Latest Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment Stories

University of Colorado Boulder A multimillion dollar University of Colorado Boulder instrument package to study space weather has passed its pre-installation testing and is ready to be incorporated onto a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration satellite for a 2015 launch. Designed and built by CU’s Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, the instrument suite known as the Extreme Ultraviolet and X-ray Irradiance Sensors, or EXIS, is the first of four identical packages...

redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports – Your Universe Online The University of Central Florida (UCF) has received a $55 million grant from NASA toward the development and operation of an instrument that will investigate the impact of space weather on orbiting communication and navigation satellites, the Orlando-based institution announced Friday. The mission is known as the Global-scale Observations of the Limb and Disk (GOLD) project, and it will monitor Earth’s upper atmosphere from...

Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online Some missions in space complete their operations just after predicted, while others earn the Iron Man award for outlasting their primary mission. In the case of SORCE--a satellite designed to study solar storms--it's earned itself an Iron Man. Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment (SORCE), designed and built by the University of Colorado, is a NASA satellite that gives scientists a look at some of the most intense solar eruptions...

NASA Science In the galactic scheme of things, the Sun is a remarkably constant star. While some stars exhibit dramatic pulsations, wildly yo-yoing in size and brightness, and sometimes even exploding, the luminosity of our own sun varies a measly 0.1% over the course of the 11-year solar cycle. There is, however, a dawning realization among researchers that even these apparently tiny variations can have a significant effect on terrestrial climate. A new report issued by the National...

BOULDER, Colo., July 19, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. will integrate the Total Irradiance Monitor (TIM), to fly aboard the STPSat-3 spacecraft built for the US Air Force (USAF). A cooperative agreement between NASA, NOAA and the USAF will allow the TIM instrument to catch a ride on STPSat-3 to be launched in 2013. This TIM instrument was originally intended to fly as a space shuttle Hitchhiker payload as part of the University of Colorado,...

According to a new study, a drop in the sun's radiation can trigger unusually cold winters in parts of North America and Europe. The scientists said this finding could improve long-range forecasts and help countries prepare for blizzards. Previously, researchers were just able to see a weak link between solar activity and winter weather.  However, the new study used satellite measurements from NASA's Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment (SORCE) to reveal that differences in UV light...

Total Irradiance Monitor on Glory to study changes in the sun's brightness, impact on climate changeA $28 million University of Colorado Boulder instrument developed to study changes in the sun's brightness and its impact on Earth's climate is one of two primary payloads on NASA's Glory mission set to launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on Feb. 23.Designed and built by a team from CU-Boulder's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, the instrument called the Total...

Earth's climate continues to change at a rapid pace.Last week, NASA announced that 2010 was tied as the warmest year on record. Likewise, the last decade was the warmest in the 130-year global temperature record maintained by scientists at NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York City.Meanwhile, at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, engineers are preparing NASA's next Earth-observing mission -- a satellite called Glory -- for launch in late February. The satellite,...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 20, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA's newest Earth-observing research mission is nearing launch. The Glory mission will improve our understanding of how the sun and tiny atmospheric particles called aerosols affect Earth's climate. Glory also will extend a legacy of long-term solar measurements needed to address key uncertainties about climate change.(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO) Glory is scheduled to launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base...

Scientists have taken a major step toward accurately determining the amount of energy that the sun provides to Earth, and how variations in that energy may contribute to climate change.In a new study of laboratory and satellite data, researchers report a lower value of that energy, known as total solar irradiance, than previously measured and demonstrate that the satellite instrument that made the measurement"”which has a new optical design and was calibrated in a new way"”has...