News

NASA'S PACE Mission is Helping Scientists Understand...

news n'ne - A SpaceX Falcon 9 launched the PACE mission in February this year.  After a brief commissioning period, the spacecraft has initiated oper...

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The Gulf of Oman in the Middle East

earth.com - NASA launched the PACE (Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem) satellite aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on February 8, 2024. The mis...

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NASA's PACE Satellite will Tackle the Largest Uncertainty...

The Economist - Small things can have big effects. Take the plant plankton that populate the Earth’s oceans. When zooplankton eat them, the phytopl...

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NASA Satellite Monitors Ocean Health

Richomd Times - As the world’s oceans have moved into their 12th consecutive month as the warmest on record, a new National Aeronautics and Space...

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Advancing Ocean Science with "Trailblazing" PACE...

USF News -  From the air to sea, small things can have big impacts on our planet. Aquatic microorganisms known as phytoplankton serve as photosynthe...

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Maryland Team on NASA Project to Examine Ocean, Atmosphere

The Baltimore Banner -  To better understand the ocean surface, NASA scientists went to the stars. The Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PA...

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Celebrating Earth Day with NASA

WSAZ - For more information about NASA’s Earth science missions and research, check out: nasa.gov/earth and @NASAEarth on social media. For more...

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PACE-PAX

The Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem Postlaunch Airborne eXperiment (PACE-PAX) will be a field campaign to gather data for the validation of the upcoming PACE mission. PACE-PAX will be conducted in September, 2024, roughly nine months after the launch of PACE. The operational area will be Southern and Central California and nearby coastal regions. Sixty flight hours are planned each for the NASA ER-2 and the CIRPAS Twin Otter. Both will be based in their home airports at NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center and Marina Municipal Airport, respectively. Flights will be coordinated between the aircraft, with PACE overflights, and with surface based observations including ship-based measurements and floats. Data will be made available within six months following the conclusion of the campaign.
 
More details are in our white paper and website.

 

PACE-PAX validation objectives
1. Validate new PACE products
2. Assess spatial and temporal scale impact on validation
3. Provide sufficient data to validate in a narrow swath
4. Validate radiometric and polarimetric properties
5. Target specific geometries, season, and time of day
6. Focus on specific processes or phenomena

 


Mission Scientist: Kirk Knobelspiesse (NASA GSFC)
Deputy Mission Scientist: Brian Cairns (NASA GISS)
Deputy Mission Scientist: Ivona Cetinić (NASA GSFC)
Project Manager: Sommer Nicholas (NASA ARC)
Deputy Project Manager: Judy Alfter (NASA ARC)


PACE Project Scientist: Jeremy Werdell (NASA GSFC)
PACE Deputy Project Scientist: Brian Cairns (NASA GISS)
PACE Deputy Project Scientist: Antonio Mannino (NASA GSFC)
PACE Program Scientist: Laura Lorenzoni (NASA Headquarters)
PACE Deputy Program Scientist: Hal Maring (NASA Headquarters)
PACE Applications Program Lead: Woody Turner (NASA Headquarters)