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Mining Old Data From NASA’s Voyager 2 Solves Several Uranus Mysteries
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By NASA
This artist’s concept depicts a magnetar – a type of neutron star with a strong magnetic field – losing material into space. Shown as thin green lines, the magnetic field lines influence the movement of charged material around the magnetar. NASA/JPL-Caltech Since the big bang, the early universe had hydrogen, helium, and a scant amount of lithium. Later, some heavier elements, including iron, were forged in stars. But one of the biggest mysteries in astrophysics is: How did the first elements heavier than iron, such as gold, get created and distributed throughout the universe?
“It’s a pretty fundamental question in terms of the origin of complex matter in the universe,” said Anirudh Patel, a doctoral student at Columbia University in New York. “It’s a fun puzzle that hasn’t actually been solved.”
Patel led a study using 20-year-old archival data from NASA and ESA telescopes that finds evidence for a surprising source of a large amount of these heavy elements: flares from highly magnetized neutron stars, called magnetars. The study is published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.
Study authors estimate that magnetar giant flares could contribute up to 10% of the total abundance of elements heavier than iron in the galaxy. Since magnetars existed relatively early in the history of the universe, the first gold could have been made this way.
“It’s answering one of the questions of the century and solving a mystery using archival data that had been nearly forgotten,” said Eric Burns, study co-author and astrophysicist at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge.
How could gold be made at a magnetar?
Neutron stars are the collapsed cores of stars that have exploded. They are so dense that one teaspoon of neutron star material, on Earth, would weigh as much as a billion tons. A magnetar is a neutron star with an extremely powerful magnetic field.
On rare occasions, magnetars release an enormous amount of high-energy radiation when they undergo “starquakes,” which, like earthquakes, fracture the neutron star’s crust. Starquakes may also be associated with powerful bursts of radiation called magnetar giant flares, which can even affect Earth’s atmosphere. Only three magnetar giant flares have been observed in the Milky Way and the nearby Large Magellanic Cloud, and seven outside.
Patel and colleagues, including his advisor Brian Metzger, professor at Columbia University and senior research scientist at the Flatiron Institute in New York, have been thinking about how radiation from giant flares could correspond to heavy elements forming there. This would happen through a “rapid process” of neutrons forging lighter atomic nuclei into heavier ones.
Protons define the element’s identity on the periodic table: hydrogen has one proton, helium has two, lithium has three, and so on. Atoms also have neutrons which do not affect identity, but do add mass. Sometimes when an atom captures an extra neutron the atom becomes unstable and a nuclear decay process happens that converts a neutron into a proton, moving the atom forward on the periodic table. This is how, for example, a gold atom could take on an extra neutron and then transform into mercury.
In the unique environment of a disrupted neutron star, in which the density of neutrons is extremely high, something even stranger happens: single atoms can rapidly capture so many neutrons that they undergo multiple decays, leading to the creation of a much heavier element like uranium.
When astronomers observed the collision of two neutron stars in 2017 using NASA telescopes and the Laser Interferomete Gravitational wave Observatory (LIGO), and numerous telescopes on the ground and in space that followed up the initial discovery, they confirmed that this event could have created gold, platinum, and other heavy elements. But neutron star mergers happen too late in the universe’s history to explain the earliest gold and other heavy elements. Recent research by co-authors of the new study — Jakub Cehula of Charles University in Prague, Todd Thompson of The Ohio State University, and Metzger — has found that magnetar flares can heat and eject neutron star crustal material at high speeds, making them a potential source.
A rupture in the crust of a highly magnetized neutron star, shown here in an artist’s rendering, can trigger high-energy eruptions. Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/S. Wiessinger New clues in old data
At first, Metzger and colleagues thought that the signature from the creation and distribution of heavy elements at a magnetar would appear in the visible and ultraviolet light, and published their predictions. But Burns in Louisiana wondered if there could be a gamma-ray signal bright enough to be detected, too. He asked Metzger and Patel to check, and they found that there could be such a signature.
“At some point, we said, ‘OK, we should ask the observers if they had seen any,’” Metzger said.
Burns looked up the gamma ray data from the last giant flare that has been observed, which was in December 2004. He realized that while scientists had explained the beginning of the outburst, they had also identified a smaller signal from the magnetar, in data from ESA (European Space Agency)’s INTErnational Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory (INTEGRAL), a recently retired mission with NASA contributions. “It was noted at the time, but nobody had any conception of what it could be,” Burns said.
