As Trump and Congress plot cuts to NASA weather monitoring, EuropeLaunches 4th Satellite
The
European Space Agency (ESA) launched a fourth European Commission (EC) Copernicus Earth Systems Monitoring project satellite
from the Guiana Space Center near Kourou in French Guiana March 7 evening.
The 1.1 metric ton Sentinel-2B satellite was launched into Earth orbit by a Vega rocket developed jointly by the ESA and the Italian Space Agency and operated by Arianespace.
The 1.1 metric ton Sentinel-2B satellite was launched into Earth orbit by a Vega rocket developed jointly by the ESA and the Italian Space Agency and operated by Arianespace.
Among
its many tasks, the Sentinel satellite constellation will measure and monitor
changes in global forest cover and air pollution at a critical juncture in
terms of human impacts on the planet’s ecosystems, natural resources and
capacity to sustain life.
Calibrating and commissioning Sentinel-2B’s instruments is expected to take some three to four months, at which point the satellite will be fully operational, according to an AFP news report.
“With this launch, we are taking another step toward advancing the Copernicus program, which is the most sophisticated Earth observation system in the world,” ESA director general Jan Woerner said in a statement.
Calibrating and commissioning Sentinel-2B’s instruments is expected to take some three to four months, at which point the satellite will be fully operational, according to an AFP news report.
“With this launch, we are taking another step toward advancing the Copernicus program, which is the most sophisticated Earth observation system in the world,” ESA director general Jan Woerner said in a statement.
Europe’s
ongoing investments in earth science, remote sensing and monitoring from space
contrasts sharply with that in the U.S., where President Donald Trump, his
administration and leading climate change deniers in Congress are following
through on their promises to wipe out federal funding for climate science and
global warming research conducted by NASA, the U.S. space agency.
It’s
the Axe for NASA Earth Science
Word
from inside sources that Trump’s still formative budget priorities include making
deep cuts in federal spending on education, social welfare, and environmental
programs in order to help fund even larger proposed increases in spending on
the military and national security.
The former entails eliminating climate science research and refocusing NASA’s budget on space exploration. With jobs and careers on the line, that reportedly has been received with relief by some and confirmation that the budgetary axe is about to fall on others within the space agency.
The former entails eliminating climate science research and refocusing NASA’s budget on space exploration. With jobs and careers on the line, that reportedly has been received with relief by some and confirmation that the budgetary axe is about to fall on others within the space agency.
Last
week Trump campaign adviser Bob Walker told the U.K.’s The Guardian that the Trump
administration aims to slash NASA’s earth science budget “in the name of
cracking down on what the advisor has previously called ‘politically correct
environmental monitoring.’” Walker explained that while it may be difficult to
curtail current programs, the Trump administration could redirect funding
earmarked for NASA earth. science research to other agencies.
Such
a move would be purely political in motivation, critics asserted. The Guardian
quoted Penn State climate researcher Michael Mann as saying that any such
effort would “indicate the president’s willingness to pander to the very same
lobbyists and corporate interest groups he derided throughout the campaign.”
The
“move” is already under way, however. The U.S. Senate recently passed new
legislation eliminating NASA’s $2 billion global warming research budget, according to a news report. It’s expected to pass in the Republican-led
House of Representatives and garner President Donald Trump’s signature.
“Rebalancing”
NASA
The
chairman of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology, Rep. Lamar
Smith (R-Texas) characterized the NASA budget cut as a “rebalancing,” and
emphasized it does not eliminate federal funding for earth science research.
“I’d like for us to remember what our priorities are, and there are another
dozen agencies that study earth science and climate change, and they can
continue to do that,” he was quoted as saying.
NASA’s
annual earth and climate science budget increased 63 percent during President
Barack Obama’s eight years in office, making it the fastest growing aspect of
the space agency’s overall $19-plus billion budget. More federal funds are now
being spent on NASA environmental science and research than astrophysics
($781.5 million) and space technology ($826.7 million), the bill’s supporters
point out.
Remote
sensing and monitoring of the Earth from space is the most powerful means and
integral tools we have of gathering data and understanding natural processes,
environmental conditions and human impacts on them. One that merits more
funding given the unprecedented rise in mean global
temperatures and sea level,
not to mention wholesale ecosystems and natural resource degradation and
species extinction, critics argue.
