A NASA small satellite designed to measure in detail the Earth heat loss through the poles took off from New Zealand. The mission, called PREFIRE, could significantly improve scientific predictions about the climate change.
“This unpublished information will allow us to better understand the polar and climatic processes“said Karen St. Germain, NASA’s director of Earth-related science research, at a news conference in mid-May.
He satellite launch, which is the size of a shoe box, was carried out by Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket from Mahia, northern New Zealand. A second similar satellite will be launched by the same company later.
Both satellites will be used to measure far-infrared heat released into space from the Arctic and Antarctic, marking the first time this phenomenon has been directly measured.
“This phenomenon is essential since it helps balance the excess heat coming from tropical regions and regulate global temperature“explained Tristan L’Ecuyer, scientific director of the mission and professor at the University of Wisconsin in Madison.
L’Ecuyer added: “The transportation of heat of the tropics towards the poles is fundamental for our meteorology”.
Thanks to PREFIRE, the POT hopes to understand how factors such as clouds, humidity, and the transformation of frozen surfaces into liquid affect this heat loss.
To date, scientific models to predict the global warming They have been based on theories rather than direct observations, according to L’Ecuyer.
“With this mission, we seek to improve our ability to simulate future sea level rise and understand how climate change at the poles will influence global weather systems,” he said.
This launch adds another satellite to the fleet of more than twenty Earth observation missions of the POT already in orbit.
Small satellites, known as Cubesats, offer a cost-effective way to address very specific questions, Karen St. Germain said. Unlike the more versatile large satellites, these small devices function as specialists, “and NASA needs both types,” she concluded.
With information from AFP.
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