Metzger remembers that Burns thought he and Patel were “pulling his leg” because the prediction from their team’s model so closely matched the mystery signal in the 2004 data. In other words, the gamma ray signal detected over 20 years ago corresponded to what it should look like when heavy elements are created and then distributed in a magnetar giant flare.
Patel was so excited, “I wasn’t thinking about anything else for the next week or two. It was the only thing on my mind,” he said.
Researchers supported their conclusion using data from two NASA heliophysics missions: the retired RHESSI (Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager) and the ongoing NASA’s Wind satellite, which had also observed the magnetar giant flare. Other collaborators on the new study included Jared Goldberg at the Flatiron Institute.
Next steps in the magnetar gold rush
NASA’s forthcoming COSI (Compton Spectrometer and Imager) mission can follow up on these results. A wide-field gamma ray telescope, COSI is expected to launch in 2027 and will study energetic phenomena in the cosmos, such as magnetar giant flares. COSI will be able to identify individual elements created in these events, providing a new advancement in understanding the origin of the elements. It is one of many telescopes that can work together to look for “transient” changes across the universe.
Researchers will also follow up on other archival data to see if other secrets are hiding in observations of other magnetar giant flares.
“It very cool to think about how some of the stuff in my phone or my laptop was forged in this extreme explosion of the course of our galaxy’s history,” Patel said.
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By NASA
5 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
NASA’s AVIRIS-3 airborne imaging spectrometer was used to map a wildfire near Cas-tleberry, Alabama, on March 19. Within minutes, the image was transmitted to firefighters on the ground, who used it to contain the blaze. NASA/JPL-Caltech, NASA Earth Observatory The map visualizes three wavelengths of infrared light, which are invisible to the human eye. Orange and red areas show cooler-burning areas, while yellow indicates the most intense flames. Burned areas show up as dark red or brown.NASA/JPL-Caltech, NASA Earth Observatory Data from the AVIRIS-3 sensor was recently used to create detailed fire maps in minutes, enabling firefighters in Alabama to limit the spread of wildfires and save buildings.
A NASA sensor recently brought a new approach to battling wildfire, providing real-time data that helped firefighters in the field contain a blaze in Alabama. Called AVIRIS-3, which is short for Airborne Visible Infrared Imaging Spectrometer 3, the instrument detected a 120-acre fire on March 19 that had not yet been reported to officials.
As AVIRIS-3 flew aboard a King Air B200 research plane over the fire about 3 miles (5 kilometers) east of Castleberry, Alabama, a scientist on the plane analyzed the data in real time and identified where the blaze was burning most intensely. The information was then sent via satellite internet to fire officials and researchers on the ground, who distributed images showing the fire’s perimeter to firefighters’ phones in the field.
All told, the process from detection during the flyover to alert on handheld devices took a few minutes. In addition to pinpointing the location and extent of the fire, the data showed firefighters its perimeter, helping them gauge whether it was likely to spread and decide where to add personnel and equipment.
As firefighters worked to prevent a wildfire near Perdido, Alabama, from reaching nearby buildings, they saw in an infrared fire map from NASA’s AVIRIS-3 sensor that showed the fire’s hot spot was inside its perimeter. With that intelligence, they shifted some resources to fires in nearby Mount Vernon.NASA/JPL-Caltech, NASA Earth Observatory “This is very agile science,” said Robert Green, the AVIRIS program’s principal investigator and a senior research scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, noting AVIRIS-3 mapped the burn scar left near JPL by the Eaton Fire in January.
Observing the ground from about 9,000 feet (3,000 meters) in altitude, AVIRIS-3 flew aboard several test flights over Alabama, Mississippi, Florida, and Texas for a NASA 2025 FireSense Airborne Campaign. Researchers flew in the second half of March to prepare for prescribed burn experiments that took place in the Geneva State Forest in Alabama on March 28 and at Fort Stewart-Hunter Army Airfield in Georgia from April 14 to 20. During the March span, the AVIRIS-3 team mapped at least 13 wildfires and prescribed burns, as well as dozens of small hot spots (places where heat is especially intense) — all in real time.
