Forecast - Blog Posts

Earth: Your Home, Our Mission

We pioneer and support an amazing range of advanced technologies and tools to help us better understand our home planet, the solar system and far beyond.

Here are 5 ways our tech improves life here on Earth...

1. Eyes in the Sky Spot Fires on the Ground

Our Earth observing satellites enable conservation groups to spot and monitor fires across vast rainforests, helping them protect our planet on Earth Day and every day.

2. Helping Tractors Drive Themselves

There has been a lot of talk about self-driving cars, but farmers have already been making good use of self-driving tractors for more than a decade - due in part to a partnership between John Deere and our Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Growing food sustainably requires smart technology - our GPS correction algorithms help self-driving tractors steer with precision, cutting down on water and fertilizer waste. 

3. Turning Smartphones into Satellites

On Earth Day (and every day), we get nonstop "Earth selfies" thanks to Planet Labs' small satellites, inspired by smartphones and created by a team at our Ames Research Center. The high res imagery helps conservation efforts worldwide.

4. Early Flood Warnings

Monsoons, perhaps the least understood and most erratic weather pattern in the United States, bring rain vital to agriculture and ecosystems, but also threaten lives and property. Severe flash-flooding is common. Roads are washed out. Miles away from the cloudburst, dry gulches become raging torrents in seconds. The storms are often accompanied by driving winds, hail and barrages of lightning.

We are working to get better forecasting information to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Our satellites can track moisture in the air - helping forecasters provide an early warning of flash floods from monsoons.

5. Watching the World's Water

Around the world, agriculture is by far the biggest user of freshwater. Thanks in part to infrared imagery from Landsat, operated by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), we can now map, in real time, how much water a field is using, helping conserve that precious resource.

We use the vantage point of space to understand and explore our home planet, improve lives and safeguard our future. Our observations of Earth’s complex natural environment are critical to understanding how our planet’s natural resources and climate are changing now and could change in the future.

Join the celebration online by using #NASA4Earth. 

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Soaring through the skies! This view looks from the window of our F-18 support aircraft during a 2016 Orbital ATK air-launch of its Pegasus rocket. 

The CYGNSS mission, led by the University of Michigan, will use eight micro-satellite observatories to measure wind speeds over Earth’s oceans, increasing the ability of scientists to understand and predict hurricanes. 

CYGNSS launched at 8:37 a.m. EST on Thursday, Dec. 15, 2016 from our Kennedy Space Center in Florida. CYGNSS launched aboard an Orbital ATK Pegasus XL rocket, deployed from Orbital’s “Stargazer” L-1011 carrier aircraft.

Pegasus is a winged, three-stage solid propellant rocket that can launch a satellite into low Earth orbit. How does it work? Great question!

After takeoff, the aircraft (which looks like a commercial airplane..but with some special quirks) flies to about 39,000 feet over the ocean and releases the rocket. 

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com

GOES-R: The Future of Forecasting

What is GOES-R?

The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-R Series (GOES-R) is the nation’s next generation of geostationary weather satellites. It is the first of four satellites to be launched for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

The GOES-R satellite will provide advanced imaging with increased spatial resolution and faster coverage for more accurate forecasts, real-time mapping of lightning activity and improved monitoring of solar activity. For the first time, GOES-R will be able to monitor the Earth in near real-time.

Once in geostationary orbit (the orbit around the Earth’s equator), it will provide images of weather patterns and severe storms across the continental U.S. as regularly as every five minutes. Images of smaller, more detailed areas, where storm activity is present, will be taken as frequently as every 30 seconds.

These images can be used to aid in formulating regular forecasts, term forecasting, such as seasonal predictions and drought outlooks.

In addition, the satellite will constantly monitor space weather conditions, such as solar flares, to provide advance notice of potential communication and navigation disruptions.

The satellite will also assist researchers in understanding the interactions between land, oceans, the atmosphere and climate.

What will GOES-R Do?

Improve hurricane tracking and intensity forecasts

Increase thunderstorm and tornado warning lead time

Give earlier warning of ground lightning strike hazards

Improve detection of heavy rainfall and flash flooding risks

Improve air quality warnings and alerts

Give better fire detection and intensity estimation

Improve solar flare warnings for communications and navigation disruptions

Give more accurate monitoring of energetic particles responsible for radiation hazards to humans and spacecraft

Improve monitoring of space weather to get better geomagnetic storm forecasting.

The better we can predict what’s coming, the better we can prepare.

Launch Activities!

The GOES-R satellite is targeted for a launch on Saturday, Nov. 19, aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. 

The one-hour launch window opens at 5:42 p.m. EST. Liftoff will occur from our Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Join us leading up to launch by tuning in during the following times:

Thursday, Nov. 17 Prelaunch News Conference - 1 p.m. EST Watch HERE

GOES-R Mission Briefing - 2 p.m. EST Watch HERE

Friday, Nov. 18 GOES-R Social Presentations – 1:30 p.m. EST Watch HERE

Saturday, Nov. 19 NASA Edge Prelaunch Program – 3:45 p.m. EST Watch HERE

Launch Coverage & Commentary – 4:45 p.m. EST Watch HERE

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com