Sciences and Exploration Directorate

Composite Infrared Spectrometer

The Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS) is an instrument on the Cassini spacecraft, now orbiting Saturn. CIRS records infrared spectra of Saturn, its satellites, and its rings. The CIRS scientific team studies the temperature structure, dynamics, and composition of the atmosphere of Saturn and Titan. The team also studies the thermal structure of Saturn's rings, and the nature of warm structures on icy satellites such as Enceladus. CIRS is sensitive to wavelengths from 7 to 1000 micrometers, using several different detectors. The full CIRS scientific team is international in scope, with co-investigators located in the U.S., England, France, Germany, and Italy. Michael Flasar of Goddard's Planetary Systems Laboratory is the Principal Investigator.

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- Principal Investigator: F FLASAR

New Horizons - Ralph/Linear Etalon Imaging Spectral Array

The New Horizons spacecraft, launched on January 19, 2006 from the Kennedy Space Center on an Atlas V rocket, quickly became the fastest spacecraft to reach the moon as it headed out into the solar system on its journey to Pluto and then beyond to the Kuiper Belt. On Feb. 28, 2007, New Horizons had a close flyby of Jupiter, using the giant planet for a gravity assist. Personnel in Goddard's Planetary Systems Laboratory were involved in the planning and analysis of science observations of Jupiter using the New Horizons cameras, and also the Hubble Space Telescope and NASA's IRTF, in support of the flyby. More recently, New Horizons passed Saturn's orbit on June 8, 2008 (too distant for a gravity assist or observations) and is now en route to a Pluto encounter in July 2015.

Heterodyne Instrument for Planetary Wind And Composition

Goddard's Heterodyne Instrument for Planetary Wind And Composition (HIPWAC) is used at ground-based facilities, often at the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility and the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan Subaru Telescope on the summit of Mauna Kea, Hawaii. With HIPWAC, scientists probe planetary atmospheres for chemical and dynamical information at exceptionally high spectral resolution. HIPWAC has made valuable observations of a variety of solar system bodies, including Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Titan, Neptune, and Venus.

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- Instrument Principal Investigator: THEODOR KOSTIUK

Cassini Ion Neutral Mass Spectrometer

The Ion and Neutral Mass Spectrometer (INMS) is collecting data to determine the composition and structure of positive ions and neutral particles in the upper atmosphere of Titan and the magnetosphere of Saturn. It is also measuring the positive ion and neutral environments of Saturn's rings and icy moons.

Gamma-Ray and Neutron Spectrometer

The Gamma-Ray and Neutron Spectrometer (GRNS) is an instrument aboard the MESSENGER spacecraft, a NASA mission to conduct the first orbital study of Mercury. The purpose of the GRNS is to provide information about the elements that make up Mercury's surface crust. More exactly, it will provide information about the uppermost tens of centimeters of the crust. This instrument measures the numbers and energies of gamma rays and neutrons that reach the MESSENGER probe as it passes near the planet.

Volatile Analysis by Pyrolysis of Regolith

VAPoR (Volatile Analysis by Pyrolysis of Regolith) is a study to develop a miniature version of the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument that is flying on the 2009 Mars Science Laboratory (MSL). The suitcase-size instrument is intended to investigate the volatile content of lunar regolith, determine the abundance of water and other volatiles, and help to establish their origin (terrestrial, lunar, solar, or exogenous).

Ulysses Unified Radio and Plasma Wave Experiment

The URAP experiment provides electric field measurements from "DC" to 1 MHz and magnetic field measurements from 0.22 to 450 Hz. These bandwidths permit the study of radio emissions from solar ejecta, interplanetary transients, and planetary magnetospheres and of in situ plasma waves associated with interplanetary shocks, coronal mass ejections, and other transients. The radio observations provide an important remote diagnostic of solar flares and shocks. The plasma wave observations are critical to the understanding of instabilities that exist throughout the interplanetary medium (IPM). Furthermore, analyses of the URAP data permit deriving fundamental characteristics of the solar wind, such as electron density and temperature.

ACE Cosmic Ray Isotope Spectrometer

The Cosmic Ray Isotope Spectrometer (CRIS) will measure the abundances of galactic cosmic ray isotopes.

ACE Solar Isotope Spectrometer

The Solar Isotope Spectrometer provides isotopically resolved measurements of the elements from lithium to zinc over the energy range 10 - 100 MeV/nucleon. The SIS dectector system consists of two identical telescopes composed of stacks of large-area solid-state detectors.

Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for EOS

The Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for EOS (AMSR-E) is a twelve-channel, six-frequency, total power passive-microwave radiometer system. It measures brightness temperatures at 6.925, 10.65, 18.7, 23.8, 36.5, and 89.0 GHz. Vertically and horizontally polarized measurements are taken at all channels. The Earth-emitted microwave radiation is collected by an offset parabolic reflector 1.6 meters in diameter that scans across the Earth along an imaginary conical surface, maintaining a constant Earth incidence angle of 55° and providing a swath width array of six feedhorns which then carry the radiation to radiometers for measurement. Calibration is accomplished with observations of cosmic background radiation and an on-board warm target. Spatial resolution of the individual measurements varies from 5.4 km at 89.0 GHz to 56 km at 6.9 GHz.

Airborne Cloud Physics Lidar

The Cloud Physics Lidar is an airborne lidar system designed specifically for studying clouds and aerosols using the ER-2 High Altitude Aircraft. Because the ER-2 typically flies at 65,000 feet (20 km), its instruments are above 94% of the earth's atmosphere, thereby allowing ER-2 instruments to function as spaceborne instrument simulators. The Cloud Physics Lidar provides a unique tool for atmospheric profiling and is sufficiently small and low cost to include in multiple instrument missions.

