Terra Data Sampler #1 - Terra

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Terra (EOS AM-1) Mission

The Terra satellite is the flagship of Earth Observing System (EOS). It will provide global data on the state of the atmosphere, land, and oceans, as well as their interactions with solar radiation and with one another. The EOS is the centerpiece of NASA's Earth Science Enterprise (ESE).

Terra, formerly known as EOS AM-1, was launched 16 December 1999. The instruments on Terra will observe and measure the state of the Earth system, while also monitoring global environmental changes over time. Terra carries five state-of-the-art instruments uniquely designed to provide data with unprecedented precision, quality, and scope. Data from these instruments will be processed into continuous long-term measures of the state of the atmosphere, land, and oceans. The five instruments include:

Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER), which obtains high-resolution images at 14 visible (VIS) and infrared (IR) wavelengths

Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES), which measures the radiation budget and provides cloud property estimates

Multi-angle Imaging Spectro-Radiometer (MISR), which contains nine cameras imaging at four wavelengths (VIS and IR)

Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), which observes in 36 spectral bands (VIS and IR)

Measurements of Pollution in the Troposphere (MOPITT), which observes carbon monoxide and methane gases in three spectral bands using gas correlation spectroscopy.

On February 24, 2000, Terra began collecting what will ultimately become a new 15-year global data set on which to base scientific investigations about our complex home planet. The instruments on Terra (ASTER, CERES, MISR, MODIS and MOPITT) complement each other with different views of the Earth's surface and atmosphere. The instruments are intended to obtain information about:

the physical and radiative properties of clouds

air-land and air-sea exchanges of energy, carbon, and water

measurements of important trace gases

volcanology.

The use of Terra's instrument observations of terrestrial surface features at minimum cloud cover over land will help in understanding global climate changes of the Earth as a system.

The EOS Project Science Office (EOSPSO) is committed to helping bring program information and resources to program scientists and the general public alike.

Terra Web Sites

NASA's Terra: http://terra.nasa.gov/
Terra home page: http://eos-am.gsfc.nasa.gov/
The Earth Observatory: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/

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