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Climate Absolute Radiance and Refractivity Observatory (CLARREO)
Status:
Future, Pre-Formulation
Mission Category:
Earth Systematic Missions, Decadal Survey 2007, Tier 1
Eliminated in President's FY12 Budget. Held in preformulation through 2016.
The Climate Absolute Radiance and Refractivity Observatory (CLARREO) mission has been recommended in the NRC Decadal Survey as a key component of the future climate observing system. NASA and NOAA share responsibility for CLARREO. The NOAA component involves flying the TSIS and CERES sensors to continue the measurements of incident solar irradiance and Earth energy budget. These sensors were removed from the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS). The NASA portion involves the highly accurate measurement of spectrally resolved thermal infrared radiation (IR). Coupled with measurements from on-board Global Positioning System (GPS) radio occultation receivers, these measurements will provide a long-term benchmarking data record for the detection, projection, and attribution of changes in the climate system. In addition, the SI traceable radiances will provide a source of absolute calibration for a wide range of visible and IR Earth observing sensors, greatly increasing their value for climate monitoring.
Key Climate Absolute Radiance and Refractivity Observatory Facts
| Mission/Portal Page: | http://science.nasa.gov/missions/clarreo/ |
|---|---|
| Altitude:Distance from sea level. | 609km |
| Inclination: | 90° |
| Instruments: |
GNSS-RO (Global Navigation Satellite Systems - Radio Ocultation System) IR Spectrometer Reflected Solar Spectrometer |
| Project Scientist(s): |
Don Anderson |
Relevant Science Questions:
- How is the global Earth system changing?
Science Goals:
- Make highly accurate, global, SI-traceable decadal change observations sensitive to the most critical, but least understood, climate forcings, responses, and feedbacks.