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 A Climate Story

Since the launch of SeaSat and Nimbus-7 in 1978, NASA's Earth-observing fleet has provided measurements that scientists can use to learn more about the earth climate system. With the new technologies of the PACE mission, researchers will be able to shed light on the complex interactions between aerosols, clouds, and the ocean, for the first time addressing these critical pieces of the climate puzzle.

 Actually It’s Phytoplankton!

Join host Jamie Coull, and oceanographer co-hosts Lachlan McKinna and Ivona Cetiniĉ, to explore ocean ecology and NASA's PACE Mission. In each episode, scientists and engineers from the NASA PACE mission are interviewed and each episode is packed with science activities and resources.

 Aerosol Earth

This visualization highlights GEOS FP model output for aerosols on August 23, 2018. On that day, huge plumes of smoke drifted over North America and Africa, three different tropical cyclones churned in the Pacific Ocean, and large clouds of dust blew over deserts in Africa and Asia.

 Aerosols and Climate

This lesson plan will help students understand what aerosols are and their major sources. Students will learn the importance of atmospheric aerosols by evaluating their direct and indirect role in affecting climate. They will also learn how aerosol nano particles formation impacts Earth's climate by cloud seeding and precipitation.

 Aerosols: Tiny Particles, Big Impact

Check out this article for more information on the types of natural and human-made aerosols, their global patterns, relationships with climate and clouds, and how scientists measure them.

 Around our Living Planet

Breathe deep... and thank phytoplankton. Watch how ocean forest and ocean deserts change from month to month around the globe and see how tiny ocean life sustains us all year long.

 Beyond Blue II: Why Ocean Color Really Matters

Are you interested in ideas that make a faraway topic like ocean color feel more personal? This series of webinars covers these topics and more. In this webinar, NASA ocean color scientists Dr. Ivona Cetinić and Aimee Neeley demonstrate a hands-on activity on the transmission, absorption, and scattering of different colors of visible light.

 Beyond Blue: Why Ocean Color Really Matters

In these excerpts from Beyond Blue: Why Ocean Color Really Matters, Project Scientist Dr. Jeremy Werdell and Mission Systems Engineer Dr. Gary Davis discuss how we use ocean color to estimate the contents of our ocean.

 Beyond Blue: Why Ocean Color Really Matters

In these excerpts from Beyond Blue: Why Ocean Color Really Matters, Project Scientist Dr. Jeremy Werdell and Mission Systems Engineer Dr. Gary Davis discuss the PACE observatory and its instrumentation.

 Beyond Blue: Why Ocean Color Really Matters

Let's talk about phytoplankton! In these excerpts from Beyond Blue: Why Ocean Color Really Matters, Project Scientist Dr. Jeremy Werdell touches on phytoplankton, red tides, and the relationships between plankton, climate, and the carbon cycle.

 Carbon Cycle Game

This game allows players to become a carbon molecule traveling along the marine carbon cycle from the surface to the deep sea. Follow along as you are captured by a diatom during photosynthesis, sink through the Twilight Zone, and, if you aren't consumed by bacteria first, make it to the Deep Sea!

 Clouds & Aerosols

PACE will provide key information on aerosols such as airborne dust, pollen, smoke and haze.

 Cloudy vs. Clear

Students will analyze and interpret graphs to compare the flow of (shortwave) energy from the Sun toward China over the course of a year on cloudy versus clear days. Students will draw a conclusion and support it with evidence.

 Colorful World

Using the state-of-the-art Ocean Color Instrument (OCI), PACE will measure light over a broader spectrum - and a finer resolution - than ever before. This e-brochure explains why PACE is going hyperspectral and how this will provide a more complete picture of our ocean and atmosphere.

 Coloring Our World: Aerosols

Explore aerosols through this digital interactive coloring page of artwork created by Sarah Amiri from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

 Coloring Our World: Clouds

Explore how clouds impact PACE measurements through this digital interactive coloring page of artwork created by Sarah Amiri from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

 Coral Calculus: A Pi in the Sky Math Challenge

The "Pi in the Sky" math challenge gives students a chance to find solutions to real-world problems just like NASA scientists and engineers. In this problem from the seventh installment of the set, students use the mathematical constant pi to measure the water depth of an area mapped during the CORAL mission.

