NASA's recent announcement has the scientific community buzzing with excitement! The space agency has chosen two teams led by the University of Washington (UW) for groundbreaking satellite missions, aiming to unravel Earth's mysteries and enhance our ability to predict and manage environmental challenges.
But here's where it gets fascinating: the STRIVE and EDGE teams, both with strong UW connections, were chosen from four finalists in May 2024 for NASA's Earth System Explorers Program. This program is based on recommendations from the National Academies' Decadal Survey, a prestigious initiative to guide Earth science and applications from space.
The missions have a budget of up to $355 million each, excluding launch costs, and are scheduled for liftoff no earlier than 2030. Lyatt Jaeglé, a UW professor leading the STRIVE mission, expressed joy, saying it's a dream come true to study the atmosphere in unprecedented detail. STRIVE, short for Stratosphere-Troposphere Response using Infrared Vertically-resolved light Explorer, will scrutinize the atmospheric layers where weather forms and the ozone layer resides. This will provide invaluable data on temperature and trace gases, crucial for aviation and understanding the long-range transport of volcanic smoke and air pollution.
And this is the part most people miss: STRIVE's instruments are incredibly compact, fitting in a midsize SUV's trunk, yet they can make over 400,000 observations daily. Unlike other missions, STRIVE's instruments look sideways at Earth's surface, capturing the atmosphere from a unique angle. This approach will provide a wealth of data on chemical species affecting ozone in the stratosphere, according to Jaeglé.
The ozone layer, our shield against harmful ultraviolet radiation, is recovering after severe depletion, but it still needs vigilant monitoring. STRIVE promises to be a game-changer, helping scientists understand air pollution circulation after events like wildfires or volcanic eruptions. Moreover, it will extend weather forecasting beyond the usual 10-day window, giving people more time to prepare for extreme weather.
Jaeglé highlights the challenge of predicting the connection between high-altitude phenomena and Earth's surface events, a gap STRIVE aims to fill. The STRIVE team includes experts from academia, industry, and federal science labs. Jun Wang from the University of Iowa serves as deputy principal investigator, and Luke Oman from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center is the project scientist, with several Goddard scientists also involved. UW's Qiang Fu, Alex Turner, and Daehyun Kim, all atmospheric and climate science experts, are key contributors.
Meanwhile, the EDGE team, led by Helen Amanda Fricker from Scripps Institution, will use lasers to map Earth's surface in 3D. EDGE, or Earth Dynamics Geodetic Explorer, will provide high-resolution images of forests, glaciers, ice sheets, and sea ice. Benjamin Smith, a senior physicist, and Tyler Sutterly, a senior research scientist, both from UW Applied Physics Laboratory, along with David Shean, a UW associate professor, are part of this endeavor.
EDGE will be the first global satellite imaging laser altimeter system, according to UCSD. It works by firing laser pulses at Earth and recording their return time, making over 150,000 measurements per second. This technology can track surface elevation changes over time, revealing how ice sheets and glaciers respond to climate change. Smith emphasizes that EDGE's fine-scale measurements will capture details like individual trees and small cracks in glaciers, which are often key drivers of large-scale changes.
While EDGE will focus on polar regions, forests, and coastlines, Shean describes it as an 'everything mission' with broad applications. He highlights the importance of precise surface elevation data for sea-level rise, natural hazards monitoring, water resource management, and wildfire response. This mission also marks a significant achievement for UW, solidifying its leadership role in NASA's Earth Observation missions. Shean looks forward to training the next generation of UW researchers who will leverage EDGE data for groundbreaking discoveries.
This news sparks excitement and curiosity about the future of Earth observation and our ability to address environmental challenges. What do you think about these missions? Are you as thrilled as the scientific community is? Share your thoughts below, and let's discuss the potential impact of these groundbreaking projects!
