STOCKHOLM, Sweden, April 15, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- NASA is a partner in the Volvo Ocean Adventure and supports the educational component of the Volvo Ocean Race by providing real-time satellite data of the ocean regions being traversed by the racing yachts. One of many travelling flagship exhibits, highlights the NASA SeaWiFS global ocean color monitoring mission. SeaWiFS supports the Volvo Ocean Adventure by providing content, images and near real-time maps of ocean color covering the regions of the world's ocean that eight yachts are sailing through around the world over nine months in the Volvo Ocean Race.
Each of the yachts is equipped with an instrument package to measure sea surface temperature and ocean color, and these measurements are transmitted back to the to Race Headquarters and then to the Southampton Oceanography Centre in England several times per day. As the race continues, SeaWiFS is taking readings of ocean color. By monitoring the color of reflected light via satellite, scientists can determine how successfully plant life is photosynthesizing or growing in the ocean. With global coverage, SeaWiFS will be monitoring the swirling currents around the Patagonian shelf, enormous dust storms blowing off the Sahara, icebergs, and the biological deserts of the central ocean gyres
SeaWiFS is a unique mission in a number of aspects, not the least of which is the industry/government relationship that this project has adopted. ORBIMAGE, NASA's industry partner in this mission, is one of the Science Partners for the Volvo Ocean Adventure.
One travelling exhibit associated with Volvo Ocean Adventure, titled "Measuring Ocean Surface Topography from Space," highlights the TOPEX/Poseidon mission which revolutionized our knowledge of ocean circulation and its effects on global climate change. This satellite provided measurements that led to early prediction of the great El Nino 1997-98, which caused extreme disruptions to weather patterns worldwide.
"Measuring Earth's Gravity from Space, Grace," highlights the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE), an international mission with Germany, uses twin satellites to precisely measure the Earth's gravity field to increased knowledge of the motion of water on land and on the oceans.
Another exhibit, "Measuring Ocean Winds SeaWinds on ADEOS II," centers on how the SeaWinds scatterometer can acquire hundreds of times more observations of surface wind speed and direction each day than ships or buoys. SeaWinds will provide long-term, high-resolution wind data for studies of ocean circulation, climate and air-sea interaction. These measurements are crucial to understanding and predicting severe weather patterns and climate changes.
The exhibit titled the "Oceans' Role in Climate" demonstrates that the oceans are the single most significant influence on weather and climate. The ocean continuously exchanges heat and moisture with the atmosphere, driving slow, subtle changes. Ocean winds play a major role in weather and climate. A space radar instrument called a scatterometer measures both wind speed and direction over Earth's oceans. The data are used to monitor conditions such as typhoons and hurricanes. Altimeters measure ocean-surface topography, the hills and valleys of the ocean surface. These precise measurements, accurate to within one inch, are used to improve predictions of long-term weather patterns such as El Nino. An exhibit highlighting the GRACE satellite shows how mapping gravity measurements together with altimetry will also improve our knowledge of ocean circulation.
The purpose of Volvo Ocean Adventure is to increase environmental awareness among tomorrow's decision-makers. One of NASA's goals is to provide data and information about the oceans to key decision-makers and the general public, which is why the two organizations are working together on this project. Oceanography, the focus of this project, is an important component of NASA's Earth System Science research. The Volvo Ocean Adventure website is a free educational website targeting young people worldwide with the aim of increasing environmental awareness. This web site hosts a variety of environmental topics and is a collaboration of twenty universities and scientific institutions around the world, including NASA.
To find out more about NASA programs and the Volvo Ocean Adventure, you may visit the following web sites:
http://seawifs.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEAWIFS.html www.VolvoOceanAdventure.org www.VolvoCars.com
Facts
Volvo Ocean Adventure:
-- The Volvo Ocean Adventure is a global Internet-based environment-
education programme for youths aged 10-16 years.
-- Teachers and students have free access to comprehensive training
material on the Internet that deals with local and global
environmental issues.
-- The material is closely linked to the Volvo Ocean Race. All the
competing boats carry instruments that register and transmit data
about the amount of phytoplankton in the waters through which they
sail.
-- The Volvo Ocean Adventure encourages students to undertake their
own environment-related projects. They can submit these projects
and compete over various prizes, among them trips to an
environmental conference for youngsters held in Sweden and
organised by Volvo.
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