Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. 24/7 Space News .




EARTH OBSERVATION
The Color of the Ocean: the SABIA-Mar Mission
by Bruno Martini and Mauricio Almeida Noernberg for ASTRO
Moffett Field CA (SPX) Jul 16, 2013


A large aquamarine-colored plankton bloom is shown stretching across the length of Ireland in the North Atlantic Ocean in this image, captured on 6 June 2006 by Envisat's Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS), a dedicated ocean color sensor able to identify phytoplankton concentrations. Image credit: ESA.

Remote sensing of ocean color is a currently well-established science that provides information about water composition and the depth of light penetration based on the ocean color, as seen from space. Ocean color satellites are part of an Earth observing system and, due to its importance in understanding the state of the ocean and its evolution, the international scientific community has agreed to joint efforts to keep a constant constellation of ocean color satellites orbiting our planet.

The first of those ocean color sensors was the CZCS (Coastal Zone Color Scanner) Experiment, launched by NASA in 1978 onboard the Nimbus-7 satellite as part of a proof-of-concept of the capability to measure suspended and dissolved particles in ocean waters from space.

Photosynthetic pigments were the main focus of this pioneering mission. Quantifying and monitoring those pigments is essential to understand the systemic functioning of our planet, since photosynthesis is the process responsible for turning carbon dioxide (CO2) into our breathable oxygen (O2) and for the planet's primary production that sustains the trophic web (the food web).

In this way, plants and microalgae provide food and air for most of Earth's life forms, especially the macroscopic forms such as animals, obviously including humans.

Although the CZCS mission was successful, when this sensor stopped working in 1986, there was a ten year wait until a new ocean color mission was sent into space to continue those studies. These new ocean color sensors - named MOS, OCTS and POLDER - were launched in 1996.

Maintaining ocean color space-borne platforms in orbit is an important goal, since scientists want to observe the ocean over long periods of time. Recently, Brazil and Argentina joined this international constellation to provide valuable data and help to prevent another ocean color data gap.

The mission is called SABIA-Mar, an acronym which means Argentinean-Brazilian Satellite of Environmental Information of the Sea (the name works both in Spanish and Portuguese, the official languages of the respective countries). The name "Sabia" means "true thrush", a group of birds form the genus Turdus that are common in the region of Argentina and Brazil.

The SABIA-Mar mission is an initiative of Agencia Espacial Brasileira - AEB (Brazilian Space Agency), Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais - INPE (National Institute for Space Research), both from Brazil and CONAE Comision Nacional de Actividades Espaciales (National Commission of Space Activities) from Argentina.

Its technical characteristics are still a matter of discussion, so these institutions put together a workshop in Buenos Aires (March 14-15th of 2013) and Brasilia (May 13-14th of 2013) the capitals of Argentina and Brazil, respectively.

The workshop community was composed of government and private institutions from both countries, and now the greater international community of potential users of the satellites is also being asked to contribute and provide their critiques and demands.

"The satellite must supply the highest number of demands as possible." says Petronio de Souza, Director of Space Policy and Strategic Investments from AEB.

"It is necessary to know what the future SABIA-Mar users need," reaffirmed the Brazilian Manager of the mission, Marco Antonio Chamon, during the workshop in Brasilia. As is usual for most of the other ocean color missions, the data will be available for free to interested users worldwide.

The main decision from these meetings was the agreement on splitting the SABIA-Mar mission into two satellites: one focused on imaging the global oceans, expected to launch in 2018, and another for regional studies, planned for 2019.

Imaging specific regions requires a higher spatial resolution and represents a technological jump for both countries involved. But the regional data also represents a scientific challenge for the whole ocean color research community. The open ocean is well known for its deep blue color, caused by water molecules interacting with sunlight.

But coastal zones and interior water bodies such as lakes and rivers have much more complex color patterns, because they are highly influenced by suspended sediments, dissolved organic matter and phytoplankton (microalgae). It is currently hard to precisely partition the contribution of each one of these substances, so these water bodies will be the focus of the regional camera to be placed onboard the regional SABIA-Mar satellite.

The actual objective of this space mission is to better understand the Earth's carbon cycle, as well as to help fisheries and aquiculture, detect and monitor pollution and harmful algal blooms, follow species at risk, evaluate water quality and water visibility, and study climate and environmental changes. The mission will also aid coastal management efforts and national sovereignty and defense measures.

