satellite that focuses on earths systems (aqua)
The borne Aqua satellite is part of an A-train that consists of six satellites. Its mission is to study and observe the different cycles that occur in earths “atmosphere, oceans, and land surfaces”(aqua). Its six instruments observe and collect different data sets pertaining to the atmosphere and the cycles that have steps within a process that is found in the atmosphere. Each instrument concentrates on a specific part of the atmosphere, making the satellite in whole cover and study the majority of the aspects of the atmosphere and the reason it is the way it is. Aqua satellite is paramount to humans furthering their understanding about earth’s water systems, it will provide in depth data to NASA in order for it to be researched further and shared with different organizations. It does not only study the basics of the earths water related systems, it studies different waves, particles, light, and energy that reflects and absorbs into atmosphere, ocean, and land surfaces.
The sphere in focus for this mission is the atmosphere, in correlation to the Hydrosphere. AQUA, the borne satellite, mission is to “observe earth’s water cycle, including 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)
“The objective [of the aqua satellite] is to coordinate observations and to provide a coincident set of data on aerosol and cloud properties, radiative fluxes and atmospheric state essential for accurate quantification of aerosol and cloud radiative effects”(aqua). This mission will deliver information about different environmental fluxes during the course of the year to NASA so that the information can be relayed to different organizations in order for more research or precautionary measures to be taken in the case of drastic or detrimental changes within the earths systems due to human causes. This mission is being attempted in order to further humans understanding of earth’s atmospheric properties and fluxes. The collection and comprehension of this data is important especially in the conduction of other missions so that one can know how to calculate and predict different events and how different parts of the mission should work according to data retrieved during the Aqua mission.
. “Aqua carries six state-of-the-art instruments in a near-polar low-Earth orbit Low-Earth Orbit analyzed hours allowing more concise and frequent updates about current changes and fluxes in the atmosphere to be retrieved and twenty fourOperation concepts The satellite is in Near-polar low-Earth orbit (LEO) this is due to the fact that the data that needs to be collected is best viewed from a low Earth orbit. LEO satellites also cover the whole earth within the course of (LEO)”that collect a” variety of global data sets”. The six instruments on board collect data about the atmosphere, the instruments include: Atmospheric Infrared Sounder(AIRS) that collects data concerning“ atmospheric temperature and humidity, land and sea surface temperatures, cloud,[and] radioactive energy flux[s]”, Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for EOS(AMSR-E) collects data concerning “Precipitation rate, water vapor, surface moisture content, sea ice extent, [and] snow extent”, Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit (AMSU) ) collects data concerning “Atmospheric temperature and humidity”, Humidity Sounder for Brazil(HSB) collects data concerning “Atmospheric humidity”, Clouds and the Earths Radiant Energy System (CERES) collects data concerning “Radiative energy flux”, Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS) collects data concerning “Cloud, radioactive energy flux, aerosols, land cover and land use change, vegetation dynamics, land surface temperature, sea surface temperature, ocean color, snow cover, atmospheric temperature and humidity,[and] sea ice”(aqua). One of the limiting factors for the
Aqua mission is scheduling, the satellite must coordinate with the multitude of satellites that are in the same LEO flight path in order to prevent collision.
life span, it is expected to work up until the year planedMission timeline The mission took approximately 14 years to plan for the launch. The Aqua satellite leads and is part of the A-train that consists of six satellites “it was the first member launched…[from the] Afternoon Constellation, or sometimes the A-Train” on May 4th, 2002 (aqua). It was “originally developed for a six-year design life but has now far exceeded” that 2020(Aqua) . Out of the six instruments on the satellite only five are still fully functional and transmit high quality data. AMSR-E data quality was reduced, and HSB only “collected approximately nine months of high quality data [and then] failed in February 2003”(Aqua)
who gave reason for the mission and who was part of the development you may ask well The consumers that gave reason to launch the Aqua satellite and sponsored the mission include: NASA, JAXA (Japan), GSFC, INPE, MMS(UK), Raytheon (SBRS), Northrop Grumman. (aqua)
Here are some links to site i used to create this post on the aqua satellite
Aqua - eoPortal Directory - Satellite Missions. Retrieved December 31, 2016, from https://directory.eoportal.org/web/eoportal/satellite-missions/a/aqua
Aqua- earth-observing satellite mission Navigation- Retrieved December 31, 2016, from
https://aqua.nasa.gov/
Overview of the aqua satellite
What Approach do they use for this satellite?
Space borne satellite that Collect date about atmosphere, oceans, and land surfaces
Has six instruments that collect data
observe earth’s water cycle, including 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
some of the Science issues that may come up while using this particular device include:
There may be cloud coverage or pollution that may limit the amount of data that can be collected from LEO.
All of the instruments have an expected life span, so if one fails the data its supposed to collect will no longer be collected.
Satellite based data
Will continue to collect data with six remaining instruments
How is this instrument working currently and what does it do, who are the contributors???
several of the instruments on board have been reduced or completely stopped working
will keep scanning earth for remainder of satellite life span
NASA, JAXA (Japan), GSFC, INPE, MMS(UK), Raytheon (SBRS), Northrop Grumman
time line for the aqua
5/02 satellite launched
12/15 AMSR-E quality of data reduced (this is one of the tools utilized on board the satellite that was reduced)
2/03 HBS failed
2020 expected to work until early 2020 (hopfully it lasts for another few years!)
