5 min read<\/p>\n
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n- More than 100 scientists will participate in a field campaign involving a research vessel and two aircraft this month to verify the accuracy of data collected by NASA\u2019s new PACE satellite: the Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem mission.<\/li>\n
- The process of data validation includes researchers comparing PACE data with data collected by similar, Earth-based instruments to ensure the measurements match up.<\/li>\n
- Since the mission\u2019s Feb. 8, 2024 launch, scientists around the world have successfully completed\u00a0several data validation campaigns; the September deployment \u2014 PACE-PAX \u2014 is its largest.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
From sea to sky to orbit, a range of vantage points allow NASA Earth scientists to collect different types of data to better understand our changing planet. Collecting them together, at the same place and the same time, is an important step used to verify the accuracy of satellite data.<\/p>\n
NASA\u2019s Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE)<\/a> satellite launched in February 2024 and is collecting observations of the ocean and measuring atmospheric particle and cloud properties. This data will help inform scientists and decision makers about the health of Earth\u2019s ocean, land surfaces, and atmosphere and the interactions between them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Centered](\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/ksc-20231204-ph-kls01-0018orig.jpeg?w=2048\")
<\/a><\/figure>\nTechnicians work to process the NASA\u2019s Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) observatory on a spacecraft dolly in a high bay at the Astrotech Space Operations Facility near the agency\u2019s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Monday, Dec. 4, 2023. <\/div>\nCredit: NASA\/Kim Shiflett<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nTo make sure the data from PACE\u2019s instruments accurately represent the ocean and the atmosphere, scientists compare (or \u201cvalidate\u201d) the data collected from orbit with measurements they collect at or near Earth\u2019s surface. The mission\u2019s biggest validation campaign, called PACE Postlaunch Airborne eXperiment (PACE-PAX), began on Sept. 3, 2024, and will last the entire month.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we want to have confidence in the observations from PACE, we need to validate those observations,\u201d said Kirk Knobelspiesse, mission scientist for PACE-PAX and an atmospheric scientist at NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. \u201cThis field campaign is focused on doing just that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Scientists will make measurements both from aircraft and ships. Based out of three locations across California \u2014 Marina, Santa Barbara, and NASA\u2019s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards \u2014 the campaign includes more than 100 people working in the field and several dozen instruments.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis campaign allows us to validate data for both the atmosphere and the ocean, all in one campaign,\u201d said Brian Cairns, deputy mission scientist for PACE-PAX and an atmospheric scientist at NASA\u2019s Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York City.<\/p>\n
On the ocean, ships, including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) research vessel Shearwater, will gather data on ocean biology and the optical properties of the water. Scientists onboard will gather water samples to help define the types of phytoplankton at different locations and their relative abundance, something that PACE\u2019s hyperspectral Ocean Color Instrument<\/a> measures from orbit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Five](\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/teamt-rt-0828202420240828-141733.jpg?w=2048\")
<\/a><\/figure>\nMembers of the PACE-PAX team \u2013 from left to right, Cecile Carlson, Adam Ahern (NOAA), Dennis Hamaker (NPS), Luke Ziemba, and Michael Shook (NASA Langley Research Center) \u2013 in front of the Twin Otter aircraft as they prep for the start of the campaign. <\/div>\nCredit: Judy Alfter\/NASA<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nOverhead, a Twin Otter research aircraft operated by the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, will collect data on the atmosphere. At altitudes of up to 10,000 feet, the aircraft will sample and measure cloud droplet sizes, aerosol sizes, and the amount of light that those particles scatter and absorb. These are the atmospheric properties that PACE observes with its two polarimeters, SPEXOne and HARP2<\/a>.<\/p>\nAt a higher altitude \u2014 approximately 70,000 feet up \u2014 NASA\u2019s ER-2 aircraft<\/a> will provide a complementary view from above clouds, looking down on the atmosphere and ocean in finer detail than the satellite, but with a narrower view.<\/p>\n
From sea to sky to orbit, a range of vantage points allow NASA Earth scientists to collect different types of data to better understand our changing planet. Collecting them together, at the same place and the same time, is an important step used to verify the accuracy of satellite data.<\/p>\n
NASA\u2019s Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE)<\/a> satellite launched in February 2024 and is collecting observations of the ocean and measuring atmospheric particle and cloud properties. This data will help inform scientists and decision makers about the health of Earth\u2019s ocean, land surfaces, and atmosphere and the interactions between them.<\/p>\n To make sure the data from PACE\u2019s instruments accurately represent the ocean and the atmosphere, scientists compare (or \u201cvalidate\u201d) the data collected from orbit with measurements they collect at or near Earth\u2019s surface. The mission\u2019s biggest validation campaign, called PACE Postlaunch Airborne eXperiment (PACE-PAX), began on Sept. 3, 2024, and will last the entire month.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we want to have confidence in the observations from PACE, we need to validate those observations,\u201d said Kirk Knobelspiesse, mission scientist for PACE-PAX and an atmospheric scientist at NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. \u201cThis field campaign is focused on doing just that.\u201d<\/p>\n Scientists will make measurements both from aircraft and ships. Based out of three locations across California \u2014 Marina, Santa Barbara, and NASA\u2019s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards \u2014 the campaign includes more than 100 people working in the field and several dozen instruments.<\/p>\n \u201cThis campaign allows us to validate data for both the atmosphere and the ocean, all in one campaign,\u201d said Brian Cairns, deputy mission scientist for PACE-PAX and an atmospheric scientist at NASA\u2019s Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York City.<\/p>\n On the ocean, ships, including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) research vessel Shearwater, will gather data on ocean biology and the optical properties of the water. Scientists onboard will gather water samples to help define the types of phytoplankton at different locations and their relative abundance, something that PACE\u2019s hyperspectral Ocean Color Instrument<\/a> measures from orbit.<\/p>\n Overhead, a Twin Otter research aircraft operated by the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, will collect data on the atmosphere. At altitudes of up to 10,000 feet, the aircraft will sample and measure cloud droplet sizes, aerosol sizes, and the amount of light that those particles scatter and absorb. These are the atmospheric properties that PACE observes with its two polarimeters, SPEXOne and HARP2<\/a>.<\/p>\n At a higher altitude \u2014 approximately 70,000 feet up \u2014 NASA\u2019s ER-2 aircraft<\/a> will provide a complementary view from above clouds, looking down on the atmosphere and ocean in finer detail than the satellite, but with a narrower view.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/figure><\/a><\/figure>
![\"An](\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/afrc2023-0012-055orig.jpg?w=2048\")
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