NASA and the Australian Space Agency are continuing their 60-year successful partnership to study Earth’s changing climate.
NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy and Australian Space Agency Head Enrico Palermo signed a joint statement of intent for cooperation in Earth science on April 4, 2022 at the 37th Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The partnership highlights complementary Earth observation missions currently in development at both agencies.
NASA’s Climate Absolute Radiance and Refractivity Observatory Pathfinder (CLARREO-PF) will make measurements of reflected sunlight from the International Space Station that are five to 10 times more accurate, and with higher spectral resolution, than those of existing reflected solar sensors. The Australian Space Agency is developing a set of Satellite Cross-Calibration Radiometer (SCR) satellites that will serve to improve the calibration of smaller Earth-observing optical satellites.
“We are pleased to complement and strengthen the value of our CLARREO-PF mission and global Earth observations through this statement of intent to continue our strong partnership in space with Australia,” said NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy.
Measurements of reflected sunlight are critical to understanding the health of Earth’s climate, and the accuracy of CLARREO-PF will allow it to serve as an inter-calibration reference to other orbiting sensors. The flight instrument is in development at the University of Colorado Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) in Boulder, Colorado and is scheduled to launch to the space station in December 2023.
As part of its national space mission for Earth observation, Australia’s SCR satellites will be supported by the U.S. Geological Survey and will complement NASA’s CLARREO-PF mission, with both providing novel techniques for transferring high accuracy Earth observation data.
This signing follows a previous joint statement of intent on expanding space cooperation between the Australian Space Agency and NASA signed at NASA Headquarters in Washington in September 2019.
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By Joe Atkinson