1 There are currently 5 satellites in the “A-Train”: Aqua, CloudSat, CALIPSO, PARASOL, and Aura. OCO and Glory missions will launch in January and June 2009, respectively The Afternoon Constellation (A-Train) 01_Kelly_MOWG_Rev.ppt – page 6 MissionMLT Aqua01:37:24 CloudSat01:46:13 CALIPSO01:46:24 PARASOL01:36:22 Aura01:46:00 As of October 22, 2008

Afternoon Constellation Evolution akelly_trainstatus2.ppt – page 4

3 Afternoon Constellation Evolution Aura and PARASOL joined in 2004 akelly_trainstatus2.ppt – page 5

4 CloudSat and CALIPSO joined in 2006 Afternoon Constellation Evolution akelly_trainstatus2.ppt – page 6

5 Glory and OCO to be launched in late 2008 Afternoon Constellation Evolution akelly_trainstatus2.ppt – page 7

6 The Afternoon Constellation MODIS/ CERES IR Properties of Clouds AIRS Temperature and H 2 O Sounding OCO - CO2 Aqua 1:30 PM PARASOL Aura OMI - Cloud heights OMI & HIRLDS – Aerosols MLS& TES - H 2 O & temp profiles MLS & HIRDLS – Cirrus clouds 1:38 PM OCO 1:15 PM Glory VIIRS - Clouds & Aerosols CrIS/ATMS- Temperature and H 2 O Sounding OMPS - Ozone NPP CALIPSO- Aerosol and cloud heights Cloudsat - cloud droplets PARASOL - aerosol and cloud polarization CALIPSO Cloudsat pres_frascati_new_missions_gleason.ppt – page 2

7 Morning and Afternoon Constellations SAC-C EO-1 Terra Landsat In contrast, the Earth Science Constellation satellites orbit in close proximity so that observations occur at about the same time over approximately the same region. Due to the relative closeness of the satellites (as small as 10 seconds), safety is an issue. Most constellations are spaced around the Earth to provide instantaneous, global coverage (e.g., GPS, communications, satellite radio, weather). GPS Constellation Earth Observing Constellations Unique Challenges ppt – page 11

8 Earth Observing Constellations Why Fly Constellations? Constellations provide the opportunity to make coincident, co-registered, and nearly simultaneous science measurements from a range of instruments. – The satellites are aligned in their orbital positions so their instrument fields of views overlap. – Earth science data from one satellite’s instrument can be correlated with data from another. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts The Earth science community has long advocated placing numerous instruments in space to study the Earth and its environment. akelly_trainstatus2.ppt – page 3

km AIRS IR; AMSU & HSB  wave Washington DC USGS Map 5.3 x 8.5 km TES 0.09 km CALIPSO 0.5 km MODIS Band km Cloudsat OCO 1x1.5 km The Afternoon Constellation observational “footprints” vary greatly 2.3 km AIRS  ppt – page 10 & A-train3.ppt – page 9 6x7 km POLDER

10 Now for a closer look akelly_trainstatus2.ppt – page 6 First up, Aqua …

11 Purpose Investigates the Earth's water cycle, including evaporation from the oceans, water vapor in the atmosphere, clouds, precipitation, soil moisture, sea ice, land ice, and snow cover on the land and ice. Instruments AIRS: Atmospheric Infrared Sounder – Obtains highly accurate temperature profiles within the atmosphere AMSU-A: Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit – Obtains temperature profiles in the upper atmosphere (especially the stratosphere) and provides a cloud-filtering capability for tropospheric temperature observations HSB: Humidity Sounder for Brazil – 4-channel microwave sounder aimed at obtaining humidity profiles throughout the atmosphere. AMSR-E: Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for EOS – Uses a twelve-channel, six- frequency, microwave radiometer system to measures precipitation rate, cloud water, water vapor, sea surface winds, sea surface temperature, ice, snow, and soil moisture MODIS: Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer – Similar to Terra CERES: Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System – Similar to Terra EOS Aqua akelly_trainstatus2.ppt – page 11

