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Climate is changing faster than we think
Eclipsed though it may be by the more glamorous space missions at NASA, a group of remote sensing ‘Earth Science' satellites have been capturing for scientists some of the most exciting and useful images of the earth and the atmosphere.
Bangalore: From climate change to severe weather conditions and glacial melt to wildfires on land, satellites of NASA's Earth Science Division have never been more important to scientists, said division's director Michael Freilich delivering a lecture on “NASA's Earth Science Program: Accomplishments, Challenges and Plans” at the Indian Institute of Science on Tuesday.
Satellites Terra and Aqua have been capturing images of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, which began in April after the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig. The extent and shape of the oil spill appears to be in constant flux due to weather conditions, currents and the use of oil-dispersing chemicals, he said.
A little while earlier images of the giant ash-cloud produced by the Icelandic volcano, had helped give the green signal to resume air activity over Europe, Dr. Freilich said.
Among the projects of NASA's Earth Science system is the “Afternoon Constellation,” a formation of five satellites flying in very close proximity to each other and sending in a cache of information on different parameters. Satellite imagery appears to indicate that climate change appears to be more rapid than we believe, he said.
There has been a systematic increase in State funds for NASA, and for the division in particular, after the Obama administration took over, he said.
“NASA is now in the process of calibrating data from ISRO's Oceansat 2 for weather monitoring,” Dr. Freilich said.
Source: www.hindu.com