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introduction /
modis /
misr /
aster /
mopitt /
ceres /
conclusion
| Conclusion, Yoram Kaufman |
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In the 5 instrument presentations you saw a glimpse into the
multiple perspectives provided by the Terra instruments. You saw:
- MODIS' global daily view in 36 different wavelengths
- MISR's multi-angular perspective
- ASTER - Zooming on a given region with stereo observations
at multiple wavelengths
- MOPITT's first ever measurements of atmospheric carbon
monoxide; and
- CERES - Integrating the impact of the Earth processes that are
observed by the other instruments with measurements of the
total amount of radiant energy our planet releases back to space.
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Before I conclude, I wish to also demonstrate how these
instruments may be used together, synergistically, to examine
climatic and environmental phenomena in amazing detail. Consider
this image taken by an astronaut aboard the space shuttle over the
himalayan Mountains. To the north, you see clearly the Tibetan
plateau. To the south, you see the Indian subcontinent shrouded in
haze.
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The first image shows a MODIS true color image draped over
surface topography. In the next frame, we see a high concentration
of water vapor, or humidity, just south of the Himalayas. This
humidity contributes to the growth of dense vegetation, as indicated
by the darker greens in the true color image. The lush landscape
attracts people-about half a billion people reside here. The
most dense concentrations of population are indicated by the reds
and yellows in this map. In the next image, you can see how their
industries produce a thick layer of haze, or aerosol particles,
(brown pixels) as well as relatively high levels of carbon monoxide
(reds and yellows). Notice that these gases and aerosols are framed
by the topography Himalayas and are not allowed to spread
northward to the Tibetan plateau. These gases and aerosols alter
the way sunlight is reflected over this region.
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In the coming months and years, we shall communicate to you
periodically the new results from this exciting new mission. We
anticipate that Terra data will revolutionize our understanding of the Earth's climate system and help show the human impact. We shall
our findings publicly available on the Earth Observatory and Terra
web sites. Starting tomorrow, the data archive centers supporting
Terra will start releasing to the public some of the basic Terra data.
This is just the end of the beginning. I hope that you will enjoy
with us the ride of 6+ years of Terra observations and the other
EOS satellites soon to follow.
Thank you very much.
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introduction /
modis /
misr /
aster /
mopitt /
ceres /
conclusion
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