Program Information

Series: Destination Tomorrow
Program: Episode 5
Segment Number: 1 (Watch entire program)
Duration: 00:05:16
Year Produced: 2002
Description:

NASA Destination Tomorrow Segment describing GIFTS (Geostationary Imaging Fourier Transform Spectrometer), the future of weather satellite technology which stands to aid in the understanding of weather processes, climate, atmospheric pollution, and severe storms.

NASA's Destination Tomorrow™ is a series of 30-minute programs that focus on NASA research. Each exciting program gives the audience an inside look at NASA and demonstrates how research and technology relate to our everyday lives.

For more information visit: http://destination.larc.nasa.gov/

Transcript

IN THIS MODERN AGE, WEATHER FORECASTING IS SOMETHING THAT MANY OF US TAKE FOR GRANTED. WE DEPEND ON ACCURATE INFORMATION FROM FORECASTERS EVERY DAY IN ORDER TO MAKE TRAVEL PLANS, DRESS APPROPRIATELY, AND IN CASES OF EXTREME WEATHER, PROTECT OUR LIVES AND OUR PROPERTY. BUT UNFORTUNATELY, WEATHER PREDICTIONS ARE STILL NOT AS ACCURATE AS WE WOULD LIKE. IN FACT, YOU MAY BE SURPRISED TO FIND OUT THAT FORECASTS OVER THREE DAYS ARE STILL ONLY CORRECT ABOUT 50% OF THE TIME. IN AN EFFORT TO MAKE WEATHER PREDICTION MUCH MORE ACCURATE, RESEARCHERS AT NASA ARE DEVELOPING A REVOLUTIONARY NEW WEATHER SATELLITE INSTRUMENT CALLED GIFTS OR THE GEOSTATIONARY IMAGING FOURIER TRANSFORM SPECTROMETER. GIFTS WILL PROVIDE MORE THAN 1,000 TIMES MORE DATA THAN CURRENT SATELLITE WEATHER SENSORS. I SPOKE WITH DR. BILL SMITH AT NASA LANGLEY RESEARCH CENTER TO FIND OUT MORE. GIFTS IS A REVOLUTIONARY NEW SATELLITE SENSOR WHICH WILL NOT ONLY CHANGE THE WAY WE CONVEY WEATHER INFORMATION TO THE PUBLIC BUT WILL DRASTICALLY IMPROVE WEATHER FORECASTS. TODAY WEATHER IS VERY DIFFICULT TO PREDICT, ALTHOUGH WEATHER SATELLITES PROVIDE TWO-DIMENSIONAL IMAGES OF CLOUDS WHICH HELP US DETECT WHERE STORMS CURRENTLY EXIST, QUANTITATIVE TEMPERATURE, MOISTURE, AND WIND DATA ARE NEEDED TO FORECAST WHERE STORMS WILL DEVELOP AND WHERE THEY WILL MOVE. THE POOR VERTICAL RESOLUTION OF CURRENT SATELLITE OBSERVATIONS NOW LIMITS THE RANGE OF USEFUL FORECASTS TO ABOUT THREE DAYS. CURRENTLY, WEATHER PREDICTIONS ARE NOT ONLY MADE FROM INFORMATION GATHERED FROM SATELLITES AND RADAR, BUT A LARGE PART OF THE PREDICTION INFORMATION COMES FROM GROUND-BASED WEATHER BALLOONS WHICH ARE LAUNCHED INTO THE ATMOSPHERE EVERY 12 HOURS ABOUT 500 MILES APART. THESE READINGS CREATE GAPS OF WEATHER INFORMATION BETWEEN THE BALLOONS. WITH UPPER ATMOSPHERE CONDITIONS CHANGING VERY QUICKLY, MAKING TIMELY, ACCURATE PREDICTIONS WITH OLD DATA CAN SOMETIMES LEAD TO A CONFUSING WEATHER PICTURE. TO HELP CHANGE THIS, THE GIFTS SATELLITE WILL UPDATE WEATHER INFORMATION USED FOR ATMOSPHERIC PREDICTIONS IN MINUTES RATHER THAN HOURS, WITHOUT GAPS IN THE GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION. MOST OF THE WEATHER INFORMATION NEEDED FOR VISUALIZING THE CURRENT STATE OF THE ATMOSPHERE WILL COME FROM GIFTS, MAKING THE WEATHER