NASA's Aqua Satellite Marks One Year of Viewing Earth

Aqua's first year has revealed impressive views of our planet's volatile surface, capturing dramatic events such as fires in Australia and the United States, snowstorms in the Arctic, typhoons in the East China Sea, a volcanic eruption on the island of Sicily, and dust storms in the Middle East, all with data from its six unique instruments.

"We've collected high-quality data from all of our instruments, and these data should eventually lead to a better understanding of Earth's water cycle and the role it plays in our changing climate," stated Claire Parkinson, Aqua Project Scientist at Goddard.

Aqua was launched on May 4, 2002, and soon after began providing valuable information from its massive data flow, approximately 89 gigabytes a day, allowing scientists to analyze and generate dozens of data products. The Aqua Science Team will convene at Goddard May 28-29 to present their insights, first-year results, and plans for their future research using Aqua data.

For the complete article on the Aqua satellite, visit: http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/topstory/2003/0528aqua.html