Jason ocean height mission blasts off

With this mission, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket will deliver the Jason-3 satellite to low-Earth orbit for the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), French space agency Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES) and the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT).
The Jason-3 launch is targeted for a 18:42 UTC launch from Space Launch Complex 4E at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.

If all goes as planned, the Jason-3 satellite will be deployed approximately an hour after launch.
This mission also marks an experimental landing of the first stage on the SpaceX drone ship “Just Read the Instructions”.

The landing of the first stage is a secondary test objective.

From BBC by Jonathan Amos

A US-European satellite that is fundamental to our understanding of the oceans has launched from California.
Jason-3 will measure the shape of the global sea surface to an accuracy of better than 4cm.
It will track currents, tides, winds, wave heights, and will help forecast the intensity of storms.
But the new mission will also maintain the reference data-set on sea-level rise.
This shows the world's oceans to be rising at more than 3mm per year.
Jason-3 was launched atop a SpaceX Falcon-9 rocket from Vandenberg Air Force base at 10:42 local time (18:42 GMT) yesterday.
The flight to orbit took just under the hour.
An attempt by SpaceX to recover the bottom part of the Falcon by landing it back on a sea barge came very close to success.

 SpaceX has tried again to land the Falcon 9’s first stage on one of the NewSpace firm’s Autonomous Spaceport Drone Ships for the launch of Jason 3.

"Just Read the Instructions" is the baseline of the platform ;-)

Photo Credit: SpaceX

but SpaceX said a landing leg failed to lock properly.
"Definitely harder to land on a ship.
Similar to an aircraft carrier vs land: much smaller target area, that's also translating & rotating."

The booster found the platform but could not remain upright because a landing leg failed to lock.
As a result, it toppled over and exploded.
The rocket company had managed a historic first controlled return of an orbital stage last month.

Did you know satellites can measure Earth’s oceans from space?

The Jason-3 satellite, set to launch in January 2016, will collect critical sea surface height data, adding to a satellite data record going back to 1992.
The ocean is an important driver of weather and climate on the planet, and forecasters need this information to predict the intensity of devastating hurricanes before they reach our shores. Jason-3 will also help us track the rise in sea-level over time, allowing our coastal communities to prepare and adjust to a changing climate. 

Jason-3 will spend the coming weeks being moved into a position some 1,336km above the Earth where it can make tandem measurements with its still-operational predecessor, Jason-2.
This will enable scientists to cross-calibrate their altimeters - the microwave radar instruments they use to map the various "hills" and "valleys" in the ocean surface below.
Understanding these variations in elevation has myriad applications, both short term and long term.
Just as air pressure tells meteorologists what is going on in the atmosphere, so ocean height will betray details about the behaviour of water below just the top layers.
The data gives clues to temperature and salinity.
When combined with gravity information, it will also indicate current direction and speed.
The oceans store vast amounts of heat from the Sun, and how they move that energy around the globe and interact with the atmosphere are what drive key elements of our weather and the climate system.

The current El Nino is seen as anomalously high (warm) water in the eastern Pacific

A classic example is the El Niño phenomenon, which is in play at the moment.

This sees usually cold waters in the eastern central Pacific overtaken every few years by a surge of warm waters from the west.

This disrupts weather patterns worldwide, bringing drought to some areas and intense rainfall to others.
The Jason satellites act as an early warning system for El Niño by detecting the developing bulge in surface waters associated with the warming.

Did you know satellites can measure the height of Earth’s oceans from space?

The mission series, which started in 1992, has always been a US-European venture, but the number of organisations involved has grown over time and now includes the US and French space agencies (Nasa and Cnes) and the premier weather satellite services on both sides of the Atlantic - Noaa and Eumetsat.
For future Jason missions, this co-operation will be extended further, to include the European Space Agency (Esa) and the European Commission.
This wider interest underlines the importance of the satellite data, and the stronger partnership should ensure the continuation of the series.

