NASA has launched eight six-month field research projects in an effort to study the changes in the Earth’s sea, air and land resources.
The field studies will work to further understanding of the planet to complement NASA’s space-based Earth observation efforts, the space agency said Wednesday.
“Scientists worldwide use NASA Earth science field data together with satellite data and computer models to tackle many of today’s environmental challenges and advance our knowledge of how the Earth works as a complex, integrated system,” said Michael Freilich, director of NASA’s Earth science division.
The Oceans Melting Greenland research team has begun an aerial survey of the ice edge in Greenland to study how the oceans around the island affect the melting of the ice sheet’s edges underneath.
Members of the North Atlantic Aerosols and Marine Ecosystems Study team will begin in May to examine the association of the plankton bloom with the emergence of tiny organic particles that impact the movement of clouds and climate.
Other field research campaigns that NASA will launch in 2016 include the Korea U.S.-Air Quality project, Coral Reef Airborne Laboratory study, Arctic Boreal Vulnerability Experiment, Atmospheric Carbon and Transport – America research, Atmospheric Tomography mission and the Observations of Clouds above Aerosols and their Interactions study.
KORUS-AQ and ABoVE are part of the NASA Earth science division research program while ORACLES, ACT-America, ATom, CORAL, OMG and NAAMES are new Earth Venture suborbital projects.