Page 96 - International Space Station Benefits for Humanity, 3rd edition.

by hurricane hunters for improved forecasting of storms Keeping an Eye on Algae from Space
that impact the United States. To do this, TWAI hopes At the coast, people typically expect blue ocean waters
to deploy a small constellation of microsatellites in LEO.
and white sand beaches. They may “see red” if things
The implications of such an approach are exciting, look green instead.
given that most regions of the world cannot afford the Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs)—abnormal proliferation
use of hurricane hunter aircraft. However, given the of algae in coastal environments—threaten human
high cost of deploying a constellation of microsatellites, health and marine life. Coastal business, recreation and
TWAI first intends to use high-altitude vehicles called tourism industries suffer, as thick layers of smelly foam
Solar Falcons™ to optimize the data acquisition form on beaches and local seafood becomes suspect.
techniques developed by CyMISS onboard the ISS,
and to use these techniques for improving tropical The natural world suffers, as well. Fish and other
cyclone measurements and forecasts worldwide. creatures, including endangered marine mammals,
may die. Algae play a major role in the global carbon
Designed to fly at 19,812 meters (65,000 feet), cycle, and blooms are responsible for much of the
the Solar Falcons™ resemble uncrewed airships ocean carbon fixation.
but are much lighter and more durable. They are
solar powered, capable of reaching speeds around Now, scientists have developed a way to detect
129 kilometers per hour (80 miles per hour), and can HABs early on by using images from space.
remain in flight for weeks at a time, following tropical Detecting HABs presents a challenge due to the
cyclones throughout the storms’ lifetimes. In addition complexity of the coastal environment, with its various
to measuring cloud altitudes within a tropical cyclone’s water types and depths, dissolved and suspended
eyewall, the Solar Falcons™ will also be able to track organic and inorganic matters, and bottom reflectance.
the storms at night and measure cloud temperatures Conventional algorithms detect chlorophyll, a green
using infrared cameras—two limitations researchers pigment in algae, and cannot discriminate between
were not able to address through CyMISS. an actual bloom and other bloom-like features
Once operational, the Solar Falcons™ could provide such as sediment plumes or colored dissolved
an unprecedented range of coverage, needing only five organic matter.
ground sites to obtain nearly global coverage of tropical The HAB system uses an algorithm that instead
cyclones: two for North America, and three to cover detects chlorophyll fluorescence, which allows it
the Western Pacific rim, Australia, and the Indian to discriminate blooms from these other features.
Ocean. “It’s a way of getting started at a much lower
price point,” said Joss. A former Naval Research Laboratory scientist,
Ruhul Amin, refined the algorithm as part of an
Although the Solar Falcons™ will not be able to provide ISS National Lab project. Due to its altitude and
continuous worldwide coverage of all tropical cyclones inclination of orbit, the space station covers
as can microsatellites, this intermediate step will enable about 80% of the Earth’s surface, including all
better measurements of storm intensity and improved tropical and most temperate coastal regions where
predictions of landfall location and storm strength at HABs are a major threat. That made it an ideal
the time of landfall. A Solar Falcon™ will also be able platform for coastal HAB studies.
to hover in place over the landfall site, thus allowing
scientists to better determine the nature and extent “Using the refined algorithm, we successfully detected
of damage following a storm. If all goes as planned, seasonal formation of HABs off the Gulf Coast of
TWAI hopes to launch its first Solar Falcon™
by the end of 2019.
“The CyMISS project is an important first step
toward closing the gap in accurate and reliable
global forecasting of tropical cyclones,” said Joss. Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs)—
“Higher-accuracy predictions could potentially abnormal proliferation of algae in
save countless lives and help to significantly
reduce the property damage resulting from coastal environments—threaten
these devastating storms.” human health and marine life.

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