Tabatha Thompson/Grey Hautaluoma
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-3895/0668
John Leslie
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Silver Spring, Md.
301-713-1265
RELEASE: 07-85
NOAA, NASA RESTORE CLIMATE SENSOR TO UPCOMING NPP SATELLITE
WASHINGTON - NASA and NOAA Wednesday announced a plan to restore a key
ozone layer climate sensor to the National Polar-orbiting Operational
Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) program. The Ozone Mapping
and Profiler Suite (OMPS) Limb will be returned to NPOESS Preparatory
Project (NPP) satellite set to launch in 2009.
The NPOESS partners will give conditional authority to Northrop
Grumman Space Technology, Redondo Beach, Calif. to proceed with
restoration of the instrument. The effort will be contingent on
successful negotiations between the company and the government on the
full cost of the effort. Northrop Grumman Space Technology is the
mission prime contractor.
The NPOESS is a tri-agency environmental monitoring program directed
by the Department of Commerce (NOAA's parent agency), the Department
of Defense and NASA. A recent restructuring of the program had
removed the OMPS Limb sensor from the NPP mission.
Restoring the OMPS Limb sensor directly addresses one of the
recommendations of the recently released National Research Council's
report "Earth Science Applications from Space: National Imperatives
for the Next Decade and Beyond."
With the launch of the first spacecraft planned for 2013, NPOESS will
bring improved data and imagery that will allow better weather
forecasts, severe-weather monitoring and detection of climate change.
The NPOESS preparatory mission will provide continuity of observations
taken by NASA's Earth Observing System satellites Aqua and Terra. The
NPP mission also will provide risk reduction for three of the NPOESS
critical sensors, as well as the data processing and ground systems.
NOAA and NASA have agreed to share equally the cost to restore the
OMPS Limb to the NPP spacecraft. The OMPS Limb will measure the
vertical distribution of ozone and complements existing NPOESS
systems. It will give scientists a better understanding of the
structure of the atmosphere.
"Having the OMPS Limb will give scientists a more complete picture of
the content and distribution of gases in the atmosphere, and whether
that distribution is good or bad," said retired Navy Vice Admiral
Conrad C. Lautenbacher, Jr., Ph.D, undersecretary of commerce for
oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator. "NOAA is committed to
working with the scientific community to address their climate and
other satellite observation requirements. This is a great step in
that direction."
"This sensor will allow us to move forward with the next generation of
technology for weather and climate prediction," NASA Administrator
Michael Griffin added.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is celebrating 200
years of science and service to the nation. NASA is an independent
agency whose Earth science research is used to characterize,
understand and predict climate.
For more information about NASA and agency programs, visit:
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