Posted on 6/30/2002



NASA's recently launched Aqua satellite has returned enough data during its test phase to allow scientists to generate the projects first to pictures.

The onboard Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer (AMSR-E), operated by the Japanese, produced Aqua’s first geophysical product: a global map of sea surface temperatures. In the image, ice and snow cover in white and yellow, desert areas in shades of green, other land areas in dark colors, and oceans in shades of blue.

The sea surface temperature map from AMSR-E is indicative of the high level of detail the microwave imager will routinely provide even in the presence of substantial cloud cover.

"After years of preparation on Aqua, I and hundreds of other scientists are thrilled to have the spacecraft launched and its Earth-observing instruments sending down high-quality data," said Claire Parkinson, the Aqua project scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. "If all goes as planned, these data will lead to improved weather forecasts and a better understanding of Earth's climate system -- especially the role of water in it."

Aqua is an international partnership between the United States, Japan and Brazil. The primary role of the spacecraft is to gather information about water in the Earth’s system.

Full Article:
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/planetearth/aqua_firstimages_020628.html