HAMPTON, Va., Feb. 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Media are invited to a 20^th anniversary celebration for two satellite instruments that ushered in a new era for scientists who study climate and weather.

On Feb. 25, 2000, the Clouds and the Earth’s Radiant Energy System (CERES) instruments (Flight Model [FM] 1 and FM2) on the Terra satellite successfully opened their contamination cover doors and captured their first global images of Earth’s reflected solar and emitted thermal infrared radiation. This marked the start of a remarkable era in Earth radiation budget observation.

An event to mark the anniversary will take place 2-4 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 27, at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. In addition to short talks, there will be displays of photographs and memorabilia from the past 20 years. Media who would like to attend should contact Joe Atkinson at [email protected] no later than 5 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 26.

CERES instruments on Terra were soon joined by two CERES instruments aboard NASA’s Aqua satellite (operational 2002 to present) and two other CERES instruments aboard the joint NASA/NOAA Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (operational 2011 to present) and NOAA-20 (operational 2017 to present) satellites.

CERES measurements give researchers continuous, invaluable data on mechanisms driving Earth’s climate and future weather — a record that goes back two decades and that scientists hope will continue long into the future. One of the most significant CERES findings is an increase in the rate at which Earth is taking up heat.

For more information on CERES, visit:

https://ceres.larc.nasa.gov/

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SOURCE NASA