Wildfires. Floods. Superstorms. Earthquakes. Drought. Snowpack loss. And on and on. The Earth and its billions of living creatures have suffered greatly as natural disasters have become more extreme, more destructive and more frequent.
We desperately need a better understanding of Earth to improve our ability to foresee these terrifying events and mitigate disasters. That’s why NASA has turned to the University of Washington to lead satellite space-science missions to find the answers.
“NASA uses the unique vantage point of space to study our home planet to deliver lifesaving data into the hands of disaster response and decision-makers every day for the benefit of all,” says Nicky Fox, associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate. “By understanding Earth’s surface topography, ecosystems and atmosphere, while also enabling longer-range weather forecasting, these missions will help us better study the extreme environments beyond our home planet to ensure the safety of astronauts and spacecraft as we return to the moon with the Artemis campaign and journey onward to Mars and beyond.”
Two UW teams of scientists—the STRIVE team (Stratosphere-Troposphere Response using Infrared Vertically-resolved light Explorer) and the UW-affiliated EDGE team (Earth Dynamics Geodetic Explorer)—will carry out NASA’s Earth System Explorers Program mission as identified by no less than the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine.
The UW beat out three other finalists for this prestigious role. “For many of us, it is a dream come true,” says Lyatt Jaeglé, UW professor of atmospheric and climate science, who is leading the STRIVE Team. Its instruments can make more than 400,000 observations in exquisite detail each day, which will help researchers understand how air pollution circulates following a wildfire or volcanic eruption, for example.
The EDGE team uses lasers to observe the three-dimensional structure of Earth’s surface as it changes. “The EDGE data will have implications for sea-level rise, natural hazards monitoring, water resource and forest management, and wildfire response,” says Benjamin Smith, ’05, senior principal physicist at the UW Applied Physics Laboratory.
To sum up: Hugely important missions, led by the UW. It’s a story we see every day.