Atmospheric scientists take to the skies again

The Wisconsin Snow and Cloud-Terra 2000 experiment will take place Feb. 25-Mar. 13, based at Madison’s Truax Field.

The experiment is the third in a series sponsored by the Space Science and Engineering Center.

Like experiments in 1997 and 1999, the latest project will bring to Madison NASA’s ER-2, a high-altitude research plane that acts as a platform for developing and proving new scientific instruments used on satellites.

Scientists will use the ER-2 instrument measurements to validate science products from NASA’s new earth observing satellite Terra, which began its five-year mission following its launch into orbit Dec. 18.

SSEC helped develop the Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), one of five instruments on Terra. MODIS is making global measurements of clouds, ocean, land, and atmospheric properties in an effort to monitor and predict global climate change.

During the experiment, SSEC will work closely with NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, which will collect and distribute the MODIS data and science products.

The ER-2 will fly over the Upper Midwest and Oklahoma, coordinating ER-2 measurements with data from the Department of Energy’s CART site in Oklahoma, where scientists will be engaged in a complementary cloud experiment at about the same time as the Wisconsin experiment.