When you buy through tie on our land site , we may take in an affiliate commission . Here ’s how it works .
MARINE CORPS BASE HAWAII — Whether it ’s the noxious gases rising fromthe Kilauea volcano , or thelively coral reefsthat straggle across the seafloor around the island string , Hawaii ’s ecosystems are under some serious scientific scrutiny this calendar month .
Researchers are here gathering data usingNASA’shigh - EL aeroplane , outfitted with television camera that capture seeable light as well as infrared radiation . One aeroplane , the ER-2 , can zoom to 67,000 feet , or " the edge of space , " as NASA systems engineer Michael Mercury put it . From that acme , on day-after-day flights over the island , the tv camera snap images that the scientists then stitch together and psychoanalyze , Mercury said , explaining the labor at a medium briefing that the space agency hold here on Wednesday ( Feb. 8) . [ Earth scene : Iconic Images of Earth from Space ]
Hawaii’s “Big Island,” as viewed from the window of NASA’s high-altitude ER-2 aircraft.
The end of this current workplace in Hawaii is to obtain the skillful ways to expend these measurements to reach fresh insights intovolcanic activityand coral reef health . For exemplar , scientists analyse Hawaii ’s fighting volcano are trying to refine their good example that predict exactly how andwhen the " vog , " or volcanic smogthat class from Kilauea ’s gases , will blanket Hawaiian cities instead of bungle out over the Pacific . Other investigator , who studycoral reef ecosystem , are using the images from the high - elevation trajectory to better infer what aspects of water calibre make the difference betweena thriving reefand one that is overgrown with algae .
But there is a big goal , too . NASA has plans to establish anEarth - observing satelliteinto low - Earth orbit in 2022 . That project , calledthe HyspIRI mission(or Hyperspectral Infrared Imager ) , will provide researcher with images of Earth ’s surface that are similar to those being gathered now in Hawaii , and from ecosystem all over the world .
The current undertaking in Hawaii will help oneself the researchers to cypher out exactly which instruments and equipment are most useful for their work , and should be the I that are lade up onto that satellite .
The images taken of Hawaii’s Kilauea Volcano reveal the volcano’s lava lake (shown here in orange) and ash plume (shown in light blue). Images like this one are made from more than 300 pictures, taken from high-altitude aircraft, that have been superimposed. Put together, the images create a sort of “barcode,” for any given spot on Earth’s surface, and let researchers analyze changes occurring on the surface over time.
Eventually , the artificial satellite could be used to gather data not only on volcanoes and corals , but also on many other features that switch the Earth ’s control surface over time , such aswildfires that ruin vegetation , thinning glacial iceor changes in thehealth of croplands .
Once the HyspIRI satellite is in place , researcher be after to apply it in conjunction with aircraft- or ground - establish instruments . " The planet might see something new , [ and ] target us to young place to go with the airplane , " Randy Albertson , deputy sheriff director of the NASA Airborne Science Program , told Live Science . [ Colorful Creations : Incredible Coral Photos ]
In the interim , the Hawaii projects are in full swing . In the coral project , the images taken by the instruments aboard the aircraft can help the researchers make out changes inthe color of a reef , said Steven Ackleson , an oceanographer with the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington , D.C. , who is in Hawaii to work on the project .
" Reef paint total from both the zooxanthellae and from the corals themselves , " Ackleson told Live Science , using the scientific term for the algae - like organisms that live in symbiosis with the coral polyps . " colour indicate wellness , " he enunciate .
The researchers want to figure out the best ways to draw information from the images to determine coral health , he say . For instance , the scientists are hope to instruct more about why some types of zooxanthellaetolerate warming waters betterthan others . The answer may involve differences in the chloroplasts between the different types of zooxanthellae , he said .
The researchers who are ferment on the vent project are using the images to better study the composition of the gasplume that arises from Kilauea , and how it changes as the plume spreads out , said Vincent Realmuto , a geoscience investigator at NASA ’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory .
A key part of the project is looking at how the plume affectHawaii ’s atmosphere caliber , Realmuto said .
For good example , one doubt the volcano researcher are assay to suffice with the new information is precisely how quick thesulfur dioxide gas that the volcanoemits becomes aerosolize , meaning it combines with other compounds to take form particulate matter , which can be harmful to human wellness .
The current approximation is that process takes 10 hour , Realmuto said . But that estimate is very rasping . " The local temperature , the humidity , the topography – all of these impact the conversion rate , " he said . The fresh data point will help the scientists to create better models to predict the formation and bm of the particulate matter subject , which could precede to better forecast of the vog . [ The 10 Biggest Volcanic Eruptions in History ]
Albertson remark that even when it launches , the new satellite wo n’t rule out the want for pile up data from musical instrument aboard aircraft and on the terra firma . footing - found instrument can pucker measurements on a much o.k. scale than the satellite will . But the artificial satellite ’s capacity to get image from the intact Earth in a unretentive amount of time will be a huge advantage for researchers .
To put this in perspective , Mercury say , the current six - week drive will capture images , using the visible - spark tv camera , for most of Hawaii . If that camera were on a satellite , for the same amount of time , the researchers would be able-bodied to capture the same floor of imaging for the entire Earth ’s airfoil , four times over , he said .
Originally published onLive skill .