 From Sea to Space to Phytopia

Kirsten Carlson is a scientific illustrator who studied marine science and communication. As the Schmidt Ocean Institute's Artist-at-Sea during the "Sea to Space Particle Investigation," she and researchers used the latest technologies to study Pacific Ocean plankton between Honolulu and Portland.

 Global Biosphere

This data visualization shows the Earth's biosphere from September 1997 through September 2017. It represents twenty years of data taken primarily by SeaStar/SeaWiFS, Aqua/MODIS, and Suomi NPP/VIIRS satellite sensors, and shows the abundance of life both on land and in the sea.

 Global Phytoplankton Distribution

Plants, bacteria, and protists, oh my! Learn more about these tiny photosynthesizers we call phytoplankton and the large impact they have on ocean ecosystems and the global climate.

 Global Transport of Smoke from Australian Bushfires

This visualization shows the global distribution of aerosols — generated by NASA's GEOS-FP data assimilation system, from August 1, 2019 to January 14,2020 — released by the extreme bushfires in Australia and transported around the globe over the South Pacific Ocean.

 How Will We Check PACE Data?

Explore this virtual coloring page and learn more about technology and instrumentation in the ocean and atmosphere that will help us understand and check data from the PACE observatory.

 Investigating the Climate System - Clouds - And the Earth’s Radiant Energy System

Explore the climate system, clouds, and the earth's radiant energy system in these problem-based classroom modules. Modules are designed for students grades 5-8 and include activities, additional resources, and mappings to National Education Standards.

 Less is More: Explain PACE with Commonly Used Words

In science, jargon can be a key limiting factor for students, non-scientists, and sometimes even other scientists to understand your research. One way to try to remove jargon from the way we talk about science is to challenge yourself to explain your research in only common terms. This is perhaps "deceptively simple" considering the ten hundred most common English words do not include Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean, Ecosystem, or satellite. Try it for yourself!

 Measuring Aerosols

Although it became clear about 40 years ago that aerosols could affect climate, the measurements needed to establish the magnitude of such effects - or even whether specific aerosol types warm or cool the surface - were lacking. This situation has improved considerably. Today scientists use an array of satellite, aircraft, and ground-based instruments to monitor aerosols.

 NASA’s Earth Minute: My Name is Aerosol

Aerosols, they are tiny, they are powerful! When it comes to understanding our environment, our climate, and how it's all changing, little particles make a big difference.

 Ocean Color Images: Categories

This gallery includes recent ocean color images created by the Ocean Biology Processing Group (OBPG) at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. OBPG's responsibilities include the collection, processing, calibration, validation, archive and distribution of ocean-related products from a large number of operational, satellite-based remote-sensing missions. These missions have been providing ocean color data to the international research community since 1996.

 Ocean Color Images: Interactive Map

This interactive map contains recent ocean color images created by the Ocean Biology Processing Group (OBPG) at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. OBPG's responsibilities include the collection, processing, calibration, validation, archive and distribution of ocean-related products from a large number of operational, satellite-based remote-sensing missions. These missions have been providing ocean color data to the international research community since 1996. Click on the circles to view images.

 Ocean Color Instrument & Polarimeters

Download this brochure to learn more about how PACE technology - the Ocean Color Instrument, Spectro-Polarimeter for Planetary Exploration (SPEXone), and Hyper Angular Rainbow Polarimeter (HARP2) - will advance oceanographic and atmospheric research by detecting a broader range of color wavelengths.

 Ocean Color Wheel

What color is your ocean? This printable PDF will let you explore phytoplankton diversity and ocean color. When assembled, the wheel has a window with information about specific plankton, a section showing the color of the ocean when these plankton are present, and a QR code that can be scanned for more information.

 Ocean-Atmosphere Understanding

In this episode of the Small Steps, Giant Leaps podcast, Kathleen McIntyre (the PACE Deputy Project Manager) discusses the significance of the science PACE can produce, innovative approaches to keeping the mission within budget, and skills and best practices of a deputy project manager.

 PACE By Wavelength

Orbiting high above Earth's surface, PACE's Ocean Color Instrument (OCI) will measure the radiance, or flux of light emitted, from the top of the atmosphere. The exceptionally broad range of wavelengths sensed by the OCI - from ultraviolet to near-infrared along with several shortwave infrared bands - will support investigation of the ocean, atmosphere, and key climate-related factors. In this interactive, click on the markers to reveal what PACE will see at various wavelengths.

