{"id":201282,"date":"2025-04-17T08:21:41","date_gmt":"2025-04-16T22:21:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/?p=850561"},"modified":"2025-04-17T08:21:41","modified_gmt":"2025-04-16T22:21:41","slug":"testing-in-the-clouds-nasa-flies-to-improve-satellite-data","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=201282","title":{"rendered":"Testing in the Clouds: NASA Flies to Improve Satellite Data"},"content":{"rendered":"
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3 min read<\/p>\n

Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Piloted by NASA’s Tim Williams, the ER-2 science aircraft ascends for one of the final science flights for the GSFC Lidar Observation and Validation Experiment (GLOVE) on Feb. 1, 2025. As a collaboration between engineers, scientists, and aircraft professionals, GLOVE aims to improve satellite data products for Earth Science applications. <\/div>\n
NASA\/Steve Freeman<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

In February, NASA\u2019s ER-2 science aircraft flew instruments designed to improve satellite data products and Earth science observations. From data collection to processing, satellite systems continue to advance, and NASA is exploring how instruments analyzing clouds can improve data measurement methods.<\/p>\n

Researchers participating in the Goddard Space Flight Center Lidar Observation and Validation Experiment (GLOVE) used the ER-2 \u2013 based at NASA\u2019s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California \u2013 to validate satellite data about cloud and airborne particles in the Earth\u2019s atmosphere. Scientists are using GLOVE instruments installed onboard the aircraft to measure and validate data about clouds generated by satellite sensors already orbiting in space around Earth.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe GLOVE data will allow us to test new artificial intelligence algorithms in data processing,\u201d said John Yorks, principal investigator for GLOVE and research physical scientist at NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. \u201cThese algorithms aim to improve the cloud and aerosol detection in data produced by the satellites.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Jennifer Moore, a researcher from NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center, checks the cabling on the Roscoe instrument at NASA\u2019s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, for the GSFC Lidar Observation and Validation Experiment (GLOVE) on Feb. 1, 2025. The Roscoe instrument will be uploaded onto NASA\u2019s ER-2 science aircraft.<\/div>\n
NASA\/Steve Freeman<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The validation provided by GLOVE is crucial because it ensures the accuracy and reliability of satellite data. \u201cThe instruments on the plane provide a higher resolution measurement \u2018truth\u2019 to ensure the data is a true representation of the atmospheric scene being sampled,\u201d Yorks said.<\/p>\n

The ER-2 flew over various parts of Oregon, Arizona, Utah, and Nevada, as well as over the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California. These regions reflected various types of atmospheres, including cirrus clouds, marine stratocumulus, rain and snow, and areas with multiple types of clouds.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe goal is to improve satellite data products for Earth science applications,\u201d Yorks said. \u201cThese measurements allow scientists and decision-makers to confidently use this satellite information for applications like weather forecasting and hazard monitoring.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Researcher Jackson Begolka from the University of Iowa examines instrument connectors onboard the ER-2 aircraft at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, on Feb. 1, 2025. The GLOVE instrument will validate data from satellites orbiting the Earth.<\/div>\n
NASA\/Steve Freeman<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The four instruments installed on the ER-2 were the Cloud Physics Lidar, the Roscoe Lidar, the enhanced Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer Airborne Simulator, and the Cloud Radar System. These instruments validate data produced by sensors on NASA’s Ice, Cloud, and Land Elevation Satellite 2 (ICESat-2) and the Earth Cloud, Aerosol and Radiation Explorer (EarthCARE), a joint venture between the ESA (European Space Agency) and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency).<\/p>\n

\u201cAdditionally, the EarthCARE satellite is flying the first ever Doppler radar for measurements of air motions within clouds,\u201d Yorks said. While the ER-2 is operated by pilots and aircrew from NASA Armstrong, these instruments are supported by scientists from NASA Goddard, NASA\u2019s Ames Research Center in California\u2019s Silicon Valley, and the Naval Research Laboratory office in Monterey, California, as well as by students from the University of Iowa in Iowa City and the University of Maryland College Park.<\/p>\n

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