At one of the Mount Vernon, Alabama, fires, firefighters used AVIRIS-3 maps to determine where to establish fire breaks beyond the northwestern end of the fire. They ultimately cut the blaze off within about 100 feet (30 meters) of four buildings.NASA/JPL-Caltech, NASA Earth Observatory Data from imaging spectrometers like AVIRIS-3 typically takes days or weeks to be processed into highly detailed, multilayer image products used for research. By simplifying the calibration algorithms, researchers were able to process data on a computer aboard the plane in a fraction of the time it otherwise would have taken. Airborne satellite internet connectivity enabled the images to be distributed almost immediately, while the plane was still in flight, rather than after it landed.
The AVIRIS team generated its first real-time products during a February campaign covering parts of Panama and Costa Rica, and they have continued to improve the process, automating the mapping steps aboard the plane.
‘Fan Favorite’
The AVIRIS-3 sensor belongs to a line of imaging spectrometers built at JPL since 1986. The instruments have been used to study a wide range of phenomena — including fire — by measuring sunlight reflecting from the planet’s surface.
During the March flights, researchers created three types of maps. One, called the Fire Quicklook, combines brightness measurements at three wavelengths of infrared light, which is invisible to the human eye, to identify the relative intensity of burning. Orange and red areas on the Fire Quicklook map show cooler-burning areas, while yellow indicates the most intense flames. Previously burned areas show up as dark red or brown.
Another map type, the Fire 2400 nm Quicklook, looks solely at infrared light at a wavelength of 2,400 nanometers. The images are particularly useful for seeing hot spots and the perimeters of fires, which show brightly against a red background.
A third type of map, called just Quicklook, shows burned areas and smoke.
The Fire 2400 nm Quicklook was the “fan favorite” among the fire crews, said Ethan Barrett, fire analyst for the Forest Protection Division of the Alabama Forestry Commission. Seeing the outline of a wildfire from above helped Alabama Forestry Commission firefighters determine where to send bulldozers to stop the spread.
Additionally, FireSense personnel analyzed the AVIRIS-3 imagery to create digitized perimeters of the fires. This provided firefighters fast, comprehensive intelligence of the situation on the ground.
That’s what happened with the Castleberry Fire. Having a clear picture of where it was burning most intensely enabled firefighters to focus on where they could make a difference — on the northeastern edge.
Then, two days after identifying Castleberry Fire hot spots, the sensor spotted a fire about 4 miles (2.5 kilometers) southwest of Perdido, Alabama. As forestry officials worked to prevent flames from reaching six nearby buildings, they noticed that the fire’s main hot spot was inside the perimeter and contained. With that intelligence, they decided to shift some resources to fires 25 miles (40 kilometers) away near Mount Vernon, Alabama.
To combat one of the Mount Vernon fires, crews used AVIRIS-3 maps to determine where to establish fire breaks beyond the northwestern end of the fire. They ultimately cut the blaze off within about 100 feet (30 meters) of four buildings.
“Fire moves a lot faster than a bulldozer, so we have to try to get around it before it overtakes us. These maps show us the hot spots,” Barrett said. “When I get out of the truck, I can say, ‘OK, here’s the perimeter.’ That puts me light-years ahead.”
AVIRIS and the Firesense Airborne Campaign are part of NASA’s work to leverage its expertise to combat wildfires using solutions including airborne technologies. The agency also recently demonstrated a prototype from its Advanced Capabilities for Emergency Response Operations project that will provide reliable airspace management for drones and other aircraft operating in the air above wildfires.
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Last Updated Apr 23, 2025 Related Terms
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By NASA
5 Min Read Planetary Alignment Provides NASA Rare Opportunity to Study Uranus
Artist's illustration showing a distant star going out of sight as it is eclipsed by Uranus – an event known as a planetary stellar occultation. Credits: NASA/Advanced Concepts Laboratory When a planet’s orbit brings it between Earth and a distant star, it’s more than just a cosmic game of hide and seek. It’s an opportunity for NASA to improve its understanding of that planet’s atmosphere and rings. Planetary scientists call it a stellar occultation and that’s exactly what happened with Uranus on April 7.
Observing the alignment allows NASA scientists to measure the temperatures and composition of Uranus’ stratosphere – the middle layer of a planet’s atmosphere – and determine how it has changed over the last 30 years since Uranus’ last significant occultation.
