Mission to Bring Data About the South Atlantic Anomaly
Hello
reader!
It
follows a note published on the day (08/23) in the website of the National
Institute for Space Research (INPE) informing that mission from NASA will bring
data about the South Atlantic Anomaly.
Duda
Falcão
Mission to Bring Data About the
South Atlantic
Anomaly
Thursday, August 23, 2012
The data
obtained by probes to be launched on Friday (8/24) by NASA might enhance
studies on the South Atlantic Magnetic Anomaly (SAMA), an ionosphere’s
phenomena above the Southeastern Brazil that can cause damage to satellites.
The Brazilian
National Institute for Space Research (Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais
-INPE) has a partnership with the U.S. space agency in studies of space weather
and, from November, will be responsible for data acquisition in the Radiation Belt Storm Probes
(RBSP) mission, composed of the two probes that will monitor the Van Allen
Belt, named due to the scientist who discovered in the 50s this magnetic field
around the planet.
For the study
of electromagnetic waves and radiation belt, which spans from 2200 to 5000 km
and from 13000 and 55000 km of Earth's surface, the two probes of the RBSP
mission will be placed in equatorial orbit between 500 kilometers to nearly
40000 kilometers high. After the calibration of sensors, data will be regularly
sent to ground stations, including the INPE’s one, based in Alcântara (MA).
For at least two
years, scientists worldwide will have access to this information, which will
allow, for the first time, a more complete monitoring of SAMA and the
electrical particles precipitation that hit this region.
"These
probes have very advanced sensors and instruments. The mission will allow the
acquisition of more accurate information for monitoring the effect of electric
particles of Van Allen Belt in the region of the anomaly. To get an idea of the
consequences of the phenomenon, the satellite passing over this region need to
have some equipment turned off to avoid problems in its operation,"
explains Walter D. González, a researcher for the Department of Space
Geophysics at INPE.
In September,
INPE will welcome the RBSP mission leader, David Sibeck, to discuss outcomes of
studies on space weather and the impacts of SAMA and its relation to
geomagnetic storms, caused by the emission of very energetic particles and
intense magnetic fields emitted by the Sun, passing through the interplanetary
medium and interacting with the Earth's geomagnetic field.
Information on
the Radiation Belt Storm Probes mission
at www.nasa.gov/rbsp
Space
Weather
INPE has the
Program of Brazilian Space Weather Study and Monitoring (EMBRACE), which assess
the solar phenomena that affect the environment between Sun and Earth, and the
space around Earth.
Solar
phenomena are capable of causing interference in systems such as GPS, plus the
ability to induce electric currents in transformers, power transmission lines
and affect the protection of pipelines that transport oil and gas. These
phenomena are particularly intense at the Brazil’s space environment due to the
large size of the country, distributed to the north and south of the geomagnetic
equator, to the maximum geomagnetic declination and to the South Atlantic
Magnetic Anomaly.
The Institute
offers real-time information on the Internet, and makes forecasts about the
Sun-Earth system to diagnose their effects on technological systems, such as
navigation and geo-spatial positioning (aircraft, ships, oil platforms,
precision agriculture), communication (geostationary satellites, aircraft),
power distribution (transmission lines, pipelines for natural gas and oil), and
national defense systems.
Through
studies on electrodynamics processes of the equatorial and low latitudes
ionosphere, INPE's researchers monitor physical parameters such as Sun
characteristics, interplanetary space, magnetosphere, ionosphere and the
mesosphere. Information is available at EMBRACE’s website: www.inpe.br/climaespacial
Source: WebSite of the National Institute for
Space Research (INPE)
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