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Sharpening Our View of Climate Change with the Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem Satellite

As our planet warms, Earth’s ocean and atmosphere are changing.

Climate change has a lot of impact on the ocean, from sea level rise to marine heat waves to a loss of biodiversity. Meanwhile, greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide continue to warm our atmosphere.

NASA’s upcoming satellite, PACE, is soon to be on the case!

Set to launch on Feb. 6, 2024, the Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) mission will help us better understand the complex systems driving the global changes that come with a warming climate.

A global map centered on the Pacific Ocean. The map highlights the areas where ocean surface color changed. Change in color is represented by shades of green. The darkest green correlates to higher levels of change. Black dots on the map represent areas where chlorophyll levels also changed. Credit: NASA/Wanmei Liang; data from Cael, B. B., et al. (2023)

Earth’s ocean is becoming greener due to climate change. PACE will see the ocean in more hues than ever before.

While a single phytoplankton typically can’t be seen with the naked eye, communities of trillions of phytoplankton, called blooms, can be seen from space. Blooms often take on a greenish tinge due to the pigments that phytoplankton (similar to plants on land) use to make energy through photosynthesis.

In a 2023 study, scientists found that portions of the ocean had turned greener because there were more chlorophyll-carrying phytoplankton. PACE has a hyperspectral sensor, the Ocean Color Instrument (OCI), that will be able to discern subtle shifts in hue. This will allow scientists to monitor changes in phytoplankton communities and ocean health overall due to climate change.

Satellite image of a bright turquoise phytoplankton bloom in the Atlantic. The bloom is a large spiral shape on the right side of the image. Credit: USGS; NASA

Phytoplankton play a key role in helping the ocean absorb carbon from the atmosphere. PACE will identify different phytoplankton species from space.

With PACE, scientists will be able to tell what phytoplankton communities are present – from space! Before, this could only be done by analyzing a sample of seawater.

Telling “who’s who” in a phytoplankton bloom is key because different phytoplankton play vastly different roles in aquatic ecosystems. They can fuel the food chain and draw down carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to photosynthesize. Some phytoplankton populations capture carbon as they die and sink to the deep ocean; others release the gas back into the atmosphere as they decay near the surface.

Studying these teeny tiny critters from space will help scientists learn how and where phytoplankton are affected by climate change, and how changes in these communities may affect other creatures and ocean ecosystems.

Animation of aerosol model data around the world. Plumes of red, green, yellow, blue and pink swirl over the gray landmasses and blue ocean to show carbon, sulfate, dust, sea salt, and nitrate, respectively. Credit: NASA

Climate models are one of our most powerful tools to understand how Earth is changing. PACE data will improve the data these models rely on.

The PACE mission will offer important insights on airborne particles of sea salt, smoke, human-made pollutants, and dust – collectively called aerosols – by observing how they interact with light.

With two instruments called polarimeters, SPEXone and HARP2, PACE will allow scientists to measure the size, composition, and abundance of these microscopic particles in our atmosphere. This information is crucial to figuring out how climate and air quality are changing.

PACE data will help scientists answer key climate questions, like how aerosols affect cloud formation or how ice clouds and liquid clouds differ.

It will also enable scientists to examine one of the trickiest components of climate change to model: how clouds and aerosols interact. Once PACE is operational, scientists can replace the estimates currently used to fill data gaps in climate models with measurements from the new satellite.

Animation of the PACE satellite orbiting a gray globe. As the satellite orbits, colorful swaths are left in its path, indicating where the satellite has collected data. Credit: NASA

With a view of the whole planet every two days, PACE will track both microscopic organisms in the ocean and microscopic particles in the atmosphere. PACE’s unique view will help us learn more about the ways climate change is impacting our planet’s ocean and atmosphere.

Stay up to date on the NASA PACE blog, and make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of sPACE!

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Maria Thymann - Sophy A. Christensen (1867 - 1955) in her workshop (1899)

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Vote for Your Favorite Astronaut Picture: Tournament Earth 2021

It is that time of year again…Tournament Earth is back! This year, NASA Earth Observatory has chosen a new theme for the tournament: astronaut photography. Choose your favorite image here.

For more than 20 years, astronauts have been shooting photos of Earth from the International Space Station that highlight the planet’s beauty, complexity, and vulnerabilities. So which are the most unforgettable ones? Over the next five weeks (March 8-April 13), you can help decide.

How can you get involved? It’s easy as 1…2…3!

1. Read and Vote.

Not sure which image to vote for because they are ALL so captivating? Read the intriguing stories behind the images to help you decide! You can access the stories by clicking on the image headlines on the voting page: https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/tournament-earth

For instance, the Stars in Motion image is actually a compilation of 72 photographs. And some of the night lights around Bangkok, Thailand, actually show fishing boats as well as city lights.

2. Fill out your bracket.

Think you know which photo will win it all? Fill out a #TournamentEarth bracket with your predictions and challenge friends! Then share your predictions with NASAEarth on our blog, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or right here on Tumblr!

We can’t offer a trip to the Moon, but bragging rights are forever if you can pick the champion. Download a more print-friendly version of the bracket here.

3. View the results…and vote again!

Tournament Earth will have five rounds, and round one is currently underway. Voting for the following rounds begins on Tuesdays and will be open for six days. We will update our social media channels (including right here on Tumblr!) with the newest matchups. Check this space to see how your favorite images did. Then vote until we crown a champion on April 13, 2021.