Event
AIM Multimedia for the 2007 AGU Press Event
AIM principal investigator, Hampton University
Item No. 1: Noctilucent Cloud Sightings -- Polar Mesospheric Clouds form during each polar region’s summer months in the coldest place in the atmosphere, 50 miles above Earth’s surface. Noctilucent Clouds were first observed in 1885 by an amateur astronomer and have been becoming brighter and more frequent. They have appeared to be moving to lower latitudes in recent years. Image and time-lapse video both credit: Jacek Stegman, MISU
Click image for time-lapse video (9 Mb AVI).
Item No. 2: What is a "Noctilucent Cloud?" -- Polar Mesospheric Clouds, as they are known to those who study them from satellite observations, are also often called "noctilucent," or night shining, clouds by ground-based observers. Because of their high altitude, near the edge of space, noctilucent clouds shine at night when the sun's rays hit them from below while the lower atmosphere is bathed in darkness. They typically form in the cold, polar mesosphere region during the summer and are made of water ice crystals. Credit: NASA
Click image to view animation.
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Item No. 3: Pre-AIM Polar Mesospheric Cloud Observations -- These graphs show 20 years of rising PMC trends analyzed from satellite data prior to AIM's launch. Credit: DeLand, Shettle, Thomas, and Olivero (JGR, vol. 112, D10315, 2007)
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Item No. 4: Tour of the AIM Instruments -- The AIM satellite has three scientific instruments on board: the Cloud Imaging and Particle Size Experiment (CIPS), a four-camera system that will study cloud morphology; the Solar Occultation for Ice Experiment (SOFIE) that will measure the clouds and temperature and constituents involved in their formation; and the Cosmic Dust Experiment (CDE) that will measure one possible source of particles needed for cloud formation. Credit: NASA
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Item No. 5: AIM Observes Ice Layer Not Previously Detected -- The first season of AIM data shows that Polar Mesospheric Clouds exist in a much broader altitude layer than was believed to be the case before AIM was launched. Credit: NASA
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AIM co-investigator, University of Colorado
Item No. 1: Cloud Rings from CIPS -- This image from the Cloud Imaging and Particle Size Experiment (CIPS) on AIM seems to show the same cloud ring formation that is seen in the GOES video below. Credit: NASA
Click image for enlargement.Item No. 2: Cloud Rings off the Coast of Cuba -- This series of images from NOAA's GOES-12 satellite shows the evolution of multiple cloud rings just off the coast of Cuba. These unique-looking cloud formations are not well understood. Credit: NOAA
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AIM deputy principal investigator, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Item No. 1: Full 2007 Season of North Polar Mesospheric Clouds -- AIM has returned its first global-scale view of Polar Mesospheric Clouds over the entire 2007 Northern Hemisphere season with an unprecedented horizontal resolution of three miles by three miles. Credit: NASA
Click image to view animation.
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