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    Category Environment/Geology

    How Does NASA Study Hurricanes?

    August 16, 2015, Categories  Astronomy/Space, Environment/Geology

    image of typhoon dolphin with data overlay

    MTSTAT and CloudSat imagery of Typhoon Dolphin. Credits: Natalie D. Tourville/Colorado State University

    The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Hurricane Center (NHC) use a variety of tools to predict these storms’ paths. These scientists need a wealth of data to accurately forecast hurricanes. NASA satellites, computer modeling, instruments, aircraft and field missions contribute to this mix of information to give scientists a better understanding of these storms.

    full-color image of hurricane katrina from satellite

    This visible image of Hurricane Katrina was taken on August 29 at 05:16 UTC (1:16 a.m. EDT) by the MODIS instrument that flies aboard NASA’s Aqua satellite as it approached landfall in Louisiana. Credits: NASA Goddard MODIS Rapid Response Team

    “Before we had satellites and aircraft, hurricanes woul...

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    NASA helps track the Wildfires

    August 14, 2015, Categories  Astronomy/Space, Environment/Geology, Technology/Electronics

    Brushfire

    Wildfires in the United States burn an average of 7.3 million acres of land each year. The annual cost of fire suppression nationwide has averaged nearly $1 billion since 1984, but in six of the past 10 years the cost has approached $2 billion a year. Large catastrophic wildfires have become commonplace, especially in association with extended drought and extreme weather. The demand for timely, high-quality fire information has increased and peaks each summer when interagency fire operations respond to numerous, simultaneous major fires. Credit: NASA

    Our handle on these wildfires is improving as a result of a new satellite-based tool developed by researchers at the University of Maryland with support from the NASA Applied Sciences Program and NOAA...
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    Space Farming Yields a Crop of Benefits for Earth

    August 11, 2015, Categories  Astronomy/Space, Biology/Biotechnology, Environment/Geology

    Air Cleaner

    NASA air purification technology, originally designed for plant-growing experiments on the space station, has been licensed and turned into a consumer device that keeps household air cleaner and healthier. Credits: Akida Holdings Inc.

    The red romaine lettuce is far from the first crop grown on a space station. For decades, NASA etc have experimented with plants in space, but the results were always sent to Earth for examination, rather than eaten. A number of technologies NASA has explored have found their way onto the market.

    Orbital Technologies (ORBITEC) partnered with Kennedy Space Center to develop the plant growth system: Veggie, that produced this most recent crop of lettuce, as well as its predecessor, Biomass Production System...

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    Recalibrated Sunspot History shows Rising Global Temperature since Industrial revolution not due to Solar Activity

    August 9, 2015, Categories  Environment/Geology

    A drawing of the Sun made by Galileo Galilei on 23 June 1613 showing the positions and sizes of a number of sunspots. Galileo was one of the first to observe and document sunspots. Credit: The Galileo Project/M. Kornmesser

    A drawing of the Sun made by Galileo Galilei on 23 June 1613 showing the positions and sizes of a number of sunspots. Galileo was one of the first to observe and document sunspots. Credit: The Galileo Project/M. Kornmesser

    The Sunspot Number is a crucial tool used to study the solar dynamo, space weather and climate change. It has now been recalibrated and shows a consistent history of solar activity over the past few centuries. The new record has no significant long-term upward trend in solar activity since 1700, as was previously indicated.

    The Maunder Minimum, between 1645 and 1715, when sunspots were scarce and the winters harsh, strongly suggests a link between solar activity and climate change...

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