TABLE II.2 Launch, Orbit, and Instrument Specifications for Missions Recommended to NASA
|
Decadal Survey Mission
|
Mission Description
|
Orbita
|
Instruments
|
Rough Cost Estimate (FY 06 $million)
|
|
2010–2013
|
|
|
|
|
|
CLARREO (NASA portion)
|
Solar and Earth radiation; spectrally resolved forcing and response of the climate system
|
LEO, Precessing
|
Absolute, spectrally resolved interferometer
|
200
|
|
SMAP
|
Soil moisture and freeze-thaw for weather and water cycle processes
|
LEO, SSO
|
L-band radar
L-band radiometer
|
300
|
|
ICESat-II
|
Ice sheet height changes for climate change diagnosis
|
LEO, Non-SSO
|
Laser altimeter
|
300
|
|
DESDynl
|
Surface and ice sheet deformation for understanding natural hazards and climate; vegetation structure for ecosystem health
|
LEO, SSO
|
L-band InSAR
Laser altimeter
|
700
|
|
2013–2016
|
|
|
|
|
|
HyspIRI
|
Land surface composition for agriculture and mineral characterization; vegetation types for ecosystem health
|
LEO, SSO
|
Hyperspectral spectrometer
|
300
|
|
ASCENDS
|
Day/night, all-latitude, all-season CO2 column integrals for climate emissions
|
LEO, SSO
|
Multifrequency laser
|
400
|
|
SWOT
|
Ocean, lake, and river water levels for ocean and inland water dynamics
|
LEO, SSO
|
Ka- or Ku-band radar
Ku-band altimeter
Microwave radiometer
|
450
|
|
GEO-CAPE
|
Atmospheric gas columns for air quality forecasts;ocean color for coastal ecosystem health and climate emissions
|
GEO
|
High-spatial-resolution hyperspectral spectrometer
Low-spatial-resolution imaging spectrometer
IR correlation radiometer
|
550
|
|
ACE
|
Aerosol and cloud profiles for climate and water cycle; ocean color for open ocean biogeochemistry
|
LEO, SSO
|
Backscatter lidar
Multiangle polarimeter
Doppler radar
|
800
|
|
2016–2020
|
|
|
|
|
|
LIST
|
Land surface topography for landslide hazards and water runoff
|
LEO, SSO
|
Laser altimeter
|
300
|
|
PATH
|
High-frequency, all-weather temperature and humidity soundings for weather forecasting and sea-surface temperatureb
|
GEO
|
Microwave array spectrometer
|
450
|
|
GRACE-II
|
High-temporal-resolution gravity fields for tracking large-scale water movement
|
LEO, SSO
|
Microwave or laser ranging system
|
450
|
|
SCLP
|
Snow accumulation for freshwater availability
|
LEO, SSO
|
Ku- and X-band radars
K- and Ka-band radiometers
|
500
|
|
GACM
|
Ozone and related gases for intercontinental air quality and stratospheric ozone layer prediction
|
LEO, SSO
|
UV spectrometer
IR spectrometer
Microwave limb sounder
|
600
|
|
3D-Winds (Demo)
|
Tropospheric winds for weather forecasting and pollution transport
|
LEO, SSO
|
Doppler lidar
|
650
|
|
NOTE: Missions are listed by cost. Colors denote mission cost categories as estimated by the committee. Pink, green, and blue shading indicates large-cost ($600 million to $900 million), medium-cost ($300 million to $600 million), and small-cost (<$300 million) missions, respectively. Detailed descriptions of the missions are given in Part II, and Part III provides the foundation for their selection.
aLEO, low Earth orbit; SSO, Sun-synchronous orbit; GEO, geostationary Earth orbit.
bCloud-independent, high-temporal-resolution, lower-accuracy sea-surface temperature measurement to complement, not replace, global operational high-accuracy sea-surface temperature measurement.
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