NASA is set to announce its next generation of Earth-observing satellites. As soon as this month, it will lay out plans for a multibillion-dollar set of missions that will launch later this decade. This "Earth system observatory" will offer insights into two long-standing wild cards of climate change—clouds and aerosols—while providing new details about the planet's changing surface. The satellite fleets also mark a revival for NASA's earth science, which has languished over the past decade compared with exploration of Mars and other planets. The satellite missions have been in planning for several years, but received a boost of interest from the Biden administration. The largest mission will involve multiple satellites in two different orbits, armed with radar and lasers capable of measuring clouds and atmospheric particles down to near Earth's surface. Scientists hope the satellites will clarify how clouds could respond to global warming, while also delineating the degree that human pollution has altered clouds' abundance. Other missions will use a "hyperspectral" imaging spectrometer—a molecular mapping system—and an infrared radiometer to measure the chemistry and changing heat of the planet's surface, while a final mission will continue measurements of Earth's changing gravitational distribution, allowing fine measurements of melting ice caps.

美国宇航局将宣布其下一代地球观测卫星。最快在本月，它将制定一套价值数十亿美元的任务计划，这些任务将在本十年晚些时候发射。这个“地球系统天文台”将提供对气候变化的两个长期存在的未知因素——云和气溶胶——的见解，同时提供有关地球表面变化的新细节。卫星舰队也标志着美国宇航局地球科学的复兴，与火星和其他行星的探索相比，它在过去十年中一直萎靡不振。卫星任务已经规划了好几年，但得到了拜登政府的极大兴趣。最大的任务将涉及两个不同轨道上的多颗卫星，配备雷达和激光器，能够测量下至地球表面附近的云层和大气粒子。科学家们希望这些卫星能够阐明云如何应对全球变暖，同时也描绘出人类污染改变云丰富度的程度。其他任务将使用“高光谱”成像光谱仪——一种分子测绘系统——和红外辐射计来测量地球表面的化学成分和不断变化的热量，而最后一项任务将继续测量地球不断变化的引力分布，从而对融化进行精细测量冰帽。