12 Instrumental Background : MODIS – NASA, Terra & Aqua launched 1999, km polar orbits, descending (10:30 a.m.) & ascending (1:30 p.m.) – Sensor Characteristics 36 spectral bands ranging from 0.41 to µm cross-track scan mirror with 2330 km swath width Spatial resolutions: – 250 m (bands 1 - 2) – 500 m (bands 3 - 7) – 1000 m (bands ) 2% reflectance calibration accuracy onboard solar diffuser & solar diffuser stability monitor AMS2006_Riedi_et_al.ppt – page 3

13 GEYSER, CA A fast-moving wildfire burned in northern California’s Sonoma wine country on Friday, September 3, It rapidly grew to several thousand acres, threatening homes and vineyards. Smoke billowed out over the Pacific Ocean for nearly 200 miles. MODIS_FireImages.ppt – page 3

14 Now for a closer look akelly_trainstatus2.ppt – page 6 Next up, Aura …

15 Purpose Researches the composition, chemistry, and dynamics of the Earth’s atmosphere as well as study the ozone, air quality, and climate. Instruments HIRDLS: High Resolution Dynamics Limb Sounder – Observes global distribution of temperature and composition of the upper troposphere, stratosphere, and mesosphere MLS: Microwave Limb Sounder – Uses microwave emission to measure stratospheric temperature and upper tropospheric constituents OMI : Ozone Monitoring Instrument – Distinguishes between aerosol types, such as smoke, dust, and sulfates. Measure cloud pressure and coverage, which provide data to derive tropospheric ozone. TES: Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer – High-resolution infrared-imaging Fourier transform spectrometer that offers a line-width-limited discrimination of essentially all radiatively active molecular species in the Earth's lower atmosphere. EOS Aura akelly_trainstatus2.ppt – page 12

16 At the request of the Aura Project Scientist, Aura was moved from its current location (15 minutes behind Aqua) to ~ 8 minutes behind Aqua—completed on May 8, 2008 Aura is now on a different ground track than Aqua (+18 kilometer (East) offset of Aqua’s WRS-2 path) to enable MLS/CloudSat viewing goal Aura FOT is maintaining the Control Box to ±10 km (±20 km requirement) Aura Rephasing (1 of 2) A-Train Control Box Configuration 01_Kelly_MOWG_Rev.ppt – page 7

17 Ground track (WRS Paths) Equator CloudSat ground track Orbit Plane MLTAN – 13:35 13:44 Aqua PARASOL MLS AIRS +/- 825 km MODIS +/ km OMI +/ km N MLS Limb track Aura CloudSat CALIPSO Aura MLS now sees the same air mass as CloudSat and CALIPSO ~7 min 10 sec 8 min 7 min Aura Rephasing (2 of 2) 01_Kelly_MOWG_Rev.ppt – page 8

18 Aura Fuel Usage: (Actual & Predicted) Fall 2006 Delta-i Maneuvers Fall 2004 Delta-i Maneuvers Spring 2007 Delta-i Maneuvers Spring 2009 Delta-i Maneuvers Annual Delta-i Maneuvers 02_Guit_SpacecraftStatus.ppt – page 15

19 Now for a closer look akelly_trainstatus2.ppt – page 6 Next PARASOL …

20 PARASOL Instrument POLDER: Improve the microphysical and radiative property characterization of clouds and aerosols for model improvement. Source: CNES akelly_trainstatus2.ppt – page 13 Purpose Studies the role of clouds and aerosols using Polarization and Anisotropy of Reflectances for Atmospheric Science coupled with Observations from a LIDAR.

21 Instrumental Background : POLDER – CNES/LOA instrument, Parasol launched 2005 ~ 705 km polar orbits, ascending (13:30 a.m.) – Sensor Characteristics 10 spectral bands ranging from to µm 3 polarised channels Wide FOV CCD Camera with 1800 km swath width +/- 43 degrees cross track +/- 51degrees along track Multidirectionnal observations (up to 16 directions) Spatial resolution : 6x7 km No onboard calibration system - Inflight vicarious calibration : – 2-3% absolute calibration accuracy – 1% interband – 0.1% interpixel over clouds AMS2006_Riedi_et_al.ppt – page 4

22 Now for a closer look akelly_trainstatus2.ppt – page 6 Next CloudSat and CALIPSO …

23 d314_calipso-cloudsat.pdf – page 7 Delta II 7420 Launch Vehicle – 10 ft Fairing

km Aqua CALIPSO-CloudSat Coordinated Ascent Overview CALIPSO CloudSat 690 km Preliminary Burns Orbit Raises 1 Orbit Raises 2 PARASOL ppt – page 17 Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations Final Trim

