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People living in coastal communities or navigating dangerous waters will benefit from data from the new Michael Freilich Sentinel-6 satellite mission.
The satellite launch is scheduled for Saturday (November 21) at 12:17 PM EST (9:17 local time and 1717 GMT) Space Launch Complex 4 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, for a five-year research to map the rising sea associated with global warming. Sentinel-6 will be launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. You can watch it live here on Space.com, courtesy of NASA TV.
The time is 80% for the first launch opportunity on Saturday and a backup launch time on Sunday at 12:04 am EST (9:04 am local time and 1704 GMT). NASA held two media briefings on Friday to discuss the impact the new mission will have on current maps and models.
Related: NASA scientist obtains new Earth observation satellite named after him
Sentinel-6 will not be represented separately in National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) products, but it will improve the models and maps NOAA and other mission partners already produce to keep world populations safe from escalating hurricanes, the representatives.
Sentinel-6 observations will be included in sea wave forecasts (useful for shipping products across the ocean) and tropical storm forecasts, to quickly evacuate coastal populations if needed.
Once Sentinel-6 ends its one-year commissioning period, anyone around the world, including educators, students and other members of the public, can download the raw data from the website of the European Organization for the Exploitation of meteorological satellites (EUMETSAT).
For researchers looking to improve their climate models, Sentinel-6’s work will easily combine with other scientific missions. For example, the altimetry collected by Sentinel-6 could be combined with measurements of Earth’s gravity from NASA’s GRACE (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment) satellites.
This combination of measurements will show how much sea level rise comes from melting ice caps and how much sea rise comes from ocean expansion due to global ocean warming, said Karen St. focusing on the return. scientific mission.
Related: Melting ice caps will add 15 inches to global sea level rise by 2100
“Since 70% of the earth’s surface is oceanic, the oceans play an important role in how the entire system is [of global warming] changes, “he said.” These global changes are creating risks and opportunities for our human communities. “
The benefits of Sentinel-6 data will flow to nearly every industry impacted by climate change, as 90% of the heat trapped by human-emitted greenhouse gases eventually ends up in the ocean, said Josh Willis, project scientist. Sentinel-6 at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, in the science briefing.
“We’re watching the rate of sea level rise right in front of our eyes, and it’s satellites like this that allow us to do that,” Willis said. The rate of sea level rise is accelerating, making it crucial to add high-definition data from Sentinel-6 to existing satellite altimeters, he noted. Sea level rise today is close to 5 millimeters per year, more than double the annual rate of increase recorded in the 1990s.
Complicating the predictions is that sea level rise is not going at the same rate around the world. Big cities like New York and Amsterdam are particularly prone to waters that create flooding among their populations, said Craig Donlon, Sentinel-6 project scientist at the European Space Agency, at the same conference. Worse, he added, for every inch of sea level rise, as many as three million more people in the world are exposed to flood threats.
“The Earth is warming and the biggest indicator is sea level rise,” Donlon said. While space satellites have tracked it in detail for 30 years, the roots of this problem began in the industrial revolution, when nations began burning huge reserves of carbon through coal, oil, and other natural resources to power their economies.
While scientists eagerly await precise results from Sentinel-6, launch teams are working to stay safe amid new pandemic protocols such as temperature controls when entering buildings, physical distance between workers and quarantines. after the trip.
“There are worse things than being trapped on the California coast,” joked Tim Dunn, launch director of NASA’s launch services program, during a press conference on Friday. While the team can’t dine in restaurants as usual, they’re still doing team-building activities like outdoor patio meetings and joint exercises, even outdoors, he said.
Morale remains high in the group and Dunn is proud of all the adaptations his colleagues are making. “It’s great to join the team and know the importance of what we’re doing,” he said. “It gives us energy and gives us the energy we need to keep moving forward.”
Follow Elizabeth Howell on Twitter @howellspace. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.
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