You may have heard the
saying, "If you don't like the weather, just wait five minutes
and it'll change." Some regions experience dramatic changes
of weather, on a moment's notice, when air masses move across
the area, or clash. Other regions have little variation in weather.
And, two cities located hundreds of miles apart may experience
similar weather on a given day even though their climate norms
are generally quite different.
We
know that climate is determined by local geography and, most
importantly, latitude (degrees north or south of the equator,
which is located at zero degrees). And, we know that the seasonal
changes in climate are caused by the Earth's orbit around the
sun and the tilt of each of the two hemispheres. However, what is
"weather?"
"Weather"
is what is happening in the atmosphere at a particular place
during a particular moment in time. On the other hand, when
we refer to "climate" we mean the average weather in a particular
area over a period of time. Increasing our knowledge of the
atmosphere (and therefore, weather) is important because it
is what makes life possible on Earth.
To
better understand Earth's weather, scientists study the troposphere,
the atmospheric layer (there are five layers) that touches
the Earth and extends about six miles up. Most of our weather
occurs in this layer where air currents swirl and flow. NASA
has been studying the troposphere for many years. Its successful
missions have returned thousands of images and extensive data
that have greatly benefited our study of atmospheric chemistry.
A successful GIFTS mission will vastly improve atmospheric
data gathering techniques with its advanced, high resolution
imaging and sensing technologies.
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These
advanced weather characterization and analysis techniques will
significantly improve climate modeling mathematical representations
of how different variables affect the Earth's climate. Currently,
weather forecasts are formulated from these computerized numerical
models' "best-guesses" about conditions in the atmosphere. Predicting
storms, for instance, can be very complicated due to the changing
variables in the atmosphere, such as the amount of water vapor,
the temperature, or the direction of the winds. Although we
have learned to rely on our local weatherman's (or woman's)
daily forecast, it is not surprising that what they tell us
is sometimes different from the weather that actually occurs.
The primary purpose of the GIFTS-IOMI mission is to test
advanced technologies in orbit around the Earth. But, as a
"byproduct" of demonstrating and validating the onboard technologies,
the GIFTS instrument will return scientific data: atmospheric
temperature, water vapor (moisture), wind direction, cloud
radiance, and chemical composition. The GIFTS instrument will
take high-resolution measurements over time in space and transmit
them to Earth via high-speed signal. GIFTS' breakthrough technologies
will provide in-depth, up-to-the-minute information that could
revolutionize weather forecasting.
