NASA has selected two teams from UC San Diego“s Scripps Institution of Oceanography to develop scientific mission proposals aimed at enhancing the study of climate change. Each team has been awarded $5 million to conduct a one-year concept study as part of NASA”s new Earth Systems Explorers Program.
Recent headlines about our planet highlight alarming trends, including unprecedented heat, extreme weather events, and the accelerated melting of glaciers, which are contributing to rising sea levels. In response, NASA sought proposals for missions that would further our understanding of climate change factors, including greenhouse gas emissions, ocean surface currents, and changes in ice and glaciers globally.
Out of four finalists, the two UC San Diego-led concepts are spearheaded by glaciologist Helen Amanda Fricker and physical oceanographer Sarah Gille. These mission concepts aim to provide comprehensive insights into various ecosystems across the planet, encompassing land, ice, and sea.
Fricker, who is also the director of the Scripps Polar Center, is leading a project named the Earth Dynamics Geodetic Explorer (EDGE). This proposed satellite will focus on capturing the three-dimensional characteristics of terrestrial ecosystems, including forests, glaciers, ice sheets, and sea ice in polar regions. “These ecosystems and Antarctica are so extensive that a space-based perspective is essential for a holistic study,” Fricker explained. “Real-time monitoring of these changing ecosystems and melting polar regions is crucial for understanding how our planet reacts to climate change, how we can mitigate its impacts, and whether we are approaching critical tipping points that may lead to sudden and irreversible changes,” she emphasized. “Now is the time to invest in this technology.”
The EDGE satellite will utilize imaging lidar altimetry, a technique that sends laser pulses to the Earth”s surface and measures the duration of their return to the spacecraft. This method enables scientists to ascertain the elevation of Earth”s surface features, including ice sheets and the structure of vegetation, such as the Amazon rainforest. “It”s akin to using a laser pointer, but instead of one beam, the satellite will deploy 40 lasers, offering highly detailed resolution, down to the depths of glacier cracks and the height of individual trees,” Fricker noted.
The data gathered from EDGE could revolutionize our understanding of the Earth”s carbon and ice reserves, aiding policymakers and supplying essential information for scientists involved in forecasting future environmental conditions, including those reported by the United Nations” Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
The second satellite concept from UC San Diego, led by Gille, is titled Ocean Dynamics and Surface Exchange with the Atmosphere (ODYSEA). This project focuses on the interface between the ocean and the atmosphere, a critical zone where clouds form, storms develop, carbon dioxide is absorbed by the ocean, and nutrients are transported into marine ecosystems. The proposed satellite aims to measure ocean surface currents on a global scale for the first time while simultaneously assessing wind patterns over the ocean.
“Weather systems that affect human lives originate from the ocean, including hurricanes, tornadoes, atmospheric rivers, and severe flooding, as well as heat dome phenomena resulting in extreme heat waves,” Gille explained. “Understanding how the ocean fuels these extreme weather events presents one of the greatest challenges in climate science.”
The ODYSEA satellite will offer groundbreaking capabilities by providing daily measurements of global surface currents in conjunction with wind data. This information will enhance weather and climate predictions, illustrating how ocean currents interact with the atmosphere and refining models for weather, climate, and ocean circulation. Additionally, the data may assist in search-and-rescue operations and tracking incidents such as oil spills.
The technology behind ODYSEA will employ a Doppler scatterometer, which uses radar signals to gauge wind speed and direction. A novel innovation will enable ODYSEA to measure the speed and direction of surface currents by exploiting the Doppler shift in radar signals caused by the movement of ocean surfaces.
The international teams, under the leadership of Fricker and Gille, are currently finalizing the technical specifications of their proposed NASA missions, ensuring their feasibility and refining satellite designs to meet project timelines and budgets. In 2025, NASA will select two out of the four proposals to advance towards launch, with one mission planned for 2030 and another for 2032, each operating under a budget of $310 million. While both Scripps-led teams aspire to secure one of these two positions, the scientists recognize that their satellite missions are complementary in both approach and scope. “Both missions are essential to cover the entire surface of our planet,” Gille added.
These satellite projects present a transformative chance to deepen our understanding of the planet”s changes, viewed from the unique perspective of space.
