New measurements by NASA’s PACE spacecraft will advance our understanding of how living marine resources respond to a changing climate. NASA pioneered the field of global ocean color observations with the SeaWIFS satellite sensor from 1997 to 2010.
Image Credit: NASA
|
NASA is beginning
work on a new satellite mission that will extend critical climate
measurements of Earth’s oceans and atmosphere and advance studies of the
impact of environmental changes on ocean health, fisheries and the
carbon cycle.
Tentatively scheduled to launch in 2022, the Pre-Aerosol Clouds and
ocean Ecosystem (PACE) mission will study Earth’s aquatic ecology and
chemistry, and address the uncertainty in our understanding of how
clouds and small airborne particles called aerosols affect Earth’s
climate. PACE will be managed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in
Greenbelt, Maryland.
“Knowing more about global phytoplankton community composition will
help us understand how living marine resources respond to a changing
climate,” said Jeremy Werdell, PACE project scientist at Goddard. “With
PACE, we will learn more about the role of marine phytoplankton in the
global carbon cycle.”
NASA has long used satellites to observe the global ocean’s
microscopic algal communities, which play a significant role in the
ocean’s ecology and the global carbon cycle. PACE will provide a global
view of the planet's microscopic ocean algae called phytoplankton.
Phytoplankton live in the sunlit upper layer of the ocean, producing at
least half of the oxygen on Earth and form the base of the marine food
chain.
Goddard will build PACE’s ocean color instrument. This PACE sensor
will allow scientists to see the colors of the ocean, from the
ultraviolet to near infrared, and obtain more accurate measurements of
biological and chemical ocean properties, such as phytoplankton biomass
and the composition of phytoplankton communities. These changes in the
ocean’s color help identify harmful algal blooms.
Quantifying phytoplankton is essential for understanding the carbon
cycle and tracking climate variability and change. The ocean absorbs
atmospheric carbon dioxide into solution at the sea surface. Like land
plants, phytoplankton use carbon dioxide to create their organic biomass
via photosynthesis. Phytoplankton vary greatly in their size, function,
and response to environmental and ecosystem changes or stresses such as
ocean acidification.
Dissolved carbon dioxide also reacts with seawater and alters its
acidity. About one fourth of human-made carbon dioxide ends up in the
ocean.
"NASA Goddard pioneered ocean color remote sensing 35 years ago with
the very first satellite observations, and the Center has been committed
to supporting the science ever since,"said Piers Sellers, deputy
director of NASA Goddard Earth Science. "Goddard scientists play a
critical role in generating and improving core satellite data sets for
the international ocean biology community. We look forward to extending
this important record into the future with PACE."
In addition to gathering data on ocean color, PACE will measure
clouds and tiny airborne particles like dust, smoke and aerosols in the
atmosphere to supplement measurements from existing NASA satellite
missions. These measurements are critical for understanding the flow of
natural and human made aerosols in the environment. Aerosols affect how
energy moves in and out of Earth’s atmosphere directly by scattering
sunlight, and indirectly by changing the composition of clouds. Aerosols
also can affect the formation of precipitation in clouds and change
rainfall patterns.
The blend of atmospheric and oceanic observations from PACE is
critical as ocean biology is affected by aerosols deposited onto the
ocean, which in turn, produce aerosol precursors that influence
atmospheric composition and climate. NASA is currently planning a second
PACE instrument, a polarimeter, to better measure aerosol and cloud
properties. These measurements will improve understanding of the roles
of aerosols in the climate system.
Goddard's proof-of-concept sensor for measuring ocean color — the
Coastal Zone Color Scanner that flew on the Nimbus-7 satellite from 1978
to 1986 — was the first sensor to demonstrate phytoplankton biomass
could be quantified from space. The Sea-Viewing Wide Field-of-View
Sensor or SeaWiFS mission collected data from 1997 to 2010 and was the
first mission dedicated to routinely observe ocean biology, chemistry,
and ecology for long-term climate research. Currently, researchers
employ the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer that flies
aboard both NASA’s Terra and Aqua spacecraft, and the Visible Infrared
Imager Radiometer Suite aboard the NASA-NOAA Suomi National
Polar-orbiting Partnership satellite, to measure biological and chemical
properties of the ocean, as well as aerosol and cloud properties.
NASA capped the costs for PACE at $805 million, to cover the
spacecraft, mission design and engineering, science, instruments, launch
vehicle, data processing, and operations.
For more information about PACE, visit:
http://decadal.gsfc.nasa.gov/
pace.html
NASA uses the vantage point of space to increase our understanding of
our home planet, improve lives, and safeguard our future. NASA develops
new ways to observe and study Earth's interconnected natural systems
with long-term data records. The agency freely shares this unique
knowledge and works with institutions around the world to gain new
insights into how our planet is changing.
For more information on NASA’s Earth science activities, visit:
www.nasa.gov/earthrightnow