Nasa Aqua Terra Satellites
Modis or moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer is a key instrument aboard the terra originally known as eos am 1 and aqua originally known as eos pm 1 satellites.
Nasa aqua terra satellites. With its sweeping 2 330 km wide viewing swath modis sees every point on our world every 1 2 days in 36 discrete spectral bands. For 20 years terra the flagship earth observing satellite has chronicled changes on earth. Follow nasa modis hurricane marie. Aqua eos pm 1 is a nasa scientific research satellite in orbit around the earth studying the precipitation evaporation and cycling of water.
Terra s orbit around the earth is timed so that it passes from north to south across the equator in the morning while aqua passes south to north over the equator in the afternoon. Data posted approximately 2 5 hours after the observation at the spacecraft. Modis swath images for each five minute interval from nasa s terra and aqua satellites. Viirs swath images for each six minute interval from the joint nasa noaa suomi npp and noaa 20 satellites.
It is the flagship of the earth observing system eos. Aqua latin for water is a nasa earth science satellite mission named for the large amount of information that the mission is collecting about the earth s water cycle including evaporation from the oceans water vapor in the atmosphere clouds precipitation soil moisture sea ice land ice and snow cover on the land and ice. Nasa s primary tool for fire detections since 2002 has been the moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer modis instruments on the terra and aqua satellites. It is the second major component of the earth observing system eos preceded by terra launched 1999 and followed by aura launched 2004.
Terra eos am 1 is a multi national nasa scientific research satellite in a sun synchronous orbit around the earth. Designed and built in the 1980s and 90s nasa and lockheed martin engineers set out to build a satellite that could take simultaneous measurements of earth s atmosphere land and water. The name aqua comes from the latin word for water. For instance the sensor measures the percent of the planet s surface that is covered by clouds almost every day.
Terra aqua modis modis or moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer is a key instrument aboard the terra eos am and aqua eos pm satellites. A naming contest was held by nasa among u s. The name terra comes from the latin word for earth. At this point in the fire season modis active fire detections in 2019 are higher across the brazilian amazon than in any year since 2010.