techniques but proved difficult owing to sensor degradation, drifts in calibration and algorithmic changes in the processing systems.
Challenges also included guaranteeing consistency between the soil moisture data retrieved from the different active and passive microwave instruments.
Since this is the first release of such a product, an active cooperation of the remote sensing and climate modelling communities is required to validate the satellite data jointly to understand modelling results better.
Scientists worldwide can now download, use, validate the dataset and provide feedback to the scientific team for further improvements. Users can register to access the data at www.esa-soilmoisture-cci.org.

SMOS soil moisture index

As a next step, SMOS will ensure the continuity of the dataset.
In addition, NASA’s SMAP mission is planned for launch in November 2014.

ESA

Guillermo Gonzalo Sánchez Achutegui

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The Earth: Hurricane Season 2012: System 94 L (Western Atlantic Ocean)

Hi My Friends: A VUELO DE UN QUINDE EL BLOG., The National Hurricane Center (NHC) Miami, Florida assigned an area in the northwestern Bahamas a 80% probability of becoming a tropical cyclone over the coming weekend. NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite passed over the low pressure area and provided rainfall data to forecasters.

Another instrument on NASA's Aqua satellite captured a stunning view of Typhoon Sanvu that clearly showed an eye. The image was taken on May 25 at 0355 UTC from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument onboard Aqua. (Credit: NASA/TRMM, Hal Pierce)
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Satellite Data Indicate Developing Tropical Cyclone Off the Carolina Coast

The National Hurricane Center (NHC) Miami, Florida assigned an area in the northwestern Bahamas a 80% probability of becoming a tropical cyclone over the coming weekend. NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite passed over the low pressure area and provided rainfall data to forecasters.

The TRMM satellite passed over the low pressure area designated as System 94L on May 25 at 0153 UTC (9:53 p.m. EDT, May 24) and at 0331 UTC (11:31 p.m. EDT May 24). A rainfall analysis from TRMM's Microwave Imager (TMI) and Precipitation Radar (PR) instruments shows that showers are wrapped around the north side of the low pressure area, and heavy rain has been falling in Cuba and the Bahamas for the last 24 hours.

System 94L is a broad area of low pressure, located 275 miles southeast of the coast of the Carolinas. If the low develops over the weekend it would be named tropical storm Beryl. The low is generating strong showers and thunderstorms across central Cuba and the northwestern and central Bahamas.

The National Hurricane Center (NHC) noted that central Cuba has received between 6 to 20 inches or rainfall, creating floods and mudslides, and rain continues. Freeport, Bahamas reported a 24-hour total of 9.7 inches. The gives System 94L a high chance for becoming a tropical cyclone this weekend when conditions will be better for further development. Coastal interests from the Carolinas southward through northeastern Florida should monitor the progress of this system over the Memorial Day weekend.

Text Credit: Rob Gutro
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
Guillermo Gonzalo Sánchez Achutegui

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