Aug 24 2005
From The Space Library
NASA and NOAA announced their joint development of procedures to improve the accuracy of medium-range weather forecasts in the Northern Hemisphere. NASA and NOAA scientists had incorporated into weather prediction models the data from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) on NASA's Aqua satellite, improving the accuracy range of experimental six-day weather forecasts of the Northern Hemisphere by 6 hours. Observers called this improvement of 4 percent a significant development in weather forecasting. NASA had launched Aqua on 4 May 2002, enabling the AIRS to produce three-dimensional maps of air and surface temperature, cloud properties, and water vapor. Moreover, the instrument had a spectral resolution more than 100 times greater than that of other infrared sounders. (NASA, “NASA/NOAA Announce Major Weather Forecasting Advancement,” news release 05-231, 24 August 2005; NASA JPL, “AIRS: Overview,” http://airs.jpl.nasa.gov/overview/overview/ (accessed 2 July 2009).)
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