NPOESS Preparatory Project (NPP)
Full Name: NPOESS Preparatory Project
Phase: Development
Launch Date: January 15, 2011
Mission Project Home Page: http://jointmission.gsfc.nasa.gov/
Program(s): Earth Systematic Missions
The NPOESS Preparatory Project (NPP) is a joint mission to extend key measurements in support of long-term monitoring of climate trends and of global biological productivity. It extends the measurement series being initiated with EOS Terra and AQUA by providing a bridge between NASA's EOS missions and the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) of the Integrated Program Office (IPO). The NPP mission will provide operational agencies early access to the next generation of operational sensors, thereby greatly reducing the risks incurred during the transition. This will permit testing of the advanced ground operations facilities and validation of sensors and algorithms while the current operational systems are still in place. This new system will provide nearly an order of magnitude more data than the current operational system.
NPOESS will provide long-term systematic measurements of key environmental variables beginning about 2009. In preparation for this system, NPP will provide risk reduction for this future operational system and it will maintain continuity of certain environmental data sets that were initiated with NASA's Terra and Aqua satellites. These measurements will be taken by three different sensors; Visible Infrared Imaging spectroRadiometer Suite (VIIRS), Crosstrack Infrared Sounder (CrIS), and Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder (ATMS). These sensors will collect data on atmospheric and sea surface temperatures, humidity soundings, land and ocean biological productivity, and cloud and aerosol properties. This data will be used for long-term climate and global change studies.