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May 7, 2003
NASA Goddard Celebrates 40 Years of Achievement in Atmospheric Sciences
Distinguished Earth scientists from around the world—including Nobel
Prize winner Paul Crutzen—assembled in Greenbelt on May 1 to celebrate
the 40th Anniversary of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center's Laboratory
for Atmospheres.
The laboratory pioneered the use of satellite remote sensors to advance
scientific understanding of Earth's atmosphere and, for four decades,
spearheaded the evolution of increasingly sophisticated space-based measurement
capabilities.
"The first weather satellite—TIROS 1 (launched in April 1960)—was monumental
in bringing in the satellite era," states William Bandeen, former director
of Goddard's Atmospheric and Hydrospheric Division and among the first
meteorological scientists recruited in the earliest days of NASA's formation. "That
launch led to the formation of the laboratory in the early 60s and a whole series
of major scientific achievements."
The list of technical achievements and standards set by the Goddard
atmosphere community through the 1960s and 1970s made modern day weather
forecasting and climate modeling possible. Among some of the laboratory's
most notable contributions are the first infrared image of the Earth,
the first geostationary weather satellite, one of the first remote soundings
of atmospheric temperature, and the first measurement of the Earth's
radiation budget.
In the early 1960s, NASA initiated a new science discipline, called "aeronomy," to
bridge the gap between meteorology and astronomy. Little was known then
about the uppermost layer of Earth's atmosphere, known as the exosphere.
In April 1963, NASA Goddard personnel launched the first comprehensive
aeronomy mission to measure the density, composition, pressure, and temperature
of the atmosphere at altitudes from 155 to 560 miles (250 to 900 kilometers).
In the 1970s and 80s, Goddard's community of atmospheric scientists
solidified their role as world leaders in assimilating data from many
satellites as well as surface-based and aircraft instruments and incorporating
these data into sophisticated computer models for visualizing how the
atmosphere works and predicting future climate change scenarios. And
with the development of the Atmospheric and Oceanographic Information
Processing System (AOIPS), the lab also pioneered the development of
the modern remote sensing data processing center.
In 1977, NASA brought in renowned radar meteorologist David Atlas to
lead the Laboratory. Atlas served in the early 70s as president of the
American Meteorological Society.
He led the Laboratory for Atmospheres from 1977-84, and is credited
with recruiting 35 world-class atmospheric scientists to come work at
Goddard Space Flight Center. "Twenty-five years later, it is gratifying
to note the remarkable successes attained by the vast majority of those
we hired," Atlas observes. Among those noteworthy individuals are Joanne
Simpson, who is a leading researcher on tropical meteorology and who
served as project scientist for the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission
(TRMM); Louis Uccellini, who led the now-famous investigation of the
1979 President's Day storm and went on to become director of the National
Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP); and Paul Kocin, winter storm
expert at the Weather Channel.
In 1984, Atlas stepped down and was eventually succeeded by Marvin Geller.
It was under Geller's watch that the various atmospheric science branches
were joined into a single, integrated Laboratory for Atmospheres. "The
1980s was an exciting time for the space program in the Earth sciences," recalls
Geller.
Consider the 1985 discovery of the ozone hole by the British Antarctic
Survey. More than two decades of ozone data collected by the Total Ozone
Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) and research from Goddard's Laboratory for
Atmospheres contributed significantly to scientific understanding of
humanity's role in stratospheric ozone depletion and eventually led to
the Montreal Protocol restricting the use of CFCs.
According to William Lau, current Division Chief of the Laboratory,
the ozone case study is just one example among many that illustrates
the Lab's ability to go from an idea to a satellite measurement capability,
to a research initiative, to a real-world application, and finally to
a public policy decision that benefits society. Another milestone is
the development and launch of the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission
(TRMM) in partnership with the Japanese Space Agency (NASDA). TRMM data
yielded the first accurate global measures of tropical rainfall and have
been used to examine the internal structures of hurricanes and severe
storms as well as to improve forecasts of the paths such storms will
travel.
"Our data have been very important for monitoring the Earth's environment
and assessing the potential for disasters around the world," Lau states.
The outstanding accomplishments by Laboratory personnel over the last
40 years are a great success story, concludes Lau. "We have clearly set
the nation's direction in terms of how satellite information should be
collected and used for scientific research and societal applications."
The Goddard Laboratory for Atmospheres has also played a lead role in
developing and launching the Earth Observing System (EOS)—a series of
satellites designed to examine our planet very comprehensively every
day. Since 1997, eight EOS satellites have been launched to help scientists
understand how the atmosphere, cryosphere, oceans, lands, and life all
interact to drive our world's climate system.
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Contacts:
David Herring
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD
(Phone: 301/614-6219)
John Weier
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD
(Phone: 301/286-8724)
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The first television picture of the Earth from space
was taken by the TIROS-I satellite on April 1, 1960.
With each passing year since the early 1980s, ozone
concentrations over the South Pole have grown less during the months
of September and October. These images show the progression of the ozone "hole" in
four different years, from 1983-97, as measured by TOMS.
This view of Hurricane Mitch was produced using data
from TRMM's precipitation radar. High rates of rainfall appear in red,
with lesser amounts appearing in blue. By mapping the structure of storms,
experts can "take them apart" in the laboratory as they try to understand
how they work. View
animation (2.9MB)
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