2005 EARTH SCIENCE VIDEOTAPES |
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Tape Title | Record ID | Date Produced | TRT: |
Synopsis |
| Light Through Clouds:
Cloudsat & Calipso Take Their Place on Orbit | G05-064 | 9/15/05 | 27:54 | The sky stretches above us like an endless canvas, but of its most familiar components, the clouds, we actually know very little.
That's why NASA is sending two new satellites into space. Looking down from orbit, scientists can gather information about clouds, ice crystals, aerosols, and a range of related subjects. CloudSat will help precisely measure key elements of the water cycle, CALIPSO will pursue knowledge about short-term air quality and both missions address long-term climate issues. They're designed to do this as a matched pair, taking nearly simultaneous measurements of the same spot over Earth. Together, these satellites will help answer important questions about the nature of our planet.
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TAPE CONTENTS: |
| ITEM (1): Reporter Package - In his classic poem, William Wordsworth described the view from a lonely cloud, gazing at a gently swaying field. Little did the poet realize just how integral was that cloud's role in the scene. In fact much of what we take for granted about the nature of life on Earth depends on clouds.
That's NASA's motivation for sending two Earth observing satellites into orbit. Together CloudSat and CALIPSO will provide new perspectives on Earth's clouds and aerosols that will answer questions about how they form, evolve and affect Earth's water supply and air quality.
SOT Deborah Vane, Cloudsat Deputy Principal Investigator
0310--0326
Clouds redistribute the fresh water on the planet. Without clouds, eventually all our fresh water supplies would disappear because there would be no way to replenish them.
The pair of satellites operate as a team. Separated by a mere fifteen seconds of flight time, CloudSat flies in front. Using radar, it peers down through the atmosphere, capturing a unique view of airborne water and ice, and making measurements about how clouds redistribute the sun's energy in the atmosphere. CALIPSO employs revolutionary measurement technologies that will probe Earth's atmosphere as never before. Passing directly over the same swath as its sibling satellite, CALIPSO's laser-or ÒlidarÓ-can gather data about aerosols and ice crystalsÉthe building blocks of clouds.
SOT Dale Schulz, CALIPSO Project Manager
1143--1229
To do that means the orbits have to be just slightly offset to allow for the rotation of the Earth, such that 15 seconds later the Earth has rotated a little bit-that spot has moved-so therefore the orbit of that second satellite that's flying in close formation with the first will pass over the same spot.
But that's not all. Cloudsat and CALIPSO are major components of a much larger constellation of satellites. Called the A-Train, this small armada of science vehicles will redefine the rules of how Earth science data gets collected and correlated.
Three major components of the A-Train are already on orbit: the satellites Aqua and Aura and PARASOL. After CloudSat and CALIPSO, the train's final component, called the Orbiting Carbon Observatory-or OCO--is planned for launch in 2008.
What's the payoff to all this hardware? Scientists expect they will usher in a new understanding of how atmospheric processes on Earth interact and interrelate. That understanding means better weather models, climate forecasts, and ultimately better strategies to care for our home planet.
Courtesy: NASA
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| ITEM (2): Anchor VO - The studies of meteorology and climatology present significant challenges to scientists. Among their most daunting aspects is the inherent complexity of weather coupled with its high rate of change. In the case of clouds, scientists seek new insights into how they form, behave, and interact with Earth's atmosphere to warm and cool our planet and recycle and deliver life-sustaining fresh water to the ground. Engineers and scientists designed CloudSat and CALIPSO to deliver the data needed by scientists to provide a fundamentally new understanding of how clouds and aerosols affect the weather and climate.
Courtesy: NASA
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| ITEM (3): CloudSat satellite animation - CloudSat is an Earth observing system designed to look down through clouds from the vantage point of space. CloudSat will provide scientists a never-before-seen perspective on Earth's clouds, allowing them to peer into them and study the processes that convert cloud droplets into rain and snow.
Courtesy: NASA
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| ITEM (4): CloudSat science animation - CloudSat flies a first-of-its-kind radar system that is much more sensitive than any current weather radar. CloudSat will provide new information about the vertical structure of clouds, including the quantities of liquid water and ice they contain, and how clouds affect the distribution of the sun's energy in the atmosphere. These measurements will help with research into atmospheric circulation models and weather patterns. The data will also help scientists develop better tools for making weather and climate predictions in the future, and provide insights into the global water cycle.
Courtesy: NASA
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| ITEM (5): CALIPSO Satellite Animation - The main instrument on CALIPSO takes measurements of natural processes via laser light. The technology is called lidar, and on CALIPSO its purpose is to determine the distribution of aerosols and thin clouds around the world. Coupled with its sibling satellite CloudSat, CALIPSO will help scientists develop never-before-seen views of Earth's atmospheric structure and behavior.
Courtesy: NASA
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| ITEM (6): CALIPSO Science Animation - Scientists are eager to use CALIPSO data to study the nature of the atmosphere. Using lidar and a pair of infrared and visible imaging systems, CALIPSO promises to deliver new insights into how clouds and aerosols work to affect the atmosphere.
Courtesy: NASA
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| ITEM (7): A-Train-CloudSat & CALIPSO Pairing - CloudSat and CALIPSO will be launched into a 705-kilometer (438-mile) circular, Sun-synchronous polar orbit, where they will fly just 15 seconds apart, at more than fifteen thousand miles per hour. This pairing sets a new standard in terms of precision placement of Earth-orbiting satellites. The reason for this is simple: both satellites will look at the same clouds in the atmosphere. Considering how quickly clouds change and transform in the sky, the instruments passing overhead need to be close in order to take the measurements at nearly the same time.
Courtesy: NASA
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| ITEM (8): A-train-The big picture - The Afternoon Train or 'A-Train' is the nickname given to a group of satellites that fly close together and pass over the equator in the early afternoon. The A-Train provides coordinated science observations of Earth and its atmosphere. Besides CloudSat and CALIPSO, other members of the A-Train include the NASA Missions Aqua and Aura, a Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES) mission called PARASOL (Polarization and Anisotropy of Reflectances for Atmospheric Sciences coupled with Observations with a Lidar), and may eventually include NASA's OCO (Orbiting Carbon Observatory). Each satellite has a unique set of Earth observing capabilities, but this is a case where the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Together, these diverse tools give us the most comprehensive set of observations of Earth's atmosphere ever obtained.
Courtesy: NASA
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| ITEM (9): Cloudsat Interview Excerpts With Deborah Vane, Cloudsat Deputy Principal Investigator, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Courtesy: NASA
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| ITEM (10): Cloudsat Interview Excerpts With Thomas Livermore, Cloudsat Project Manager, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Courtesy: NASA
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| ITEM (11): CALIPSO Interview Excerpts With Dale Schulz, CALIPSO Project Manager
Courtesy: NASA
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| ITEM (12): CALIPSO Interview Excerpts With Dave Winker, CALIPSO Principal Investigator
Courtesy: NASA
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| ITEM (13): Water Cycle - Water falling from summer storm clouds onto a field of wheat today will someday fall again somewhere else. This is the essence of the water cycle and it's endless. In general terms, the water cycle can be broken into several key phases: evaporation, transpiration, condensation, precipitation, and runoff. Naturally, each phase can be broken into far greater detail, but essentially the water cycle describes how water moves and migrates on Earth.
Courtesy: NASA
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| ITEM (14): Selected B-Roll
Courtesy: NASA
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Earth Science Gallery