 PACE Coloring Page

Explore the world of PACE measurements with this downloadable coloring page that highlights the clouds, aerosols, and phytoplankton seen by the PACE observatory. Coloring page artwork was created by Sarah Amiri from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

 PACE Paper Model

It usually takes years to build a satellite that can survive the extremes of space. You can build your own replica in 90 minutes! This paper model replica of PACE has five parts plus an optional "Hinge". Just like NASA, you will create the final spacecraft model by assembling the parts together.

 PACE Pop-up Banner

This 90 inch tall pop-up banner highlights oceanic and atmospheric measurements of NASA's Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) mission. The PACE spacecraft and Ocean Color Instrument are being built at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD.

 PACE Synergy

Explore how PACE data will be used with measurements of sea surface temperature, salinity, height, and winds, as well as other atmosphere-focused missions to answer complex questions about the ocean, atmosphere, and climate.

 Phytopia

Phytopia lets you explore the fascinating world of phytoplankton. This interactive tool uses concept maps - which highlight connections - to display complex information. Use Phytopia to learn about the roles these plankton play in the ecosystem, whether they are harmful or not... or just explore the beauty of these tiny titans.

 Phytoplankton & Life in Our Ocean

With its novel instrumentation, the PACE mission will reveal, in ways never before seen, the diversity of organisms fueling marine food webs and how ecosystems respond to environmental change.

 Phytoplankton and Climate

Most phytoplankton can only be seen with a microscope. But they are incredibly important for ocean ecosystems. Learn how phytoplankton are likely to be impacted by the changing climate in this colorful comic created as part of a collaboration between humorist Andy Warner and scientist Uta Passow.

 Sea the Light

PACE will help better identify phytoplankton communities from space. Its novel technology will keep a sharp eye on the health of our ocean. This e-brochure explains the ways PACE can differentiate between groups of plankton, based on the way they absorb, scatter or reflect light.

 Something New Under the Sun

PACE's instruments will work together to decipher complex signals of light. Learn how PACE's ocean color instrument (OCI) is being designed to revolutionize the study of ocean color.

 Spectrophotometer Activity with littleBits™

This activity demonstrates optical properties of water: that different constituents in water affect the transmission, absorption, and scattering of different colors in the visible light spectrum. Inexpensive, off-the-shelf components are used to build a light sensor and source, creating a simple spectrophotometer that can measure light absorption.

 The Air Down There

With the OCI and polarimeters, PACE will measure an exceptionally broad range of wavelengths to reveal new details about our ocean and atmosphere. This e-brochure explains how PACE's technology will be used to reveal ocean features through the atmosphere and clouds as well as shed new light on connections within Earth's ocean-aerosol-cloud system.

 The Ocean’s Green Machines

One tiny marine plant makes life on Earth possible: phytoplankton. Watch how changes in climate impact phytoplankton and the planet. Learn more about these tiny organisms in this NASA video and explore how changes in climate have consequences for phytoplankton and the planet.

 The Visualizing Microbial Seascapes Monograph Project

Explore art created by students at Evergreen State College as part of their "Visualizing Microbial Seascapes Monograph Project."

 Tropical Atlantic Aerosols & Clouds

In this hands-on activity, students will use real NASA satellite data from the Multi-angle Imaging Spectroradiometer (MISR) to examine the transport of desert dust off the west coast of Africa. Their goal will be to determine the location of the greatest concentrations of aerosols during the course of a year in the tropical Atlantic region and their relationship to cloud coverage.

 Types of Clouds and What They Mean

Ever wonder how scientists use clouds to predict the weather? In this lesson, students learn about different cloud types and the associated weather they may bring.

 What Color is The Ocean?

This brochure contains background information on ocean color, plankton, and remote sensing. Included is the Simple Spectrophotometer Activity and associated worksheets.

 What in the World are Aerosols?

Do you think the word "aerosol" is only about spray cans? Take our quiz to learn about aerosols and the PACE mission!

 What Will PACE Help Us See?

Explore this virtual coloring page and learn more about the ocean and atmospheric properties and phenomena that the PACE observatory will be able to measure and help us understand.

 Which Phytoplankton Are You?

Answer four questions to discover which of these diverse organisms is most like you!