|
Today's television weather reports regularly show Earth's cloud formations
as seen from space. Beyond monitoring ordinary weather, satellites have
saved countless lives by warning of the approach of severe storms. Such
assistance in predicting and mitigating the impact of weather first became
possible with the launch of ATS-1 in 1966. A special spin-scan cloud
camera was developed for the program by Hughes Aircraft Company's Santa
Barbara Research Center, which developed the sensing instruments for
the entire first generation of U.S. geosynchronous weather satellites.
ATS-1 had an immediate effect on meteorology. Forecasters could see
weather patterns developing thousands of miles off the coast of the United
States.
Japan joined in geosynchronous weather sensing with the launch of the first Hughes-built Geostationary Meteorological Satellite (GMS) in 1977. Since then five GMS satellites have featured the company's visible/infrared spin-scan radiometer, which provides high-resolution weather coverage over more than 65 million square miles of the Pacific region. In 1978, NASA selected Hughes, now Boeing, to build the second generation of Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES). An advanced atmospheric sounder, able to capture vertical profiles of temperature and humidity throughout the atmosphere, debuted on these five satellites, launched between 1980 and 1987. In Jan. 1998, NASA returned with an order for two new GOES satellites, with options for two more. In January 1998, NASA returned with an order for new GOES satellites. GOES N, GOES O and GOES P are based on the highly successful Boeing 601, and are scheduled for launch beginning in 2004. Another product, devloped by Hughes, the special sensor microwave/imager (SSM/I), helps forecasters quickly identify developing storms. The SSM/I is a key instrument in the U.S. Air Force's Defense Meteorological Satellite Program. The sensor detects microwave energy emitted by Earth and its atmosphere. Visible and infrared sensors view only the tops of clouds, but the SSM/I sees into and through them, obtaining data that can measure wind speed at the ocean surface, ground moisture, the age and amout of sea ice and snow packs, and, for the first time, can tell from space where rain is falling on Earth. One application of SSM/I data was supporting Operation Desert Storm. NASA and Goddard Space Flight Center acknowledged Hughes' capability in sensors by choosing them to build the microwave imager for the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission. The cooperative U.S./Japanese project for studying tropical rainfall characteristics from a low earth orbit was launched in November 1997. |