Earth Science Research from Space

"Vital Signs", Monitoring the Earth by Satellite

2016

The Critical Importance of EarthScience360 from Space

How Satellites and Big Data Can Help to Save the Oceans

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Another in a Series of Satellites Launched to Monitor Planet Change

Ocean Science: Studying Sea-Level Rise

Jason-3 in Orbit - http://www.nasa.gov/press-release/jason-3-launches-to-monitor-global-sea-level-rise

https://blogs.nasa.gov/Jason-3/

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I am OCO-2 -- reporting home

Climate deniers blame global warming on nature. NASA data begs to differ

Visit the Orbiting Carbon Observatory

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• http://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Climate_News | Climate News
• http://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Earth_Observations | Earth Observations
• http://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/New_Definitions_of_National_Security | New Definitions of National Security
• http://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Environmental_Security | Environmental Security

Earth Research and Science from Space Environmental Security:Thin Blue Layer Climate News Earth & Space, Politics "Earth Right Now, Vital Signs" Citizen Science Planet Citizens, Planet Scientists EOS Eco Operating System - 3 Planet Citizen

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NASA/NOAA Earth Observing Satellite Updates

How satellites are used to monitor climate change

Satellites in operation (2016) that are adding to scientists’ understanding of climate change

http://www.carbonbrief.org/interactive-satellites-used-monitor-climate-change

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Jason-3 Mission -- Jason-3 -- Launched Jan 17, 2016

Ocean circulation patterns, global and regional changes in sea level, and climate implications of a warming world

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"Watch 25 years of Arctic Sea Ice disappear"

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Earth Observations

"Thin Blue Layer"

https://www.pinterest.com/stratdem/

http://strategicdemands.com/another-view-of-thin-blue/

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http://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/New_Definitions_of_National_Security

http://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Environmental_Security

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Latest from the Atmospheric Science Data Center (ASDC) at NASA Langley Research Center

NASA Earth science data in the areas of radiation budget, clouds, aerosols, and tropospheric chemistry

https://eosweb.larc.nasa.gov/ --- https://eosweb.larc.nasa.gov/projects-supported

April 2015

From Above We See Our Planet High Definition Video, from NASA

March 2015

One of the many critical NASA earth science missions from space reports:

http://www.jsg.utexas.edu/news/2015/03/east-antarctica-melting-could-be-explained-by-oceanic-gateways

http://www.nature.com/ngeo/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/ngeo2388.html

http://www.ig.utexas.edu/research/projects/icecap/

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/icebridge/

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2015/03/16/the-melting-of-antarctica-was-already-really-bad-it-just-got-worse/

http://thespacereporter.com/2015/03/scientists-discover-that-the-melting-of-antarctica-is-even-worse-than-previously-thought/

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Sneak Peek at DSCOVR

DSCOVR is launched and on its way!

February 12, 2015 The DSCOVR satellite with its EPIC cam, PlasMag & NISTAR instrument package is on the way... a million mile journey, scheduled to light up, be tested and begin delivering data to Earth in August, including near-real-time imaging of Earth provided online – We will be delivering a stream of amazing imagery of our planet as NASA/NOAA begin uploading EPICs pictures of us!

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It's been some time since December 7, 1972 when the only picture ever snapped by a human of the whole earth was captured -- our iconic "Blue Marble" -- Engineers that they are, NASA named the image -- AS17-148-22727

As we have been recalling the history, we haven't had returned to us a 'whole earth' image since 1972. Today, Feb 10, the Associated Press reports Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Florida, pointing out from Washington that there hasn't been a full, sunlit picture of the Earth since Apollo 17 in 1972 - NASA's last manned moon-landing mission. Subsequent images have been stitched together, the Senator explained, for composite shots. The Senator has an exceptional point of view as he was an astronaut -- In January 1986, Nelson spent six days orbiting Earth as a payload specialist aboard space shuttle Columbia. His NASA bio adds "The experience gave him a new perspective on the Earth’s fragile environment and a greater appreciation of the importance of our nation’s space exploration program."

The DSCOVR satellite launches into deep orbit with multiple missions -- to monitor space weather and, due to the satellite's orbital distance from Earth (1 mil miles), DSCOVR will be sending back daily images of the 'whole earth' via its EPIC image-taking system and via its NISTAR system measuring earth's earth's temperature, our "radiation balance" ("albedo").

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ISS mission to monitor #planethome

ISS -- RapidScat

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Time to measure earth soil moisture content -- SMAP

January 2015

#Earth360, scientific leap forward with the soon-to-launch Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) platform"

Scheduled to launch Jan 29th to "measure the moisture in Earth's soils with unprecedented accuracy and resolution.

