How a Squad of Small Satellites Will Help NASA Study Storms

  • Released Thursday, July 1, 2021
View full credits

Complete transcript available.

Universal Production Music: Patisserie Pressure by Benjamin James Parsons [PRS]

This video can be freely shared and downloaded. While the video in its entirety can be shared without permission, some individual imagery is provided by pond5.com and is obtained through permission and may not be excised or remixed in other products. Specific details on stock footage may be found here. For more information on NASA’s media guidelines, visit https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/guidelines/index.html.

Hurricanes are some of the most powerful and destructive weather events on Earth. To help study these powerful storms, NASA is launching TROPICS (Time-Resolved Observations of Precipitation structure and storm Intensity with a Constellation of Smallsats), a collection of 6 small satellites designed to measure storm strength by detecting the thermal radiation naturally emitted by the oxygen and water vapor in the air. In June 2021, NASA launched a test version of the satellite, called a pathfinder, ahead of the constellation of six weather satellites planned for launch in 2022. When launched, the TROPICS satellites will work together to provide near-hourly microwave observations of a storm's precipitation, temperature, and humidity. The mission is expected to help scientists understand the factors driving tropical cyclone intensification and to improve forecasting models.

For More Information

See NASA.gov

Credits

Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

This page was originally published on Thursday, July 1, 2021.
This page was last updated on Wednesday, May 3, 2023 at 1:44 PM EDT.

Series

This visualization can be found in the following series: