NPOESS Preparatory Project Mission
The NPP Project is a joint effort
of the NPOESS Integrated Program Office (IPO), the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and NASA.
The benefits to the partnering organizations:
The National Polar-Orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite
System (NPOESS)
will provide long-term systematic measurements of key environmental
variables begining about 2009. In preparation for this
system, NASA and the Integrated Program Office (IPO)
are conducting a joint mission, the NPOESS Preparatory
Project (NPP). NPP will provide risk reduction for this
furutre operational system and it will maintain continuity
of certain environmental data sets that were initiated
with NASA's Terra
and Aqua
satellites. The NPP launch schedule is "Under Review" but
will be on the Delta II launch vehicle at Vandenberg Air
Force Base, CA.
Science Motivation:
The NPP sensors will provide critical data needed to answer
10 of the 23 Questions that
are identified in NASA's Earth
Science Enterprise Strategic Plan.
Science Approach:
The requirements for the operational EDRs
(e.g. atmospheric vertical temperature profile, sea surface
temperature) were defined by the IPO, working with NASA,
NOAA and DoD users. They are defined in the Integrated
Operational Requirements Document (IORD).
Operational algorithms have been defined by the private
sector contractors developing the NPP sensors. Operational
data products will be produced by the Interface Data Processing
Segment (IDPS)
of the EMD contractor (Engineering Manufacturing & Design
contractor). Over the course of the NPP mission, these
products will be refined until they meet the IORD requirements.
Many of these EDRs are also required for long-term climate
research studies. Climate quality data records, known as
Climate Data Records (CDRs),
will be developed by the NPP science team, based primarily
upon the EDRs, but incorporating such refinements as can
be made taking advantage of reduced requirements for data
latency (EDRs must be produced no more than 90 minutes after
acquisition) and re-processing of time series with retrospective
calibration and ancillary data sets.
During the initial phase of NPP (up until about 2005) a
science team will examine the proposed operational algorithms
and assess the utility for climate studies. They will also
advise NASA on sensor calibration and data system requirements.
Prior to launch, a second phase science team will be selected
to assist in the validation of EDRs and produce trial data
sets using CDR algorithms.
Orbit:
NPP will be in a sun synchronous circular orbit with a 10:30am
descending-node orbit at an altitude of 824 km. This orbit
provides a 16-day repeat cycle (8-day quasi-repeat) that
is similar to the orbit of the Terra and Aqua satellites.
Instruments:
VIIRS
– Visible Infrared
Imaging spectro Radiometer
Suite
CrIS
– Crosstrack Infrared
Sounder
ATMS
– Advanced Technology
Microwave Sounder
OMPS
– Ozone Mapping and
Profiler Suite
The data collected by these sensors will be processed into
Sensor Data Records (SDRs). The SDRs are used to create
Environmental Data Records (EDRs), which are operational
data products, and Climate Data Records (CDRs) for long
term climate and global change studies. More information
can be found on the
data products page.
Calibration & Validation:
Pre-launch sensor characterization, on-orbit calibration
and pre- and post-launch validation of all data products
are critical to mission success. A draft
calibration plan for NPP has been prepared by NASA and
the IPO. This plan will be updated and combined with the
plans developed by the EMD contractor.
NPP Science Groups:
The NPP Science groups and their responsibilities can be
viewed in the Organization
section. |
