UK launches space agency

EarthzineEarth Observation, Technology

The new body will take over responsibility for the UK’s space policy and “key” budgets for space under one single management. …Read more at the original article here (This article was syndicated in an earlier version of the Earthzine website, but is no longer reproduced here. Hope you enjoy the article at the original source).

Observing the Oceans – A 2020 Vision for Ocean Science

EarthzineArticles, Earth Observation, Oceans, Original, Sections, Technology

Cropped illustration showing the energy complex of the ocean.The oceans connect all continents; they are owned by no one, yet they belong to all of us by virtue of their mobile nature. The oceans may be viewed as the common heritage of humankind, the responsibility and life support of us all. This essay overviews the global ocean’s complicated history that produces today’s immensely complex system in which thousands of physical, chemical, and biological processes continually interact over many scales of time and space. It also limns as the Ocean Observing Initiative’s bold project now underway to put the Internet under the sea and provide an observation tool of unequaled potential.

The Calibration and Validation Program for the National Polar-Orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System Preparatory Project (NPP)

EarthzineArticles, Earth Observation, Ecosystems, Original, Technology

Cropped Image of the Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite that will measure the concentration of ozone.The National Polar-orbiting Operational Satellite System (NPOESS) program will launch its second risk reduction mission, the NPOESS Preparatory Project (NPP) in 2011. NPP is collaboration between the NPOESS program (for risk reduction) and the NASA’s Earth Science program (for continuity of earth science measurements). The NPP sensors will measure 24 environmental data products, and require a comprehensive pre- and post-launch Calibration and Validation program to ensure sensor and data product performance. This paper describes a comprehensive approach to the NPOESS Calibration and Validation program, based on lessons learned over two decades of experience in both operational and science remote sensing.

Chilean tsunami was first real scale test of the UNESCO/IOC Pacific Tsunami Warning System and enabled emergency evacuations

EarthzineArticles, Disasters, Earth Observation, Original, Sections, Technology

Cropped USGS energy propagation pattern of the 27 February 2010 tsunami calculated with MOST forecast modelThe 8.8 magnitude earthquake that wreaked havoc on Central Chile on February 27, 2010 also generated a tsunami which crossed the entire Pacific Ocean, reports the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO. The Pacific Tsunami Warning System (PTWS) enabled emergency response agencies to warn locals about the risk of tsunami and order evacuations. This is the first real ocean-wide test of a system that was put in place nearly 50 years ago.