Page 7 - Aerotech News and Review, Dec. 6, 2019

NASA, from 6
Ocean-atmosphere heating “These seemingly small factors mat- aboard NASA’s King Air and Gulf- Atlantic Ocean, where researchers will troposphere, the lowest layer of Earth’s
Circular currents of water called ed- ter when we simulate the climate sys- stream aircraft, with flights originating measure a broad range of aerosol, cloud atmosphere, and can inject water va-
dies play an important role in climate tem on long timescales,” said principal from Lakefront Airport in New Orleans and meteorological conditions. Re- por and pollutants into the stratosphere
and ocean ecology, as they facilitate the investigator Thomas Farrar, a physical and NASA’s Johnson Space Center, searchers will conduct science flights on above, significantly altering its chemi-
exchange of heat between the ocean and oceanographer at Woods Hole Oceano- and field measurements of water flow to two aircraft—a NASA Falcon and King cal composition. They may even nega-
the atmosphere and the vertical trans- graphic Institution. “Measurements determine where sediment transported Air—that will fly in a coordinated fash- tively affect stratospheric ozone, which
port of nutrients, oxygen, and dissolved from S-MODE can help us understand by that water will get deposited. The ion while outfitted with a host of remote absorbs harmful ultraviolet light from
gases in the upper ocean. Some eddies how well these processes are represent- scientists will also quantify how much sensing and in-situ instruments. Flights the sun.
are hundreds of kilometers in diameter, ed in models and how to improve their organic soil is created from the decom- will originate from NASA’s Langley The scientists will target these over-
while others, called sub-mesoscale representation.” position of plants. Research Center in Hampton, Va. shooting storms using data from weath-
eddies, range in size from 1 to 10 ki- “These new data will help us to un- “Despite many prior field campaigns, er satellites and ground-based radar and
lometers, too small for current ocean- River deltas, sea level rise derstand and mitigate the impact of sea we don’t have comprehensive measure- will collect measurements with NASA’s
monitoring satellites to observe in detail. Millions of people rely on services level rise on the very important coastal ments under a variety of conditions to ER-2 high-altitude aircraft, which will
In April, researchers with the Sub- provided by coastal deltas like the Mis- resources found in deltas,” said Delta- draw definite conclusions about the fly up to 70,000 feet, significantly
Mesoscale Ocean Dynamics Experi- sissippi River Delta. Those services in- X principal investigator Marc Simard effects of these interactions between higher than most research aircraft can
ment, or S-MODE, will venture 200 clude acting as nurseries for fish, crus- from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in aerosols, clouds and meteorology on go. Flights will originate from Salina,
miles off the coast of San Francisco to taceans and other animals, in addition Pasadena, Calif. climate,” said Armin Sorooshian, AC- Kansas.
make those critical observations. Three to protecting our infrastructure against TIVATE principal investigator from “DCOTSS is the first science mission
science aircraft—NASA’s King Air and hurricanes and tsunamis. However, Aerosols changing clouds the University of Arizona. “With this specifically designed to observe material
Gulfstream V, in addition to a leased most major deltas around the world are The Aerosol Cloud Meteorology study, we intend to address that issue
Twin Otter—the ocean research vessel sinking under sea level rise and disap- Interactions Over the Western Atlantic and provide data the international sci- lifted into the stratosphere by intense
Oceanus and an array of autonomous pearing, taking the livelihoods and eco- Experiment, or ACTIVATE, will look ence community can use for years and thunderstorms,” said Ken Bowman,
platforms will be fitted with instru- logical services they provide with them. at the critical role marine boundary layer decades to come.” DCOTSS principal investigator from
mentation for measuring temperature, The Delta-X mission will study the clouds play in Earth’s energy balance Texas A&M University. “By directly
salinity, and ocean velocity across vari- Mississippi River Delta to understand and water cycle. This type of cloud cov- When strong storms punch into measuring storm outflow with the ER-2
ous time and spatial scales. Flights will which parts of the region are likely to ers large stretches of the planet’s oceans. the stratosphere aircraft, we can learn how these storms
originate from Moffett Federal Airfield disappear and which will survive. The How cloud systems change continues to In June, Dynamics and Chemistry of affect today’s stratosphere, and how
at NASA’s Ames Research Center in deltas may be able to keep up with sea be one of the biggest remaining uncer- the Summer Stratosphere, or DCOTSS, their impacts might change as the at-
California’s Silicon Valley. level rise if enough sediment is depos- tainties in models that look at global will investigate intense storms that form mosphere changes in coming decades.”
Computer simulations indicate that ited and if plants are healthy enough to warming. over the central United States during the The public is invited to follow this
these eddies have important long-term grow roots. Delta-X scientists will use The campaign, which begins in Feb- summer months. When these storms journey of exploration online through
effects on the upper ocean, but their airborne remote sensing instruments ruary, will focus on the western North grow tall enough, they overshoot the NASA’s social media channels and the
predictions are sensitive to relatively Earth Expeditions webpage, which will
small details in how the simulations are NASA uses the vantage point of space to increase our understanding of our home planet, improve feature regular video, photo and blog
implemented. The resolution and detail lives and safeguard our future. To gain a more complete picture of how and why our planet is posts from these missions.
of these simulations have surpassed our To follow all the NASA Earth Ex-
ability to observe them with spaceborne changing, the agency also sponsors intensive field campaigns targeting critical science issues that peditions, visit http://www.nasa.gov/
or in situ sensors. can benefit from a deeper look by taking advantage of NASA’s capabilities in airborne science. earthexpeditions.

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