SMAP will measure moisture in Earth's soil with greater accuracy and higher resolution than any preceding mission

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Existential -- Monitoring "vital signs", over time a baseline of planet earth

December 2014

Global Warming / NASA OCO Satellite Sends Back Most Detailed CO2 View Ever / Dec 18

Initial round of CO2data is made available...

A first full set of CO2 data will likely be available after March 2015 for scientists and public to download and explore.

More on the history-making OCO-2 / Orbiting Carbon Observatory

According to JPL scientists: "Where OCO-2 really excels is the sheer amount of data being collected within a day, about one million measurements across a narrow swath... For fluorescence, this enables us, for the first time, to look at features on the five- to 10-kilometer scale on a daily basis." SIF can be measured even through moderately thick clouds, so it will be especially useful in understanding regions like the Amazon where cloud cover thwarts most spaceborne observations."

The changes in atmospheric carbon dioxide that OCO-2 seeks to measure are so small that the mission must take unusual precautions to ensure the instrument is free of errors. For that reason, the spacecraft was designed so that it can make an extra maneuver. In addition to gathering a straight line of data like a lawnmower swath, the instrument can point at a single target on the ground for a total of seven minutes as it passes overhead. That requires the spacecraft to turn sideways and make a half cartwheel to keep the target in its sights.

The targets OCO-2 uses are stations in the Total Carbon Column Observing Network (TCCON), a collaborative effort of multiple international institutions. TCCON has been collecting carbon dioxide data for about five years, and its measurements are fully calibrated and extremely accurate. At the same time that OCO-2 targets a TCCON site, a ground-based instrument at the site makes the same measurement. The extent to which the two measurements agree indicates how well calibrated the OCO-2 sensors are.

Additional maps released recently showed the results of these targeting maneuvers over two TCCON sites in California and one in Australia. "Early results are very promising," said Paul Wennberg, a professor at Caltech and head of the TCCON network. "Over the next few months, the team will refine the OCO-2 data, and we anticipate that these comparisons will continue to improve."

More about the OCO-2 mission, making history as it reveals the extent of atmospheric CO2

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Tracking ocean currents, 'best-ever data

November 2014

From the GOCE mission

Scientists produce "the most accurate space view yet of global ocean currents and the speed they move..."

http://www.greenpolicy360.net/mw/images/Ocean_currents_from_GOCE_20141125-jpg.jpg

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New NASA ERA

Sept 08, 2014 - NASA opens a new era in its exploration of our home planet with the launch of the first in a series of Earth science instruments to the International Space Station, Earth-observing instruments to be mounted on the exterior of the #ISS. ISS-RapidScat will monitor ocean winds for climate research, weather predictions and hurricane monitoring. The second instrument is the Cloud-Aerosol Transport System (CATS), a laser instrument that will measure clouds and the location and distribution of pollution, dust, smoke, and other particulates in the atmosphere. Look closer at the array of instruments #RapidScat #EarthRightNow

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Ice impacts of Climate Change -- Arctic/Antarctic

Antarctic 2016

The Antarctic: Big Melt Accelerates

The Antarctic: Big Melt Accelerates [1] [2] Antarctic Ice Sheet Expands, Why? [3]

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Permafrost Loss

Estimates of permafrost loss... consequences

2016

https://nsidc.org/sites/nsidc.org/files/images/cryosphere/fig1.gif

Scientists estimate that five times as much carbon might be stored in frozen Arctic soils — permafrost — as has been emitted by all human activities since 1850. This worries people who study global warming. While emissions from permafrost currently account for less than 1 percent of global methane emissions, some researchers think this could change in dramatic ways as the world warms and that carbon-rich frozen soil breaks down.

The map above, based on data provided by the National Snow and Ice Data Center, shows the extent of Arctic permafrost. Any rock or soil remaining at or below 0 degrees Celsius (32 degrees Fahrenheit) for two or more years is considered permafrost.

Continuous permafrost, which occurs in the coldest areas, refers to areas where frozen soil underlies more than 90 percent of the surface. Discontinuous permafrost occurs in slightly warmer areas, where frozen soils underlie 50 to 90 percent of the surface, while certain features such as rivers and south-facing slopes may be ice-free. In areas with sporadic permafrost, frozen soils underlie 10 to 50 percent of the surface. In areas with isolated permafrost, frozen soils underlie less than 10 percent of the surface, usually only occurring in depressions or north-facing slopes.

http://nsidc.org/data/GGD318

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=87794&eocn=home&eoci=iotd_title

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November, 2015

As Earth Warms, NASA Targets 'Other Half' of Carbon, Climate Equation

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Permafrost Threatened

http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=4400

Using statistically modeled maps drawn from satellite data and other sources, U.S. Geological Survey scientists have projected that the near-surface permafrost that presently underlies 38 percent of boreal and arctic Alaska would be reduced by 16 to 24 percent by the end of the 21st century under widely accepted climate scenarios. Permafrost declines are more likely in central Alaska than northern Alaska.