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This rendering demonstrates what is happening during a stellar occultation and illustrates an example of the light curve data graph recorded by scientists that enables them to gather atmospheric measurements, like temperature and pressure, from Uranus as the amount of starlight changes when the planet eclipses the star.NASA/Advanced Concepts Laboratory “Uranus passed in front of a star that is about 400 light years from Earth,” said William Saunders, planetary scientist at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, and science principal investigator and analysis lead, for what NASA’s team calls the Uranus Stellar Occultation Campaign 2025. “As Uranus began to occult the star, the planet’s atmosphere refracted the starlight, causing the star to appear to gradually dim before being blocked completely. The reverse happened at the end of the occultation, making what we call a light curve. By observing the occultation from many large telescopes, we are able to measure the light curve and determine Uranus’ atmospheric properties at many altitude layers.”
We are able to measure the light curve and determine Uranus' atmospheric properties at many altitude layers.
William Saunders
Planetary Scientist at NASA's Langley Research Center
This data mainly consists of temperature, density, and pressure of the stratosphere. Analyzing the data will help researchers understand how the middle atmosphere of Uranus works and could help enable future Uranus exploration efforts.
To observe the rare event, which lasted about an hour and was only visible from Western North America, planetary scientists at NASA Langley led an international team of over 30 astronomers using 18 professional observatories.
Kunio Sayanagi, NASA’s principal investigator for the Uranus Stellar Occultation Campaign 2025, meeting virtually with partners and observing data from the Flight Mission Support Center at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia during Uranus’ stellar occultation event on April 7, 2025.NASA/Dave MacDonnell “This was the first time we have collaborated on this scale for an occultation,” said Saunders. “I am extremely grateful to each member of the team and each observatory for taking part in this extraordinary event. NASA will use the observations of Uranus to determine how energy moves around the atmosphere and what causes the upper layers to be inexplicably hot. Others will use the data to measure Uranus’ rings, its atmospheric turbulence, and its precise orbit around the Sun.”
Knowing the location and orbit of Uranus is not as simple as it sounds. In 1986, NASA’s Voyager 2 spacecraft became the first and only spacecraft to fly past the planet – 10 years before the last bright stellar occultation occured in 1996. And, Uranus’ exact position in space is only accurate to within about 100 miles, which makes analyzing this new atmospheric data crucial to future NASA exploration of the ice giant.
These investigations were possible because the large number of partners provided many unique views of the stellar occultation from many different instruments.
NASA planetary scientist William Saunders and Texas A&M University research assistant Erika Cook in the control room of the McDonald Observatory’s Otto Struve Telescope in Jeff Davis County, Texas, during the Uranus stellar occultation on April 7, 2025.Joshua Santana Emma Dahl, a postdoctoral scholar at Caltech in Pasadena, California, assisted in gathering observations from NASA’s Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF) on the summit of Mauna Kea in Hawaii – an observatory first built to support NASA’s Voyager missions.
“As scientists, we do our best work when we collaborate. This was a team effort between NASA scientists, academic researchers, and amateur astronomers,” said Dahl. “The atmospheres of the gas and ice giant planets [Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune] are exceptional atmospheric laboratories because they don’t have solid surfaces. This allows us to study cloud formation, storms, and wind patterns without the extra variables and effects a surface produces, which can complicate simulations very quickly.”
On November 12, 2024, NASA Langley researchers and collaborators were able to do a test run to prepare for the April occultation. Langley coordinated two telescopes in Japan and one in Thailand to observe a dimmer Uranus stellar occultation only visible from Asia. As a result, these observers learned how to calibrate their instruments to observe stellar occultations, and NASA was able to test its theory that multiple observatories working together could capture Uranus’ big event in April.
Researchers from the Paris Observatory and Space Science Institute, in contact with NASA, also coordinated observations of the November 2024 occultation from two telescopes in India. These observations of Uranus and its rings allowed the researchers, who were also members of the April 7 occultation team, to improve the predictions about the timing on April 7 down to the second and also improved modeling to update Uranus’ expected location during the occultation by 125 miles.
This image of Uranus from NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) on NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope exquisitely captures Uranus’s seasonal north polar cap and dim inner and outer rings. This Webb image also shows 9 of the planet’s 27 moons – clockwise starting at 2 o’clock, they are: Rosalind, Puck, Belinda, Desdemona, Cressida, Bianca, Portia, Juliet, and Perdita.NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI Uranus is almost 2 billion miles away from Earth and has an atmosphere composed of primarily hydrogen and helium. It does not have a solid surface, but rather a soft surface made of water, ammonia, and methane. It’s called an ice giant because its interior contains an abundance of these swirling fluids that have relatively low freezing points. And, while Saturn is the most well-known planet for having rings, Uranus has 13 known rings composed of ice and dust.
