NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Warm water fuels Hurricane Katrina in August, 2005. Image Credit: NASA/SVS
Marshall Space Flight Center works to improve our quality of life through discoveries in Earth science. Researchers here focus on studying the atmosphere, water vapor, winds, temperatures at different altitudes, lightning and aerosols -- minute particles in the air. Marshall scientists use advanced technologies to observe and understand these aspects of the global climate system to improve agriculture, urban planning, response to severe weather, and water resource management.

A Marshall Earth science project called SERVIR (Spanish for "to serve") uses a high-tech satellite visualization system to monitor the environment of Central America and Eastern Africa. SERVIR is improving the everyday lives of Central Americans and East Africans by integrating satellite imagery and other geospatial data to help authorities there identify sudden environmental changes and respond faster to natural disasters. Marshall manages the SERVIR facility test bed and rapid prototyping.

Marshall researchers also are serving the regional community. The NASA Short-term Prediction Research and Transition Center, or SPoRT, helps to incorporate NASA Earth science research into the National Weather Service forecast operations. The SpoRT Center is managed by Marshall scientists and its mission is executed in concert with other government, university, and private sector partners.

Marshall’s atmospheric scientists are examining the forces of some of the Earth’s most intense hurricanes. They are developing instruments and technologies to analyze the development of weather systems into hurricanes and to collect data, image, and display the hurricanes and their dynamics. This information helps forecasters predict severe weather and save lives.

Another way Marshall is using technology to improve life on Earth is through a new initiative called OMEGA, a collaborative project between Marshall and the National Space Science and Technology Center. OMEGA -- Observing Microwave Emissions for Geospatial Applications -- will enable global retrieval of soil moisture data using small, special-focus satellites for applications such as analyzing the global water cycle, and improving weather and flood forecasting.

Marshall Earth scientists also study the destructive elements and processes of severe weather. For example, the lightning research team investigates the causes and effects of lightning and analyzes a variety of atmospheric measurements related to thunderstorms. This team has developed some of the most comprehensive global lightning distribution maps ever produced.