But while we can observe the ocean in the present, we also need to envision the ocean in the future. Ocean color remote sensing naturally is a space-borne vocation, and the discoveries of Earth possibly could be extrapolated to other planets and moons inside and outside the Solar System. Perhaps remote sensing of Earth will inspire future missions to observe the frozen ocean of Jupiter's moon Europa and the hydrocarbon lakes of Saturn's moon Titan in the coming decades.

The knowledge gained from the ocean color science may also help astrobiologists to hunt for extraterrestrial life. Ocean color is presently the only way to monitor phytoplankton from local to global scales, and its variation in density and composition through several time scales. Scientists are currently identifying the range of sunlight absorption by each photosynthetic pigment known to exist on Earth's plants and algae. Future optical sensors onboard deep space satellites or probes may look for those pigments in the nearer exoplanets.

While still a matter of speculation, if such sensors turn out to be possible, the big distances involved will demand a much higher precision and accuracy than what the present ocean color science state-of-the-art technology has.

Photosynthetic pigments are the result of an evolutionary adaption of Earth's life to the available light, and depend on the Sun's distance, age and magnitude. Astrobiologists are now considering other possible photosynthetic pigments adapted to different types of stars and distances from them. For example, the forest and algae colors of other worlds may be very different than our green patterns. We can assume there could be extraterrestrial habitats verging into red and yellow colors, for instance.

By better comprehending terrestrial life and considering the biochemical possibilities, we should be able to explore whether some of our closest neighbors may harbor extraterrestrial life "as we know it", or at least, what we can assume alien life may possibly be like.

.


Related Links
AEB
CONAE
INPE
Ocean Color - NASA
Earth Observation News - Suppiliers, Technology and Application






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle








EARTH OBSERVATION
Nature valued from space
Paris (ESA) Jul 16, 2013
Satellites show how we can promote economic development in an environmentally sustainable manner by putting a price on nature's resources. Located on the Indonesian island of Lombok, the Mount Rinjani National Park is an important ecosystem for numerous endangered plants and animals. Just outside the park's boundaries, the fertile soils are exploited for agriculture and much of the forest ... read more


EARTH OBSERVATION
Scientist says Earth may once have been orbited by two moons

Dust hazard for Moon missions: scientists

NASA Seeks Information on Commercial Robotic Lunar Lander Capabilities

Orbiting astronaut controls robot on Earth, testing feasibility of CU-Boulder project on far side of the moon

EARTH OBSERVATION
Third Drive of Curiosity's Long Trek Covers 135 Feet

DNA-sequencing chip could be sent to Mars to search for signs of life

Opportunity Making Progress Toward Solander Point

Mars Rover Curiosity Begins Trek Toward Mount Sharp

EARTH OBSERVATION
Technology Could Curtail Astronaut Conflict

NASA Selects Seven Projects for 2014 X-Hab Innovation Challenge

Space seeds could "benefit" traditional Chinese medicines

Kennedy Facilities Key to NASA's Transition

EARTH OBSERVATION
China's astronauts ready for longer missions

Chinese probe reaches record height in space travel

China's space tracking ship Yuanwang-5 berths at Jakarta for replenishment

China plans to launch Tiangong-2 space lab around 2015

EARTH OBSERVATION
NASA puzzled as astronaut's helmet leak halts spacewalk

Luca, the orbital repair man

Station Astronauts Complete First of Two July Spacewalks

Russia to go ahead with space freighter launch

EARTH OBSERVATION
Alphasat and INSAT 3D fueled for Ariane 5 heavy lift dual launch

Special group to be set up for inspecting production of Proton-M carrier rockets

Two Rockets Launched From Wallops

Specialists unrelated to Khrunichev to check Proton-M rocket production

EARTH OBSERVATION
Hubble Finds a Cobalt Blue Planet

Gaps in dust around stars may not indicate planets as many believe

Hubble Telescope reveals variation between hot extrasolar planet atmospheres

UCSB Astronomer Uncovers The Hidden Identity Of An Exoplanet

EARTH OBSERVATION
Earth's gold may have been born in cataclysmic cosmic collisions

Taking the "Random" out of a Random Laser

Resonator Gyro Achieves 25 Million Operating Hours in Space

Cool it, quick: Rapid cooling leads to stronger alloys




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement