In a continuation of NASA's earthbound climate studies and finding out more about human impacts, the federal agency has plans to send scientists to world locations in 2016 that range from Greenland's ice sheet to the South Pacific's coral reefs.
Studying Earth as well as space is not new for NASA, but the next half-year will be a very active period for the agency: Eight major (and new) campaigns will conduct science investigations around the world. It will be possible to follow the explorations online via social media channels and a webpage for Earth Expeditions.
"Combining the long-term global view from space with detailed measurements from field experiments is a powerful way of deciphering what's happening in our world," noted Michael Freilich, who directs NASA's Earth Science Division. "Scientists worldwide use NASA Earth science field data together with satellite data and computer models to tackle many of today's environmental challenges and advance our knowledge of how the Earth works as a complex, integrated system."
One of the first of those projects will examine the extent to which Greenland-area oceans are causing the ice sheet edges to melt from below. This team is called Oceans Melting Greenland, and it honestly has the acronym OMG. Currently the team is doing an airborne survey of all of Greenland's coast's ice edge. In the fall, the scientists will drop sensors into the coastal waters from a plane in order to measure temperatures.
A study in May will focus on air quality in South Korea, as a joint effort between the Republic of Korea and the space agency, to keep track of air pollution from space. That same month, aerosols - air bubbles and other materials that transfer ocean water and sea salt to the atmosphere - will take center stage in the North Atlantic, as the agency scrutinizes how the largest plankton bloom on Earth brings about organic particles that have an impact on climate and clouds.
Teams will also look at the vulnerability of boreal forests in the forests and tundra of Alaska and northwestern Canada. This project will look into climate's role in thawing permafrost, wildfires, migration habits of wildlife and outbreaks of insects.
In those coral reefs, a project team will test in-water and in-air instruments in Hawaii this summer to learn more about threatened coral ecosystems; it will also study Australia's Great Barrier Reef in the fall.
More research will look at how atmospheric carbon moves, via teams that fly from Louisiana, Virginia and Nebraska. The aim is to increase understanding of greenhouse gas sources and sinks.
Follow Catherine Arnold on Twitter at @TreesWhales.