Over the next six years, Uranus will occult several dimmer stars. NASA hopes to gather airborne and possibly space-based measurements of the next bright Uranus occultation in 2031, which will be of an even brighter star than the one observed in April.
For more information on NASA’s Uranus Stellar Occultation Campaign 2025:
https://science.larc.nasa.gov/URANUS2025
Karen Fox / Molly Wasser
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
karen.c.fox@nasa.gov / molly.l.wasser@nasa.gov
Charles Hatfield
Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia
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charles.g.hatfield@nasa.gov
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Charles G. Hatfield
Science Public Affairs Officer, NASA Langley Research Center
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Last Updated Apr 22, 2025 Related Terms
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4 min read
Entrepreneurs Challenge Winner PRISM is Using AI to Enable Insights from Geospatial Data
PRISM’s platform uses AI segmentation to identify and highlight residential structures in a neighborhood. NASA sponsored Entrepreneurs Challenge events in 2020, 2021, and 2023 to invite small business start-ups to showcase innovative ideas and technologies with the potential to advance the agency’s science goals. To potentially leverage external funding sources for the development of innovative technologies of interest to NASA, SMD involved the venture capital community in Entrepreneurs Challenge events. Challenge winners were awarded prize money, and in 2023 the total Entrepreneurs Challenge prize value was $1M. Numerous challenge winners have subsequently refined their products and/or received funding from NASA and external sources (e.g., other government agencies or the venture capital community) to further develop their technologies.
One 2023 Entrepreneurs Challenge winner, PRISM Intelligence (formerly known as Pegasus Intelligence and Space), is using artificial intelligence (AI) and other advances in computer vision to create a new platform that could provide geospatial insights to a broad community.
Every day, vast amounts of remote sensing data are collected through satellites, drones, and aerial imagery, but for most businesses and individuals, accessing and extracting meaningful insights from this data is nearly impossible.
The company’s product—Personal Real-time Insight from Spatial Maps, a.k.a. PRISM—is transforming geospatial data into an easy-to-navigate, queryable world. By leveraging 3D computer vision, geospatial analytics, and AI-driven insights, PRISM creates photorealistic, up-to-date digital environments that anyone can interact with. Users can simply log in and ask natural-language questions to instantly retrieve insights—no advanced Geographic Information System (GIS) expertise is required.
For example, a pool cleaner looking for business could use PRISM to search for all residential pools in a five-mile radius. A gardener could identify overgrown trees in a community. City officials could search for potholes in their jurisdiction to prioritize repairs, enhance public safety, and mitigate liability risks. This broad level of accessibility brings geospatial intelligence out of the hands of a few and into everyday decision making.
The core of PRISM’s platform uses radiance fields to convert raw 2D imagery into high-fidelity, dynamic 3D visualizations. These models are then enhanced with AI-powered segmentation, which autonomously identifies and labels objects in the environment—such as roads, vehicles, buildings, and natural features—allowing for seamless search and analysis. The integration of machine learning enables PRISM to refine its reconstructions continuously, improving precision with each dataset. This advanced processing ensures that the platform remains scalable, efficient, and adaptable to various data sources, making it possible to produce large-scale, real-time digital twins of the physical world.
The PRISM platform’s interface showcasing a 3D digital twin of California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, with AI-powered search and insights. “It’s great being able to push the state of the art in this relatively new domain of radiance fields, evolving it from research to applications that can impact common tasks. From large sets of images, PRISM creates detailed 3D captures that embed more information than the source pictures.” — Maximum Wilder-Smith, Chief Technology Officer, PRISM Intelligence
Currently the PRISM platform uses proprietary data gathered from aerial imagery over selected areas. PRISM then generates high-resolution digital twins of cities in select regions. The team is aiming to eventually expand the platform to use NASA Earth science data and commercial data, which will enable high-resolution data capture over larger areas, significantly increasing efficiency, coverage, and update frequency. PRISM aims to use the detailed multiband imagery that NASA provides and the high-frequency data that commercial companies provide to make geospatial intelligence more accessible by providing fast, reliable, and up-to-date insights that can be used across multiple industries.
What sets PRISM apart is its focus on usability. While traditional GIS platforms require specialized training to use, PRISM eliminates these barriers by allowing users to interact with geospatial data through a frictionless, conversational interface.