Northern latitude tundra and boreal forests are experiencing an accelerated warming trend that is greater than in other parts of the world. This warming trend degrades permafrost, defined as ground that stays below freezing for at least two consecutive years. Some of the adverse impacts of melting permafrost are changing pathways of ground and surface water, interruptions of regional transportation, and the release to the atmosphere of previously stored carbon.

“A warming climate is affecting the Arctic in the most complex ways,” said Virginia Burkett, USGS Associate Director for Climate and Land Use Change. “Understanding the current distribution of permafrost and estimating where it is likely to disappear are key factors in predicting the future responses of northern ecosystems to climate change.”

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permafrost

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tundra

A severe threat to tundra is global warming, which causes permafrost to melt. The melting of the permafrost in a given area on human time scales (decades or centuries) could radically change which species can survive there.

Another concern is that about one third of the world's soil-bound carbon is in taiga and tundra areas. When the permafrost melts, it releases carbon in the form of carbon dioxide and methane, both of which are greenhouse gases. The effect has been observed in Alaska. In the 1970s the tundra was a carbon sink, but today, it is a carbon source. Methane is produced when vegetation decays in lakes and wetlands.

The amount of greenhouse gases which will be released under projected scenarios for global warming have not been reliably quantified by scientific studies, although a few studies were reported to be underway in 2011. It is uncertain whether the impact of increased greenhouse gases from this source will be minimal or massive.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/17/science/earth/warming-arctic-permafrost-fuels-climate-change-worries.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methanogenesis -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenhouse_gas

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a3/Mlo_ch4_ts_obs_03437.png/300px-Mlo_ch4_ts_obs_03437.png

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A self-reinforcing positive feedback loop is akin to a "vicious circle": It accelerates the impacts of anthropogenic climate disruption (ACD). An example would be methane releases in the Arctic. Massive amounts of methane are currently locked in the permafrost, which is now melting rapidly. As the permafrost melts, methane - a greenhouse gas 100 times more potent than carbon dioxide on a short timescale - is released into the atmosphere, warming it further, which in turn causes more permafrost to melt, and so on...

Extinction Dialogs

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Predicted rate of temperature change in Arctic

Arctic temperatures are expected to increase at roughly twice the global rate. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) will in their fifth report establish scenarios for the future, where the temperature in the Arctic will rise between 1.5 and 2.5°C by 2040 and with 2 to 7.5°C by 2100. Estimates vary on how many tons of greenhouse gases are emitted from thawed permafrost soils. One estimate suggests that 110-231 billion tons of CO2 equivalents (about half from carbon dioxide and the other half from methane) will be emitted by 2040, and 850-1400 billion tons by 2100. This corresponds to an average annual emission rate of 4-8 billion tons of CO2 equivalents in the period 2011-2040 and annually 10-16 billion tons of CO2 equivalents in the period 2011-2100 as a result of thawing permafrost. For comparison, the anthropogenic emission of all greenhouse gases in 2010 is approximately 48 billion tons of CO2 equivalents. Release of greenhouse gases from thawed permafrost to the atmosphere may increase global warming.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permafrost#Carbon_cycle_in_permafrost

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Additional References re: Permafrost Science

Oct 2015 / Via Berkeley Lab -- A Simpler Way to Estimate the Feedback Between Permafrost Carbon and Climate

Simplified, data-constrained approach to estimate the permafrost carbon–climate feedback

Via University of Cambridge -- Analysis of the effects of melting permafrost in the Arctic points to $43 trillion in extra economic damage by the end of the next century, on top of the more than the $300 trillion economic damage already predicted

http://eusoils.jrc.ec.europa.eu/library/maps/Circumpolar/download/20.pdf

The intensity and extent of permafrost in the northern circumpolar region is commonly divided into four broad zones: continuous, discontinuous, sporadic and isolated.

Sleeping Giant Stirring in the Arctic -- https://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/earth20130610.html#.VvwD7MdwI_4

Alaska's Stirring Permafrost -- http://landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/pdf_archive/cape_halkett_4web.pdf

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https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/ba/Circum-Arctic_Map_of_Permafrost_and_Ground_Ice_Conditions.png

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May 2014

Doubling-of-antarctic-ice-loss-revealed-by-european-satellite

Melting New assessments of impacts of global warming come from Europe's Cryosat spacecraft.

