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The Earth Observer July - August 2012 Volume 24, Issue 4 03
May 18. SHIZUKU successfully executed a series of
orbit control maneuvers required to position itself in
its control box “at the front” of the A-Train—i.e., it is
now positioned in front of Aqua, making it the lead
satellite in the constellation 2 . As reported in our last issue,
CloudSat successfully returned to the A-Train orbit
(705 km) on May 15, 2012 3 .
On July 3, the antenna rotation on the Advanced
Microwave Scanning Radiometer 2 (AMSR2), on
SHIZUKU, was increased from a rate of 11 rpm to 40
rpm—matching the rate at which AMSR-E on Aqua
2
SHIZUKU will “lead” the A-Train until the second Orbiting
Carbon Observatory (OCO-2) joins the constellation,
which is currently scheduled for launch in late 2014.
3
In the Editorial of our May–June issue of The Earth Observer,
we reported that the A-Train is back to five satellites
for the first time since PARASOL was lowered in December
2009 [Volume 24, Issue 3, p. 3.] This distinction applies to
the main A-Train constellation. However, PARASOL is located
9.5 km below the main A-Train constellation and still
considered “part of the A-Train” until it makes its final exit
in Fall 2013.
had rotated when it was fully operational—and the
first images were obtained 4 . JAXA plans to continue
the initial functional verification of AMSR2 for the
next month or so. Meanwhile, a meeting with JAXA
at GSFC is scheduled for mid-July to discuss low rpm
spin-up plans for the AMSR-E antenna (referred to as
Stage 2 recovery) 5 .
For the twelfth consecutive year, NASA’s Earth Observing
System Project Science Office (EOSPSO)
sponsored an Odyssey of the Mind long-term creative
problem. This year’s event was held May 23-26 at Iowa
State University. There were more than 110 teams
participating in the NASA-sponsored challenge. To find
out who won top honors in their division and to learn
about other NASA activities that took place during the
event, turn to page 12 of this issue. ••
4
Please visit: www.jaxa.jp/press/2012/07/20120704_shizuku_e.
html to learn more and view the images.
5
See the Editorial of the March-April 2012 issue of The Earth
Observer to learn more [Volume 24, Issue 2, p. 2.]
editor's corner
June 28, 2012 June 30, 2012
philadelphia
philadelphia
clouds
baltimore
baltimore
Washington, dc
Washington, dc
Derecho Dims the Lights. On the afternoon and evening of June 29, 2012, an intense, long-lived, bow-shaped line of thunderstorms—called
a derecho, the Spanish word for “straight”—formed in a hot, humid air mass and raced southeastward along a
stationary front from the Upper Midwest to the Mid-Atlantic coast. At its peak, the squall line stretched for hundreds of miles,
and produced storms with heavy rain, vivid lightning, and a brief but intense burst of near-hurricane-force winds—clocked at
upwards of 60 mph (~96.5 kph). The storms left snapped branches, toppled trees, and downed powerlines in their wake. As a result,
22 people were killed, and 4.3 million homes in were plunged into darkness—in many cases the power was not restored for
several days.
So widespread were the power outages that the change in light level could be detected from space. This image pair focuses on the
Baltimore, MD–Washington, DC area. The images were taken with the day/night band of the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer
Suite (VIIRS) onboard the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Suomi NPP) satellite before, June 28 [left], and after,
June 30, [right] the storms.
While clouds obscure the lights of Philadelphia, PA, and other areas north and east of Baltimore in the “after” image, significant
changes in light intensity can be seen in the remainder of the image, particularly north and west of Washington, DC, along the
270 and 66 interstate highways and Maryland route 267.
Image Credit: Jesse Allen and Robert Simmon, NASA Earth Observatory
Suomi NPP is the result of a partnership between NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the Department
of Defense.