Aerosols in the atmosphere—particles from things like dust, smoke, sea spray, and industrial activity—reflect sunlight and drive the formation of clouds, which can also temper global warming.
Karen St. Germain, who oversees all of NASA’s Earth science missions, said the influence of aerosols is the “biggest source of natural uncertainty in predicting climate change.” Last year was the hottest year on record, scientists announced last month. Data from PACE could close gaps in this area.
“In addition to the information PACE will provide that helps us understand long-term climate, PACE will also give us information about oceans and air quality that can help people today,” said Kate Calvin, NASA’s chief scientist and senior climate adviser.
For example, aside from PACE’s importance for climate research, the mission will monitor harmful algae blooms, such as red tides, and track concentrations of plankton feeding large fish populations. The mission could produce insights into how clouds form and the role this plays in sparking severe weather or hurricanes.
“I would think about it in a couple of different dimensions,” Calvin said of the PACE mission. “One is what it will observe both in ocean and atmosphere. There, in both cases, we’re looking at tiny things, so microscopic life in the oceans and tiny particles in the atmosphere.”
The second dimension is time, she said, with PACE capable of addressing day-to-day questions about phytoplankton and tiny aerosol particles in the atmosphere, while simultaneously monitoring how these factors change over several years.
St. Germain said the support of the broader science community was instrumental in saving PACE from the budget ax. “To maintain support for missions like PACE, that really depends on us getting the story out there about the kind of science we do and why that’s so important to communities at home and around the world,” she said.
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Aerosols in the atmosphere—particles from things like dust, smoke, sea spray, and industrial activity—reflect sunlight and drive the formation of clouds, which can also temper global warming.
Karen St. Germain, who oversees all of NASA’s Earth science missions, said the influence of aerosols is the “biggest source of natural uncertainty in predicting climate change.” Last year was the hottest year on record, scientists announced last month. Data from PACE could close gaps in this area.
“In addition to the information PACE will provide that helps us understand long-term climate, PACE will also give us information about oceans and air quality that can help people today,” said Kate Calvin, NASA’s chief scientist and senior climate adviser.
For example, aside from PACE’s importance for climate research, the mission will monitor harmful algae blooms, such as red tides, and track concentrations of plankton feeding large fish populations. The mission could produce insights into how clouds form and the role this plays in sparking severe weather or hurricanes.
“I would think about it in a couple of different dimensions,” Calvin said of the PACE mission. “One is what it will observe both in ocean and atmosphere. There, in both cases, we’re looking at tiny things, so microscopic life in the oceans and tiny particles in the atmosphere.”
The second dimension is time, she said, with PACE capable of addressing day-to-day questions about phytoplankton and tiny aerosol particles in the atmosphere, while simultaneously monitoring how these factors change over several years.
St. Germain said the support of the broader science community was instrumental in saving PACE from the budget ax. “To maintain support for missions like PACE, that really depends on us getting the story out there about the kind of science we do and why that’s so important to communities at home and around the world,” she said.