Terra
confirma
Satellite with UM software
sends back first images
Though his 50th birthday was a day earlier, UM scientist Steve Running got
a late gift April 19 -- the official word from NASA that all is well with its Terra
environmental satellite, whose primary instrument contains UM-designed software. NASA
made the announcement during a broadcast that was watched live by a gathering at the
facilities of UM's Numerical Terradynamic Research Group, which Running directs.
"Terra is measuring and documenting Earth's vital signs, many of them for the
first time," said Yoram Kaufman, a project scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight
Center. "All five instruments aboard Terra are in great shape, even exceeding what
our engineers expected."
Running's group designed software for MODIS, the Moderate Resolution Imaging
Spectroradiometer. The $1 billion Terra and MODIS successfully made it into orbit 437
miles above the Earth on Dec. 18.
Terra is designed to monitor how Earth's atmosphere, lands, oceans, solar radiation and
life influence each other. The satellite's sensors measure everything from moisture
content in clouds to sunlight to Earth's total vegetation.
After viewing the first detailed NASA images from Terra, Running's group displayed a
picture produced from their software - a color-coded image of North America's vegetation.
Running said they compiled the picture from data that has been coming into UM's computers
from Terra for the past four weeks.
"We call it our leaf-area index," he said. "It's our way of quantifying
the vegetation. This spring it will be like watching the whole North American lawn green
up."
Running said they will be able to put out a leaf-area index map of the entire world
every eight days once their automated processes are in place. But for now his group is
still working to perfect the data coming in from Terra, so NASA information can begin to
be passed on to land managers in a few months. Like a stethoscope in the sky, UM software
is designed to measure many facets of the Earth's health.
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