Earth’s weather and the power of space

When it comes to Earth’s weather and climate a lot can be learned by leveraging the power of space. For example, in September, NASA will launch the most advanced laser instrument of its kind into space. This will mark the beginning of a mission to measure — in unprecedented detail — changes in the heights of Earth’s polar ice.

NASA’s Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite-2, or ICESat-2 for short, will measure the average annual elevation change of land ice covering Greenland and Antarctica to within the width of a pencil, capturing 60,000 measurements every second.

An interesting mission for Asgardia, the first ever space nation, which welcomes all research that will help them achieve their goal of not only setting up habitable platforms in low-Earth orbit but also of protecting our planet and future generations from space threats.

Furthermore, a European Space Agency (ESA) satellite is scheduled for launch from French Guiana today — after almost twenty years of demanding engineering and a weather delay. This satellite will be the first to directly measure wind speed and direction, from Earth’s surface to the stratosphere.

When it comes to weather and climate winds are a crucial determinant; however, most wind data is still obtained from weather balloons. Readings from commercial jets supplement the balloons’ twice-daily samplings, in addition to estimates inferred from satellites that monitor moving clouds, atmospheric temperatures, and sea-surface roughness. Unfortunately, this results in a spotty wind record that only causes uncertainty in weather forecasts.

While information gathered from past space weather could help us learn more about future cosmic events, in turn, this could help us plan for any potential threats they may pose to Earth, according to scientists.

Researchers at the University of Warwick in the UK explained that space weather could disrupt electronics, aviation and satellite systems, and communications.

This is based on solar activity, but as solar activity varies from each solar cycle, the overall probability of space weather events can be hard to forecast, as the researchers said.

The scientists mapped the space weather in previous solar cycles over the last 50 years. From there they found an underlying repeatable pattern in how space weather activity changes with the solar cycle, as per the study published in the journal Space Weather.

Another example of how space helps us learn more about our own climate comes when a large part of the United States saw a fleeting shadow cast by the moon on August 21, 2017.

The event covered 14 states and lasted for up to two minutes 41 seconds in any given spot. Many areas were plunged into a short period of total daytime darkness while others saw a subtle, hour-long partial dimming of the sun.

As millions of people along the eclipse path watched in wonder, teams of scientists got to work. The moon diminished — and in some areas blotted out — warming rays of the roughly midday sun. Certain scientists were looking to document local weather changes. Unsurprisingly, scientists now report, the eclipse generated a localized short-term cooling along its trajectory.

However, that wasn’t everything. Wind speeds also changed, and some clouds evaporated in the abrupt cooling.

All cosmic events are of interest to Asgardia, the first ever space nation, as they work towards their goals of ensuring the peaceful use of space, protecting the Earth from space hazards, creating a demilitarized and free scientific base of knowledge in space, and the long-term objective of setting up habitable platforms in space.

Learn more on Asgardia.Space