NASA Takes To The Air With New 'Earth Venture' Research Projects
WASHINGTON -- Hurricanes, air quality, and Arctic ecosystems are among the research areas to be investigated during the next five years by
new NASA airborne science missions announced today.
The five competitively-selected proposals are the first investigations
in the new Venture-class series of low-to-moderate cost projects
established last year.
The Earth Venture missions are part of NASA's Earth System Science
Pathfinder program. The small, targeted science investigations
complement NASA's larger research missions. In 2007, the National
Research Council recommended that NASA undertake these types of
regularly solicited, quick-turnaround projects.
This year's selections are all airborne investigations. Future Venture
proposals may include small, dedicated spacecraft and instruments
flown on other spacecraft.
"I'm thrilled to be able to welcome these new principal investigators
into NASA's Earth Venture series," said Edward Weiler, associate
administrator of the agency's Science Mission Directorate in
Washington. "These missions are considered a 'tier 1' priority in the
National Research Council's Earth Science decadal survey. With this
selection, NASA moves ahead into this exciting type of scientific
endeavor."
The missions will be funded during the next five years at a total cost
of not more than $30 million each. The cost includes initial
development and deployment through analysis of data. Approximately
$10 million was provided through the American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act toward the maximum $150 million funding ceiling for
the missions.
Six NASA centers, 22 educational institutions, nine U.S. or
international government agencies and three industrial partners are
involved in these missions. The five missions were selected from 35
proposals.
The selected missions are:
1. Airborne Microwave Observatory of Subcanopy and Subsurface.
Principal Investigator Mahta Moghaddam, University of Michigan
North American ecosystems are critical components of the global
exchange of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide and other gases within
the atmosphere. To better understand the size of this exchange on a
continental scale, this investigation addresses the uncertainties in
existing estimates by measuring soil moisture in the root zone of
representative regions of major North American ecosystems.
Investigators will use NASA's Gulfstream-III aircraft to fly
synthetic aperture radar that can penetrate vegetation and soil to
depths of several feet.
2. Airborne Tropical Tropopause Experiment. Principal Investigator
Eric Jensen, NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif.
Water vapor in the stratosphere has a large impact on Earth's climate,
the ozone layer and how much solar energy the Earth retains. To
improve our understanding of the processes that control the flow of
atmospheric gases into this region, investigators will launch four
airborne campaigns with NASA's Global Hawk remotely piloted aerial
systems. The flights will study chemical and physical processes at
different times of year from bases in California, Guam, Hawaii and
Australia.
3. Carbon in Arctic Reservoirs Vulnerability Experiment. Principal
Investigator Charles Miller, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in
Pasadena, Calif.
The release and absorption of carbon from Arctic ecosystems and its
response to climate change are not well known because of a lack of
detailed measurements. This investigation will collect an integrated
set of data that will provide unprecedented experimental insights
into Arctic carbon cycling, especially the release of the important
greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane. Instruments will
be flown on a Twin Otter aircraft to produce the first simultaneous
measurements of surface characteristics that control carbon emissions
and key atmospheric gases.
4. Deriving Information on Surface Conditions from Column and
Vertically Resolved Observations Relevant to Air Quality. Principal
Investigator James Crawford, NASA's Langley Research Center in
Hampton, Va.
Satellites can measure air quality factors like aerosols and
ozone-producing gases in an entire column of atmosphere below the
spacecraft, but distinguishing the concentrations at the level where
people live is a challenge.
This investigation will provide integrated data of airborne, surface
and satellite observations taken at the same time to study air
quality as it evolves throughout the day. NASA's B-200 and P-3B
research aircraft will fly together to sample a column of the
atmosphere over instrumented ground stations.
5. Hurricane and Severe Storm Sentinel. Principal Investigator Scott
Braun, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.
The prediction of the intensity of hurricanes is not as reliable as
predictions of the location of hurricane landfall, in large part
because of our poor understanding of the processes involved in
intensity change. This investigation focuses on studying hurricanes
in the Atlantic Ocean basin using two NASA Global Hawks flying high
above the storms for up to 30 hours. The Hawks will deploy from
NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia during the 2012-14
Atlantic hurricane seasons.
"These new investigations, in concert with NASA's Earth-observing
satellite capabilities, will provide unique new data sets that
identify and characterize important phenomena, detect changes in the
Earth system and lead to improvements in computer modeling of the
Earth system," said Jack Kaye, associate director for research of
NASA's Earth Science Division in the Science Mission Directorate.
Langley manages the Earth System Pathfinder program for the Science
Mission Directorate. The missions in this program provide an
innovative approach to address Earth science research with periodic
windows of opportunity to accommodate new scientific priorities.
For information about NASA and agency programs, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov
Source: NASA
