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THOR (ISS EXPERIMENT)

activity - Thu, 08/03/2018 - 19:40
Figuring out what Happens Above Thunderstorms
There are two main reasons why a space experiment from the ISS is needed. The first relates to the logistics of observations above thunderstorms. Some of the very intense thunderstorm regions are in the tropical and subtropical regions that are difficult to access and therefore pose significant logistical challenges. Here, on the other hand the ISS offers an almost complete coverage with its orbit inclination of 51.6o. In addition, the ISS is the platform that has the lowest orbit available and therefore brings us as close as possible to the phenomena we want to observe.The second reason is that we will attempt to observe in optical bands that are subject to absorption in the atmosphere. These bands are not available for ground observations.The phenomena we want to observe occur in the high-altitude atmosphere and can therefore be observed from space in the proposed bands. In the case of cloud turrets, the altitude is above 10 km, for TLEs it is 10-80 km and in the case of gravity waves the altitude is above 80 km. The bands adopted are expected to give us new physics.
 
Organization:
ESA
Directorate:
HRE
Keywords:
Climate
Emissions
Greenhouse gas
Regions:
Global
Type:
Experiment