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Earth Science and Applications from Space 12 CLARREO Climate Absolute Radiance and Refractivity Observatory Launch: 2010â2013 Mission size: Small Orbit: LEO, Precessing Agency: NASA, NOAA Estimated cost: $200 million (NASA), $65 million (NOAA) Areas of interest: Climate, Health Instruments: Absolute, spectrally resolved interferometers (NASA), broadband radiometers (NOAA) Benefits: Benchmarking of climate record to produce accurate trends and improve climate predictions Verification and improvement of climate models Ozone and surface radiation forecasts and public advisories Decisions to address a wide range of societal concerns rely on accurate climate records and credible long-term outlooks. A vital element in climate monitoring and assessment is the amount of ra- diation entering and leaving the Earth system. The CLARREO mission will measure incoming and outgoing radiation using independent, well-established methods as part of a single mission. The result will be a benchmark record of global climate consistent with international standards. Because human-induced climate change is expected to produce a recognizable signature of radiative effects by wavelength, the data will also help to verify the quality of global climate models. CLARREO will employ interferometers to measure two key parts of the radiation budget: infrared radiation emitted from Earthâs surface and atmosphere, and solar radiation reflected from the Earth system to space in near-ultraviolet, visible, and near-infrared wavelengths. The mission will also include a receiver to intercept and analyze signals from the Global Positioning System (GPS) after they pass through Earthâs atmosphere along the horizon (a technique known as radio occultation). The delay induced in these signals by atmospheric refraction can yield data on pressure, temperature, and water vapor. The NASA component of CLARREO will include three satellites, all of which carry redundant thermal infrared interferometers and a GPS receiver, and one of which also includes redundant ultra- violet, visible, and near-infrared interferometers. The NOAA component of CLARREO involves the reflight of the incident solar-irradiance and CERES broadband instruments on the NPOESS Preparatory Project (NPP) and NPOESS spacecraft.