Following
are just a few examples of the many tasks NASA’s EOS satellite fleet is
carrying out and the resulting stream of earth science data that’s
enabling earth and climate scientists to make groundbreaking discoveries, as
well as enable public service agencies to better plan for and respond to
natural disasters and other threats:
Monitoring
of land subsidence in California’s San Joaquin Valley, which has
reached unprecedented levels and rates as a result of pumping freshwater from
underground aquifers during the historic drought, which, after five long years
just came to an end.
EOS’
aptly named Aqua satellite is
one of a string of six Earth Observing System (EOS) satellites dubbed the
Afternoon Constellation, or A-Train. It’s collecting an extraordinary amount of
fundamental scientific data at unprecedented scope and detail. That includes:
Observational
data to do with the Earth’s water cycle, e.g. evaporation from the oceans,
water vapor in the atmosphere, clouds, precipitation, soil moisture, sea ice,
land ice, and snow cover on the land and ice.
Aqua
is also measuring radiative energy fluxes, such as the amount of infrared
radiation from the Earth’s surface; aerosols, vegetation cover on the land,
phytoplankton, which form the base of the oceanic food chain and play a
critical role as oxygen producers; and dissolved organic matter in the oceans;
and air, land, and water temperatures.
Since
1979, a collection of satellites operated by NASA has provided a continuous,
nearly complete record of Earth’s sea ice cover, which continues to diminish at
an unprecedented rate. As NASA explains: “Valuable data are collected by
satellite sensors that observe the microwaves emitted by the ice surface.
Unlike visible light, the microwave energy radiated by ice passes through
clouds. This means it can be measured year-round, even through the long polar
night.”
The
continuous sea ice record began with the Scanning Multichannel Microwave
Radiometer (SMMR) on the Nimbus-7 satellite (1978-1987) and continued with the
Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I) and the Special Sensor Microwave Imager
Sounder (SSMIS) on Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) satellites
(1987 to present). The Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer–for EOS (AMSR-E)
on NASA’s Aqua satellite also contributed data (2002-2011), a record that was
extended with the 2012 launch of the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer 2 (AMSR2)
on JAXA’s GCOM-W1 satellite.
All
told, NASA is responsible for 16 Earth-observing satellites currently in orbit.
The oldest is the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM), which was
launched in 1997. The youngest, Landsat 8, was launched in February 2013.
Collectively, NASA’s EOS satellite fleet monitors a wide range of environmental
phenomenon relevant to climate change, weather prediction, fire monitoring, and
the health of vegetation, NASA summarizes.
NASA
administrator Charles Bolden drew public attention to NASA’s EOS satellite
fleet in a blog post from the International Space Station (ISS) in June 2013:
“Having looked back at Earth from outer space, I have seen just how fragile our home planet is – and I’m committed to doing everything I can to help protect it…
“Earth
Science is a strong priority of the President’s [Obama’s] fiscal year 2014
budget request for NASA. The budget supports seven new Earth Science missions
on course to launch through 2020 after the launch of four new Earth science
missions in 2014 – the Global Precipitation Mission (GPM), Orbiting Carbon
Observatory-2 (OCO-2), Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP), and the
Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment III (SAGE III) instrument to be
launched to the International Space Station.
“These
cover a wide spectrum of Earth observations and join NASA’s seventeen Earth
science missions in space observing our planet’s atmosphere and oceans, its
climate, weather patterns, and much more. The data we collect helps us
understand our planet as a dynamic, unified system.”
Europe’s
Sentinel and Copernicus
For its part, ESA expects to launch two more Copernicus satellites in coming months. Launched in June 2015, Sentinel-SB, a twin of Sentinel-2A, zooms in on changes in the Earth’s land mass and coastal zones, such as forest cover and pollution in lakes and coastal waters.
Placed
in the same orbit on opposite sides of the planet and sweeping the Earth’s
entire surface every five days, the now complete twinned pair of Sentinel-2
satellites will measure and transmit reams of detailed environmental data
worldwide.
“Each
Sentinel-2 satellite carries an innovative high-resolution multispectral camera
with 13 spectral bands for a new perspective of land and vegetation,” ESA
elaborated. “The combination of high-resolution, novel spectral capabilities, a
field of vision covering 290 kilometers (180 miles) and frequent revisit times
will provide unprecedented views of Earth.”
Copernicus
project satellites will also provide critical, potentially life-saving
information by mapping areas stricken by flood or earthquake. Relevant data
from Copernicus satellites will be beamed to disaster and emergency response
agencies in order to help response teams teams better and more quickly identify
worst-hit areas and locate passable roads, railway lines and bridges.
*Images
credit: 1) ESA; 2) National Priorities.org; 3) NASA; 4, 5) ESA