Why its a good thing NASA didnt buy Canadian
Monday, March 2, 2009 | 03:32 PM ET
by Emily Chung, CBCNews.ca
Sadly, a NASA satellite designed to track global carbon dioxide emissions ended up in the ocean instead of in orbit last week.
The $280 million US Orbiting Carbon Observatory landed in the waters near Antarctica after failing to separate properly from the moulded structure surrounding it. On board were instruments designed to identify gases emitted into the atmosphere and measure how much was being released.
In fact, Canadian engineers have designed a key component of such an instrument for an orbiting satellite. But fortunately, their instrument is safely in orbit around the Earth, on board the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) Ibuki satellite, also known as GOSAT (Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite). That satellite launched successfully on Jan. 23.
GOSATs main carbon dioxide detector is its Fourier Transform Spectrometer (TANSO-FTS), which was successfully activated earlier in February.
One of its main components is a device called a spatial interferometer, developed by Quebec City-based ABB Canada.
Its the heart of the sensor, said Marc-Andr Soucy, the companys manager of remote sensing industry, on Friday.
The job of the device is to separate out different wavelengths or colours of infrared light. Molecules such as carbon dioxide are constantly vibrating, and when they do so, they absorb and emit infrared light.
Because each molecule has its own way of vibrating, it does that at unique wavelengths or frequencies, Soucy said.
By separating out the different colours, researchers can see carbon dioxide and figure out how much is being emitted.
A spatial interferometer separates out the different colours by splitting a light beam into two, having the two beams travel different paths, and then recombining them to create interference patterns. A mathematical process called fourier transform can then be used to separate out different wavelengths from the patterns.
2 satellites, 2 technologies
Soucy said NASAs OCO uses a different technology called a grating spectrometer, which is similar to a prism, to separate out the different wavelengths of light.
For the purposes of measuring carbon dioxide, he added, the two technologies are both good ways of achieving the same result.
ABB Bomem spent three years developing the interferometer after winning a $10 million contract by NEC Toshiba Space Systems, which was the main supplier of instruments to the IBUKI program.
The device is based on an earlier instrument for the Canadian Space Agencys SCISAT-1 satellite, which was launched in 2003 to monitor ozone depletion in the atmosphere.
Soucy said the IBUKI team has been collaborating with NASA and had been hoping the data from the two satellites could be used to validate each other. Checking and confirming IBUKI's data will still be possible using other methods, but will be more difficult since the OCOs demise.
Its always very sad to see, he said. It always reminds us that space isnot an easy avenue.
IBUKI is to monitor carbon dioxide at 56,000 sites around the planet. It is currently in the middle of an initial three-month functional check.
« Previous Post |Main| Next Post »
This discussion is nowOpen. Submit your Comment.
« Previous Post |Main| Next Post »
Post a Comment
Tech Bytes »
Recent Posts
- Montreal's D-Box motion-synched chairs hit Hollywood
- Friday, March 6, 2009
- Why its a good thing NASA didnt buy Canadian
- Monday, March 2, 2009
- A trademark for 'Netbook'? Who knew?
- Friday, February 27, 2009
- Jesse Brown: Worldwide copyfight heats up down under
- Wednesday, February 25, 2009
- Alas, thats not Atlantis, Google says
- Monday, February 23, 2009
- Subscribe to Tech Bytes
Archives
- March 2009 (2)
- February 2009 (11)
- January 2009 (12)
- December 2008 (10)
- November 2008 (10)
- October 2008 (9)
- September 2008 (4)
- August 2008 (4)
- July 2008 (16)
- June 2008 (9)
- May 2008 (12)
- April 2008 (15)
- March 2008 (13)
- February 2008 (13)
- January 2008 (47)
- December 2007 (12)
- November 2007 (12)
- October 2007 (17)
- September 2007 (18)
- August 2007 (17)
- July 2007 (27)
- June 2007 (18)
- May 2007 (28)
- April 2007 (25)
- March 2007 (28)
- February 2007 (25)
- January 2007 (35)
- December 2006 (25)