Twin Climate Satellites From NASA’s JPL Set To Launch To Study Earth’s Poles, Measure Our Planet’s Energy Balance

For several years, scientists have been puzzled as to how the behavior of clouds and water vapor in the polar regions of the Earth influences our global climate. Now, this question might finally be answered with the help of a pair of new shoebox-size satellites from NASA.

Role of Clouds in Climate Modeling

In the tropics, our planet absorbs a lot of energy from the sun. This energy is transported towards the poles by weather and ocean currents. Meanwhile, snow, ice, and clouds release some of that heat into space in the form of far-infrared radiation.

The difference between the amount of energy absorbed at the tropics and that released from the poles is considered as a key factor on the temperature of the planet. This means that it can also help drive dynamic systems of weather and climate. Water vapor and clouds can trap far-infrared radiation on our planet, leading to rising global temperatures as part of the greenhouse effect.

Clouds and water vapor in the polar region are like windows on a summer day. A clear, dry day in the Arctic is like opening a window to let heat out of a room, while a cloudy, humid day traps heat like a closed window.

The types of clouds and the altitude at which they develop affect the amount of heat retained by the polar atmosphere. Low-altitude clouds composed of water droplets have some cooling effects. High-altitude clouds made of ice particles absorb heat more readily and generate a warming effect. Meanwhile, mid-altitude clouds have changing water-droplet and ice-particle contents, so they can have either a cooling or warming effect.

While the cooling and warming effects of clouds are already known, they are actually notoriously difficult to study. This is because they are made of microscopic particles that can move and vary in just a matter of seconds to hours.

During precipitation, there is a great reshuffling of energy and water which can entirely alter the characteristics of clouds. These ever-changing factors make it difficult to capture cloud behavior in climate models which try to visualize climate scenarios on a global scale.

Twin Satellites on a Polar Journey

To address this challenge, NASA established the Polar Radiant Energy in the Far-Infrared Experiment (PREFIRE) mission, which aims to measure the amount of heat emitted by the Earth into space from the polar regions. Data from PREFIRE will be used to improve computer models used by researchers to predict the changes in the weather, seas, and ice on Earth.

Scientists have never systematically measured far-infrared emissions at the north and south poles, and this is where PREFIRE comes in. It will help researchers gain a better understanding of far-infrared radiation emissions from polar regions.

Climate models representing clouds show inconsistencies, which can mean the difference between predicting warming up to 5 or 10 degrees Fahrenheit (3 or 6 degrees Celsius). NASA aims to reduce that uncertainty with the PREFIRE mission.

On May 25, the first CubeSat in NASA's PREFIRE mission was launched from New Zealand. The second PREFIRE CubeSat is scheduled for liftoff on June 1 at 3 p.m. NZST.