Water & Energy Cycles Missions

From our vantage point above the Earth, we can view Earth as a whole system, observe the results of complex interactions, and begin to understand how our planet is changing.

Senior Reviews for Earth Operating Missions:

Visit the Decadal Surveys page for CLARREO, ICESat-II, DESDynI, SMAP reports.

*Sort missions by clicking Launch Date, A-Z, or PHASE column headers.

Launch Date	A-Z	Phase
19991221 December 20, 1999	ACRIMSAT ACRIMSAT is the latest in a series of long-term solar-monitoring missions, utilizing the proven Active Cavity Radiometer Irradiance Monitor III (ACRIM III) instrument. This...	Operating
20020504 09:55:00 GMT-4 May 04, 2002	Aqua Aqua will obtain a set of precise atmosphere and oceans measurements to understand their role in Earth's climate and its variations. Aqua carries six state-of-the-art...	Operating
20100522 20:00:00 USEastern May 22, 2010	Aquarius Aquarius is a focused satellite mission to measure global sea surface salinity (SSS). Its instruments will measure changes in SSS equivalent to about a "pinch" (i.e., 1/6 of...	Development
19841005 October 05, 1984	ERBS Earth Radiation Budget Satellite (ERBS), expected to have a two-year operation life, provided scientific data about the Earth's ozone layer for more than two decades. ERBS...	Past
20130602 June 01, 2013	GPM GPM Constellation follows the success of Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) in initiating the measurement of global precipitation, a key climate factor. Its science...	Under Study
20020318 March 17, 2002	GRACE The primary goal of the GRACE mission is to accurately map variations in the Earth's gravity field over its 5-year lifetime. This provides scientists from all over the world...	Operating
20030113 January 12, 2003	ICESat ICESat (Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite) is the benchmark Earth Observing System mission for measuring ice sheet mass balance, cloud and aerosol heights, as well as...	Operating
20011208 December 07, 2001	Jason-1 Jason is an oceanography mission to monitor global ocean circulation, improve global climate predictions, and monitor events such as El Nino conditions and ocean eddies. The...	Operating
20100602 June 02, 2010	NPOESS Preparatory Project (NPP) NPP is a joint mission to extend key measurements in support of long term monitoring of climate trends and of global biological productivity. This mission is part of SMD's...	Development
20080620 20:00:00 USEastern June 20, 2008	OSTM OSTM measures sea surface height to an accuracy of < 3.3 cm every ten days. Sea surface topography measured by satellite altimeters has numerous applications important to...	Operating
20030126 January 25, 2003	SORCE SORCE is a NASA-sponsored satellite mission that will provide state-of-the-art measurements of incoming x-ray, ultraviolet, visible, near-infrared, and total solar radiation....	Operating
19991219 December 18, 1999	Terra Terra (formerly EOS AM-1) is the flagship satellite of NASA's Earth observing systems. Terra is the first EOS (Earth Observing System) platform and provides global data on...	Operating
19920810 August 10, 1992	TOPEX/Poseidon TOPEX/Poseidon monitored global ocean circulation, improved global climate predictions, and tracked El Niño conditions and ocean eddies. The mission's most important...	Past
19971128 November 27, 1997	TRMM TRMM is a joint mission between NASA and the National Space Development Agency (NASDA) of Japan. TRMM is particularly devoted to determining rainfall in the tropics and...	Operating

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Water & Energy Cycles Missions