Tag Archives: NPP

NASA’s newest climate and weather satellite captures stunning ‘blue marble’

When NASA launched the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System Preparatory Project, or NPP, in October, it ushered in a new generation of climate and weather satellites.  The school bus size spacecraft is now securely in polar orbit making 14 passes over the Earth each day.

The five main instruments are critical to enhancing not only short term weather forecasting but also in aiding long term climate modeling.  NASA has performing an initial checkout of the craft and its instruments, a process which will take several  more weeks before it begins its regular science mission.

This week NASA released an astounding ‘blue marble’ image captured by its Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS).  The image is a composite from multiple orbits of the spacecraft on January 4, 2012 showing much of North and Central America.

'Blue marble' image from NASA's NPP.
"This awe-inspiring image, released today by NASA, was taken by the the VIIRS instrument aboard NPP, the nation's newest polar-orbiting environmental satellite that was launched Oct. 28, 2011 (http://www.nesdis.noaa.gov/npp_launch.html). Renamed "Suomi NPP" in honor of the the late Verner E. Suomi of the University of Wisconsin (http://j.mp/Ahfvt9), the satellite will enable NOAA to continue issuing accurate forecasts and provide advanced warnings for severe weather, such as deadly tornado outbreaks, blistering heat waves, floods, snowfall and wildfires. This composite NASA image uses a number of swaths of the Earth's surface taken on January 4, 2012." (NASA)