Europe will be folding Jason into its Sentinel programme of Earth observers, giving follow-on spacecraft the designation "Sentinel-6".

Jason-3 will be the fourth satellite in the continuous series of ocean topography missions

Links :

• HuffingtonPost : SpaceX Rocket Botches Landing At Sea After Successful Launch
• Space : SpaceX to Launch Jason-3 Satellite, Try Rocket Landing
• Spaceflight Insider : Jason-3 satellite to track rising sea levels, global weather
• Phys: Support leg breaks as SpaceX rocket lands on ocean barge
  
• CNES : Jason 3 / NOAA : Jason 3
• BBC : Sentinel to measure ocean height  
• GeoGarage blog :New NASA model maps sea level rise like never before / Satellites trace sea level change / SpaceX to try ocean platform landing of Falcon rocket
   

The unforgiving ocean with Volvo Ocean Race

Nine months. Four oceans, five continents.
Over 40,000 nautical miles.
There's a reason why they call the Volvo Ocean Race the world's toughest ocean challenge - and here it is.
A trophy desired by so many, but lifted by so few, every three years, the best sailors on the planet step out of the comfort zone to truly test themselves against Mother Nature.

David Attenborough's Great Barrier Reef: An interactive journey

attenboroughsreef.com

Links : 

• GeoGarage blog : The reef of the future /Seek-and-destroy robot to stop starfish killing the Great Barrier Reef /Has the Great Barrier Reef just been approved for destruction by the Australian government? / Great Barrier Reef has lost half its corals since 1985, new study says / Ships threaten Australia's Great Barrier Reef / Scientists capture amazing views of the Great Barrier Reef /The Observer view on the destruction of the world’s great coral reefs / 'Un-mappable' Great Barrier Reef finally mapped in 3D / Dive into the Great Barrier Reef with the first underwater imagery in Google Maps / Oil leakage threatens Great Barrier Reef
  

NASA sees formation of unusual North Atlantic Hurricane Alex

Climate is changing faster than ever.
Alex has become a hurricane near the Azores in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.
It marks the first Atlantic hurricane to form in the month of January since 1938 and is the first Atlantic hurricane to exist during January since Alice in 1955.
Alex formed in the Atlantic Ocean on Wednesday, making it one of the earliest tropical systems to form in the Atlantic Hurricane Basin since records began in 1851. 
Images from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration show Hurricane Alex as it moves north over the Atlantic Ocean on Thursday. (NOAA) 

From Phys by Rob Gutro

The low pressure area known as System 90L developed rapidly since Jan. 13 and became Hurricane Alex on Jan. 14. Several satellites and instruments captured data on this out-of-season storm.

NASA's RapidScat instrument observed sustained winds shift and intensify in the system and NASA's Aqua satellite saw the storm develop from a low pressure area into a sub-tropical storm.
NOAA's GOES-East satellite data was made into an animation that showed the development of the unusual storm.

 Early on Jan. 13 (left) NASA's RapidScat instrument saw the strongest sustained winds near 27 meters per second (60.4 mph/97.2 kph) northwest of center.

Eight hours later strongest sustained winds near 30 mps (67.1 mph/108 kph) shifted east of center. Credit: NASA JPL/Doug Tyler

Twice on Jan. 13 NASA's RapidScat instrument measured the strongest sustained winds in what was then a tropical low pressure area called "System 90L."
RapidScat flies aboard the International Space Station. RapidScat's earliest view of System 90L showed strongest sustained winds were near 27 meters per second (mps)/60.4 mph/97.2 kph) and were located northwest of center.
Eight hours later at 1200 UTC (7 a.m. EST) strongest sustained winds shifted east of center and increased to near 30 mps (67.1 mph/108 kph), making them tropical-storm force.
Later in the day at 2100 UTC (4 p.m. EST) satellite images indicated that the low pressure system developed into a subtropical storm and was named Alex.