PICTURE MUCH CLEARER. GIFTS IS A THREE-DIMENSIONAL DIGITAL MOVIE CAMERA. BEING ON A GEOSTATIONARY SATELLITE, AND WITH A 3-D CAMERA, IT CAN ACTUALLY SEE WATER VAPOR, TEMPERATURE, AND EVEN POLLUTANT GASES MOVE IN THE ATMOSPHERE. WE WILL BE ABLE TO SEE THE TEMPERATURE CHANGES, THE FLOW OF WATER VAPOR MOLECULES, AND THE UPWARD-SPIRALING AIR BEFORE THE CLOUDS APPEAR, ENABLING US TO DETECT THE STORM'S LOCATION EVEN BEFORE THEIR DESTRUCTIVE FORCES DEVELOP. ALSO, BEING ABLE TO WATCH THE MOTION OF THE ATMOSPHERE IN THREE DIMENSIONS WILL ENABLE METEOROLOGISTS TO PREDICT THE FUTURE POSITION OF THE STORM AND ITS CHANGING INTENSITY. BY PROVIDING TODAY'S WEATHER FORECASTING MODELS WITH MORE DATA MORE OFTEN, IT'S PROJECTED THAT FOR THE FIRST TIME, WEATHER FORECASTS CAN BE MADE RELIABLE MANY DAYS IN ADVANCE. HAVING RELIABLE FORECASTS COULD POTENTIALLY HAVE HUGE ECONOMIC ADVANTAGES FOR OUR COUNTRY. OUTDOOR WORKERS WILL BE BETTER PREPARED FOR INCLEMENT WEATHER. HOMES AND OFFICES WILL BE ABLE TO REGULATE THERMOSTATS BETTER, AND FARMERS AND COMMUNITIES WILL BE BETTER PREPARED FOR STORMS, FLOODS, AND DROUGHT. ANOTHER POTENTIAL ECONOMIC AND SAFETY IMPROVEMENT WILL BE IN HURRICANE LANDFALL PREDICTIONS. CURRENTLY 24-HOUR PREDICTIONS ARE GIVEN IN ABOUT A 300-SQUARE-MILE RADIUS OF POTENTIAL LANDFALL LOCATIONS. ON AVERAGE, IT COSTS ABOUT ONE MILLION DOLLARS PER MILE TO EVACUATE A THREATENED COASTLINE. UNFORTUNATELY, WITH POOR FORECASTING, THE PUBLIC OFTEN DELAYS EVACUATION UNTIL STORMS ARE VERY CLOSE TO SHORE. IF FORECASTERS CAN MAKE ACCURATE LANDFALL PREDICTIONS, WITHIN TENS OF MILES RATHER THAN SEVERAL HUNDREDS OF MILES, MORE PEOPLE MIGHT CONSIDER TAKING PROPER MEASURES TO SECURE THEIR LIVES AND THEIR PROPERTY. WILL GIFTS BE ABLE TO HELP IN AVIATION AS WELL? ACTUALLY, GIFTS WILL HAVE A SIGNIFICANT IMPACT ON BOTH GENERAL AVIATION SAFETY AND THE COST OF A COMMERCIAL FLIGHT. WITH REGARDS TO GENERAL AVIATION SAFETY, GIFTS WILL HELP DELINEATE WHERE SUPER-COOLED WATER EXISTS IN CLOUDS, WHICH CAUSES AIRFRAME ICING WHEN AN AIRPLANE COMES IN CONTACT WITH IT. MAY ALSO BE POSSIBLE TO UPLINK THIS DATA DIRECTLY INTO THE COCKPIT OF AN AIRCRAFT. SO A PILOT LOOKING AT A SCREEN, LIKE A TV SCREEN, WILL BE ABLE TO SEE CLOUDS WHICH HAVE THESE SUPER-COOLED WATER DROPLETS AND AVOID THEM DURING HIS FLIGHT. SO WHAT ARE YOUR OVERALL HOPES FOR THIS SYSTEM? PROBABLY THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IS THAT GIFTS WILL HELP US UNDERSTAND WEATHER PROCESSES, UNDERSTAND CLIMATE. GIFTS WILL BE ABLE TO OBSERVE NOT ONLY WEATHER VARIABLES BUT ALSO ATMOSPHERIC POLLUTION AND SEE HOW IT'S TRANSPORTED AROUND THE GLOBE. OF COURSE, UNDERSTANDING WEATHER BETTER WILL HELP US IMPROVE HURRICANE PREDICTION AND OTHER SEVERE TORNADIC STORM FORECASTS AND THE LIKE. ALL IN ALL, GIFTS IS NOT ONLY GOING TO CREATE A MUCH BETTER LIFE FOR HUMAN BEINGS, IT'S GOING TO SAVE US PROPERTY AND, PROBABLY MOST IMPORTANT, SAVE LIVES AS WELL.

Virginia Standards

6th Grade SOLs » Science » 6.3
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