| Abstract |
NASA is plannig to position the calibrated multispectral imaging instrument on the <a href="http://this.gsfc.nasa.gov/triana/home/index.html">TRIANA satellite</a> at
the gravity-neutral point L-1 (the Lagrange libration point) between the
Earth and the Sun to deliver continuous full-disk images of the Earth's globe
by July 2001. The data are expected to be available free-of-charge worldwide
through the Internet for research and education.
Scientific and mission design aspects of <a href="http://this.gsfc.nasa.gov/triana/home/index.html">TRIANA</a> and its
polychromatic camera: The camera will have 11 spectral channels in the UV,
visible and near IR to 870 nanometers, and will produce images of the globe
with approximately 8 km spatial resolution. These data are expected to allow
retrievals of surface, cloud, and aerosol properties to study vegetation,
cloud and snow/ice cover dynamics globally as the Earth rotates under TRIANA.
The particular location of the satellite, at L-1, offers unique scientific
advantages and disadvantages. For example, TRIANA will always show the
hot-spot effect of vegetation canopies which has rich information content for
vegetation characterization, especially indications of canopy structure and
possibly vegetation health and stress situations.
For further information, please contact:
Dr. Sig Gerstl
Los Alamos National Laboratory,
Los Alamos, NM, USA
E-Mail: sig@lanl.gov
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