The Active Cavity Radiometer Irradiance Monitor satellite, or AcrimSat, which was launched in December 1999, carries the Acrim III instrument. The instrument is the third in a series of solar-monitoring tools built by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., and launched over the past 25 years. The goal is to study the Sun-Earth connection by measuring solar irradiance, the Sun's energy that reaches our planet.
Scientists use data from the instruments to learn how solar energy affects Earth's winds, heats the land, and drives ocean currents, all of which affect Earth's weather and climate. The data help researchers create global climate models and study solar physics.
Image Credit: NASA