At the time, Alex was located near 27.1 degrees north latitude and 30.8 degrees west longitude, about 782 miles (1,260 km) south-southwest of the Azores.
By 1500 UTC (10 a.m. EST) on January 14, hurricane force winds extended outward up to 25 miles (35 km) from the center and tropical storm force winds extend outward up to 150 miles (240 km).

 Hurricane Alex on Jan. 14 at 15:30 UTC (10:30 a.m. EST) in the central Atlantic Ocean.

The image revealed an eye and showed bands of thunderstorms spiraling into the low level center of circulation. Credit: NASA Goddard MODIS Rapid Response

An animation of GOES-East satellite visible and infrared imagery from Jan. 10 to 14 showed the development of Hurricane Alex in the Central Pacific Ocean.
The animation was created at the NASA/NOAA GOES Project at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
The animation showed the sub-tropical low pressure area consolidate quickly on Jan. 13 and reach hurricane status on Jan. 14, 2016.
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer or MODIS instrument that flies aboard NASA's Aqua satellite captured a visible image of Hurricane Alex on Jan. 14 at 15:30 UTC (10:30 a.m. EST) in the central Atlantic Ocean.
The image revealed an eye and showed bands of thunderstorms spiraling into the low level center of circulation.
According to the National Hurricane Center, Alex is the first hurricane to form in the month of January since 1938.
Alex is also the first North Atlantic hurricane thriving in January since Alice of 1955, which formed on Dec. 30, 1954. Alice developed on December 30, 1954 from a trough of low pressure in the central Atlantic Ocean in an area of unusually favorable conditions.

This animation of GOES-East satellite imagery from Jan. 10 to 14 shows the development of Hurricane Alex in the Central Pacific Ocean.
Credit; NASA/NOAA GOES Project 

The Azores Meteorological Service has issued a Hurricane Warning for the islands of Faial, Pico, Sao Jorge, Graciosa, and Terceira in the central Azores, and a Tropical Storm Warning for the islands of Sao Miguel and Santa Maria in the eastern Azores.
A Hurricane Warning is in effect for Faial, Pico, Sao Jorge, Graciosa, and Terceira in the central Azores and a Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for Sao Miguel and Santa Maria in the eastern Azores.

At 10 a.m. EST (1500 UTC), the National Hurricane Center said that the center of Hurricane Alex was located near latitude 31.5 North, longitude 28.4 West.

Alex was moving toward the north-northeast near 20 mph (31 kph) and a turn toward the north with an increase in forward speed is expected over the next day or two.

On the forecast track, the center of Alex will move near or over portions of the Azores Friday morning, Jan. 15.
Maximum sustained winds are near 85 mph (140 kph) with higher gusts. Little change in strength is forecast through Friday.

The estimated minimum central pressure is 981 millibars.

NHC NOAA

NHC's Forecaster Pasch said "Remarkably, Alex has undergone the transformation into a hurricane. A distinct eye is present, embedded within a fairly symmetric mass of deep convection.

It is very unusual to have a hurricane over waters that are near 20 degrees Celsius, but the upper-tropospheric temperatures are estimated to be around -60 degrees Celsius, which is significantly colder than the tropical mean.

The resulting instability is likely the main factor contributing to the tropical transition and intensification of Alex."
Alex is expected to maintain hurricane status on Friday, Jan. 15 and transition into an extra-tropical storm by Jan. 16 as it continues to move north toward Greenland.

Links :

• NASA : NASA Sees Formation of Unusual North Atlantic Hurricane Alex / An Atlantic Hurricane…in January
• Weather : Hurricane Alex approaching Azores 
• NPR : For The First Time Since 1938, A January Hurricane Has Formed In The Atlantic

A robot life preserver goes to work in the Greek refugee crisis

The remote-controlled Emily robot can reach struggling swimmers far faster than a lifeguard.

