Interlinked Climate & Energy Challenges

2008June29-June22: (PIA10954) Global Views of Atmospheric Water Vapor: First Data from OSTM/Jason-2′s Advanced Microwave Radiometer. From NASA, the top image “(figure 1) is the first global wet path delay map created with data from the Advanced Microwave Radiometer (AMR) onboard the Ocean Surface Topography Mission/Jason-2 satellite. The spacecraft, launched on June 20, 2008, uses a radar altimeter to measure ocean height. The science instruments on the spacecraft were turned on for the first time after launch on June 22 and began returning data almost immediately. This map shows the amount of water vapor in the atmosphere beneath the satellite during the period June 22, 2008, to June 29, 2008…The lower image (figure 2) is a wet path delay map created with data from the Jason Microwave Radiometer (JMR) on the Jason-1 satellite collected during the same time period. Jason-1 has been using an altimeter to measure the height of the ocean since 2001. OSTM/Jason-2 and Jason-1 are now flying in the same orbit, only 55 seconds apart, while mission personnel ensure that the new satellite is working well and that its measurements are accurate. The similarity between the two path delay maps shows that the two radiometers are in close agreement” (NASA).

Reference: NASA. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA10954

Image Description: see case description. Image Credit and Location: NASA. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA10954 Image Permission: This file is in the public domain because it was created by NASA. NASA copyright policy states that “NASA material is not protected by copyright unless noted”.