Terra Status Report - First Images Wednesday, April 19, 2000 TERRA SPACECRAFT OPEN FOR BUSINESS After a picture-perfect launch into space last December, NASA's premier Earth Observing System Satellite, Terra, has completed its on-orbit checkout and verification phase and is "open for business." Terra, an international mission and part of NASA's precedent-setting EOS program, is opening a new window to the Earth system and is providing daily information about the health of the planet. First glimpse images collected by the five instruments aboard are being presented today during a press briefing at NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C. The briefing will be televised on NASA-TV at 1:00 p.m. EDT. Terra is the first satellite to monitor daily ­ and on a global scale - how the Earth's atmosphere, lands, oceans, solar radiation, and life influence each other. Terra's wide array of measurements will give a comprehensive evaluation of the Earth as a system and will establish a new basis for long-term monitoring of changes in the Earth's climate for future satellites. "Terra is measuring the Earth's vital signs, many of them for the first time," said Dr. Yoram Kaufman, Terra Project Scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD. "Like us taking our vitals to find out if we're sick or healthy, these data will give us a clear diagnosis of the Earth's health. "The data will help us understand our planet, distinguish between natural and man-made climate change, and show us how the Earth's climate affects the quality of our lives." NASA scientists today revealed several stunning images of the North American continent shown in several different layers from individual Terra sensors. Other images included global surface temperatures; "spring greening"; the Indian sub-continent, showing relationships between population concentrations, air pollution, and vegetation; as well as concentrations of carbon monoxide in the lower atmosphere. One of the key instruments onboard Terra, the Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), provides daily more than 40 advanced measurements on global and regional bases of cloud cover, vegetation extent and condition, snow and ice coverage, and ocean surface characteristics. In particular, MODIS has the unprecedented ability to measure biological productivity in the surface of the ocean. MODIS also provides advanced abilities to characterize the properties of aerosols and clouds that play an important role in climate change. In the case of clouds, MODIS can distinguish between high cirrus clouds and lower cumulus clouds, delineate the relative thickness of clouds, and identify clouds composed of water droplets versus those having ice particles. Overall, MODIS will give new indications of the Earth's "metabolism" and responses to various stresses. Terra's Multi-angle Imaging Spectroradiometer (MISR) instrument observes clouds from nine different angles. "MISR is a new type of instrument that has never flown in space before," said David Diner, team leader, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. Combining data from multiple cameras, scientists can differentiate physical surface textures, enhance sensitivity to airborne particles, and localize different types of clouds in three dimensions. These characterizations are important for establishing how the surface and atmosphere interact with our regional and global climate. The Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) is Terra's zoom lens. ASTER provides detailed measurements of the Earth's surface in a wide range of visible and infrared wavelengths. This provides scientists in numerous disciplines with critical information for surface mapping and for monitoring surface changes and hazards. Example applications include monitoring volcanic activity and the advance and retreat of glaciers, identifying crop stress, wetlands evaluation, thermal-pollution monitoring, mapping of coral reef degradation, soils and geology, determination of cloud morphology and physical properties, and measuring surface heat balance, the impact of climate change on the surface and the impact of surface changes on the climate. The Terra Measurements of Pollution in the Troposphere (MOPITT) instrument, provided by the Canadian Space Agency, measures carbon monoxide in the atmosphere around the globe for the first time, both horizontally and vertically. Fires and fossil fuel combustion release significant amounts of this pollutant into the lower atmosphere; relative amounts can be clearly seen when comparing maps of the gas in the Northern with those of the Southern Hemisphere. MOPITT also measures the global distribution of methane - a greenhouse gas that is at least 30 times more efficient at trapping heat than carbon dioxide. The Clouds and Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) instrument measures how much sunlight the planet's atmosphere, surface, and clouds reflect, and how much heat energy the Earth radiates to space. CERES' measurements will help scientists determine whether the Earth system is absorbing more energy than it releases back into space, or whether our planet's total "radiation budget" is in balance. Combined with measurements from MODIS and MISR, CERES will help scientists quantify how much clouds, aerosols, and greenhouse gases influence the Earth's radiation budget. "Terra data, along with other measurements from surface-based and aircraft instruments, provides much-needed inputs into Earth science models," Kaufman concluded. "This ultimately will enable scientists to more accurately predict future climate change." Many scientists believe that to succeed in building predictive computer models of these complex Earth interactions, they must clearly comprehend global climatic processes and parameters. The Terra team estimates that it will complete the first Earth system models by 2005. The EOS series of spacecraft are the cornerstone of NASA's Earth Science Enterprise, a long-term coordinated research effort to study the Earth as a global system, and the effects of natural and human-induced changes on the global environment. Terra will use the unique perspective from space to observe the Earth's continents, oceans, and atmosphere with measurement accuracy and capability never before flown. This approach enables scientists to study the interactions among these three components of the Earth system, which determine the cycling of water and nutrients on Earth. NASA recognizes that the knowledge and data derived from Terra have significant practical value to society. NASA plans to foster increased access to, and use of, the information to make better, more informed decisions related to national needs which affect every American - health and safety, economic well-being, and qualify of life in our communities. Earth Science Enterprise data, which will be distributed to researchers worldwide at the cost of reproduction, is essential to people making informed decisions about their environment.