The impact of this technology could extend across multiple industries. Professionals in the insurance and appraisal industries have informed the company how the ability to generate precise, 3D assessments of properties could streamline risk evaluations, reduce costs, and improve accuracy—replacing outdated or manual site visits. Similarly, local governments have indicated they could potentially use PRISM to better manage infrastructure, track zoning compliance, and allocate resources based on real-time, high-resolution urban insights. Additionally, scientists could use the consistent updates and layers of three-dimensional data that PRISM can provide to better understand changes to ecosystems and vegetation.
As PRISM moves forward, the team’s focus remains on scaling its capabilities and expanding its applications. Currently, the team is working to enhance the technical performance of the platform while also adding data sources to enable coverage of more regions. Future iterations will further improve automation of data processing, increasing the speed and efficiency of real-time 3D reconstructions. The team’s goal is to expand access to geospatial insights, ensuring that anyone—from city planners to business owners—can make informed decisions using the best possible data.
PRISM Intelligence founders Zachary Gaines, Hugo Delgado, and Maximum Wilder-Smith in their California State Polytechnic University, Pomona lab, where the company was first formed. Share
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Last Updated Apr 21, 2025 Related Terms
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Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
Piloted by NASA’s Tim Williams, the ER-2 science aircraft ascends for one of the final science flights for the GSFC Lidar Observation and Validation Experiment (GLOVE) on Feb. 1, 2025. As a collaboration between engineers, scientists, and aircraft professionals, GLOVE aims to improve satellite data products for Earth Science applications. NASA/Steve Freeman In February, NASA’s ER-2 science aircraft flew instruments designed to improve satellite data products and Earth science observations. From data collection to processing, satellite systems continue to advance, and NASA is exploring how instruments analyzing clouds can improve data measurement methods.
Researchers participating in the Goddard Space Flight Center Lidar Observation and Validation Experiment (GLOVE) used the ER-2 – based at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California – to validate satellite data about cloud and airborne particles in the Earth’s atmosphere. Scientists are using GLOVE instruments installed onboard the aircraft to measure and validate data about clouds generated by satellite sensors already orbiting in space around Earth.
“The GLOVE data will allow us to test new artificial intelligence algorithms in data processing,” said John Yorks, principal investigator for GLOVE and research physical scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “These algorithms aim to improve the cloud and aerosol detection in data produced by the satellites.”
Jennifer Moore, a researcher from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, checks the cabling on the Roscoe instrument at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, for the GSFC Lidar Observation and Validation Experiment (GLOVE) on Feb. 1, 2025. The Roscoe instrument will be uploaded onto NASA’s ER-2 science aircraft.NASA/Steve Freeman The validation provided by GLOVE is crucial because it ensures the accuracy and reliability of satellite data. “The instruments on the plane provide a higher resolution measurement ‘truth’ to ensure the data is a true representation of the atmospheric scene being sampled,” Yorks said.
The ER-2 flew over various parts of Oregon, Arizona, Utah, and Nevada, as well as over the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California. These regions reflected various types of atmospheres, including cirrus clouds, marine stratocumulus, rain and snow, and areas with multiple types of clouds.
“The goal is to improve satellite data products for Earth science applications,” Yorks said. “These measurements allow scientists and decision-makers to confidently use this satellite information for applications like weather forecasting and hazard monitoring.”
Researcher Jackson Begolka from the University of Iowa examines instrument connectors onboard the ER-2 aircraft at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, on Feb. 1, 2025. The GLOVE instrument will validate data from satellites orbiting the Earth.NASA/Steve Freeman The four instruments installed on the ER-2 were the Cloud Physics Lidar, the Roscoe Lidar, the enhanced Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer Airborne Simulator, and the Cloud Radar System. These instruments validate data produced by sensors on NASA’s Ice, Cloud, and Land Elevation Satellite 2 (ICESat-2) and the Earth Cloud, Aerosol and Radiation Explorer (EarthCARE), a joint venture between the ESA (European Space Agency) and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency).
“Additionally, the EarthCARE satellite is flying the first ever Doppler radar for measurements of air motions within clouds,” Yorks said. While the ER-2 is operated by pilots and aircrew from NASA Armstrong, these instruments are supported by scientists from NASA Goddard, NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley, and the Naval Research Laboratory office in Monterey, California, as well as by students from the University of Iowa in Iowa City and the University of Maryland College Park.
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Last Updated Apr 16, 2025 EditorDede DiniusContactErica HeimLocationArmstrong Flight Research Center Related Terms
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