Observing Earth From the Space Station – An Extraordinary View From Outer Space It’s been almost 20 years now since humans have been going into space and exploring the other side of the universe that we live in. There have been numerous footage, documentaries, and even films to let the other humans on planet Earth see how our dear world looks from different space stations. Some of them are based on fantasy (like the ones created by Robert space industries) whereas the majority are real images taken with the help of astronauts who have always risked their lives to make all of us witness something extra-ordinary. With all of what has happened in all these years, have you ever wondered about how our Earth has shaped up in all these years? If you are on a similar search, then we have collected some useful data with the help of Crew Earth Observations (CEO) and NASA. All of it is based on the working of the impressive suite of updated Earth Science instruments that are situated in different space stations to help humans remain updated with what's about to come. Hence, if you are interested to see Earth from the space station’s point of view and know the science that goes behind the working of these instruments, then here is how everything works and shows up.
ECOSTRESS Starting off with recording the temperature of plants on Earth, astronauts in space installed the ECOSTRESS instrument (Ecosystem Spaceborne Thermal Radiometer Experiment on Space Station) which measures the degree of heat and transmits the data recorded to the particular stations with the help of additional Wi-Fi modules. It is now because of ECOSTRESS that humans get insights on the proportionate relationship between plant temperatures and water usage. The instrument also holds the potential to identify the amount of stress on a plant belonging to an individual farmer’s field, when there is a natural intervention or how well water can be managed to save the crops.
According to the principal investigator, Simon Hook, scientists, for now, have only been able to figure out how to effectively use the instrument for taking frequent and highresolution temperature measurements. The team is still currently working on making the temperature data more beneficial to predict wildfires, droughts, volcanoes, heat waves, and also collect information on heat patterns within urban cities in advance.
GEDI This is another plant-focused instrument called Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) that moves from fields to the forests. It is based on bouncing a laser off the planet and then also calculating the time it takes to return the signal. To be precise, GEDI is keeping up a record of the world’s tropical and temperate forests in a three-dimensional structure only to target the tree canopies on Earth and keep tracking them over the period of time. Going into further depth, with the vertical structure of the trees, including their height and the arrangement of branches, the instrument can also figure out the amount of carbon storage that gets impacted by deforestation or the growing of more trees. The high-power laser of GEDI consumes the energy of the massive solar panels installed on the space station and the instrument is a collaborative result of NASA and UMD.
LIS This is that one instrument that helps humans the most on a daily basis in particular NASA’s Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS). Being located in the lower atmosphere, LIS records the time, energy output, and identifies the locations of lightning events all around the world to provide accurate information on storms. And through it, humans also improve the weather forecasting models to deliver safety precautions to the aircraft/spacecraft industry. Furthermore, the data from Atmosphere Space Interaction Monitor (ASIM) and LIS gives a possible indication of dust storms, pollution, fires, and volcanic eruptions on the formation of clouds and also possible electrification.
OCO-3 There are some of the instruments in the space stations that are not the first of their kind and one such example is of Orbiting Carbon Observatory-3 (OCO-3). It is the third iteration that is now being used to monitor the atmospheric carbon dioxide distributions all over the globe for a long time. Overall, the instrument also gives an in-depth analysis of regional carbon sources and how human activity changes the carbon cycle over time. Once combined with the results of GEDI and ECOSTRESS, OCO-3 gives a more comprehensive picture of terrestrial ecosystems that includes areas with large carbon fluxes or the most biologically diverse regions like the Amazon rainforest. The orbit also further complements the working of ECOSTRESS and OCO-3 well as the carbon cycle change with time of the day, variations in sun, temperature, and also the availability of water.
SAGE-III Pretty much like the OCO-3, the Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment (SAGE) III is another third-generation instrument that provides a continuous record of Earth’s upper atmospheric water vapor, aerosol, and ozone. Yes. it’s the same “sunscreen” layer that protects our planet. When sunlight passes through the upper atmosphere, the unique mixture of particulates and gases gives rise to the picturesque colors of the amazing sunsets and sunrises that we witness. Hence, in order to replicate the sunset or sunrise view from the space station, SAGE III takes a look at the Earth from a side angle and captures a view that is very much similar to how one is watching the sunset from the ground. All of these instruments are like a space force for us to reckon and be proud of how far science has brought us. It is because of these instruments that a lot of us can look down to Earth from space with just a few clicks or even know the mass of earth for our scientific calculations. But with that being said and a lot of history being made already, we still have more hope in these instruments because together with the efforts of mankind these are continuously making life easy for mankind.
Maybe who knows a day might also come when we look at our Earth from another planet. People celebrate Earth day. In honor to celebrate Earth Day There are many Earth day quotes Read more Articles at : https://joonse.com/