February 27, 2004 Student
Life
This feature, "Student Life," returns with a new
name, replacing "Student News." The intent, however,
is the same. "Student Life" brings readers the best
of student-produced journalism at Utah State University. Featured
items are written by students for The Utah Statesman,
the official student newspaper of Utah Sate University, or The
Hard News Café, the online publication from the
Department of Journalism and Communication. Both publications
are award winning and present the talents of Utah State's journalists-in-training.
This week's piece is from The Hard News Cafe by writer
Chris Calvert
Space Dynamics Lab has
GIFTS for the Weather in the Works
From the The
Hard News Cafe 02/25/04
To many people, gifts are things you give or receive on
special occasions like birthdays, anniversaries or at Christmas
time. To some local engineers, GIFTS means a lot more than that.
The Utah State University's Space Dynamics Laboratory (SDL)
is working in connection with NASA
to design a futuristic weather satellite that may be able to
accurately predict the weather.
The satellite is nicknamed GIFTS,
which stands for Geosynchronous Imaging Fourier Transform Spectrometer.
That is a satellite which orbits the Earth in such a manner
that it is always above the same spot on the Earth. The satellite
will be equipped with an instrument which will be able to measure
the temperature, water vapor and other components of the atmosphere
making weather predictions more accurate and providing a better
early warning system against storms such as tornadoes and hurricanes.
SDL engineer Glen Hansen said this technology "will allow
us to tell when a tornado will hit before the clouds even form."
SDL is mainly responsible for developing the instrument that
will measure the weather changes and integrating all of the
sub-systems that are being developed by other groups who are
working in partnership on this project.
The instrument will scan the surface of the Earth, from near
the North Pole to near the South Pole, every 15 minutes and
compare the current pictures with the previous pictures to see
what is changing in the upper atmosphere and how that will affect
future weather patterns.
Most meteorological satellites are orbiting the Earth at a relatively
low height. USU Physics Professor John Raitt says they are normally
about 200 miles above the Earth's surface. This means they can't
monitor a region long enough to see weather patterns form. With
the new satellite orbiting the Earth at nearly 22,000 miles
it will allow meteorologists to study how weather patterns form
and to more accurately predict how those changes will affect
our daily weather.
SDL has been working on this project since 1999 when the idea
behind the system was being dreamed up as Hurricane Floyd was
about to strike the East Coast. But its $105 million price tag
is well justified, says Hansen.
"With Floyd, they spent millions of dollars evacuating
Florida residents and the hurricane didn't even hit there,"
Hansen said. "This instrument will allow us to see in real
time where the hurricane will go and where it will hit."
With President Bush's new dream to return to the moon and eventually
land a man on Mars, NASA is expected to cut programs allowing
them to allocate $11 billion over the next few years. However,
Hansen said he feels this program will not be cut.
According to Steven Brown, SDL engineer, the
satellite being designed by SDL is a prototype designed test
the theories behind the satellite, and will not be used for
long-term measuring. He said the instruments are designed to
work for a relatively short time, and then the satellite will
become obsolete.
"It is more of a test for future use. To see if this technology
is something we can use to benefit the future of weather forecasting,"
Brown said.
When asked about the high price tag for a prototype satellite
Hansen said, "Everyone who has seen the project, or has
been told of what it will be able to do has said that the results
and the benefits we will produce will far outweigh the costs."
The satellite relies highly on infrared optical spectrometers
(a spectrometer is an instrument used to measure light waves
in a given spectrum). Brown said the pictures that will come
back from the satellite "will be just like the infrared
pictures they show on the nightly news, only about a thousand
times better."
The launch date for the satellite is still unknown. According
to Hansen they are still "waiting for a ride" after
the Columbia explosion has depleted NASA's supply of space craft.
The satellite's final destination is still somewhat unknown.
Brown said that it will be pointed over the East Coast (probably
during hurricane season), and it will be pointed over the West
Coast, but in what order and after those two sites are explored
it is still undecided where the final destination will be.
If the satellite performs as it is believed to perform, they
will probably be used by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA) to
replace current weather satellites.
By Chris Calvert
utah
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