The CryoSat is part of the Living Planet Programme [4] [5] [6] [7] of the European Space Agency. [8]

Cooperative earth monitoring science between US-Europe

More data re ice melt-Grace/US-NASA [9] [10]

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Earth Observing System satellites -- first-gen earth monitoring from space / European space agency

Earth-observing satellites for earth system monitoring include:

The European Space Agency "Living Planet Programme" managed by Earth Observation Programmes - [11]

• GOCE – Gravity Field and Steady-State Ocean Circulation Explorer - launched on March 17, 2009 - [12]

• SMOS – Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity satellite - studying ocean salinity and soil moisture; launched in 2 November 2009 - [13]

• CryoSat is designed to map the Earth's ice cover. CryoSat-1 was lost in 2005. CryoSat-2 was launched 8 April 2010 - [14]

• Swarm – is a trio of satellites to map the Earth's magnetism. The SWARM constellation was launched successfully on 22 November 2013 - [15]

• Aeolus – Atmospheric Dynamics Mission will use an innovative laser to measure winds. Due for launch in 2015 - [16]

• EarthCARE – Earth Clouds Aerosols and Radiation Explorer will examine the formation and effects of clouds. Due for launch in 2016 - [17]

• BIOMASS is designed to calculate the amount of carbon stored in the world's forests, and to monitor for any changes over the course of its five-year mission. Due to launch in 2020 - [18]

The European Space Agency's mission:

To benefit citizens "asking for a better quality of life on earth... for greater security and economic wealth... to pursue dreams, to increase knowledge... for younger people to be attracted to the pursuit of science and technology... ESA's purpose shall be to provide for, and to promote, for exclusively peaceful purposes, cooperation in space research and technology and space applications, with a view to their being used for scientific purposes..."

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New Space, "democratization of space", start-up ventures, #EarthScience with low-cost, microSats and open data

New Space, Monitoring the Earth by Satellite ---- PlanetAPI

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"It's All Connected": Small to Large, Beginning with the "Tiny Little Ones"

The Oceans, 70% of the Earth's Surface - Monitored from Space

Ocean Food Chain -- Ocean Ecosystems / #OceanScience

Phytoplankton... Diatoms... Oxygen Creators, CO2 Digesters... Zooplankton, Food-of-the-Seas

Plankton Swirl -- Climate Dance

Phytoplankton Oxygen Factories in the Southern Ocean

NASA Earth Observatory

Phytoplankton are essential ecosystems of the seas. They are floating, drifting, plant-like organisms that harness the energy of the Sun, mix it with carbon dioxide that they take up from the atmosphere, and turn it into carbohydrates and oxygen.

Scientific estimates speak of approximately half the oxygen in the Earth's atmosphere being the result of plankton photosynthesis and phytoplankton are critical to the marine food web, being the primary producers of food in the oceans, from phytoplankton to zooplankton to fish and shellfish to whales.

Like plants and trees on land, "phytoplankton give us a lot more than food". Whether the current science estimates that 50 or 80 percent of the oxygen in our atmosphere has been produced by phytoplankton, the health of the blue-green ocean life is essential for sustainable ocean ecosystems. The tiniest of living organisms exert an outsized influence on the planet.

http://eoimages.gsfc.nasa.gov/images/imagerecords/87000/87465/sepacific_vir_2016013.jpg

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Phytoplankton rapidly disappearing

Loss of mini marine plants at base of food web threatens sea’s ecology

A rapid loss of phytoplankton threatens to turn the western Indian Ocean into an “ecological desert,” a new study warns. The research reveals that phytoplankton populations in the region fell an alarming 30 percent over the last 16 years.

A decline in ocean mixing due to warming surface waters is to blame for that phytoplankton plummet, researchers propose online January 19 in Geophysical Research Letters. The mixing of the ocean’s layers ferries phytoplankton nutrients from the ocean’s dark depths up into the sunlit layers that the mini plants inhabit.

The loss of these microbes, which form the foundation of the ocean food web, may undermine the region’s ecosystem, warns study coauthor Raghu Murtugudde, an oceanographer at the University of Maryland in College Park.

“If you reduce the bottom of the food chain, it’s going to cascade...”

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Blue-Green in the Oceans & Connection to Life on Earth

"A single kind of blue-green algae in the ocean produces the oxygen in one of every five breaths we take"

~ from "The World Is Blue: How Our Fate and the Ocean’s Are One" by Sylvia Earle / National Geographic

Tiny Blue-Green

http://www.tinybluegreen.com

http://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Microbiomes_at_Risk

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Planet Citizen | #PlanetCitizen

GreenPolicy360 | #Earth360 | #EarthImaging | #EarthMonitoring

GP360 | #EarthObservations | #EarthScience | #NewSpace

#EarthPOV | Earth Point of View