Monitoring Climate Change by Satellite

As we know, lately the weather in Indonesia have been uncertain. When the rainy season often occurs, and vice versa. This was caused by climate change. Climate change is believed to occur due to global warming caused by trapping solar heat energy caused by rising concentrations of greenhouse gases, like CO, CH, and NO.

The research of Professor Galen McKinley of the University of Wisconsin at Madison, USA, said the rise in water temperature and the air slows the absorption of carbon in the ocean in the subtropical zone. Meanwhile, the research results Groenigen Kees Jan van, a professor from Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, revealed that increasing concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2) for over 50 years has accelerated the release of methane (CH) and nitrous oxide (NO) from the ground. The results of that research is important and contextual because the issue of global warming today (almost) always "blamed" for causing global climate crisis.

Therefore, the scientists monitoring the issue. Monitoring of the phenomenon of climate change and global warming continue to be developed with various techniques. One of them with remote sensing techniques using satellites.

Observations of meteorological elements using the equipment directly to the layer of the atmosphere began in 1947. Camera-equipped unmanned rocket was launched into space. The camera is a successful recording images of Earth from space. The resulting image shows a picture of clouds form very clearly. Scientists quickly realized that the weather observations can be done from space.

Television Infrared Observation Satellite, known as TIROS-1 cutaway (Picture from: http://www.myspace.com/)

1960, the world's first weather satellite, TIROS (Television Infrared Observation Satellite) equipped with a video camera, was launched into Earth orbit. Revolution came to pass weather data collection. Since then, weather forecasts began to be based a combination of weather system data from satellites with records of local weather data from observations on Earth's surface. Weather forecasting experience leap of progress. Throughout 1960, at least nine TIROS was launched after the success of the first.

Cutaway drawing ATS Spin Scan Cloud Camera (Picture from: http://library.ssec.wisc.edu/)

In 1966, the U.S. put the ATS (Applications Technology Satellite) in a higher orbit, the geostationary orbit, approximately 35.800 Kilometers above the equator. By using satellites, observation constraints due to the complexity of weather data climate data, the need for continuity of observation, and the breadth of data coverage finally resolved, Forecasting the weather became more accurate because the time span is longer recording weather data and more data and more diverse. The occurrence of hurricanes can be predicted up to four to five days in advance so that the toll could be significantly reduced because the available time to save themselves.

GOES-POES

United States develop a satellite program with the weather and environment satellite cooperation between the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Aviation and Space Agency (NASA), as well as the U.S. Air Force.

Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) (Picture from: http://www.aliasaerospace.com/)

There are two types of satellites. The first is in the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES), which moves in a geostationary orbit. In addition to the infrared sensors, now also features weather satellite microwave reflectance unit (MRU) which is more sensitive to the cloud.

POES - Polar Operational Environmental Satellites (Picture from: http://lunaf.com/)

Other U.S. satellite programs is the Environmental Operating in Polar Satellite (POES) that moves over the North Pole and South Pole. Other countries are Japan launches weather satellite (GMS), the community of European countries (Meteosat), India, Russia, and China.

The Japan's Geostationary Meteorological Satellite. (Picture from: http://www.boeing.com/)

The first of a second generation of Meteosat satellites, MSG-1, renamed Meteosat-8 once in orbit, started routine operations under the auspices of Eumetsat, Europe's organisation for the exploitation of meteorological satellites. (Picture from: http://spaceref.eu/)

Meanwhile, the Indonesian state was not inferior to monitor climate change in this country. Indonesia has been holding the Japanese who operates a new generation of satellites, the Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS).

Artist's concept of Japan's Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS), also known as Daichi (Picture from: http://www.sott.net/)

ALOS is designed for cartography, regional observation area, disaster monitoring, and surveys of natural resources. This new generation satellite sensors have a core, namely PRISM (panchromatic Remote-sensing Instrument for Stereo Mapping), AVNIR-2 (Advanced Visible and Near Infrared Radiometer type 2) and PALSAR (Phased Array type L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar).

Director of Environmental Science Master's program at Udayana University, Bali, I Wayan Arthana, said satellite data was obtained through the earth station installed at the University of Udayana. The data is used to monitor matters relating to global warming, among others, changes in ocean conditions, namely the distribution of chlorophyll and coral reef habitat areas or fishing, and sea level rise. *** [ZULFA NUGRAHA | PIKIRAN RAKYAT 15092011]