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CAPE FEAR MEMORIAL BRIDGE CLOSURE: UPDATES, RESOURCES, AND CONTEXT

NASA Launches 'Next Generation' Weather Satellite

<p>A Delta II rocket launches with the NPOESS Preparatory Project (NPP) spacecraft  from Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.</p>
Bill Ingalls
/
NASA

A Delta II rocket launches with the NPOESS Preparatory Project (NPP) spacecraft from Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.

Today, NASA launched into orbit what the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is calling a "next generation" weather satellite that they say will fine-tune long-term weather forecasts.

The Washington Post'sCapital Weather Gang explains:

The NPOESS Preparatory Project (NPP) satellite, roughly the size of mini-van, will orbit at an altitude of 512 miles above the Earth's surface. NPP will fly in a polar orbit, circling the earth from the north pole to the south pole 14 times each day.

The data it beams back to Earth, from five instruments, will help improve understanding of both global change and weather prediction.

...

Data from polar-orbiting satellites is important for the accuracy of weather models, and NOAA claimssuch data were important to the accuracy of forecasts for major East Coast snowstorms in 2009 and 2010, including Snowmaggedon.

NOAA saysthe NPP satellite will help measure "cloud and vegetation cover, ocean color, and sea and land surface temperatures," as well as "distribution of moisture and heat in the atmosphere." The satellite will be especially important for weather forecasts three-days out.

"The bottom line is NPP is a big deal for America," Mary Kicza, assistant administrator for NOAA's Satellite and Information Service, said in statement. "We need the data from NPP to inform the public about what's coming down the pike and how to plan for it appropriately."

The Christian Science Monitor reports the SUV-sized satellite cost $1.5 billion and beyond helping meteorologists, it will also help scientists study climate change.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Eyder Peralta is NPR's East Africa correspondent based in Nairobi, Kenya.