From Wired by Matt Simon

The European refugee crisis isn’t so much a crisis as it is a catastrophe.
Fleeing violence in Africa and the Middle East, particularly Syria, more than a million migrants crossed by sea into Europe in 2015.
Almost 4,000 of them lost their lives in the journey.
The sea crossings can be especially dire, as leaky, unsafe boats capsize or break apart in rough water.
In Greece the danger has proven massive, particularly off the island of Lesvos, which takes in an average of 2,000 refugees daily.

Every day around Lesvos the Coast Guard must rescue boats that have capsized, run out of fuel, or simply broken down.
Which is why the Coast Guard invited a team from Texas A&M University’s Center for Robot-Assisted Search and Rescue to launch a pilot project this week for a very special robot—Emily, the Emergency Integrated Lifesaving Lanyard.

Think of Emily as a life preserver melded with a jet ski. It’s about four feet long and shaped like a pickle spear.
An operator remotely controls the robot, tethered to a rope up to 2,000 feet long, to migrants struggling at sea.
The victims take hold of the buoyant bot and a rescuer reels the line in.
Quadcopter drones called Fotokites, themselves tethered on 30-foot ropes near the operators, pipe back an overhead view.

In fact, NGOs on the island had already been thinking about using UAVs to aid rescue efforts, says Robin Murphy, the Texas A&M roboticist running the project.
“In the meantime we were saying, ‘You’re talking about people drowning,'” Murphy says.
“There’s this new technology, Emily, these robots that are life preservers.”
UAVs turn out to run afoul of Greek aviation regulations anyway—and a tethered quadcopter isn’t considered a UAV.
Combined with Emily, the drones make for a powerful (and legal) way to spot and save people in the water.

It's deployable from both boat and land and hit speeds of 20 mph

At a constant full speed of 20 mph, the robot has enough juice for 20 minutes at sea, plenty of time to make several trips to fetch victims—especially since it only needs to propel itself on the outbound leg.
And it’s buoyant enough to hold five people at once.
“We can run the boat out there and we can start plucking people that can actually hold on and get them out of the way,” says John Sims, a fire captain formerly of the US Coast Guard, who’s operating the robots for the deployment.
“And then the live lifeguard can do his job and get out there to get the unconscious people.”

That’s the plan, anyway. Emily has never faced a test like this.
The robot has helped struggling swimmers here in there in America, but deploying it in Greece is a tremendous scale-up.
“One has to be a little bit careful,” says M. Ani Hsieh, co-chair of the Safety, Security and Rescue Robotics committee at the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society.
“What many people who work with rescue robots will tell you is a lot of things start with good intentions.”
You never really know what the best use is for a robot “until you actually have people on the ground and see things being tested.”
It may well be, for instance, that Emily is more useful for plucking a single swimmer out of the water instead of big groups.

The buoyant bot can hold around 5 people. 

And as with any interaction between humans and increasingly sophisticated robots, the pilot project has risks.
Its designers know, for example, that Emily’s long tether could get tangled in the propeller of a Coast Guard boat.
(Those kinds of concerns led the Coast Guard to prohibit the 81 NGOs on Lesvos from operating their own boats without specific permission.)

But the important distinction here is the team has the Coast Guard’s blessing.
Coordination among NGOs, independent volunteers, and the Greek government has been lousy on Lesvos, says Boris Cheshirkov, spokesman on Lesvos for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
The Texas A&M roboticists hope to avoid those conflicts.
“As long as it’s coordinated with the government,” Cheshirkov says, “it can only be a welcome addition to the response.”
The Emily team is confident enough in the robot’s abilities that it’s already raising funds to leave one of the robots behind in Greece.
The machine can’t stop war or uncapsize boats, but but any tool that helps in the fight against catastrophe is a good one.

Links :

• GeoGarage blog :  A wintry sea seems a safer bet than life at home for refugees / Migrants can't be left to die in the seas of Europe /SAR crisis in the Mediterranean – commercial vessels rescue thousands / The millionaires who rescue people at sea / European Union authorizes military action against people smugglers / Lampedusa, the Italian Island thousands are dying to reach