April 11, 2006
NASA has signed an agreement with other U.S. and international agencies
to launch the Ocean Surface Topography Mission in 2008.
The satellite, named Jason-2, will increase our understanding
of ocean circulation and improve climate forecasts and measurements
of global sea-level change. The three- to five-year mission will
extend the ocean topography measurements collected since 1992,
first by Topex/Poseidon and now by Jason.
NASA is cooperating with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration, France's Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales and
the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological
Satellites on this mission.
"This agreement substantially advances the continuation of a long-term
record of sea-level measurements based on satellite measurements of sea
level height, which are needed to understand ocean circulation and its
long-term climate effects," said Eric Lindstrom, NASA's Ocean Surface
Topography Mission program scientist. The mission will also study how
ocean circulation varies from season to season, from year to year and
from decade to decade. It will improve the measure of global sea-level
change and models of tides in the open ocean.
Operational organizations and researchers will use the data in marine
meteorology and sea-state forecasting, operational oceanography, seasonal
forecasting, climate and ocean monitoring and Earth and climate research.
NASA will provide several of the mission's science instruments, including
an advanced microwave radiometer, laser retroreflector array and global
positioning system payload receiver package. NASA will also provide
launch services on a Boeing Delta II rocket.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will provide a
satellite-control center, stations for commanding the spacecraft and
acquiring data, data processing, and the infrastructure for archiving and
distributing mission data. After the satellite's launch and an engineering
assessment, Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales will hand over management of
the satellite to them.
Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales will provide a Proteus satellite platform
and payload module. They will also provide several of the science instruments,
including a Poseidon-3 dual-frequency radar altimeter and the Doppler Orbitography
and Radiopositioning Integrated by Satellite orbit-determination system.
In addition, they will provide a satellite command and control center,
data processing and infrastructure for archiving and distributing mission data.
The European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites
will provide a site and infrastructure for the European Earth terminal,
which will be integrated into the organization's ground segment infrastructure.
They will also provide data processing and an infrastructure for archiving and
distributing mission data.
The agreement was signed April 10. For information about the mission, visit:
http://sealevel.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/ostm.html .
For information about NASA and agency programs, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/home .
Additional points of contact: John Leslie, National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration (John.Leslie@noaa.gov) Sandra Laly,
Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (Sandra.Laly@exchange.siege.cnes.fr)
and Claudia Ritsert-Clarke, European Organisation for the Exploitation of
Meteorological Satellites (Claudia.RitsertClark@eumetsat.int)
The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., manages the U.S. portion
of the Ocean Surface Topography Mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate.
JPL is managed for NASA by the California Institute of Technology.
Media contact:
Alan Buis (818) 354-0474
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
Erica Hupp/Dwayne Brown (202) 358-1237/1726
NASA Headquarters, Washington
2006-052