Airborne Earth Science Microwave Imaging Radiometer

The Airborne Earth Science Microwave Imaging Radiometer (AESMIR) is a passive microwave airborne imager covering the 6-100 GHz bands that are essential for observing key Earth System elements such as precipitation, snow, soil moisture, ocean winds, sea ice, sea surface temperature, vegetation, etc.

Arctic Research of the Composition of the Troposphere from Aircraft and Satellites

The Arctic is undergoing significant environmental changes related to global climate change. Now, NASA is extensively studying the role of air pollution in this climate-sensitive region as part of the ARCTAS field campaign, the largest airborne experiment ever to do so.

Atmospheric Lidar for Validation, Interagency Collaboration and Education

ALVICE (Atmospheric Lidar for Validation, Interagency Collaboration and Education) is a ground based mobile lidar that is a roving transfer standard within the Network for the Detection for Atmospheric Composition Change (NDACC). The lidar measurements are water vapor mixing ratio, aerosol backscatter, extinction, depolarization, cloud liquid and ice water and rotational Raman temperature measurements. In addition to these lidar-based measurements additional equipment is carried in the trailer to provide balloon borne measurements (Vaisala RS-92 and Cryogenic Frostpoint hygrometer), surface reference measurements of pressure, temperature and RH as well as total column water using GPS.

Atmospheric Pressure Sounder

The long-term goal of this activity is to demonstrate the feasibility of a laser sounder instrument capable of measuring the surface-pressure field for the entire air column from satellite-to-ground with global coverage. The earth's surface pressure is a vital component of a variety of important scientific measurements, which are being undertaken at Goddard. Accurate knowledge of the surface pressure can enable calibration of 2-D measurements of CO2 content in the atmosphere and greatly improve the fidelity of surface water redistribution measurements from time-varying gravity fields. It is also important in weather prediction and atmospheric modeling.

Atmospheric Radiation Measurements

The Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Climate Research Facility is a U.S. Department of Energy scientific user facility for the study of global climate change by the national and international research community.

C/NOFS Coupled Ion Neutral Dynamic Investigation

CINDI involves two instruments on the C/NOFS satellite that measure the concentration and kinetic energy of the ions and neutral particles in space as the satellite passes through them. This information will be used in building models to understand the various structures in the ionosphere, such as plasma depletions and associated turbulence in the nightside, low-latitude ionosphere. These structures can interfere with radio signals between Earth and spacecraft in orbit, thus causing errors in tracking and loss of communication.

C/NOFS Vector Electric Field Instrument

VEFI measures direct current (DC) electric fields, which cause the bulk plasma motion that drives the ionospheric plasma to be unstable. Additionally, it measures the quasi-DC electric fields within the plasma density depletions to reveal the motions of the depletions relative to the background ionosphere. VEFI also measures the vector AC electric field, which characterizes the ionospheric disturbances associated with spread-F irregularities.

Cassini Dual Technique Magnetometer

The Dual Technique Magnetometer (MAG), instruments onboard the Cassini spacecraft, is a Direct Sensing Instrument that measures the strength and direction of the magnetic field around Saturn.

Cassini Plasma Spectrometer

The Cassini Plasma Spectrometer (CAPS) measures the energy and electrical charge of particles such as electrons and protons that the instrument encounters.

Cloud Absorption Radiometer

The Cloud Absorption Radiometer (CAR) was conceived and developed at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center to study cloud radiative properties at selected wavelengths in the visible and near-infrared, and to acquire imagery of cloud and Earth surface features. In the early years the focus was on measurements of the angular distribution of scattered radiation deep within a cloud layer. In later years, the focus shifted to the bidirectional reflectance properties of various surfaces (ocean, sea ice, vegetation, etc.).

Cloud Physics Lidar

The Cloud Physics Lidar (CPL) is a backscatter lidar designed to operate simultaneously at three wavelengths: 1064, 532, and 355 nm. The purpose of the CPL is to provide multi-wavelength measurements of cirrus, subvisual cirrus, and aerosols with high temporal and spatial resolution. From the fundamental measurement, various data products are derived, including: time-height cross-section images; cloud and aerosol layer boundaries; optical depth for clouds, aerosol layers, and planetary boundary layer (PBL); and extinction profiles.

Cloud Radar System

The CRS is a 94 GHz (W-band; 3 mm wavelength) Doppler radar developed for autonomous operation in the NASA ER-2 high-altitude aircraft and for ground-based operation. It will provide high-resolution profiles of reflectivity and Doppler velocity in clouds and it has important applications to atmospheric remote sensing studies. The CRS was designed to fly with the Cloud Lidar System (CLS), in the tail cone of an ER-2 superpod. There are two basic modes of operation of the CRS: 1) ER-2 with reflectivity, Doppler, and linear-depolarization measurements, and 2) ground-based with full polarimetric capability.

Cluster Plasma Electron And Current Experiment (PEACE)

A Plasma Electron And Current Experiment instrument can measure the three dimensional velocity distribution of electrons in a space plasma, for an energy range from a few electronvolts to about 30 kiloelectronvolts. A PEACE instrument is flying on each of the four Cluster II spacecraft, which were launched in the summer of 2000.

CO2 Boundary Layer Profiler

The CO2 Boundary Layer Profiler is a ground-based prototype Differential Absorption Lidar. DIAL's measurement technique uses the change in signal strength between a wavelength strongly absorbed by CO2 and one not absorbed at all to make range resolved measurements of CO2.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Goddard Space Flight Center

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