flurry of satellites to monitor earth and examine galaxy - laser measuring instrument

By WARREN E. LEARYDEC.
10,200 2NASA will complete its space exploration year by launching a series of satellite missions to monitor the Earth's ice and sea breeze and observe the hot air bubbles around the galaxy.
The instruments, which will launch two rockets this month, will expand satellite systems that study the Earth's climate and look at an area of little research between nearby stars, the area was apparently cleared of most of the gas and dust before a supernova explosion of 10 million to 12 million years.
Two missions, Ice, Cloud and land ascension Satellite (IceSat) and cosmic thermal interstellar plasma spectrometer (ChipSat), will be launched on December ).
From Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.
On the Boeing Delta II.
A third effort, a large microwave radar instrument, sea breeze, is a major component of Japan's advanced Earth observation satellite II.
Adeos II is planned by Japan H-
The rocket was launched Friday at the Tanegashima Space Center.
Advertising is the smallest task, but it has the farthest distance. The 132-
A pound satellite, the size of a large Pullman suitcase, is on the IceSat rocket.
In orbit, when its companion focuses on the Earth, it turns its eyes to deep space.
One of the ads-
NASA's first ChipSat deployment at a streamlined University-
Explorer-like missions, which will be concentrated in the area of interstellar media, low heat
Fill in huge density gas and dust between stars.
When cooling, the diffuse matter in the medium forms mass, which scientists believe evolved into stars through a largely unknown process.
The $16 million chip will see an unusual place in the solar system, the Local Bubble.
Area of 300 light-
Years in diameter, the density of gas filled is much lower than that of ordinary interstellar media, which could be the result of a supernova explosion millions of years ago. Dr.
Mark hervitz, chief mission scientist at the University of California, Berkeley, said that gas in the area is scarce but very hot at 1.
8 million degrees Fahrenheit and in small-
The ultra-ultraviolet region of the spectrum was studied.
In orbit 367 miles from Earth, ChipSat will measure the intensity and distribution of extreme ultraviolet rays to test the competitive theory of how gases form more dense clouds, Dr. Hurwitz said.
The biggest new mission, IceSat, is a major component of the study of the Earth's climate change project.
The $0. 282 billion mission, scheduled to run for three to five years, will use laser instruments to accurately measure altitude changes in the large polar ice caps in different seasons.
In addition, the laser scanner will measure the height and distribution of the cloud, especially those related to the ice sheet and land Elevation, sea ice and vegetation cover.
"This mission will take advantage of space to provide revolutionary insight into the changes in ice and the role of ice in our Earth system
He said: "The topography of ice in Antarctica and Greenland is observed by laser . "
NASA's deputy director of Earth Science, Ghassem Asrar.
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"This information will help scientists determine whether the polar ice caps are growing or shrinking, and how the ice masses may change in future climate conditions.
"The height gauge system measures the time required for the light pulse to reach the reflected object and return to the satellite, and will calculate the exact height and position of the ice sheet, Iceberg, Cloud and land formation.
The satellite will take 40 measurements per second 373 miles away.
Advertising project scientist at Goddard Space Flight CenterH.
Jay Zwally said these measurements will help determine the impact of global warming on the ice sheet and its role in sea level rise.
Historically, about 3 inch of ocean surface water has been transferred to the ice sheet as every 10 years of snowfall, he said, and the same amount has been generated with the melting of icebergs and the edge of the ice sheet.
The quality of these two actions should be balanced, he said.
But in the past decade
The sea level has risen by 0, Zwally said.
08 inch a year, 8 inch a century, no one can determine where the water came from.
Satellite and aircraft observations have measured the changing areas of the ice, but researchers need data on the changing height or altitude to calculate their quality.
"Icesat should help us reduce the uncertainty of ice --
"Melt estimates," he said . "
The sea breeze instrument on the Japanese satellite will map the wind speed and direction on the Earth's 90% ice.
Free Sea every two days
Wind plays an important role in weather and climate, affecting moisture, heat and greenhouse gas exchange between the atmosphere and the ocean.
Besides helping long-
Term studies, up to 15 times a day, the sea breeze will transmit data for use by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and other agencies to improve forecasting and storm warnings, as well as to help generate ice maps that protect the Channel.
Sea Breeze, the cost of NASA's development and construction is $0. 138 billion, and operating costs will increase by $16 million over three to five years of life, the third of a range of instruments, these instruments sense ripples caused by wind near the surface of the ocean, and scientists use these instruments to calculate wind speed and wind direction. The 441-
A kilo of instruments will launch a height of 400,000 in one day.
Frequency microwave pulses to the surface of the ocean.
They will be reflected back on satellites 500 miles away.
Measurements of early sea breeze instruments running on NASA's Quikscat satellite launched in 1999 helped to discover the role of typhoons in marine life production, reported Saturday at the American Geophysical Union autumn conference in San Francisco.
Scientists from Taiwan and the United States say a typhoon sweeping the South China Sea will produce a large amount of nutrients.
The abundant water from the deep sea stimulates the massive reproduction of algae, which is an important food for marine life.
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A version of this article was published on page F00002, national edition, December 10, 2002, with the title: monitoring the Earth and studying a range of satellites in the galaxy.