25 CloudSat Cloud Profiling Radar akelly_trainstatus2.ppt – page 14 Purpose Will advance our understanding of cloud abundance, distribution, structure, and radiative properties. First satellite-based millimeter- wavelength cloud radar 1000 times more sensitive than existing ground weather radars Able to detect the much smaller particles of liquid water and ice (ground-based weather radars use centimeter wavelengths) Instrument Cloud Profiling Radar (CPR) instrument, a 94-GHz nadir-looking radar. Measures the power backscattered by clouds as a function of distance from the radar. Developed jointly by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA).

26 CALIPSO akelly_trainstatus2.ppt – page 15 Instruments Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP): Two wavelength polarization-sensitive Lidar that provides high-resolution vertical profiles of aerosols and clouds Wide Field Camera (WFC): Fixed, nadir-viewing imager with a single spectral channel covering the nm region Imaging Infrared Radiometer (IIR): Nadir-viewing, non-scanning imager Purpose Determine the distribution of aerosols and thin clouds around the world and will help scientists develop never- before-seen views of Earth’s atmospheric structure and behavior

27 akelly_trainstatus2.ppt – page 7 Now for a closer look Final two, OCO and Glory …

28 Future Missions Two more missions are set to join the A-Train after they launch in late 2008: The Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO) will –Provide space-based observations of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2), the principal human- initiated driver of climate change. The Glory mission will –Collect data on the chemical, microphysical, and optical properties, and spatial and temporal distributions of aerosols, and –Continue collection of total solar irradiance data for the long-term climate record. Glory OCO akelly_trainstatus2.ppt – page 16

29 The Afternoon Constellation Is an International Undertaking akelly_trainstatus2.ppt – page 9

30 Principal Investigators/Project Scientists and International Partners for Constellation Missions akelly_trainstatus2.ppt – page 10

31 Backup Charts

32 Morning and Afternoon Constellation Phasing Tracking Station Key: AGS – Alaska Ground Station SGS – Svalbard Ground Station LGS – Landsat Ground Station TDRSW – TDRS-WEST (geo-synchronous) kelly_613_409_final.ppt – page 7

33 Earth Science Morning Constellation SAC-C is staying 2 km above Landsat-7 & Terra MissionMLT Terra10:30:03 EO-109:59:56 Landsat-710:01:03 SAC-C08:14:41 Original Morning Constellation configuration EO-1 is currently 15 km below Landsat-7 & Terra Operating on a 2-year extension through 2009 Has enough propellant to last through 2011 Terra and LandSat-7 are continuing operations at 705 km. 01_Kelly_MOWG_Rev.ppt – page 20

34 Debris Avoidance On average, one object comes close Within 5 km of each constellation mission each day Within 2 km of each constellation mission once or twice a week. ESMO has a task with the DOD’s Joint Space Operations Center (JSpOC) to screen all A-Train and Morning Constellation missions to ensure their safety. A number of missions are in a 705 km sun-synchronous polar orbit. 55 other objects reside in orbits with mean altitudes of 705 +/- 5 km, including, A-Train missions, Terra, EO-1, Landsat-5 and -7, and six Iridium satellites. More than 1500 cataloged objects pass through this regime each day. 01_Kelly_MOWG_Rev.ppt – page 22

35 Aura performed a 2-second burn on June 26, 2008 to avoid a piece of well-tracked debris from a U.S. satellite. CloudSat performed two small maneuvers on July 20 and 22, 2008 to avoid debris from a Delta I LV. PARASOL performed an early drag make-up maneuver on October 20, 2008 to avoid a space object. PARASOL is planning a possible avoidance maneuver on October 27 Terra is evaluating a debris avoidance maneuver this week Debris Avoidance Maneuvers During June 2007 – July _Kelly_MOWG_Rev.ppt – page 23

36 INDOCHINA Image captured on March 10, 2006 from the MODIS instrument on the Aqua satellite. Widespread fires throughout Myanmar (Burma), Thailand and Laos.

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38 Afternoon Constellation Control Center Coordination kelly_613_409_final.ppt – page 15