2024-01-30 16:37:33
Archive – Artist’s concept of the PACE spacecraft – NASA/GSFC – Archive
MADRID, 30 Ene. (EUROPA PRESS) –
NASA’s PACE (Plankton, Aerosol, Clouds and Ocean Ecosystem) spacecraft is scheduled to launch on a Falcon 9 rocket next February 6 from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Once in orbit, PACE will observe the atmosphere and ocean surface from space. It will help scientists Learn more about the relationships between phytoplankton and the surrounding environment by measuring how light is reflected in the ocean and through the atmosphere. By determining the distribution of phytoplankton, PACE will help assess the health of the oceans. It will also continue key measurements related to air quality and climate.
The primary technology designed for PACE is the Ocean Color Instrument (OCI). Built at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, it will be the most advanced instrument in NASA’s history for observing ocean color. His latest generation optical spectrometer It will measure the properties of light over wide ranges of the electromagnetic spectrum: from ultraviolet wavelengths to shortwave infrared wavelengths. Going further, OCI will enable continuous light measurements at finer wavelength resolution than any other NASA ocean color sensor, and its rotating cross-track telescope will minimize image separation.
The OIC’s unprecedented spectral coverage will provide the first global measurements to identify the community composition of phytoplankton, those microscopic algae that float in our ocean. This data will significantly improve our ability to understand Earth’s changing marine ecosystems, manage natural resources such as fisheries, and identify harmful algal blooms, NASA reports.
PACE will also include two multi-angle imaging polarimeters, both instruments measuring how reflected sunlight oscillates within a geometric plane. When light collides with clouds or suspended particles, known as aerosols, it is reflected from that interaction, changing. By measuring these changes in light polarization or color, we can infer the properties of clouds or aerosols.. This type of data is crucial for deciphering how sunlight is reflected and absorbed by our planet and how aerosols affect cloud formation.
PACE’s polarimeters, the multi-angle Spectrum Polarimeter for Planetary Exploration (SPEXone) and the Hyperangular Rainbow Band Polarimeter 2 (HARP2), will observe in visible to near-infrared bandwidths at various angles within the OIC coverage. Their compatible spatial coverages and measurement accuracy will lead to a comprehensive aerosol and cloud data set. Furthermore, the polarimetric data will refine the OCI results by helping to “remove” portions of the atmosphere that obscure ocean color signals.
Together with the OCI, SPEXone and HARP2 will continue the systematic records of the main atmospheric variables necessary to improve forecasts of air quality, meteorological conditions and climate.
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