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Featured Content
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SHADOZ at 20 Years: Achievements of a Strategic Ozonesonde NetworkTwenty years ago, The Earth Observer published an article announcing the start of the Southern Hemisphere ADditional OZonesondes (SHADOZ) project. It began as a two-year initiative to collect measurements of ozone throughout the atmosphere, or ozone profiles, using balloon-borne ozonesondes by coordinating regular launches at 10 stations in the tropics and subtropics. The network reached its 20-year milestone in 2018, thus providing a fitting opportunity to reflect on its scientific contributions. An article in the September-October 2019 issue of The Earth Observer begins with some history and background on SHADOZ, including details on the network and the ozonesonde instrument itself. It then discusses several spinoffs and major scientific and technological advances resulting from SHADOZ. |
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The Living Legacy of Landsat 7: Still Going Strong after 20 Years in OrbitThe twentieth anniversary of the launch of Landsat 7 on April 15, 1999, is an opportune time to retrace the history leading to modern Earth science data acquisition and use. This article in the July-August 2019 issue of The Earth Observer provides a retrospective, with some insight into why Landsat 7 was a key player in Earth science and related technical endeavors, and how its mission has informed Earth system science to this day. It discusses some of the scientific and technology bases for the Landsat program generally and Landsat 7 specifically, and points out ways in which Landsat 7 crossed organizational boundaries to ensure the best scientific return. |
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Increasing Information Access for Food Security MonitoringOver 10% of the global population is undernourished. Of this population, the majority are in developing countries where the situation is only worsening. Timely and reliable information on crop conditions and early warning of impending shortfalls of crop production are critical to achieving food security and ensuring sufficient, reliable food availability and access. In the May-June issue of The Earth Observer, learn how satellite-based Earth observations significantly contribute towards providing crucial crop information, allowing decision makers to track crop development and general condition throughout the growing season, and ultimately supporting decision-making processes related to early disaster response and mitigation measures that reduce food insecurity. |
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Thirty Years Reporting on NASA’s Earth Science ProgramThe March-April issue of The Earth Observer marks the thirtieth anniversary of the publication of our first issue (March 1989)—shortly after the official beginning of NASA’s Earth Observing System (EOS) Program. The Earth Observer has adapted over the years, maintaining its role for three decades. It is well known and respected throughout the global Earth science community, with around 5300 subscribers around the world at last count. Now in Volume 31, the newsletter continues to live out the mission it had from its inception: to report timely news from NASA’s Earth Science Program. On page 4 of this issue, Executive Editor, Alan Ward, offers his perspective on the publication’s evolution over the time he has been involved. |
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Jan-Feb 2019 issue of The Earth ObserverTo close out 2018, NASA’s Science Communications Support Office (SCSO) supported the NASA Science exhibit at the AGU’s Fall Meeting, held December 10-14, 2018, in Washington, DC. The booth featured NASA’s Hyperwall, a virtual reality space, a hands-on demonstration area, and a NASA Anniversaries area to celebrate the sixtieth anniversary of the agency. To learn more about the exhibit and NASA’s participation in the AGU Centennial Narratives Project, we invite you to read the January-February 2019 issue of The Earth Observer. |
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Nov-Dec 2018 issue of The Earth ObserverWe invite you to check out the November-December issue of The Earth Observer. The issue includes a report from the GEO-CAPE Air Quality Science Workshop, focusing on the Atmospheric Composition Virtual Constellation (AC-VC), whose goal is to collect and deliver data to improve monitoring, assessment, and model predictions for changes in the ozone layer, air quality, and climate forcing. The newsletter also includes updates from the DSCOVR mission, the 2018 Vector-Borne and Water-Related Disease Workshop, twenty-first OMI Science Team Meeting, thirtieth CERES Science Team Meeting, and 2018 Earth Radiation Budget Workshop. |
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The 2019 NASA Science Calendar is Now Available!At NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, our vision propels us to be purposeful and blur the lines between the present and future. From the first 60 years of NASA Science and into the future, our goal is to reach beyond what we know by investigating nature—the Earth, the Moon, the Sun, other worlds of our solar system, the countless stars and galaxies, and the universe—where we can learn more. The selected images in this calendar are nature’s art. Each is a moment in space and time that represents the efforts of many individuals committed to the scientific pursuit of knowledge and advancement of humankind. |
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2018 AGU: Schedule of Events at the NASA BoothAre you traveling to Washington, DC to attend the 2018 AGU Fall Meeting, held December 10-14, 2018? If so, we invite you to visit the NASA Booth in the Exhibit Hall. Learn something new, have fun, and discover together! |
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NASA’s DEVELOP Program Recognizes 20 Years of Science Serving SocietyNASA’s DEVELOP National Program, part of the Applied Sciences Program, is celebrating its twentieth anniversary this year. What began with three student interns in 1998 has evolved into a national program engaging hundreds of participants and partners each year. Turn to page 11 of the September-October 2018 issue of The Earth Observer to learn more about DEVELOP’s history and its 2018 Earth Science Application Showcase held at NASA Headquarters. |
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ICESat-2 Launches to Track Earth's Changing IceEarth's ice is shrinking. Retreating glaciers. Shrinking sea ice. Melting ice sheets. The frozen reaches of Earth are changing at dramatic rates—and the impacts, from sea level rise to altered weather patterns, span the planet. On September 15, 2018, NASA launched the Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2) to measure changes in Earth’s ice and improve forecasts of the global impacts. ICESat-2 will use rapid-firing lasers to measure the height of Earth’s changing glaciers, ice sheets and sea ice, all in unprecedented detail. Read more about this extraordinary mission! |