NASA brings oceanography from space to life with five Earth
science exhibits in Westfield Shoppingtown Annapolis Mall in
Annapolis, Md., from April 5-14, 2002. The exhibits are timed to
precede arrival of the Volvo Ocean Race to the Chesapeake Bay area
on April 17.
NASA supports the Volvo Ocean Adventure, the educational component
of the Volvo Ocean Race, by providing satellite data of the ocean
regions being traversed by the racing yachts. The flagship exhibit
in the mall highlights NASA’s SeaWiFS (Sea-Viewing Wide Field
Sensor) global ocean color monitoring mission. SeaWiFS supports
the Volvo Ocean Adventure by providing content, images and near
real-time maps of ocean color of wherever the eight yachts are in
the worldÃs oceans throughout the nine months of the race.
The Volvo Ocean Adventure is a free educational website designed
to increase environmental awareness worldwide among tomorrow’s
decision-makers. One of NASA’s goals is to provide data and
information about the oceans to key decision-makers and the
general public. Oceanography is an important component of NASA’s
Earth System Science research, and worldwide interest in the race
makes it an excellent teaching tool for oceanography.
The exhibits consist of “The Blue Marble,”, a 16-foot diameter
inflatable globe that shows a composite of data sets of the Earth
as taken from space by theNASA’s Terra satellite. This globe is
located in the mall court area in front of the HechtÃs Department
Store, and was previously displayed at the Olympic Village for the
2002 Winter Olympics.
There will are also five exhibit panels on “Exploring the Earth
from Space,” which cover the role of oceans in our climate and
include data from the satellites, including: SeaWiFS (Sea-Viewing
Wide Field Sensor), Jason-1, GRACE (Gravity Recovery and Climate
Experiment) and SeaWinds. These exhibits will be located in the
mall area in front of the J.C. Penny store.
NASA is a partner in the Volvo Ocean Adventure, and supports the
educational component of the Volvo Ocean Race, by providing
real-time satellite data of the ocean regions being traversed by
the racing yachts. The flagship exhibit highlights the NASA
SeaWiFS global ocean color monitoring mission. SeaWiFS supports
the Volvo Ocean Adventure by providing content, images and near
real-time maps of ocean color covering the regions of the world’s
ocean that eight yachts are sailing through around the world over
nine months.
sailboats through some of hte most rough and remote regions of the
world’s oceans. Worldwide interest in the race makes it an
excellent teaching tool for oceanography. The yachts are currently
in Miami and will arrive in the Chesapeake Bay area on April Each
of the race yachts is equipped with an instrument package to
measure sea surface temperature and ocean color, and these
measurements are transmitted back to the to Race Headquarters and
then to the Southampton Oceanography Centre in England several
times per day. As the race continues, SeaWiFS is takingtakes
readings of ocean color. By monitoring globally the color of
reflected light via satellite, scientists can determine estimate
how successfully plant life is photosynthesizing or growing in the
ocean.
With global coverage, SeaWiFS will be monitoring the swirling
currents around the Patagonian shelf, enormous dust storms blowing
off the Sahara, icebergs, and the biological deserts of the
central ocean gyres
SeaWiFS is a unique mission in a number of aspects, not the least
of which is the including its industry/government relationship
that this project has adopted.with ORBIMAGE, NASA’s industry
partner in this mission., ORBIMAGE is one of the Science Partners
for the Volvo Ocean Adventure.
The exhibit titled “Measuring Ocean Surface Topography from
Space,” highlights the TOPEX/Poseidon mission, which
revolutionized our knowledge of ocean circulation and its effects
on global climate change and . This satellite provided
measurements that led to early prediction of the great El Nino
phenomenon of 1997-98, which caused extreme disruptions to weather
patterns worldwide.
“Measuring Earth’s Gravity from Space, GraceGRACE” highlights the
Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE), an international
mission with Germany, that uses twin satellites to precisely
measure the Earth’s gravity field to increased knowledge of the
motion of water on land and on the oceans.
Another exhibit, “Measuring Ocean Winds SeaWinds on ADEOS II,”
centers on how the
SeaWinds scatterometer can acquire hundreds of times more
observations of surface wind speed and direction each day than
ships or buoys. SeaWinds will provide long-term, high-resolution
wind data for studies of ocean circulation, climate and air-sea
interaction. These –measurements are crucial to understanding and
predicting severe weather patterns and climate changes.
The exhibit titled the “Oceans’ Role in Climate” demonstrates that
the oceans are the single most significant influence on weather
and climate.
The ocean continuously exchanges heat and moisture with the
atmosphere, driving slow, subtle changes. Ocean winds play a major
role in weather and climate. A space radar instrument called a
scatterometer measures both wind speed and direction over Earth’s
oceans. The data are used to monitor conditions such as typhoons
and hurricanes. Altimeters measure ocean-surface topography, the
hills and valleys of the ocean surface. These precise
measurements, accurate to within one inch, are used to improve
predictions of long-term weather patterns such as El Nino. An
exhibit highlighting the GRACE satellite shows how mapping gravity
measurements together with altimetry will also improve our
knowledge of ocean circulation.
The purpose of Volvo Ocean Adventure is to increase environmental
awareness among tomorrow’s decision-makers. One of NASA’s goals is
to provide data and information about the oceans to key
decision-makers and the general public, which is why the two
organizations are working together on this project. Oceanography,
the focus of this project, is an important component of NASA’s
Earth System Science research.
The Volvo Ocean Race is an around the world yacht race that began
in England in September 2001. Its 32,000-mile route takes the
crews and the 64-foot sailboats through some of the most rough and
remote regions of the world’s oceans. The yachts are currently in
Miami and will arrive in the Chesapeake Bay area on April 17 for
an 11-day stopover. The race will finish in Germany in June.
The Volvo Ocean Adventure website is a free educational website
targeting young people worldwide with the aim of increasing
environmental awareness. This web site hosts contains a variety of
environmental topics and is a collaboration of twenty 20
universities and scientific institutions around the world,
including NASA.
To find out moreMore information about NASA programs and the Volvo
Ocean Adventure is available from, you may visit the following web
sites:
