MEIDEX – MEDITERRANEAN ISRAELI DUST EXPERIMENT FOR THE FIRST ISRAELI ASTRONAUT FLIGHT An experiment on board the shuttle within the Hitchhiker program Under an agreement between NASA and ISA (Israeli Space Agency)

WHY STUDY DUST STORMS? Desert dust particles are a major component of natural aerosols in the atmosphere They may help to cool or warm the atmosphere depending on their size and chemical composition They affect clouds and precipitation They are in the right particle size to affect our health being deposited in the lungs They affect mechanical systems (e.g. jet engines, helicopters etc.) They reduce the contrast in remote sensing measurements They affect biological activity in the Ocean

Desert dust particles Dust storm over the Dead Sea Dust in Sahara – view from space Desert dust in Tel Aviv

Non-Absorbing Aerosols in the Atmosphere Major sources and transport routes of the desert dust

The Effects of Dust Particles on Climate They affect climate by changing the dolar albedo – direct effect They affect climate by modifying cloud characteristics – indirect effect They affect rainfall amounts and intensities (dust + sulfate + organic matter)

Other Existing Experiments for Measuring Dust Aerosols MODIS – instrument aboard TERRA satellite – was launched in January 2000 TOMS - aboard Earth Probe satellite – uses UV wavelengths – mostly sensitive to dust at higher altitudes

MEIDEX Science Team Principal Investigators: Prof. Zev Levin Prof. Joachim Joseph Astronauts: Col. Ilan Ramon Lt-Col. Itzhak Mayo Team members: Dr. Adam Devir Dr. Eliezer Ganor Prof. Peter Israelevich Mr. Edmund Klodzh Prof. Yuri Mekler Mr. Meir Moalem Dr. Yoram Noter Mr. David Shtivelman Mr. Amit Teller Dr. Yoav Yair – Project Manager The team consists of scientists from different disciplines: Remote sensing of the atmosphere Radiative transfer Aerosol measurements and analysis Modeling of atmospheric processes Instrumentation for remote sensing and for airborne aerosol sampling

SCIENTIFIC OBJECTIVES DAYTIME PRIMARY EXPERIMENTS : Validate TOMS versus MODIS Sources, Transport, Sinks and Properties of Desert Aerosol over the Mediterranean and Atlantic Ocean Absolute calibration by ground and airborne measurements DAYTIME SECONDARY EXPERIMENTS: Spectral Sea Surface BRDF with emphasis on UV Construct Visual Slant Visibility Model NIGHT TIME EXPERIMENT (TERTIARY): Sprites, Elves and other related phenomena

The Regions of Interest Preferred Seasons: The best season is Spring (March to May) – we are scheduled to fly in spring 2001 The secondary choice is the Fall (September to November)

STS-107 “Space Lab”- 33 Experiments Fast Reaction Experiment Enabling Science, Technology Applications & Research - FREESTAR Primary Experiment: MEIDEX Launch: April 4, 2002

MEIDEX on Xybion IMC- 201 radiometric CCD camera CCD Sensor: 756Hx581V Sensitivity ≥10 -6 fc (~ 0.1 of typical night sky) Spectral range: nm 6 bands: 0.34, 0.38, 0.44, 0.56, 0.66, 0.86 nm Exposure Times: 50 nsec - 4 msec in 50 nsec steps WFOV SEKAI White Light video camera

MEIDEX Optical Bench Mount Cameras are mounted in a 1-axis gimbaled truss Gimbal angular range: ± 22.5 Degrees Scan direction: ± Y FOV Xybion: 16 o (68km at the altitude 256km - about 100m/pixel nominal resolution) FOV SEKAI: 60 o (270 km at the altitude 256 km)

Xybion camera Upper End Plate w/ Quartz Window Gimbal Motor & Worm Drive Worm Gear SEKAI WFOV Camera Lower End Plate Lens & Baffle Xybion Camera Avionics Mount Plate w/ electronics OVERALL MEIDEX CONFIGURATION

1.Wing mounted optical spectrometers (0.1 to 3  m, and 0.3 to 47  m) 2.Isokinetic sampling of aerosol particles on filtered and on EM grids 3.Ram collection of large (>2.5  m) aerosols 4.Two albedometers 5.GPS 6.Temperature sensors Airborne Measurements Flight base: Crete, or Sardinia, or Tenerife Radius: 500 miles

FORECAST Dust Forecast with the TAU_ETA model and TOMS observations for April 23, 2001

SLANT VISIBILITY “VISIBILITY”: Ability of Human Eye to see a reflecting object through a scattering, absorbing and turbulent atmosphere. Depends on Complex Interaction of Multiple Component System: Contrast Threshold of Human Eye, Inherent Spectral Contrast of the Object versus its Background, Atmospheric Spectral Extinction (x,y,h), Atmospheric Turbulence (x,y,h), Geometric Slant Path. IMPOSSIBLE TO CONSTRUCT RELIABLE MODEL BY INFORMATION TRANSFER FROM NON - HUMAN SYSTEMS. Our Experiment: Observation of designated targets along the shuttle footprint as a function of time on a “Yes/No” Basis. Correlation between KNOWN Optical Properties of the Atmosphere and the SUBJECTIVE Detection Capability of the Astronaut’s Eye.

Observations of Sprites Sprite observation by XYBION camera will be carried our over South America and the Tropics (crucial role of the Astronaut) Simultaneous ground observa- tions will be carried out by teams from MIT and from Brazil Measurements of VLF waves (in particular Schumann resonances) from TAU Mitzpe Ramon station will be correlated with the space and ground observations

The MEIDEX Data Acquisition Scheme

OPS ORG & DATA FLOW Surface Obs. AERONET,(GSFC) Huelga, Spain Ilurin, Nigeria Forecast Data NEPC (NOAA) Airport Authority (BG Airport) IAF/MET FORECAST CENTER (TAU) Airport Crew Plane in Flight Dust Sat Obs TOMS SEAWIFS MODIS (GSFC) JSC(Houston) Shuttle POCC (GSFC)

Dr. Y. Kaufman and Staff, GSFC - DA’s, Analysis Dr. B. Holben and Staff, GSFC - AERONET Dr. E. Hilsenrath and Staff, GSFC - –Instrument Optical Properties, Calibrations. Dr. D. Tanre, U. Lille, France - DA’s, CIMEL’s, 6s Dr. Eric Vermote, UMD, US - Changes in 6s Dr. R. Pinker, UMD, US - Calibrations in Nigeria Dr. Victoria Cachorro, U.Valladolid - Calibration Site Prof. P. Alpert, Dr. S. Krichak, Dr. M. Tsidulko, H. Shafir, TAU, Dr. B. Ziv, OU - Dust Forecast Dr. Colin Price, TAU, Prof. Earle Williams, MIT & Many Others - Sprites & Related Measurements. Scientific Cooperation